Encounter With a Dishonest Ebay Seller

[yachtexplorer]

Last Sunday, I bid on and won three satin-lined, pipe display cases from an eBay seller who has been around for quite some time.

I was the only bidder on each and got a very good deal on them.
The listed cost of USPS Priority Shipping was $8,$8 &$9 for a total of $25.

I waited a few minutes after the last auction and without my requesting it, he sent an invoice with a combined shipping cost of $15 using Priority Mail.

That seemed perfectly reasonable so I promptly logged into Paypal and paid.
Monday morning I get a message from the guy as follows:
"Hello...to ship these USPS priority service the cost would be $35.00

...to ship parcel post would be $19.00

...your choice, please advise

...we will send a paypal money request for the difference...J"
My response was:
"I am puzzled. You had these items listed with

USPS priority shipping at $8, $9 & $8 each.

Without my asking for it, you invoiced me

yesterday with a combined shipping cost of $15

which I promptly paid. Now you are asking for

more combined money to ship them to me than you

showed in the listings.
This is not how it is done on ebay or anywhere

else. You set the price. I agreed to it and paid

in full. It is now time for you to honor the deal

you set the terms and I paid for. It is too late

for you to alter the terms.
I have lost money selling pipes myself on ebay

but have always honored the deal I made...even

though it hurt to do so. I hope you will do the

same."
By looking up the tracking number I can see that he shipped the items out via parcel post rather than Priority Mail which is what he stated as the shipping method in both the listing as well as the invoice. They are still not here but should arrive later in the week.
If he had the decency to ask me if it was okay to ship via a slower means, I would have agreed and all would have been okay. However his whole approach was peremptory and heavy handed. Given a chance to be accommodating, I usually am. Pushing me around rarely yields good results.
I hope the few dollars he saved is worth getting the negative feedback I plan on leaving.
If anyone wants the name and ebay handles (yes he has more than one) of this guy, please send me a private message and I will be happy to provide the info.

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

Please do. I haven't purchased much on ebay lately, but I'd prefer to avoid that kind of problem the next time I'm able to have a PAD moment

 

[flipflopsandshades]

Posting his name on a public form (such as this) would not only protect future buyers but fight back against cheap scammers.

 

[chlogeo3]

You can also file an official complaint with E bay. They do not tolerate this kind of seller.
Forrest

:evil:

 

[puffintuff]

Report his ass. And please do post the sellers name.

 

[yachtexplorer]

Not sure if posting a bad actor's name is allowed here. I checked the rules and did not see any prohibition. So with apologies to the moderator if I am stepping on toes:
His ebay names are:
hermitfarm
and a new ebay identity (always a red flag)
trippgardensltd

 

[surfmac211]

I hate crap like that.

 

[jsharp]

Some people have a hard time keeping their word. I think they should be called out on it when they do not.

 

[unclearthur]

Thanks. I have watched several of that seller's auctions and always had just a bit of trepidation about bidding.

 

[bubbadreier]

My toes were not stepped on, but I will see what Kevin says!
Personally I am glad I know who to lookout for now!!

 

[cornguy]

I used to buy a fair amount of stuff on ebay.

It is a clear violation to increase the shipping costs after the auction has ended.

That is downright dishonest.

You did the right thing by calling attention to this transgression.

 

[bytor]

I just checked out his current auctions. In my opinion, he sets the price a bit high for an opening bid...given that the few pipes I looked at didn't appear to be all that pristine.
Also...notice that he doesn't always show a full picture of the stem (mostly partials). Hiding something?
I think I'll stick with watching the Coopersark auctions.

 

[unclearthur]

I noticed that too Bytor. I have had very good dealings with johnnywrangler and Jud Perl

 

[hauntedmyst]

I'm not surprized those are the same seller since their listing use the same formatting. Why two nicks though? Doesn't make sense. I have seen them sell pipes for while and support the shows, but their show prices are very high compared to what I've seen be market (ebay pricing) lately. I think a lot of resellers have a lot of inventory and with the economy tanked and the used high end pipe market shrinking, I think they are still expecting to get premium, pre 2008 prices. I picked up a gold banded Dunhill ODA this summer for $100 (yes, unusually low), something show resellers would want $500 for. I understand their dilemma, but I'm not gonna pay a premium for their pipes when there is glut in the used market. You go into business, you take your chances. That doesn't mean you have to be dishonest with paying customers.

 

[kcvet67]

Their starting bids used to be much more reasonable, this is a fairly recent development. BTW Hermit Farms are the ones who developed Captain Earle's blends which are marketed by C&D. They have an incredible collection of Micoli pipes on their website.

 

[clanobucklin]

I have had good luck buying pipes off of Ebay. Although there have been a couple of stinkers that I ended up tossing. The worst transgression was an ebayer who sold me two pipes that were so filthy - I ended up taking one pipe to a Pipe Doc in an effort to get it cleaned. I was told it was a lost cause. So I ended up saving one pipe. The disposed pipe smelled so bad of cow manure that I thought it was some kind of joke. There was even stuff that looked like hay in the pipe! It also had some deep gauges in the meer lining to boot. Good Grief! Someone play taps please.
I ended up confronting him via ebay - he never responded. Wrote it off as lesson learned - never to do biz with this guy again.