The item I was attempting to purchase is an Osprey International rifle scope. The seller had it listed for $20 less than the cheapest retail store I'd found and with the $30 from MS, I stood to save about $50. That bit of motivation is what got me into the following email chain. I chose Buy It Now and paid with PayPal. I knew I was in trouble from my first communication with the seller. Messages are edited slightly for anonymity and language.
Seller [9:24 pm]:
THIS IS A BRAND NEW OSPREY SCOPE--NEW IN BOX--DO YOU MIND LEAVING POSITIVE FEEDBACK SO PAY-PAL WILL RELEASE YOU PAYMENT--I WILL POST IN THE MORNING--PRIORITY MAIL--THIS NEW POLICY IS A BUNCH OF S***..Apparently, Pay-Pal has a new policy that requires "risky" seller's money to be held until feedback is given, delivery is confirmed, or 21 days pass. On E-Bay, feedback is the only thing that keeps sellers honest, so asking for feedback in advance is a giant red flag. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I responded.
Me [10:48 pm]:
I will be happy to leave you feedback as soon as I receive the product in promised condition. E-Bay's feedback system is designed to allow buyers and sellers to evaluate quality of service. It would be dishonest leave feedback regarding future events.Seller [6:41 am]:
Thank you for your prompt response. I look forward to leaving positive feedback.
I SUGGEST YOU CONTACT EBAY OR PAY-PAL AND REQUEST A REFUND--I DO NOT HAVE A FINANCE PLAN AND THIS IS NOT AARON,S RENTS!! THE POLICIES ARE DESIGNED TO SCREW PEOPLE THAT SELL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE..YOUR MONEY WILL BE FROZEN FOR 21 DAY,S SO THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME IS PAY-PAL--I,M NOT SENDING A G*D-D**N THING TO ANYONE--NOTHING PERSONALSeller [7:52 am]:
I,M SORRY BUT I HAVE NOTIFIED PAY-PAL & EBAY THAT I "WILL NOT SHIP" THIS ITEM--IF YOU WILL LOOK ON SPORTSMANGUIDE.COM--ITEM# WX2-140288 THIS IS THE SAME OSPREY SCOPE AS I OWN--SORRY--IF YOU WILL LOOK AT MY FEEDBACK IT IS 100%--EBAY,S POLICY IS NOT ASSURANCE IT EXTORTION--I RETIRED FROM THE GA. LAW ENFORCE ASSOCIATION AND THIS IS EXTORTION--JUST LIKE KID-NAPPING AND I FULLY INTEND ON FOLLOWING UP ON THESE BLOOD SUCKING PARASITES--I HAD (3)NON-PAYING BIDDERS THAT HELD MY PRODUCTS UP FOR WEEKS AND EBAY WOULD NOT DO A D**N THING--DOUBLE-STANDARD OR PROFILEING--REGARDSAt this point I still wanted my scope, but was getting very tired of the swearing and capital letters. Though he wasn't swearing at me (yes at E-Bay/Pal-Pal), it was in my general direction. Also, there was no visible indication to me of the "will not ship" status. It should be noted that he and I both had only small amounts of only positive E-Bay feedback. Nothing bad, but not a lot of transactions to build confidence. My response was, I felt, very measured--except maybe at the end.
Me [9:12 AM]:
Mr. ########,I tried to tell myself the PS was actually meant to educate, but who am I fooling.
I think you're exaggerating just a bit. I am happy to leave you feedback as soon as I receive the product, which believe will release your money fairly quickly.
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/ securitycenter/sell/ SaferPayments-outside
I will deal with attempting to get a refund tonight if unless I hear that you've shipped the product. I would ask that if you do reconsider and decide to ship at this point that you make use of the delivery confirmation number option from USPS and provide me with that number so that I may track that it has shipped and you may determine when it is received.
Please reconsider. If you do your part, you WILL be paid. If you don't, then it will be a pain for me and you will receive negative feedback.
Thank you,
-#######
PS. On the left hand side of your keyboard below the tab key is a button called Caps Lock. If you tap it once, your text will no longer appear in all capital letters.
Seller [10:52 am]:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVISE IN ADVANCE BUT I WILL NOT RE-CONSIDER FOR ANY REASON--EBAY POLICIES ARE GOOD FOR EBAY ONLY--NOT THE MEMBERS--I HAVE DEALT WITH THESE PEOPLE BEFORE--OUESTION--LETS SAY 250,000 SELLERS PAYMENTS ARE PUT ON HOLD EVERY DAY--ESCROW ACCOUNTS--THAT PAD EBAYS POCKETS WHILE THE SELLERS HAVE TO WAIT AND EBAY LAUGHS ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK--I,M SORRY BUT MY DECISION IS FINAL--VERY BEST REGARDS
Seller[10:54 am]:
CAPITAL LETTERS ARE USED SO THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS UNDERSTANDING..Hahahahaha! Really? Capital letters are the key to writing clearly? I would have thought that spelling and punctuation might go further. My grammar and spelling are far from perfect, but I understand their value. It is probably like talking to foreigners. If you speak English really slowly and loudly that's just as good has having a translator, isn't it. :-)
At this point I had been told firmly, twice, that I would not be getting my merchandise. I didn't have my Pay-Pal login info handy so I figured I would take care of filing a dispute later. In the mean time I still needed a scope, so I ordered the one for $50 more at a legitimate online store. But uh-o what's this?
Seller [3:41 pm]:
I would not want you to think i would take your money and not give in return, besides i couldn,t punish you because of something i dont like--anyway i have your scope ready to ship--priority mail--and will post at 8:45 est in the morning--you can count on it-----( SIMPER FI )It looks like someone got their medication. That seemed civil and even used the shift key, but I don't need 2 scopes. Luckily, communications were reasonable from there.
Me [3:48 pm]:
Please don't ship it. Since you're firm refusal to ship in your last correspondence I've since bought it from someone else, and I don't need 2 of them. Just return the money and we'll go our separate ways. Please acknowledge.Yes, I know. "You're" is different than "Your." Care to lay odds as to whether he noticed?
Seller [3:55 pm]:
THAT,S FINE..After that, I got a refund notice from Pay-Pal. That is, sort of, a happy ending to the story. Now I just have decide what kind of feedback, if any, to leave. I didn't get my stuff, but I did get my money back. I would consider that a negative experience. "Probably not a criminal", isn't a ringing endorsement. Negative, neutral, or none?