More Pathetic Ebay Behaviour
Following on from my previous rant about sellers on Ebay comes further news of bad practice. Last week I purchased an item and paid £2.75 for P & P. I felt this was a little high at the time but the item was what I wanted. Upon delivery it arrived in the type of plastic bag I use in my own business and know costs between 1 and 2p. The postage sticker showed 2nd Class 76p. The charge should therefore be no more than £1 for this item. I left neutral feedback outlining my disgust at this outragoeus practice and received a very nice reply back.
IT WOULD OF BEEN NICE OF YOU TO CONTACT ME 1ST BEFORE YOU LEFT THE NASTY FEEDBACK,AS YOU CAN SEE BY MY FEEDBACK I AM A FRIENDLY AND GOOD EBAYER.
I ALWAYS SEND MY POST 1ST CLASS RECORDED DELIVERY,BUT MY LOCAL POST OFFICE,DID THE MISTAKE AND PRINTED IT 2ND CLASS ONLY,HE PRINTED IT AND PUT IT ON THE PACKAGE,BEFORE HE TOLD ME THE MISTAKE HE HAD DONE.NORMALLY COST ME AROUND 2.00 OR MORE FOR RECORDED POSTAGE.
How should this seller have handled this? Firstly I would have asked to postmaster to see if he could have voided the transaction and then put it through correctly. If this was not possible I would then have emailed my customer and explained what had happened and why they were getting a partial refund of the postage payment. Simple to do wasn’t it and would have resulted in an understanding customer who was not pissed off at you because they feel they were ripped off by your sharp practices. Instead none of it was her fault at all was it?
This morning I received delivery of an item I bought 10 days ago. Only after I paid the postie £3.20 though. This seller charged me £3.07p for postage and packing, placed 3 items into one large envelope (which was open when it arrived), and slapped 4 first class stamps onto it. The Post Office decided this was insufficient and levied an additional charge to be paid on delivery of £2.20 plus £1 handling fee for their inconvenience. I have emailed this vendor but have yet to hear back. Good item though and already in use. I am saving 1 for when we go on our cruise to keep in the wardrobe for dirty clothes to go into.
Now some people may think I am being a little picky but I do not feel that I am at all. I operate my own business in a very fair manner and I personally believe my customer service is second to none for a mail order business. I include my postage charges within my price to eradicate all confusion and head off any bad feelings regarding additional charges. What you see is what you will pay. Everyone knows where they stand. Ebay has been clamping down a little over excessive postal charges because it is actually a way to avoid paying a part of the final valuation fees. It also helps if the item goes for a cheap price by sticking some extra cash in the vendors pocket and making the item look more competitive. For example on Monday I purchased 2 pairs of water shoes to wear on the beach and when in the water. Stops the pain of hot sand and stepping on rocks, coral or nasty sea creatures like urchins. I saw a few pairs on ebay that looked good. I narrowed the prices down a bit and then chose a vendor who had the shoes we wanted in the sizes we wanted. 1 pair was £7.25 and the other was £7.95 postage free. I used the buy it now and paid right away. Got an email thanking me for the purchase and then another yesterday saying they had been dispatched. The shoes arrived today and I am happy with my pair. Tony is out so hasn’t tried his yet.
I shall continue to give honest feedback both in words and in the star ratings I give. The shoe vendor got 5 stars all around and a very positive comment. The vendor above didn’t and I am still waiting to hear from one vendor..
Ebay Sellers Drive Me Crazy With Their Slowness
What is it with some eBay sellers? I purchased an item on 28th August, and have just received an email from the seller saying that she only just looked at her email and is away on holiday and unable to post it until 15th September. I think this is ridiculous. It would never enter my mind to list stuff for sale just before I was going to be away. In fact I worry if I am unable to post any purchase made from my business next day. I suppose some people are so used to receiving bad service that they assume it is normal to take the money and not send the goods until they feel like it. Most recently I sold a wind deflector for a Chrysler Crossfire Roadster on Ebay. I was very happy with the price I got, I charged £11 P & P and it cost me £10.99 to send it. We carefully packed it and took it to the Post Office next morning. The feedback the buyer gave indictaes that he is happy with the item and amazed to get it so soon.
I am buying quite a lot on eBay at the present time. I think I am very, very excited about my 50th Birthday cruise to the Caribbean in February. Now is a good time to pick up some summer clothing for very cheap prices. I think it is spoilng me a bit though. I went shopping last week and everything I liked I thought was way, way overpriced and as such I wouldn’t buy it. My recent purchases include water shoes, a sun hat, several pairs of long shorts and some odd items like laundry baskets and guidebooks. I am sure I will get over all of this soon.
Actually I could do with having a good sort out and culling some of my stuff. I usually donate to a local animal rescue for their jumble sales but some of it can maybe go on eBay and make me a few pounds. I don’t see why not at all, in fact it makes a lot of sense especially as my business has gone very quiet lately and sales have not been as good as I hoped. Hopefully it is just a late summer blip and now the holidays are over things will pick up.
Loyalty Rewarded by Carphone Warehouse- Cheap Mobile Contract
I have had a mobile phone on contract through Carphone Warehouse for several years now. Since I gave up work I have had little use for a mobile phone and the £25 per month contract I was paying was ridiculous, unnecessary expenditure. I decided to get a pay as you go phone when my contract ends on Oct 2nd as forking out the occasional £10 had to be better than £25 per month.
The £25 a month O2 contact gave me 180 minutes and 200 texts per month. In the last 6 months I have sent 1 text and made less than 10 minutes worth of calls. So I called Carphone Warehouse to inform them I intended to terminate my contract as of 2nd October and get a pay as you go phone. The first offer was to reduce my payment to around £10 per month. I still said no. Then the price dropped to £4.97 for 275 minutes and 275 texts each month. This is actually a better plan than I was on for £25 by far. I hesitated a little and when no better offer was forthcoming I capitulated and said yes. Additional bonus was that this was done from the current bill so I am already £20 up and another £20 every month until I choose to quit. Woohoo, what a deal I got, very, very happy. No new phone but who cares I can buy any phone I like with my savings can’t I?
Bank Holiday Monday
You can tell it is a bank holiday in the UK today as the skies are grey and no chance of any sun. At least it is not raining today (yet).
Tony wanted me to drive him to a pub that was having a beer festival and I dropped him there and said I would be back after 2PM to collect him. I took the opportunit to go to Merry Hill and have a Starbuck’s Venti Mocha Frappuchino. How I love them. I discovered them in Seattle where there is always a Starbucks every 50 yards. Since coming home I have the choice of driving 6 miles to Merry Hill or 10 miles to Wolverhampton to get one. I also took the opportunity to top up my Starbucks card with another £20 to feed my addiction.
As it is a Bank Holiday everyone decided to go to Merry Hill and there was traffic chaos there and parking was very scarce. I managed to spot someone leaving and grabbed their parking space. I had hoped M & S were selling off their summer stuff cheap but if they were I couldn’t see it! I did see a shop with some cheap trainers and T-shirts but it was so crowded I will go back tomorrow to get a pair. £15 for a pair of Fila velcro fastening trainers is too good to miss. I may get some gym gear too as I am due to start at Action Heart soon or I may go to the leisure centre at Wombourne as they also have a swimming pool.
For some reason I am obsessed by our future Caribbean cruise and spend a lot of time on eBay searching for items of clothing and other useful stuff. My watch list is 2 pages long! I have bought some shorts and tried them on this morning. I bought a size smaller than usual in the hope that I might shrink into them. They fit perfectly. What happens now if I lose weight?
Today I am also transferring my CD collection onto my MP3 player. I don’t use it enough but plan to take it on holiday with me. Yesterday I bought some earphones for it. I hate the ear bud things as they really hurt my ears. These are the ones I bought:
I also got this as I cannot for the life of me find mine and if I am to use it on holiday I need to be able to charge it!
Hopefully these two products will arrive in the next days or two and I can set about using my MP3 player to the fullest.
My New Blog
My previous blog was deleted when the domain it was hosted upon expired and I didn’t want to renew it. And so the time has come to start anew with a fresh blog. I make no promises with this new blog. It will be a mix of stuff as and when it takes me to write about them. Mainly it will be about me, my life and how things affect me from day to day. Sometimes it will be humourous sometimes not. Life is like that.
I am the owner of Buy Natural Progesterone the website from which I sell the wonderful cream that has improved my life and the life of so many women. I also have great interest in many other health topics particularly those related to Diabetes, Heart Disease and Diet. I spend many hours each day checking various health related internet forums and my favourite forum Cruise Critic. Tony and I have enjoyed 2 cruises to Alaska and have a caribbean cruise booked for my 50th birthday in Feb 2010. Actually travel has been a passion of mine for some years now and I love to plan my future trips.