Post #96986 by bigbadtikidaddy on Thu, Jun 17, 2004 10:59 PM

Speaking of slippery sellers...
This bugs me.
I bought a vintage XXL Hawaiian shirt on ebay in January.
Item number: 3455014295

The cost of the shirt was $6 + $5.50 shipping.(decent price!)
The person seemed really nice & I felt bad being a few days late with payment, so I sent $20 cash & told her to keep the change.

After 5 weeks I hadnt recieved anything so I emailed the seller & she wrote back saying her son had cancer & she was dealing with alot of stuff & could I resend my mailing address? I said I was very sorry to hear that, sent my best wishes (& address) & told her that I would wait.
After the second month I emailed again about the shirt, to which she replied " I'm pretty sure I already sent everything out. I remember your payment, but can you describe the shirt & send your mailing address again?
I was confused because this is the third time she has asked for my address & she seemed to be sort of contradicting herself. I respond with my address again, describe the shirt AND send a link to the auction & tell her to please let me know the status of things.
She emailed back & said No shirts here that match that description, she doesnt know what happened, but she will refund my $20.
I was a bit disappointed, but thanked her for the courtesy of the refund.
Weeks later, no refund. I emailed again saying this is getting ridiculous & asked that she refund my money within 7 days or I will have to file a claim with ebay & leave negative feedback.
Vague reply- "ok, I'll try" or something like that.
I assumed that she was being truthful about her son, so I gave her alot of time to get the item out, but something just didnt ring true.

Now it has been approx. 3 months & no refund.
I finally filed a report, left (scathing) neg. feedback & sent another email letting her know this.
She replied that her son was dead & she "doesn't need this over a shirt."

I feel bad now. I'm this petty person who is only interested in money & this poor woman just lost her son.
I'm a dick.
Then she sends me an email saying she hopes I get sick or have a stroke!
Nice.

I checked her recent feedback & noticed that she changed the text a bit, relisted & sold the exact same shirt last month that she claimed was "lost in the mail"!
Item number: 3479956643
The picture is down on the original auction, but trust me- it IS the same shirt.

I'll never know if she was lying about her son but I truly hope not.
It would take a pitiful person to lie about the death of a son as an excuse for negligence.

Can anyone make sense of this?

[ Edited by: bigbadtikidaddy on 2004-06-17 23:08 ]