Venting..... Ebay purchase gone crazy....

I've never had this happen to me before and I can't believe it ...... I found some (several) plants on ebay that I wanted.

They weren't bargains so I sent an email to the seller and stated - "Your location says Midwest...... any chance you're near Kansas City ? I was interested in buying several items but the shipping kills me......"

Sellers response
No, we're not. If shipping is an issue, perhaps you should consider shopping at the nurseries right in Kansas City and save all those shipping costs.

I didn't think anything of it but went out today to use the BUY IT NOW .... and I get this...
Transaction Blocked
Unfortunately, this seller has decided that you are not permitted to bid on their listings. You may contact the seller via the Ask Seller Questions feature if you want additional details.


Was my question that out of line.... I really wanted some of the plants that were offered...... : - (

VS
Every so often you run into a real jerk on Ebay.
Many sellers inflate the shipping costs to make additional money. My wife and I sell quite a bit on ebay and basically charge the actual shipping costs plus a small amount usually 1-2 dollars to cover packing and shipping materials.
Forget this seller their are plenty more ethical sellers out there.

paul

Still venting ...


I sent this to find out if it was because of that question
I asked:
"I was going to order plants today but I got a message that said I was blocked..... Is there a mis-understanding...? I did send you a question about some ferns the other day. I wanted several items and thought if you were close I could pick up and purchase more items..... rather than having to narrow my choices to a few plants..... This has never happened to me before. I'm sorry if it was the shipping question..... I didn't mean for it to cause this...."

The response from VAILVILLAGER
I told you to shop in your area at your local nurseries...that way, you can't whine and moan about shipping. Good-bye


What happened... ???????

vs, be glad you didn't do business w/ him/her.

but paulgrow..... they had some plants I've been looking for ...... : - (

but you're right..... I just can't believe it went downhill so fast...... as a ebay seller yourself - was I that out of line asking..... did my email read harsh... ?

Holy Cow..... I was trying to apologize

I asked:
"I'm sorry that you took it that way..... I was really just using it as a guide to how many plants I could buy...... It really was a sincere question not a question to whine..... I won't bother you any more about this issue ....."

VailVillager
And if you bother me again, I'll report you to Safeharbor Trust and Safety for attempting to buy off eBay site.

OMG, what a big fat jerk. I would keep looking for the plants you want, even if it means a longer wait, but maybe you could email ebay and let them know, just to say your not sure how you angered this person enough that he/she should threaten you when you asked a perfectly acceptible question.

Did you check his feedback, hes got a bunch of negitives. Don't deal with those types of sellers.

He had a couple negatives..... there were alot of positives too...... I couldn't help myself.... he had a Geum prarie smoke plant, and a chocolate joe pye.... not to be confused with whining.....

Editted to say...

You're right of course paulgrow..... I could have gotten this treatment and paid for it .... I suppose I should send him another email and say thank you but I think that would push him over the edge...... LOL

This message was edited Mar 23, 2005 1:39 PM

Check out these links

http://www.hardyplants.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=5GHF

http://tytyga.com/perennials/southern/pg18.htm

I tried to order from him once as well, thinking that based on the name, Vail Villager, that he might be in Colorado. He informed me he didn't give out his location for fear of reprisals! I wasn't as nice as you, I sent him a thank you telling him that he, better than anyone, knew how his customers felt about him.

I just checked his feedback, even some of the positives had replys posted about how nasty this person is, and some of the feedback left for others was unbalievable. Stay well away from this one.
Id count my blessings you found out before you purchased anything.

This kind of treatment really brings my temper up.
Asking if you can pick up an item you bid on, and subsequently trying to bid on the item, is not attempting to purchase on the side. And I would report him to Safe Harbor for threatening me and for being so manacing.

Thanks everyone for the support ........ I feel so much better now.... and of course you are all correct in that it's better I find out before I order and I don't have to deal with him ....... DG'ers are the BEST ...... : - )

ebay obviously does not do a test for "emotional or mental stability" uh?

LOL anastatia... although I might not pass that test

Since I've purchased a trillion plants on eBay, I've run across this Seller before and noticed that he/she is VERY quirky. I even purchased one plant from this Seller because it was one that I really wanted, but was very careful about it. Because of the observed quirkiness, I avoid this Seller when at all possible. (You have to read back in the Feedbacks to see how this person has treated past customers).

You didn't do anything wrong honey. Some people are just weird.

Jean

Don't waist your time on this NUT!!!

About 2 year's ago I ordered a few thing's from him and they were AWFUL. Then he e-mailed me telling me that he sent the wrong plant's in my order and wanted them back!!! I did not have his plant's in my order so I e-mailed him to let him know and he called me a LIAR and a few other choice word's! I did report him but nothing was done!!

I think he is from Texas if I remember correctly.

Consider yourself LUCKY that you did not order from this person!!!!

sue

Whew..... talk about blessings in disguise...... thanks jean and sue ...... How come we don't have VailVillager in in the Garden Watchdog....... ?

I would never add them.... people might buy something!!!! LOL

I looked in Garden Watchdog and there was nothing ..... then looked at the ebay listing and two negatives with all those positives didn't seem so bad....... I might have been more reluctant if Garden Watchdog had said "Difficult seller" and using Jean's words "Quirky" .... I really like Garden Watchdog .... : - )


Thanks ruby42

If the negative feedback on eBay is more than 1 or 2 percent, avoid them. Especially if negative feedbacks were recent. I have asked that items be sent parcel post (not plants) before and got refused because some folks do indeed, make money on the shipping.

I live in Washington state but I think this person lives down the street from me. Maybe jets back and forth from Texas? Someone 2 houses up from her used RoundUp on their property and killed HER plant on her property. When the RoundUp person dismissed her complaint and request for $compensation and then refused to drive w/ her to a local nursery to argue the case she confidently explained to me that it was an act of concession on RoundUps part. I could go on and on and on.

I didn't read all of the thread, but I agree go to your local nursery to buy plants. It keeps the money in your area & helps some person that is trying to make a decent place for people to shop. I think the term is "Buy Local"!
We even "Buy Local" the plants we buy to grow on & then sell to others. If you get aquainted with your local nuseryman, he/she can probably get you any plant you want. Also you can be assured it's going to be alive & growing. You can look at it & see!
Bernie

LOL CountryGardens...... don't you worry about the local nurseries - they all get a share of my money.......

I agree with you CountryGardens on spending locally, but after attending multiple garden shows in my area and asking about plants on my want list - there were a couple VailVillager had that none of the nurseries asked carried...... and the little kid in me thinks it's fun to get packages in the mail....

all is well...... I found the plants (actually I ended up with seeds) I wanted at a good price - it was a learning experience

Of course, people shop on ebay because generally they can get a bargain, even with shipping. There is always the occaisional difficult seller but they also have to put up with the difficult buyer, too. I buy and sell in ebay regularly, have had good luck there, for the most part.

I recently saw some rare items I really wanted offered by this seller and was stopped dead in my tracks when I read his responses to the negative feedback he had from buyers. Anyone as insultive as this person will never get my money. Plus I was really turned off by one feedback stating their purchases smelled of cigarette smoke - ugh! Be thankful you sent an email request before purchasing.

In fact, thank you for posting this - the practice of asking a seller a question and seeing the tone of the response (or even if there is a response) is very good practice on ebay.

The feedbacks are great information - I have had successful transactions with some folks who had some negative feedback but were very respectful and helpful in their replies to the negative feedback that had been posted (sometimes it appeared worse than it was due to several postings from one very unpleasant buyer). It is all a matter of respect.

sent you a private message, this woman is the worst I've ever delt with, I've bought from her before. There's no pleasin her, it was nothing you did, so don't take it personally, as I feel as you are. Please, she's been the same way to lots of others. including me. write her off. she does have nice plants, but there are l000's other s out there who do too. and are decent folks to boot.

kathy

Vailvillager is a woman, and she's got a bad temper to say the least.

Well, at least when I delt with her she was a woman

LOL

kathy

LOL

I agree you did nothing wrong. I emailed a seller once about did they combine shipping on their bracelets that started at 1.00. Their reply was my bracelets average 7.00 a piece. That told me even if I paid $1.00 a piece shipping was atleast $6.00 a piece.
Watch that inflated shipping. I got burnt once. won 2 beautiful clocks for 5.00 each. Ended up paying 13.00 a piece shipped in the same box. ouch.
I am glad you ask first and I am also glad you posted here so we know who not to buy from.

don't feel bad she is a bad person to deal with. and be thankful she blocked you before you ordered and then never received your plants. I have been blocked by this person in the past and a year later, i went just to see if she had me blocked still andI was not. i order some tomato seeds from her with her being so unaware who i was, and she was just so so nice. wow some people can be so crazy.

My optometrist bought 12 pairs of frames on ebay from one seller - each pair was its own auction. The seller was charging $12 shipping per pair of frames and would not combine. The optom. complained to ebay and got banned! Forever!

But the Trust and Safety folks at ebay are trying to regulate this eventually, I do know that.

Wow Daisyavenue....... I do feel like alot of times the money is being made on the shipping which is ok by me if the item was cheap but 12.00 each does seem a bit excessive......

if shipping isn't posted i don't bid.

Same here, when shipping is alot more than the item I dont even try. DH just won a really big item on ebay recently, the seller didnt check how much shipping would be and just wanted something around $12 for it. He found out that its going to cost him almost $100 to ship to DH but wasnt going to charge us for it, that was a good thing. But because he was honest and nice about it DH offered to pay half the shipping. Still made out tho, if we had bought that item localy we would have paid well over $200 for it, I think its going to average about $60 even with DH going halfsies on shipping.

When I sold some antique dishes on E-bay a couple of years ago, I would just charge exactly what it cost at the post office. No charge for the boxes & packing material, because post office gives them to you!
I guess I was kind of dumb not to jack the price up, no wonder I didn't make a profit.
Bernie

Yup, shipping can catch you unawares if the seller is not upfront about it. I always ask if they combine shipping, so if they pull a fast one I have some recourse. This might be a little off topic but DH bought some rims from a guy a couple months ago. They were described as being in perfect condition, and there were photos so he bought them. Shipping was pretty expensive, but the price was still good, so he went ahead with it. When they arrived, he looked them over and they were pretty banged up, the guy either just took pics of the good parts or photos of different rims..

Soooooooo, to make a long story short, (is it too late??) DH complained to Ebay, and it went for review. They offered to refund his cost, but he would have to pay the full shipping charge to send them back to the seller. So, how is this good for the buyer??? The seller is out NOTHING, and DH is out the shipping charge BOTH ways, over $300!! So, he is keeping the rims. Bear in mind that Ebay does little or nothing to assist a buyer in the event of an unscrupulous seller. FYI, the seller was Tampaoutpost2.

yes they are getting their money by the sellers listings which is so outrageous i have never comeout to the good selling anything on there, I wonder how all these power sellers do it?