The blog that's gotten one comment ever! Thanks mom!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Ebay rant, part deux

So after my earlier post on this, I did some more research. Turns out, you can sell things on ebay without actually having the item you're auctioning! Sound fishy? Well, it is. But it's not illegal, as long as you send the item out within 30 days. Of course, in the seller's terms on the page, they mention a 7-10 day wait before shipping, though we have obviously gone long beyond that in this case. After three unanswered emails via ebay, I contacted the seller through paypal, basically saying hey, looks like you don't have the game, let's just cancel this so I can get on with life. Here's the response.

Message From Seller:
This was a preorder. We are waiting to receive our shipment from our distributor, but it is currently on back order. We sent you an email but you must not have received it.
Regards.

Ok, fair enough. Except that nowhere in the auction does it mention that this item is a preorder (wonder why? Think that would scare people off?). Also odd that this email shot right into my inbox the day after I asked for the refund, but his earlier email never got to me? I'm thinking he may need to talk with his email provider, judging by the other feedback, this isn't an uncommon issue. In any case, got my money back, and left neutral feedback with the following comment.

Item was preordered, canceled order after three weeks, got refund.

Will that help any other suckers out there buying things on ebay? Probably not. But it opened my eyes a bit.

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