Looking for an opinion ...

[dyanni]

Here's the deal ...

I bid on a set of 20" rims a few months ago - and stopped at 1000.00. Someone else won those rims at like 2200 bucks. They re-appeared on Ebay a week or so ago, so I bid somewhere in the neighborbood of 1275 - and I WON! at 1226.00 Apparently the previous buyer/bidder skipped out.

<<--- Insert problem here

I was in Dallas the day the auction ended and could not get on the internet until two days later - when I did, I saw messages from the seller freaking out thinking I was skipping out too - I sent email telling him I definitely wanted the rims and would paypal him when I returned to Atlanta within 2/3 days. He sent a message asking me to call him.

<<-- Insert bigger problem here

When I called, he said that since I didn't respond the same DAY the auction ended, he freaked and called the next bidder inline and told him he really wanted 1500 for the rims/tires, but would let them go for 1400 if he was interested. He was. BUT since I had told the dude I still wanted the rims - he said he wanted to give me first crack at the 1400.00 price - saying it was the ethical thing to do.

I told him, I felt I won the auction at 1226 - a really - REALLY good deal. That deal was closed, I did not skip out and was prepared to pay that day. He said he would not accept less than 1400, despite the winning bid on Ebay. ( this was a no reserve auction ) He did not want me to post negative feedback for him, because he would have to post negative feedback for me. Now I'm confused. When Ebay notified me I was the winner, it said I had 3 business days to contact the seller ... What did "I" do wrong ? Am I wrong ?

<<-- Insert opinion here

[VX crazy]

Something wrong with that guy!! You need to stand by the terms of ebay!! You had 3 days to contact him, not 1 day to pay him! Tell him if he does not abide by the winning bid you will leave negative feedback and turn in complain to ebay. Even if he left you negative feedback you can tell your side and see that he is the one being unethical!!

[BumbleV-X]

He was in the wrong offering the next in line the tires at an inflated price. Your bid was legal and binding. If, you read the mumbo jumbo in fine print saying to contact within 3 days point that out to him. If he tries to back out of your winning bid contact eBay immediatly. He can be knocked off of eBay with that kind of ethics. Did you notice how many sales he's had in the past? What kind of feedback he has?
I would personally contact eBay. They can help you with the problem.

Good luck,
Deby

[Leah]

Ebay has very strict rules about abiding by its very strict rules. The seller is breaking a legal and binding contract by asking you for more money. If he continues to do so, you have the right to sue him. Email or call ebay and inform them of the situation. Either they will take care of it or they will tell you what steps to take. The seller is legally bound by law, not just ebay law, to sell you those rims for the auction-win price, just as you are bound by law to buy them. An auction is a legal contract.

You are in the right. You did have three days to contact seller, and even longer to submit payment depending on terms of sale. Take action immediately to ensure your rights and standing as auction winner.

Please keep us informed.

[VehiCrazy]

I agree with Leah fully. I have over 100 ebay auctions under my belt as both buyer and seller. That guy is breaking the rules. I hope things work out for you.

[johnnyapollo]

Hey Donny,

The only out that the seller has is if he listed the item in error. eBay's terms and aggrements list an error in the listing as an out on the obligation to sell you those rims. In this case, I don't believe he can use that as an out.

Since he contacted you and gave you that mumbo-jumbo, he's obviously trying to get more money out of you on the rims. He's also probably lying... if the second bidder wanted them for $1400, he would have bid that high. Since he didn't, it doesn't stand to reason that he would want to pay that now.

You could sue the guy for breach, but the reality is that you probably won't. I wouldn't budge on the price, and I would bring pressure on him through eBay to sell them to you at the winning price. You fullfilled your obligation as far as eBay is concerned. If the guy doesn't sell you those rims, the best you can do is have him thrown off eBay. But eBay will only do that under extreme circumstances.

Ultimately, what will probably happen is that you'll both back down and the rims will be relisted. You can leave him a negative, but he'll just end up giving you a negative in retaliation. Isn't life and eBay grand?

Now, you could go to eBay, with the emails the guy sent you and accuse him of fraud. eBay is pretty tense about those type of claims. I've seen a lot of cases like this (I work for an auction management company with very close ties to eBay), in the very least, you'll get this bozo kicked off eBay. On the other hand, you may or may not get the rims.

Personally, I would threaten the guy with a fraud charge at eBay and see what he does. If he's not bothered with the threat of being kicked off, go to eBay and make his life miserable. To me, it's not worth putting up with this type of BS.

My $.02 -- John

[dyanni]

He said he has had no negative feedback on Ebay so far. I went ahead on faith and sent him my PayPal payment for the rims this morning to keep my claim alive. He has not responded. Maybe he is just panic'd - and maybe he should have asked for a reserve, but did not - and allowed the auction to contine to go until the end.

Before he started doing the Texas-Two-Step ( no offense to Texas ) He sent this thru Ebay to me ( this is an excerpt )

The seller entered the following message: hey there I really don't know why these rims went so cheap this time but I was would Ideally like 1500 at least out of them and than or course S&h but I make the insurance optional so it will just be 250 if you don't want issurance! congrats you got these for a steal....damn!

Then - he says he contacted the other bidders when I didn't respond immediately.

We will see where this goes, and I will post an update here. If you spent anytime on Ebay recently - you know which rims/tires I am talking about.

Thanks for the responses - I wanted a sanity check here.

[Cyrk]

Good luck, Dyanni those rims are HOT!

Are they the 20 Delta's off the yeller VX?

I would love to have them, wanna trade for my 18 Chrome Borbet CW3 for them if it works out??

Ha hope it all works out.

-Dave

[dyanni]

Yep - they are the 20" Detata Essex with Goodyear GT2 rubber from the Yellow VX you remember. If I don't hear from him by tomorrow - then I know what I'll need to do ... Thanks for the responses yall!

[dyanni]

Things are looking grim fellow VX'rs ...

after a what feels like a zillion exchanges - here is where we stand ... ( I santized the language )

This is my response back to the sellers message below:

You did not re-list because of me. You re-listed because someone else skipped out on the first deal. That was NOT me. I won this auction - and contacted you with the time alloted by Ebay - any expenses you incurred because of your fear that I had skipped too - are your responsibility. You indicated on the auction that you accepted pay-pal, so the fee is yours to pay, not the buyers - unless agreed to up front. If you were prepared to honour the terms of the agreement brokered by Ebay we would have had this deal closed Sunday morning when I pay-pal'd your account. You have consistently refused to do the right thing - now I no longer trust you - and that is why I have requested my money back. If you discuss this with your lawyer friend, you will learn you have no right to keep my money at this point.

Please refund the money paid ASAP to my paypal account dyanni@*******


-----Original Message-----
From: ******
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 11:52 PM
To: 'Donny *****'
Subject: RE: Shipping


God you are just a greedy b*tch your going to cut your nose of over a $174 and your still getting a kick a** deal……are you willing to jeopardize all of that for this I will make it difficult until I get in touch with this other guy to get the money from him………..I didn’t want it to go this fair I was trying to be fair about it you just want to steal it from me and I can’t let it happen F**K man you are just a little b*tch if you want to do it the hard way than that’s fine I will do it the hard way…..you will wait to get your refund……….til I get ahold of the other guy……..or till I get a hold of one of the other many interested buyers……………this is your last chance pay the 174 and you’ll get them by Friday at the latest………..lets just get this behind us so I can move on………..like I said if need be I will leave negative feedback too…..LAST CHANCE!!!!!


p.s. if you have any ???s just call we were a lot more productive over the phone maybe there might be a some sort of a compromise (***) ***-****.



If you think about all the money I lost cause I had to relist it since you did respond that cost me 34 and I lost another 60 going through pay pal I don’t want it to go this fair to start nit picking so let RESOLVE IT TELL YOU WHAT THIS IS MY LAST OFFER GIVE ME THE $94 WHICH WILL COVER MY RELIST FEE (for you not getting intouch w/ me soon enough) and the 60 I lost through pay pal………and I’ll send them………I just want to get you out of my f**king hair……

I went through SquareTrade on Ebay to mediate - but looks like this will have to go to Ebay afterall. Not a happy camper.

[VX crazy]

I would not buy anything from that sicko!! To speak like that to you, I would not get the wheels from him even if he came back and said you can have them for the winning price! What a jerk, and to think he could have been one of us? Poor yellow vx, hope he did not treat her like that!

[Dallas4u]

Dyanni,

First of all, this dude is either a young punk-*****, or just an illiterate man-child. He (it?) obviously didn't read or decided not to abied by the "legal" "binding" rules of Ebay, a respected online auction house. Do as MUCH through Ebay as possible, and even consider contacting a lawyer just to have a letter drawn up showing how he has wronged you.

Seriously, that's a lot of money (to me anyway). Don't let him "keep it" until the other $1400 comes in. Besides, you do NOT want those wheels from him!

[Cyrk]

Man what a dick that guys is...
F'm Dyanni.

Good luck,
Dave

[dyanni]

Ok - I made a mistake. NEVER buy anything overly expensive on Ebay. I wonder how he treated the person that got his VX off Ebay ...

I am going to send the collection of email exchanges to both Ebay and Paypal - at least as a complaint. He dug his own hole.

Just got his final message regarding the trade - thought I would share it with you for a chuckle ...

F*** you jacka** yes I did relist it as a second chance auction and that is when I got all the calls back now you just lost out I’m not going to refund your money or deliver your sh*t what do you think of that I don’t get even I get a head…………………

Here's to innocence lost.

[Cyrk]

What a jerk... Sorry.

Funny bought my Borbets of ebay about 1 1/2 ago never had one problem. knock on wood.

Hope you get your money back.

-Dave