Come ON People!!! Sheesh......

[www.6-ft-under.com]

Ok, just so you know....this is a rant. So if you don't want to hear me gripe and complain,stop reading now. But if you have ever ordered something from e-bay and gotten nasty dirty junk like I have, then read on!
Ok, this has happened to me before....but this time I just snapped!
I won a lamp on e-bay. It looked fine in the photo. But when I got it in the mail it was the nastiest, grungiest, cruddiest (are those even words?--I'm so mad that I can't tell) lamp that I had ever seen!!!
It was owned by smokers....but don't think that I am hating on smokers....I smoked for years and quit only a few years ago. But the dang thing was so covered in tar that it took me over an hour to clean it all off. And it stunk! Really stunk... I had to leave it out on my porch for two days before I could even bear to clean it....stunk!. And as an icing on the cake the seller wrapped the globe in TAPE!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF TAPE! One hour of cleaning off the nicotine and one hour of picking off the tape and scrubbing the sticky crap off and I am beyond PO'd!!!!! Oh, did I mention that they mailed it sitting on the base? and that the globe hit the bulb and shattered it and I had to get pliers to get it out?....and that I cut my finger? and that when you get cleaner used to take off sticky tape crap in a cut made by a broken bulb that it hurts?!?!?!?!? Did I mention that?
Now I know that not everyone can be Mr or Mrs Clean....but can't people DE-SCUZZ THEIR CRAP BEFORE THEY MAIL IT? Sheeeshh...it looks like it came from the town dump!
Ok, I do feel better now. And the lamp has a new bulb and is plugged in and is running quite nicely. And it IS the lamp that I wanted. So will I send a nasty e-mail to the seller?.....no. Will I light a candle by the lamp (still smells like smoke) and sit back and enjoy the lava?...yes. Has this happened to me before?...yep. Will it happen again?...probably.
So now that I've gotten this off my chest, it's YOUR turn. Tell me about the things that you ordered from e-bay that wern't QUIIIITE what you wanted. Go ahead....gripe! I did and I feel much better now....thanks. Ahhhh...it is a pretty lamp.
"Bert"
6-ft-under.com

[Kris]

I would have sent this same thing to the seller. I have actually done that several times.

My incident happened a few weeks ago. I bid on and won a firefly fiber optic lamp. It was in the box and perfect. I contacted the seller and asked her if she could send it priority because all the sellers now do parcel to save money. Crap service. She said yes. Then a day later after the auction ends, I asked her to make sure she puts the box INSIDE another box to mail it. She said not a problem and would do that. So I pay her the day the auction ends on a Sunday.

Friday rolls around and nothing in the mail. I contacted her and she said she mailed it that day. I asked her why did it take that long? She stated she only ships out once or twice a week (basically when she feels like it). She said I should have read the auction. I went back and noticed the really really small print that said she ships out only once or twice a week. I was like ok, whatever. Saturday I get an email from paypal stating my package will be shipped with them and so on so forth. I was like what the hell. That email goes out when someone creates a label. So I wait until Tuesday to see when my package arrives. It does not. So I email the seller and find out what the deal is. She responds it was sent out.

That Saturday I get the package in, finally. Guess what - she sent it in the original box with the shipping labeled taped to that. I was so pissed off. On top of that she sent it PARCEL POST! Even after I paid for priority. I emailed her and blasted her. She gave me a shipping refund and that was it. I left her neutral feedback and she goes and leaves me feedback that says "can not please this buyer - watch out!!!!" Really? My instructions were simple and anyone would have asked them.

There are many idiots out there. I pray every time I buy something that I don't get them when it comes to packing. Some people should not be doing this stuff. Period.

[Lars]

I've only been buying a short time and have luckily not had your bad luck. I know you buy fairly pricey items so I'm flummexed that people would ship expensive items like so much trash. I know this sounds stupid, but is it possible to have a local shipping place actually pick the item up from whoever does the selling and have THEM pack and ship it to reduce the chance of damage? (Probably cost prohibitive but all I can think of for now)

L

[Kris]

They pack like crap too. My last broken item was picked up, packed up and shipped by a UPS store and damaged. Go figure.

It's hit or miss. I am not a very religious person, but I pray every time that my packages arrive ok!

[☆VixenGypsy☆]

Boy, I really don't miss the anxiety of eBay! I've only got one story, it happened when I first started collecting...
I got a Purple Glitter Wizard, silver base, from my Hubby for my 30th b-day, so I decide to look on eBay for another, but a black base. Found it, won it, paid for it, like 20 bucks & sit back & wait. I don't remember where it was coming from, somewhere north west of KY. So, 2 weeks go by, no lamp. I'm emailing the seller, no response for another week. She begins bitching me out, saying it was sent, stop harassing her, blah, blah, blah! I began looking into tracing my money order, finding out that to recieve a refund through Western Union costs $12, so F#@K That! I contact her again, being as polite to give her cavaties, she writes me back that UPS broke it! I told her that I'd like a refund, since I'd paid for insurance, tracking... Never heard from her again, never received the money I paid... left negative feedback & never sent a money order again!

[Modulo '70]

Oh Bert, you absolutely have my sympathies. A nasty experience, these sellers really deserve neg feedback. Hope your finger is better.

J

[Modulo '70]

Well said Kris, I really believe some people don't know what they're doing, selling on Ebay.

[LampHead]

I feel your pain my brother, we all have at one time or another been pushed to the edge of killing someone....luckily for them they were not around...LOL.
Overall its a tough call, I have been in some homes and wondered how some people can live the way they do and its not due to money. I have seen people well off live like pigs and people just getting by living clean. What we consider dirty others may consider ok, its weird like that.

My biggest upset from Ebay was a seller that took the Paypal payment and then disappeared, never answering again. Paypal was completely useless as they did nothing, luckily it was only about $30 total. I have had a few bang ups also with a few bent bases and of course my Alien that arrived in pieces and the ocasional dirty lamp of course. My funniest were one lamp arriving in a box that was 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet .....I laughed my ass off because I dug through a foot and a half of packing for 10 minutes before seeing the globe, the other was a lamp that came in a bubble bag....yep those padded envelopes, the top was sticking out taped to the bag and the lamp was taped together intact base-globe-topcap.......and it was flawless, I never figured out what the seller was thinking on that one, I just let it ride.


LampHead

[JoeLava]

I have been surfing ebay now for seven months, looking at all the cool lamps that i would love to own. Everytime I have considered bidding I freeze. I start thinking of all the horror stories... not only from here, but also from friends and family that have bought and been let down. It is sad. All it would take for me is one bad expierience, coz, unlike some, I wouldn't "put-up" with it. I would send that person back a turd in the mail, with a Thank You card saying, " I'm sorry, did you really think I was sending you a box of chocolates?" "Try cleaning that up to make it look pretty."

[www.6-ft-under.com]

Well JoeLava, I do agree with you. But I have had lots of good ebay transactions too. I have had people send me "freebies," just because they wanted to and I have also met a$$h*les that I wanted to choke. You never know what kind of people you are going to deal with. I guess my main gripe is the stuff that people don't pack well. I can clean off crud (I'm not happy about it, but I can do it.) But I can't always fix broken stuff. I reciently ordered a lamp that was 36" tall. It was a short base with a long glass tube. The seller sent it in two boxes taped together with one piece of bubble wrap. She also sent it Media Mail. DUH-O! Then she acted like I was at fault becase I did not e-mail her and ask for insurance (it wasn't offered on the auction). So I had to get Pay-Pal involved to get a refund. AND she wants the lamp back to prove that it is broken. Ok, here is a 6X6 box of glass.....do I get my money back now?
Some people are a trip......some a good trip.....some notsomuch.
Bert
6-ft-under.com

[Kris]

I will say 95% of my ebay experiences have been positive. 5% have been negative. For instance just recently I purchased 6 febreze noticeables from a seller. I skipped the insurance because - well, insurance on smell good things? Really?

Anyways, I get these things in the mail. The seller has packed 6 of these things in a cardboard flat rate envelope. You know, those thing cardboard envelopes from USPS? Yeah that. One was cracked and leaking everywhere. I contacted the seller and the first things out of his mouth were - you didn't get insurance. I was kinda pissed off. He offered me 10% off my next purchase. I doubt I will ever buy from him again. I asked for a 4 dollar credit, my emails went unanswered.

Seems like sellers are packing like crap and blaming the buyer for not purchasing insurance for when it's damaged. When instead, it's the sellers fault to begin with.

As a seller and a buyer - I could never do that to someone, ever. My mind would just not allow my hands to pack a shitty box for anyone. It's unacceptable. It takes NO TIME to do it right.


Thats about it. Then you have your people that lie on when they ship, they don't actually ship what you pay for (ship parcel even though you pay priority), they only ship parcel which is a joke, they only ship once or twice a week or you have 3 days to pay them and blah blah blah. I don't go by the sellers crap rules. Ebay has it's rules for a reason. I have 7 days to pay a seller. Not 2, 3 or 1. 7. Hell, I had one seller open up a non paying bidder thing ON the 7th day. Turns out that seller was also a crap packer. Ended up trying to screw me over for shipping and telling me that he was ONLY going to refund the product price. Even though he packed it like crap. I got paypal involved and received a FULL refund.

Some people are idiots. READ THE FEEDBACK! If the seller DOES NOT respond to questions about the auction you ask during - DO NOT BID. I asked a seller a week ago some questions. Sent 3 messages. Never got a response. Found out they BANNED me from bidding on their item. Go figure.

[www.6-ft-under.com]

This is an exact copy of an e-mail that I got just now.
I have a bad feeling about this......

"I shipped the lamp priorty mail. I wrapped it in a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt. Also I separated the pieces and wrapped them individual i.e the light bulb etc. THe postal lady also wrote fragile and I got 50.00 worth of insurance. So we'll see. She said it should be fine. Let me know. Tracking number 13080950000270470338. USPS"

But at least if the lamp breaks I have some clothes to wear...
Bert
6-ft-under.com

[Kris]

What the hell? Jeans and a t-shirt? I will never understand people.