Do you have my Vacumatic Maxima?

May 10, 2009

Short: If you received a Parker Vacumatic Maxima from eBay seller artlvrtoo in late Jan-Feb 2009, please PM me.

Long:

The point of this post?

1. If you received my Maxima, please PM me so we can come to some agreement.

2. Are there any other ways to try to resolve this? I have his address and full name, nothing else.

3. To warn people about the eBay seller artlvrtoo ; I don't know whether or not his problem is genuine, but at this point he isn't able to fulfill his obligations, or even give me the courtesy of replying to the occasional message.

Back in January, I won an auction for a Vacumatic Maxima from a seller on eBay- artlvrtoo. Brown laminate, plastic filler. I received the wrong pen, notified the seller. After a delay, the seller apologized and claimed that he had just suffered a housefire, but that I should send the pen back. I made many sympathetic sounds back, and asked for the address. He received the pen, and emailed me to say so.

Fast forward- it's now over two months after I sent payment. He has said that he's contacted the other person who had purchased a pen from him at the same time. He claims to have received the *correct* pen, and not the Maxima- which would be quite impossible, because I received his pen. Presumably, he says this because he'd rather have my Vac Maxima than the Vac Standard he bought.

I don't know if the story is bunk or not. The guy has had good feedback in general. But from where I sit, it's hard not to think the guy a crook. The end result to me is the same. He's rarely responded to messages; the last one claimed that his insurance money would finally be coming and that I'd get a refund by the end of the week. That was over two weeks ago, and it seemed to be in direct reply to my threat of sharing my experience here and on PenTrace.

The cruddy thing is that I'm way past eBay and PayPal's complaint deadlines. Because of his tone and reputation eBay, I trusted the guy. I can't get his phone number, or request a refund through PayPal. He never responds to email, and when I try to send a message via eBay's messaging, it tells me messages are blocked because the item has expired, he hasn't bought/sold anything from/to me in the last three months, and because he isn't selling anything on eBay right now. In other words, I'm screwed.

In over ten years of buying and selling stuff on eBay this is the first time I've had this outcome- in the rare instance where someone stiffed me (twice in ten years), I got a speedy enough refund from PayPal.

I don't think that the times are a'changing, but I don't know how else to deal with similar problems in the future other than hitting it hard and fast, even if the person claims it's in the mail. I mean, sometimes mail takes a month to get to me from Italy, but if I can't make a claim after 45 days of a sale, there is no way to deal with a situation where someone from Italy sent me the wrong pen other than to file a report as soon as I got the wrong pen in the first place.

Thanks all!

Regards,

Aaron

May 11, 2009

I don't know, about this for sure. Paypal's is 60 day's? I'm sure you learned.

But I've had problems with not fountain pens but computer components on ebay.

The best way is just to file a dispute with paypal, before the time's up. Then you have like an extra thirty days to resolve the dispute before paypal decides in your or his favor. And if he fixes his wrong. Then you can resolve the dispute by yourself. And if he doesn't you dont get money stolen from. If he doesn't resolve then his accounts get locked.

However, I don't think with the time gone you can get anything. But you could email paypal's customer service and explain the situation. And see if they made an exception for you. I've never done that so I can't say your chances, but its better than no chance.

Sorry about your circumstances with him and the pen.

davy.

May 11, 2009

If you paid with a credit card through PayPal, you can do a charge-back through your credit card company. But there may be card-specific time limits involved in this process as well. Still, it might be worth a try.

May 11, 2009

Mrs Ink had a very similar problem with a non-FP-related item. Like you she went past her Paypal dispute deadline because of the seller's assurances that he would honour his commitment. Unfortunately, he never did. Not wanting to give up, Mrs Ink decided to seek help directly via the bank that issued her credit card. She managed to reclaim all her expenses within a few days, after proving that the seller had been less than honest (she had a whole stack of email correspondence back and forth).

I agree with Strang - it's worth a shot. But do not leave it until tomorrow - do it ASAP.

Hope it works out for you.

May 12, 2009

Thanks for reading and for the replies folks- I received my first message from David (artlvrtoo) in almost a month. Asking for my PayPal address and total again, so I'm not crossing my fingers... But at least it's a little progress! I also did file a complaint with eBay, which is outside their usual Resolution Center thing. They told me they's be getting the chap's phone number and contact info, so if he drops out again at least I have another avenue to try. They're also contacting him, and if they can't get ahold of them the problem gets escalated. I don't know what that means- like some folks said, they money is probably lost if he doesn't pony up a refund, but at least it should prevent it from happening again. At least, one hopes!

Thanks all!