[WWI] ot: Ebay shipping costs

[Magnus Berggren]

Exactly. Just because there legal ways to scxxw you over, it doesn´t mean 
that you have to like it. The feedback system is all about that.
There´s no absolute rule about what reasons to give negative feedback, and 
for me this is a perfectly good reason to use it in that way.
And really, I hate the "nobody put a gun to your head" and "you shouldn´t 
have bid if you didn´t want it. I bid because I wanted it, and yes, I paid. 
But I paid to get reasonable service, and a kit in a jiffy ain´t it. This is 
a question about moral, and nothing else. People complain about the decadent 
young, but every day I see people my age or older, not so seldom wearing 
suits, doing the best to steal my hard earned money.
And no, just because the seller didn´t specify anything in the "shipping 
fee", it doesn´t mean that it´s OK to charge whatever you want. If you leave 
your car to the mechanics for service, you presume that he will at least 
check the oil and the spark plugs. If he then states that to him the opening 
of the bonnet, checking if "everything looks okey" is service, it doesn´t 
hack it. The word service means a lot more, just as £12 shipping doesn´t 
mean £1.45 postage, a jiffybag and £10 pounds in the pocket. It should 
include a service equal to the cost.

/Magnus

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andy Bannister" <a.bann at ntlworld.com>
To: "'World War I Modeling Mailing List'" <wwi at wwi-models.org>
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 8:27 PM
Subject: Re: [WWI] ot: Ebay shipping costs


> Scott:
>
>>
>> If it says "postage" or "shipping", you may have a point that
>> such cost has been mis-represented and you may be getting
>> "pyrite for gold", though I think that may well be
>> overstating the case unless the seller DID specify a higher
>> level of service than provided. I'd also argue you agreed to
>> the price up-front, but that's why they play the ballgame, right?
>>
>> If it says "postage and handling", "postage and packing",
>> "P&P" or any such, they're in the clear because at this point
>> by bidding you are merely agreeing to compensate them
>> handsomely for whatever effort and materials (minimal though
>> they may be) they spent "handling" or "packing" your order.
>> My observation is that most sellers playing this game are
>> careful to use one of the latter strategies.
>>
>> The simple fact is YOU are in undeniable, absolute, 100%,
>> incontrovertible control over whether you bid or not in such
>> an auction. If you don't like the shipping terms your choice
>> is very simple...don't bid. You could contact the seller
>> AHEAD OF TIME and ask for a reduced/more realistic rate and
>> get committment to same, etc and then bid. I just choose not
>> to do business with them.
>>
> Perfectly reasonable. The bottom line though as far as I'm concerned is
> that it is a deliberately dirty & underhanded practice regardless of the
> semantics and those that practice it shouldn't be surprised if people
> complain or leave them negative feedback. One good shafting deserves 
> another
> I say....
> Andy
>
>