Would you be mad if an ebay seller wouldn't sell you your won auction?***UPDATE*****

[roliepolieoliefan]

I won an auction on ebay 2 days ago for baby formula. Actually 3 cases. The seller didn't contact me so I sent her an email. After 2 days she finally emailed me to tell me she doesn't have the formula because she sold it to someone out of the newspaper in her town. She also said her sister was in the hospital and couldn't stop the auction early. But she wasn't supposed to stop it anyhow because she had bids on the formula the 1st day listed. Then I guess another person who won a couple cases of the formula (there were 6 cases) was upset and may have sent her a nasty email because she left him/her negative feedback stating he/she was rude. I'm very upset too. I think its crap. I reported her and also sent her an email telling her I was none too happy. Am I being too harsh?

 

[battricia]

Not at all, I was going to say you need to report her, Ebay has strict rules against this kind of thing, and it's important to report situations like this. There are alot of scams out there on ebay. Once I sold an item, and a girl put in a bid of 30 dollars, and two days later retracted her bid, which left me without a bidder. I reported her, and I was really angry. So I say good for you, let's all try to keep the ebay community honest.


tricia.

 

[mommytotwo]

Nope, she is obligated to sell you what she had up for auction. I would give her a negative feedback so that she knows how you feel, and to warn others of how that seller is. If she has a good explaination then, ebay will retract the comment. Report her.

 

[epcotfan]

But she wasn't supposed to stop it anyhow because she had bids on the formula the 1st day listed.

She could have removed the bids herself and then cancelled the auction if the item was no longer available. It is easy to do.

 

[TIGGERSMOM]

I would be pissed and would definitely negative her.

As a seller I have had a couple disasters where an item broke or I noticed a flaw as I was mailing. What did I do? I found a replacement fast. Emailed my buyer and sent them the item and a make up gift. There is no need to back off a sale.

 

[Lorix2]

I would be upset too. But you know...why would someone sell cases of baby formula? My guess is they were probably stolen and this could have led a trail back to her...just my .02

 

[Chattyaholic]

I guess I'm in the minority here, as it wouldn't bother me unless I had already sent her the money and THEN she wouldn't send the item. But if you haven't sent payment, then I don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Stimpy]

I'd be annoyed too.

I'm also a little concerned about buying baby formula from Ebay? I'm sure most of the people who use Ebay are reliable and trustworthy but this would really make me uncomfortable.

 

[KrnB]

Nope - you did the right thing by reporting her and posting negative feedback. Those are the rules of eBay - neither side should be allowed to back out of an agreement because that would ruin the integrity of the bids and the reputation that eBay is trying to keep.

The only way the seller would be in the right to not ship the product is if you refused to pay in a reasonable amount of time. Since you were the one contacting her and doing everything you good to make good on your bid, that is definitely not the case.

As far as the baby formula - maybe she had bought too many cases and her child didn't need that much anymore. Maybe she bought a bunch and her baby didn't like that brand. There's all sorts of possible legitimate reasons why that would be up for sale.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Originally posted by Stimpy
I'd be annoyed too.

I'm also a little concerned about buying baby formula from Ebay? I'm sure most of the people who use Ebay are reliable and trustworthy but this would really make me uncomfortable.

I know a lot of people that have sold formula on Ebay. You get so many free samples and coupons after having a baby, and if it's not your brand it's useless.

 

[Beauty]

I'd be mad too!! Thankfully in all the time I've bought and sold on ebay I've only run into 2 problems. I think its overall honest people but there are thorns in every bunch. I would have reported her too.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Chattyaholic- Don't know if you ever did ebay before, but to win auctions it takes time, watching bids etc. I wasted a bunch of time on this auction for nothing. And let others go by because I won this one. Stimpy- The formula is sealed. Even if its bought in a store, who knows if it was bought previously and returned. And I only buy from people with a return policy so I can send it back if need be. Just an update- I left her negative feedback and reported her to ebay. I haven't heard back from them yet. But I also contacted the other 2 winners and they did the same. Thanks everyone for your feedback.

 

[lrmillen]

just leave negative feedback. just like a curse on e-bay. there are thousands of people on e-bay, chances are you'll get a bad apple along the way. be thankful it wasn't a worse situation.

 

[Stimpy]

I honestly didn't mean to offend anyone! If I did, I'm sorry. I was just really surprised that you can buy formula off Ebay.

I only mentioned it because I am a little paranoid about stuff like that. Maybe it's just around here, but we can not return unopened formula to the store. They will not accept it "for safety reasons". When I was left with a case of unopened formula after DS switched to milk, I even tried to donate it to a shelter and they wouldn't take it.

I hope everything works out for you roliepolieoliefan!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I left her negative feedback and she left it back for me, saying I was rude. So I now have 3 negative feedbacks for something that wasn't my fault. Then under the follow-up to my negative comments, she stated she was in the hospital all week with her premature niece and couldn't stop the auction. This is untrue, she answered my email about shipping just the evening before. Now I seem like an ogar. And to go through a mediator to have it removed its 20.00. I'm beginning to hate ebay.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by Stimpy
I honestly didn't mean to offend anyone! If I did, I'm sorry. I was just really surprised that you can buy formula off Ebay.

I only mentioned it because I am a little paranoid about stuff like that. Maybe it's just around here, but we can not return unopened formula to the store. They will not accept it "for safety reasons". When I was left with a case of unopened formula after DS switched to milk, I even tried to donate it to a shelter and they wouldn't take it.

I hope everything works out for you roliepolieoliefan!

I live on Long Island and have returned many cases of formula to different stores and they have all taken it back as long as I had the reciept for it. I also bought and sold a lot of it on Ebay when I didn't have receipts or when she got switched to another one (we went through 5 before we got it right!)

 

[Stimpy]

Originally posted by aprilgail2
I live on Long Island and have returned many cases of formula to different stores and they have all taken it back as long as I had the reciept for it. I also bought and sold a lot of it on Ebay when I didn't have receipts or when she got switched to another one (we went through 5 before we got it right!)

I guess I don't look trustworthy then LOL 3 years ago I tried to return the formula to Babies R Us in Bohemia (with a receipt) and they told me that they could not take it back. I didn't try another store because they way the woman made it sound, that was a universal policy. My mistake.

 

[stacy2197]

In Wisconsin if you are below a certain income you get free formula for a year. Most babies only use formula 9 months or so then swich to milk. Perfect money making opertunity for some. Of cource I don't agree with it but could be why people have extra formula to sell.

 

[kadaten]

I can vouch for the stolen theory, too. About half of our grocery stores won't put formula on the shelf. They put little cards with the pictures of the formula in little racks on the baby aisle. You get a card for the right formula and the cashier has to go get it out of the office or from the customer service desk while she's ringing you up....kinda like a lot of places do tobacco products. When I asked why I was told it was for the same reason....cigarettes and baby formula were the items stolen most often!!

Katie

 

[pw2pp]

There have been times when I WANTED (and COULD HAVE) left bad feedback for some idiot (dead beat bidder, etc....) on eBay, but I held back and did NOT leave the bad feedback because I figured the (sometimes psycho - yes, I am serious, there are some real whackos on eBay) person would leave negative feedback for me and I didn't want to tarnish my PERFECT feedback status.

On the subject of buying formula on eBay, I personally would NOT do it. The only "food-type" thing I ever bought on ebay was Starbuck's coffee beans (the UN-ground type). I wouldn't trust food on eBay (especially for a baby). That is just my personal opinion.