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Problem with an ebay rental-Aaaahhhh!!!

S

SOS8260456

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
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Location
NE Pennsylvania
We have just started delving into the realm of ebay rentals. We have done 2so far with no problems. The auctions are Buy It Now's with payment due immediately through paypal. I had an auction up for a 3 bedroom deluxe that sleeps 10 during high demand Easter season. When we just got home I saw that it sold. I then saw an ebay email from the buyer saying that the item is not as described and that they thought it was a 2 bedroom deluxe that sleeps 15. The auction is pretty clear. Of course, it is too late tonight to get some answers. The person did pay through paypal and the money is sitting there. I am in shock. I don't know if someone can hack someone's ebay account and not only win an auction, but pay for it. What ticks me off the most is that if this does not go through, I had 7 people watching the auction who will probably make other arrangements now that it is no longer available. I can't imagine how the person would win a complaint against us either through ebay or paypal because the auction is so clear.

Aahhhh! Can't wait until I can get some answers, but I just had to vent!
 
I don't think ebay is the best venue for rentals. With other sites, you have far more communication with the renter - plus fees are high, and prices are low on ebay.

My guess is that ebay/paypal will refund their money. You may want to go ahead and do that so you can move on and get it rented - but I wouldn't use ebay.
 
They are speaking in code

The buyers do not want the week and they are speaking in code. Their reason for rescission is not logical. It seems frustrating because you probably would prefer they say they can no longer get off work and could they pretty please have their money back. They are actually saying now that we "bought" yours we found a better value.

You on the other hand felt that 7 other potential renters were deprived of your vacation opportunity. If it was a Buy It Now auction they could have stepped up at any time and bought it. They are lookers, not buyers. They may be buyers at a different price. Check closed auctions to see what any have sold for on ebay.

Reduce your price and re-post it on ebay. Block the first party from all future auctions. Put thru a cancel auction request with ebay to get your final value fee refunded. Refund the buyer's money today and do not protest. The longer you fool around, the less valuable your vacation is. It is a time expired commodity. Do not invest much hope in the ebay market giving your a favorable outcome, but go ahead anyways to see if you might make a positive sale. You want to keep that option open.

Repost your week on Redweek and Craigs list. You will get a lot of spammers on Craigslist. (see other posts for examples or start a new post). But there are folks who always check out CL. You might convert a CL looker to an ebay buyer at your suggestion because strangers like the security of the ebay community.

This is a big wake-up call that rentals are not as strong as they once were. Adjust your price to this new reality and send a happy customer to your timeshare not a disgruntled one.
 
Watchers are probably your competitors with a similar auction. 7 watchers is not a good indicator that anyone will bid. The only time it's possible is if there is a big variance between the starting bid and the buy it now with no reserve. If there is only a couple hundred bucks difference, they are not bidding.

If the buyer has paid already, then contact them by phone to see if they still want it. That will clarify the situation almost every time. The way to know for sure is after several complaints, just offer to refund his money and put it back up for rent. If they really want it, they will stop you and you will know for sure that they do. If they don't stop you, then they are probably the type that will dispute the charge and give you problems later.

eBay buyers back out all the time. But, it is usually before they pay. We are ruthlessly committed to simply cancelling and refunding ebay auctions. As a result, we don't have many issues. We flush out immediately if the person really wants it. As soon as you cater to the whining, it will never stop.
 
Agree with fellow posters

You dont want a renter who doesnt want the rental. Might recommend offering the buyer an offer to cover your costs ebay charged.

If they are a standup ebayer, they should agree to pay all fees for backing out of the transaction, you relist the item and move on.

A similar, but different strategy is to ask the buyer to cover the difference between what your true profit is from this auction that they flaked on and the auction price plus fees.

I personally dont like to deal with headaches as the seller has limited leverage with ebay, so i would choose option one. Nothing wrong with option two, but can complicate things a bit more.

Bottom line, they bought the item and are responsible for it. However, i find it makes business much better the more flexible you are as a seller cause legitimate issues can and do come up.
 
As of right now they have not contacted us and we have left several messages. The money is sitting in our paypal account. We do a lot of rentals of this particular type, plus we keep on top of the market and I am very confident in the pricing. If something happened that they could not use it, then they should just come forward and explain. It is just so weird. If it was I, I would be on the phone trying to explain and get the money back, using honey insead of vinegar.

According to ebay and paypal, we are not required to refund the money as long as we can prove the item is as described. I have no problem refunding their money, but not until I am asked nicely. Plus with our luck, we'd refund the money and then all of a sudden they'd say they wanted it.

Thanks for the reminder about blocking them from bidding. I have a few others up.
 
My advice is to refund their money and move on. You are probably in for a long battle, and it ties up your rental.
 
Refund!

I agree that you should refund the money! I sell quite a bit on ebay not TS but jewelery and let me tell you it is much easier to just refund the money and get positive feedback. It can be pretty awful to fight this not to mention you are likely going to recieve negative feedback, you could charge a small "refund" or "restocking" fee.
 
SOS8260456 said:
...
I have no problem refunding their money, but not until I am asked nicely...
Click to expand...

Expectations can be disappointing ... did you put in your ad "I grant refunds - but you have to ask nicely?".

I think you should refund and move on - bang - that quick.
 
Well....finally spoke with the gentleman in question. He emphatically denies sending the email, but he also emphatically wants the rental as it is part of his children's Easter surprize (don't want to name the resort, but lets just say it involves an indoor waterpark). The gentleman seems quite normal, but was very upset at the thought of it being cancelled.

The email that was sent was so crazy that I wonder if it is some type of scam like the old "second chance offers" that used to be sent out...because really who would be upset at the thought of being in a 3 bedroom rather than a 2 bedroom.

We have been doing rentals since 2004 and have encountered some interesting scenarios, but this one is definately a first of its kind. We would have definately refunded the money IF a refund was asked for, but the email never asked for a refund, just stated that the item was not as described because they thought it was a 2 bedroom that slept 15 instead of the 3 bedroom that only slept 10. And I am very glad that we didn't just cancel and refund without speaking to him personally.

So now I just hope te rest of the rental goes smoothly. They have been there before, so hopefully there will be no complaints there.

Jim's advice to make sure to speak to the renter before doing anything unchangable helped alot. That is what we were leaning toward, but sometimes it is good to see it come from another source.

The one thing I love about points is that we have that option to cancel and use in another way if a rental doesn't pan out. There is always the "lost opportunity cost" that another renter might have taken it, but overall, we are not at the mercy of having a unit sitting empty.

Thanks for listening to me vent and for all the comments.

Lisa
 
I then saw an ebay email from the buyer saying that the item is not as described and that they thought it was a 2 bedroom deluxe that sleeps 15.
Click to expand...

I'm confused - was this email sent from the buyer's ebay Acct. - that should have been easy to verify?
 
Last edited:
One piece of advice...SAVE ALL YOUR EMAILS...

The buyer now has confirmation that he sent you an email on 'this date' that he requested a refund....If you don't save the email that say's 'he now whats to use it' it could be an issue AFTER he checks out of the room
 
I've actually been the victim of that scam. A few years ago, I bid on camera equipment from a reputable company. A few days later, I found out my bid was cancelled and the company had blocked me from bidding. Apparently, they had received that forged e-mail, but they went ahead and blew me off instead of asking about it.
I don't miss that they won't let me buy from them, I've bought equipment from other reliable companies.
TS
 
Now that I am calmed down and not so upset about the slur on our reputation. I went back and analyzed everything further.

1. This is the exact wording in the email "When I purchashed on the 15th of march I was under the undersanding it was for a 2 bedroom condo with up to 15 waterpassses so please correct the mistake thanke you Dave"
The set up looks like everyother ebay email I have ever received, but pretty sad that I didn't pay attention to all of the typos.

2. I compared the email address on the above email to the email address that ebay sent to me when I requested the user's information. Two totally different email addresses.

3. I cannot locate my email response to them asking what exactly was the problem. I have a print out, but it is not in my sent box or in ebay.

Something weird has happened. I have changed all my passwords just in case something screwy happened there. We are going to do the rental in good faith and hopefully there will be no additional problems.

Just one more thing to be on the lookout for.
 
It is smart to change your ebay password. Funtime
 
Thanks for posting this...it confirms my policy of speaking to every customer by phone every time
 
Nigerian scammers getting more crafty. I wonder how they were gonna get the refund of the cash? Ask you to send it to different paypal acct? wire?
 
Maybe this is the reason that ebay wants all communication to be thru their messaging system. I know they are forbidding putting email addresses in the listings and now I can see how this could be abused. The scammers sure get creative. Thanks for posting.
 
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