Bad ebay person!!!

[Bean]

Okay everybody listen up! Stay away from an ebay and SCA merchant by the name of Timeless Threads. She is unscrupulous and doesn't deliver the goods. I am going to try and take her to small claims court to get my $92 back for garb I ordered back in July and never recieved. I also filed a mail fraud report with the USPS. Please pass the word for me.......

Betsy
mad as heck and not taking it anymore!!!

[AnkleGoddess]

you go girl. :bow: Just remind me never to piss you off :D

[moira]

hmmm... i think i bought something from them... the name is very familiar... im gonna have to check...

moira

[Bean]

So I need some etiquette advise: since this person is involved with ren garb and the SCA, should I post on some of the ren-related message boards (AFR and the like)? I don't want to make trouble, but I want others to think about what they are getting into before they get burnt, too. I did some more research on ebay and found out that there have been others that she has done the same thing to. I have contacted them about my claim to see if they got resolution or not, and if they want to file with me.
I just don't know if I should cross the line and post to other boards.

Betsy

[cyd]

Actually, check those boards (via google or something) to see if someone hasn't already posted nasties about this person...

And if you do put something out there? Do yourself a favor and restrict it to ONLY the facts. Because otherwise you will screw yourself over, because then she could try and sue you for slander. If you explicitly say "I paid, I waited X number of months, I contacted her Y number of times, and I have still not received my goods. Buyer beware!" you should be fine. However, if you start using any forms of negative verbiage, she can use that against you.

Oh, and give her some nasty negative feedback on ebay. While it may not do THAT much good, it may ward off at least a few potential buyers.

Cyd (had to do THAt one before... Witha company that took three months to give me a refund because they shipped my product to someone else, and couldn't get it back).

[jillian]

Speaking as an eBay merchant and (too frequent) buyer, even one negative feedback can be enough to make a dent in someone's business. Is her ID "timelessthreads?" If so, she only has 8 positives and one negative really will make a difference. I would not buy garb from someone who has a 12% of a chance of not delivering the goods.

Cyd's advice of stating the facts and letting them speak for themselves sounds perfect.

I'm sorry you're having to go through this sort of nonsense. Please keep us posted about how it turns out, okay?

Jillian "100 positive feedbacks and counting!" Headen
:meow: :meow: :meow: :meow:

[cyd]

Speaking as an eBay merchant and (too frequent) buyer, even one negative feedback can be enough to make a dent in someone's business. Is her ID "timelessthreads?" If so, she only has 8 positives and one negative really will make a difference. I would not buy garb from someone who has a 12% of a chance of not delivering the goods.

Cyd's advice of stating the facts and letting them speak for themselves sounds perfect.

I'm sorry you're having to go through this sort of nonsense. Please keep us posted about how it turns out, okay?

Jillian "100 positive feedbacks and counting!" Headen
:meow: :meow: :meow: :meow:

*chuckle* I WAS at 100% positive feedback until a nasty seller decided to post retaliatory feedback.

When you order favors three months before your wedding, and are instead shipped a mikasa cake server, this gets somewhat aggravating. I spoke to seller, seller said sorry, she'd get on it. I asked her where to send the cake server back to and what to do about the shipping, no response. A week later I sent her email again. Oh, sorry, your stuff hasn't gotten shipped back to us, we'll let you know as soon as it's in stock. This went on for two months. A month before the wedding I finally gave her an ultimatim, and she finally just refunded the money, saying she'd not replenished her stock yet. I left her with negative feedback, because I'd had to send her repeated emails, some with no responses, and never got my items. She promptly sent retaliatory negative feedback saying I "wasn't understanding enough".

Fortunately ebay now allows you to respond to someone's posted feedback with an explanation. But I'm hoping to start selling a lot of my fabric stash on ebay soon, and I'd hate to have that single negative feedback impact my sales. Some people don't bother to look for the explanation why. And some of the sellers I've seen out there say that if you have even one negative feedback, they won't sell to you. I don't know how much my feedback impacted the lady I dealt with, since she apparently sells HUGE amounts of stuff... But while she's got over a thousand positives, she's got about thirty negatives... Doesn't seem like much on a percentage basis, but if someone had THAT many negatives, I'd be wary.

If YOU give her negative feedback and someone else gives her negative feedback and so on, this can REALLY impact on her sales. Even one can screw someone up. Give her the feedback she deserves. A truly good businesswoman deals with the problem at the time it happens, not months later.

Cyd (I'll let you all know if/when I start putting some of my fabric stash on ebay... ;) )

[Bean]

Unfortunately it is too late to leave negative feedback. I also think that with the number of negatives she had on her old user ID she had to change to another or not do any business. I am considering reporting that to ebay as well. I read somewhere that when you file a mail fraud report, people usually settle that as soon as the post office notifies them of an investigation. (federal offenses can really ruin one's life, can't they?) I think when I get home tonight, I am going to do some searching and report her activities on any ren-related site I can find. I have the feeling from reading info on her website that she is into SCA, so I may go to their website and see if there is a message board and post.

Betsy
hoping this is not all in vain :augh:

[daBaroness]

Cyd is correct. You must be careful what you put in writing because it can be liablous (as opposed to what is verbally said which is slanderous). Liable is much easier to prove in a court of law because there's physical evidence of the negative commentary made against a person or business. Slander on the other hand is very difficult to prove because it depends almost exclusively on heresay evidence - which is inadmissable in most courts.

Again as Cyd recommended, there's certainly nothing wrong with putting the facts before the potential buying public. You didn't get what you paid for and you've certainly done what you needed to do in terms of contacting the vendor and allowing a reasonable time period. I hope you get some sort of financial satisfaction or at the very least this person loses the patronage of others because of your comments on ebay.

As for posting the warning on other venues like the IWG, IBRSC, and AFR boards ... I think as long as you stick to the facts and state that it's your opinion people should think twice about patronizing the business you should be OK - just leave liablous jargon out of it even though it would be greatly cathartic to call a liar and thief a liar and thief.

daBaroness Vel

[moira]

Unfortunately it is too late to leave negative feedback. I also think that with the number of negatives she had on her old user ID she had to change to another or not do any business.

do you know what their old user ID was? i had someone screw me over in late june. i wonder if its the same person...

moira

[Kat]

I don't post very often here, more on afr. I have to say that I did order from this person Timeless Threads, about a year ago. Took me forever to get the garb, like 6 months for one small item. I didn't however pay before I got it. I received every excuse in the book. :roll: She is not someone I will never again order from.

[Bean]

So here is the final scoop on this situation:

After filing a mail fraud report and emailing the ring mistress of the renaissance webring and the moderator of the SCA Merchants, I finally got a response from Ms. Waltner. The SCA Merchants threatened her removal if she did not respond to my complaint in 7 days and guess what, she responded with the speed of light!!
As of 8:30pm I FINALLY got my money back!!! (happy dance!!) Thanks for all your ideas and support in this matter, and thanks Cyd for the research! I owe ya' one!!

Betsy

[jillian]

You won!!! Congratulations! :bananada:

And, uh, remind me not to ever tick you off, okay? :wink:

Cheers!
-Jillian

[AllieSutherland]

I know the situation is resolved... but... to warn others, if this involved PayPal or some other such payment means, perhaps you could warn them too? I know that I would be SOOOO grateful if being ripped off were forewarned by others.

Thanks for keepin' us ALL safe (with our money safe... well, until Faire season. ;)

XOXOXOXOX
Allie

[Abigail]

I'm an ebay seller and buyer, and I've used ebay for over 2 years.

Here are some pointers-

I try to always pay with paypal. I bought a mundane dress from someone and she claimed to have shipped it, but I never recvd it. So I filed a report with paypal (gotta do it 14-29 days after auction is over)and since the seller didnt have proof she mailed it (insurnace receipt or DC) I got my money back.

As a garb maker and seller on ebay, I try to only sell pre-made items and not custom jobs, mostly so my customers don't have to wait 3-6 weeks while I make their widget gown.

This is a big duh, but check feedback. If the seller has their email listed you can do a seller search with their email address, which will show you if they have (or had) any other user ids. thats how I found out my dress seller had to get a new id b/c of her 30 negs.


In the case of merchants who claim to have an affliation withthe SCA, if they wont answer your emails, look at their local sca group website, email their senechal (thats like the VP of the barony/shire) and ask if they have contact info for one of their members. Tell them you are trying to get ahold of them to settle and mundane matter. You dont; have to go into detail.

As dfor negs. I have one b/c I accidnetally sent the wrong email to the wrong winner and instead of emailing me to confirm, she neg'd me and themn sent me an email to tell me that she wasnt going to pay anyway b/c her son had bid on the item. Ah, the joys of commerce.

And fianlly (as I ramble on) :lol: if you are new to ebay and don't understand all the rules and reg, the ebay help feature is AWESOME. Or email the seller of the item. I get 20-30 emails a week from new people with questions mostly about how ebay works.


Abigail,
ebay wench....

[lauradake]

I'm an ebay seller and buyer, and I've used ebay for over 2 years.


Abby has some great pointers about buying on Ebay. :)

And remember... for every bad apple out there, there are 10 GOOD apples. :) There are LOTS of good, respectable merchants who both sell on the 'net and through Ebay--so I hope that one bad experience dosen't poision y'all's mind against us all. :)

-laura, semi-frequent Ebayer. :)

[jillian]

I agree, Laura. I have had WAY more good experiences on eBay than bad.

Speaking of buying stuff, I looked at http://www.greycatdesigns.com/ and I :hearts: LOVE :hearts: the flemish gown. I'm hoping you'll start making those again by the time I'm through "shrinking" (yay, Weight Watchers!) and can buy one.


:bananada: :workout:

[cyd]

So here is the final scoop on this situation:

After filing a mail fraud report and emailing the ring mistress of the renaissance webring and the moderator of the SCA Merchants, I finally got a response from Ms. Waltner. The SCA Merchants threatened her removal if she did not respond to my complaint in 7 days and guess what, she responded with the speed of light!!
As of 8:30pm I FINALLY got my money back!!! (happy dance!!) Thanks for all your ideas and support in this matter, and thanks Cyd for the research! I owe ya' one!!

Betsy

*chuckle* Any time, honey... I hate to see someone get screwed over...

:twisted:

I'm a baaaaaaad person to get pissed off... Because I usually find the completely legal method to screw you over something fierce, and know how to find it... ;) Takes a lot to piss me off, but deadbeat merchants are one of those things that don't take much to set me on the research trail... ;)

Glad to see you've gotten a positive response! :)

Cyd (who me? I don't do thaaaaat.... much. *grin*)

[lauradake]

I agree, Laura. I have had WAY more good experiences on eBay than bad.

Speaking of buying stuff, I looked at http://www.greycatdesigns.com/ and I :hearts: LOVE :hearts: the flemish gown. I'm hoping you'll start making those again by the time I'm through "shrinking" (yay, Weight Watchers!) and can buy one.


:bananada: :workout:

*grin* Cool! Thanks for the nice words! :)

Hmmm... we've never stopped making the Flemish dress--could you email me and let me know what's on the website that made you think that so I could fix it? Thanks bunches. :) :) :)

[jillian]

D'oh! :oops:

Two seconds after I posted the message about the "Flemish" gown, I realized I really meant the "Robe du Soir" here: http://www.greycatdesigns.bigstep.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=657567%7C891981&PRID=1288443

I'm sorry about the ambiguity.

Cheers!
-Jillian

p.s. I did email you at the greycat address, but I decided to post this up here in case anyone else wants the same dress and may be misled by my previous posting.

The Robe du Soir is just gorgeous!

[CinD]

Dag!! Remind me not to ever piss you off!! :bow: (Was looking for a biting, chomping emoticon, but subservience to your strength seemed more appropriate after all! :wink: ) Hoping you get some positive results from all of this - it truly sucks to be taken advantage of and ripped off! Good luck! :grouphug: cc