Ultrarobotman Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 While looking over the collection today, I was reminded of what happened when I closed a deal on Ebay back in Nov. of 2010., and I am sure others must have their own stories to share? Anyway, I bought a super astronaut with the lithoed doors inside and paid by paypal. It showed up from Puerto Rico but it was not at all as described. Let me be perfectly clear- I am NOT one of those people that nit-picks over descriptions but this robot was not at all as described so I wanted to return it. Got a HUGE hassle from the seller and had to file a claim with Ebay. I won quickly. After I won there were vulgar words to myself and Ebay from the seller. I shipped it back; my money was refunded. All was well and forgotten. Two months later, yes, 2 months later there was a familiar package on my doorstep, the robot had returned from Puerto Rico being refused and stamped all over as such from the seller. No explanation, no charges, no nothing except the robot. I was reluctant at first but then I opened it, repaired it and have been enjoying it ever since. I am familiar with curses coming from this part of the world but have not had any. I was never able to figure this one out- Two months?? it was really weird but after some repairs I have a great super astronaut. Anyone else have any strange Ebay stories or experiences to share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Not as good a story as yours but here goes. Won a Grand Champion plastic toy horse for Kelly about 8 years ago to replace her original from a few years before (friend's mom threw it away after Kelly left it there to have a leg fixed by friend's grandfather...she said it was no good to anyone so out it went...yeh.). Anyway, found this one on e-bay BIN very similar. I tried to pay by Paypal. Well, I hadn't officially joined Paypal and they had fronted me $500 worth of purchases to that point, (Hadn't known this)... I'd just bought my Robby wind up which took most of that. The seller demanded immediate payment and was nagging me all that weekend to pay up or he'd report me for non-payment, the e-mails kept going back and forth...wouldn't stop warning me to pay or else. Explained to him that my Paypal won't work but I'll send a M.O., he didn't like that idea at all but eventually insisted on a 'pink' one. On that Monday I sent him a white money order (couldn't get a pink one) and thought all was well. Horse: $12. Shipping $32. Wanted it in time for Xmas and it took about a month to show up. No packing box, just brown kraft paper over the window box. Shipping sticker on the fair-size box? S.O.B. Seller paid $2.75 shipping and the paper was ripped to hell, somehow the toy and box was OK. I've also encountered a Star Wars small figure weapon shipped to me in a shoe box. :O I finally found a seller (non-e-bay) who would ship as many as I wanted in an envelope with postage of $1.50. Now that's the way it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrarobotman Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 just as strange as my story if not even more bizarre !! Cool, Morbius!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Two stories come to mind concerning ebay - one is a ceramic Robby bank won from a European seller.. I've had some trouble with packages arriving banged up from Europe so I insisted the seller double box this fragile item. He assured me that he was an experianced packer and there would not be any problems. My ceramic Robby bank arrived packed in Bounty paper taped with scotch tape with an address label slapped on. No outer box what so ever. Amazingly the ceramic Robby bank was undamaged..................imagine if this seller was not an 'experianced packer'. In the early days of Ebay my account was hijacked and a seller used my good feedback to sell items he didn't have. He was selling this very high end hi-fi equipment. I couldn't get into my account to stop the auction and Ebay safe harbour wasn't ending it either. The bids keep coming. So I said ok I'll bid and win it - let the thief try to collect from me and I'll send the authorities his paymnet info to track him down. Well with seconds to go I bid $15,000 and wouldn't you know it I get sniped. Now I'm in a panic that someone is going to get ripped off for over $15,000. I was able to contact the winner (back in the day you were able to do that). He calls me right away and I explain what happened. I'm expecting him to thank me -instead he starts screaming at me that I made this story up so as not to honor the deal and he was going to leave me negative feedback!!. I simply said - ok jerk - send your $15,000 for goods that you will never receive and hung up. Well fortunately Ebay safe harbor did contact him that my account was indeed hijacked. No good deed goes unpunished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeBee Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Grand champions? You mean like these, Morbius??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJN Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Not robot related, but weird e-bay incident. Was about to bid on a pre-1939 Czech perfume bottle when I noticed what appeared to be a crack in the bottle. I contacted the seller who assured me it was a trick of lighting, the bottle was fine. I bid & won. The bottle arrived, and (you guessed it) it was cracked. I tried to contact the seller several times with no luck, so I attempted to start the claim process for a refund. E-bay would not let me begin the process, stating the claim was already closed. ???? As I had not yet started the claim, I was baffled. The next day, I received e-mails from e-bay & the seller saying my refund was on the way. I tried to contact the seller about returning the item, but never received a response. I got my money back & got to keep the bottle…. I fitted it's stopper to another bottle. I'm guessing the seller knew it was cracked & sold it to me anyway, hoping I'd just eat it, then had a change of heart. Apparently the seller can initiate the claim & refund process…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 WJN - It sounds to me like the seller was gambling that if you stayed interested in the perfume bottle you would help drive the price up. I bet they were hoping you would be the runner up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrarobotman Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Two stories come to mind concerning ebay - one is a ceramic Robby bank won from a European seller.. I've had some trouble with packages arriving banged up from Europe so I insisted the seller double box this fragile item. He assured me that he was an experianced packer and there would not be any problems. My ceramic Robby bank arrived packed in Bounty paper taped with scotch tape with an address label slapped on. No outer box what so ever. Amazingly the ceramic Robby bank was undamaged..................imagine if this seller was not an 'experianced packer'. In the early days of Ebay my account was hijacked and a seller used my good feedback to sell items he didn't have. He was selling this very high end hi-fi equipment. I couldn't get into my account to stop the auction and Ebay safe harbour wasn't ending it either. The bids keep coming. So I said ok I'll bid and win it - let the thief try to collect from me and I'll send the authorities his paymnet info to track him down. Well with seconds to go I bid $15,000 and wouldn't you know it I get sniped. Now I'm in a panic that someone is going to get ripped off for over $15,000. I was able to contact the winner (back in the day you were able to do that). He calls me right away and I explain what happened. I'm expecting him to thank me -instead he starts screaming at me that I made this story up so as not to honor the deal and he was going to leave me negative feedback!!. I simply said - ok jerk - send your $15,000 for goods that you will never receive and hung up. Well fortunately Ebay safe harbor did contact him that my account was indeed hijacked. No good deed goes unpunished. Two very strange stories Steve! I love hearing this stuff. Your first one of the European package reminded me of one of my earliest Ebay purchases- it was a fly-eye swivel-o-matic coming from Mexico,the seller was new at the time and is still selling robots and space toys frequently today. Anyway, it took weeks to get here to Pa. (contacted him more than once and He blamed it on customs?) and to my complete astonishment, it was unharmed, arriving in a thin and flimsy shoe box with tissue paper wrapped around the robot! I mean, it was alot like your Robby bank, might have well just put an address label on the robot's head and hope for the best. Still works great to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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