THE PERILS OF EBAY...

I occasionally purchase the odd collectable item or three via eBay if I can obtain them at a reasonable price.  It's usually a good way to acquire things I might otherwise never see in a month of Sundays.  However, there are perils involved in negotiating the waters of eBay that one must be aware of to avoid being shipwrecked on the rocks by unscrupulous or inconsiderate dealers.  Let me now tell you of one such instance that recently happened to me.

There they were - two MARX ROLYKIN DALEKS just begging for a bid.  I won them for a mere £13.30 and immediately paid the seller - Mr. TERENCE HALFORD (who operates under the name of CAMERAGUY59) from Cinderford in Gloucestershire.  I felt kind of sorry for him, as it must've been painful having to part with two such collectables for such a relatively paltry price.

The items failed to turn up by the estimated date (which curiously increased by a couple of days after purchase), so I tried to send the seller a question about the current state of play.  Normally when I do this, I use the 'other' option to phrase things in my own words, but this time, I chose one of the preset questions as it said exactly what I wanted to ask.

Unless I clicked the wrong option, this seemed to automatically 'open a case' - which hadn't been my intention - but I persevered in the hope I could bypass that action along the line.  When I received an email confirming that a case was now open, I immediately informed eBay that I was only trying to contact the seller, not complain.

Obviously the seller wasn't too happy, though I explained the circumstances.  Anyway, to cut a long story short, when I requested a refund, he claimed to have 'proof of postage' and supplied me with a number that the ROYAL MAIL subsequently informed me was totally redundant.  When challenged, he said he would issue a refund when he had received one from the post office.

As my money was sitting in his account and as he was the one claiming the post office (or so he said), I felt that this was unreasonable and, as I had paid instantly, my refund should be immediate.  (This was days past the forecast arrival date.)  In subsequent emails he said he was going to issue a refund as the items hadn't arrived, then I would receive yet another email asking if they'd turned up yet.

It did occur to me to wonder if the items had ever actually been sent, especially after being supplied with a useless 'tracking number', and whether his constant enquiry about arrival was mere posturing for eBay's benefit to create the impression he had expectations of delivery.  I can't prove that the items were never posted, of course, but I obviously have my suspicions.

I also wondered if he was messing me around out of mere spite, as some kind of payback for having accidentally opened a case.  Instead of telling me - once - what he was going to do and then acting on it, he kept repeating himself over the course of several days, which suggests he was just stalling for time in order to inconvenience me for as long as possible.

In the end, I escalated the case I had inadvertently started - and won, receiving a transfer of the full amount back into my account.  Frustrated at my victory and validation, he falsely used the 'positive' option to leave me negative feedback, demonstrating that he is not beyond using deceit for his own purposes.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions, but should you ever be tempted to buy anything from this seller on eBay, it might be an idea to bear in mind my experience of this particular individual - it could well spare you an equal measure of disappointment and disillusionment in the long run.