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Has anyone dealt with ************* on e-bay? I won a bunch of Pinguicula auctions, and a single Marston Dragon. Received them today. Mostly it was "okay", but the most expensive pieces, P. esseriana and P. laueana were really, really bad. The P. esseriana was supposed to be either dime or nickel sized and what I got was 4 seedlings, little more than 4 leaves, only one of which had any discernible root. And don't even get me started on the laueana. It was an auction set to end a few days after all of the others. The item was listed as "last one". I contacted the guy and asked if he had any more that he'd be willing to tack on or on to a Buy It Now. I got no response, but I DID get a response where he acknowledged that my payment would wait until the end of the laueana auction. Well... this was my pivotal piece, so I din't mind throwing a few extra dollars in. BUT, right after the auction ends, the guy finds another "last one" and puts it up with a Buy it Now of half the auction price. Unethical... ya think? Anyway, supposed to be dime-sized and turns out to be less than that, and has one, and I mean ONE, just thrown, white as a baby, rootlet. Oh, and the "Marston Dragon" is fair sized, yeah, but was shipped in a Zip-lock, no packaging, and came swimming in its own dew. Yeah, okay, but why does it look like a pure D. dichotoma? Grr... well $4 is not bad either way, it's really nce size, but not what I wanted.

So, anyone deal with this guy before? Anyone know him? I already contacted him on e-bay but have yet to get a response. I thought maybe he checked in here or somebody here knew him. Oh, and I needed to vent. </rant>
 
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It's run by two people. From what I can tell,***** a decent guy. The lady, not so much.

The girl had a previous account before this, and I ordered a bunch of sarracenia from her last year. They were rotten when I opened the box. She refused to replace them.
I guess at some time, she and her husband made that account, and I didn't know it when I ordered a couple of Neps. They arrived beautifully, swell customer service, and it was great! No complaints, infact, I'd buy from them again.
I later try to score a couple of cobras from them, and in asking questions, I get way delayed responses with ALOT of attitude. And then they block me as a buyer. It was then that I found out about their history, which explains the bipolar quality and customer service.

So I guess they're just gonna be one of those "at your own risk" vendors.
 
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I just got a U. longifolia from them it was alright a small clump with a few leaves and a SG N. mirabilis Trang Bizzare.

Overall I was plenty satisfied enough but neither of these are as finicky & fragile as those other types of CPs.
 
Maybe if someone intentionally buys the "U. quelchii" and writes a bad review new people will read the review and at least think twice before they buy. If you could get the $$ back is the only thing...
 
Maybe if someone intentionally buys the "U. quelchii" and writes a bad review new people will read the review and at least think twice before they buy. If you could get the $$ back is the only thing...
The thing with giving a bad review is that you must be willing to receive one in return. I like to keep the 100% positive rating. One time when someone screwed me over, I gave him a negative rating - he instantly gave me one too and then sent me an offer that he would rescind his if I killed mine. Great system.
 
Yeah, all I did was ask about the Pings and they blocked me, I didn't even get to ask about the Marston that doesn't look at all like a Marston. I just found that out, actually, that I was blocked, because I wrote this and then forgot that I hadn't written to them about the dew. Funny, their response tie is awesome when it comes to covering their tracks. Well, buyer protection and negative feedback, here I come.
 
@RL: Sellers can no longer give Buyers negative or neutral feedback. eBay caught on to that and changed that, so buyers are free to leave honest feedback without fear of retribution. :)
 
No "reviews" of other sellers please. I don't allow positive feedbacks, so negative feedbacks are not allowed either.
To stay fair...

Andrew
 
  • #10
Oh, sorry about that, I was completely unaware. If this happens to someone else in the future, me even, is it still okay to ask for others' experiences with a particular seller (pre or post purchase)? Or request input in PMs?

I should correct that first statement, sorry. I was not aware that the policy extended to personal sellers on e-bay. My apologies.
 
  • #11
ebay is a grey area. While statements like RL's above is generally allowed to protect people, "reviews" are not. I just try to keep it fair; meaning you can't come here and brag about the great plants you got from a ebayer, nor come and blast them. I wish you all could rely on the rating system of ebay- but up until recently it's been flawed (as mentioned in this thread) I've emailed ebay a few times regarding shady peeps... and they want me to call in and give all these details blah blah... which I've already emailed them. So basically, they're not interested IMHO.
 
  • #12
<sigh> I hear ya. I've seen wild pics of Sarrs, or guys shipping qtys and large plants at low prices out of native areas, you know. I always report them, more I can not do. And yeah, maybe it's the guy's own land... but maybe not, maybe more likely not. The way I see it, if anyone comes down on sellers or e-bay, they can't say they weren't warned.
 
  • #13
Guys, I think I need some help here... If you've experience on e-bay and want to help a fellow CPer with a problem, PM me. What I'm hoping for is people who can and will provide affidavits of experiences regardless of feedback left, which I can then forward to e-bay customer buyer protection, if necessary. I'm being pro-active, they've not asked for anything like this yet. Respect to the board and admins/mods, I can not mention anything more than I have already about this experience here as it would be, essentially and 100% agreed, a review.
 
  • #14
Can I get a big WOOT for ebay? Customer support just ruled in my favor for 100% refund on all disputed items. :)
 
  • #15
Did you handle it in email or end up having to call them?
 
  • #16
I didn't need to speak to anyone, the claims were filed and e-bay decided without contacting me at all. Well, it didn't help that the seller blocked me without responding to the first two inquiries. When you go through the process, there's at least one point where it's stated that they will go through all communications between buyer and seller that have gone through e-bay. So they not only had proof of this seller NOT trying to settle things, they also had proof of the seller accusing me of trying to scam them (which they sent AFTER I contacted buyer protection) without even attempting to resolve things. Oh, and the auctions clearly defined size and quality of items, not the nebulous backpedal the seller took stating "may be smaller or larger" and "right to substitute". I also have a spotless record and haven't left many negatives or even neutrals in some 10 years of using e-bay for various items. In fact, the only negatives I can remember were for an old copy of "Innes'" fish book (and boy was that seller REALLY creepy) which took over two weeks to reach me and another that took as long or longer and neither seller responded to any queries as to when and if it shipped. But that was years ago. Anyway, ebay decided in my favor in, what, less than 24 hours. Moral of the story, if you're SO clear-cut in the right, things will work out. Be that as it may, I'm done buying CPs on ebay from unknown sellers.
 
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