I'm confused and frustrated by a recent transaction. I've never left negative feedback before but I will be this time, my question is whether I can/should persue anything further, or just cut my losses.
I won an auction on the 8th and paid immediately. The item was $20 but advertised with $30 postage for 'express courier'. I asked the seller if he could just send it via auspost cheaper, and he said no, the postage cost is fixed. I accepted that, I figured he wanted the reassurance of tracking and a courier, and told myself It would be ok, because I'd get it nice and quick.
And then 5 days passed and it didn't get posted. I emailed asking what was up, and he said he was waiting for money to clear from paypal to his bank account before he sent it. Most sellers are capable of posting an item without making the buyer wait the clearing time between paypal and a bank. The money was sitting there, just not accessible to his ATM card yet. And he still expected me to pay more than the item was worth for 'express' postage? He said he would post on the 15th at the latest, a full week after purchase.
I told him I was unhappy being forced to pay for express shipping when his handling time was so long and asked what the point of express postage would be at this stage. He messaged back offering to post via auspost, and refund me the difference. Again, I accepted that as being fairly reasonable.
He said he would post by morning of the 15th. The afternoon of the 16th he finally actually posted the item, but never messaged me. I asked him what the refund would be, and he said 'Oh, it's not worth it, it was only a dollar, I sent it in two packages for a total of $29'.
What? WHAT? Can anyone explain the logic, because at this point I think he found the most expensive method possible just to spite me. Sending as two small packages will ALWAYS be far more expensive than one big one. It wasn't a small batch of items, but I would have estimated that it would fit perfectly fine into a $15 prepaid 5kg satchel, in fact I think it would have probably fit into a 3kg satchel, but I can't be sure.
On top of that, what sort of courier posts an item, express, for $1 more than auspost would charge. If that's true, I want in with this courier! And finally, who in their right mind goes to auspost, sees it will cost the same either way, and choose to still send it via auspost without express or tracking, instead of telling me they cost the same, and proceeding to use the superior tracked express service? I know I requested auspost, but I made clear that it was with the assumption that auspost would be considerably cheaper.
It's now friday afternoon, the 19th, and I still have no package. It'll be at least the 22nd before I receive it, a full 2 weeks minimum after postage. It's only coming from Adelaide to Brisbane, so I'm starting to wonder if it's even been posted at all, shipping should have only been a couple of days. I guess it could be still coming if he posted it after pickup on the 16th, that's only 2 postage days... I'm just skeptical now.
The only way I can possibly see him justifying $29 through auspost is that I severely underestimated the item, and he actually needed 2x5kg satchels. I doubt that, but I've held off doing anything until I receive the items to see how he's actually posted them. But a. you're telling me an item that is between 8kg and 10kg could be sent via express courier for $30? And b. I recently sent an 8kg package as one big box for only $20, maybe the postcode difference would take it to $30, but like I said, I can't see this lot of items being anywhere NEAR 8kg. He couldn't post it as one big box cheaper?
Can I do anything? Assuming I receive the item, the postage money is gone. Is there any financial consequence for being a spiteful jerk or taking over two weeks to get an item to the buyer? Am I overreacting, is it my fault for complaining about the supposed express shipping in the first place? What about the 8 day wait between purchase and shipping? The ad says estimated delivery 4-6 business days. I've never caused a fuss on ebay before but I feel like I should be able to do something this time!
Just to make it even more confusing, his feedback is 100%. It could be mostly buying, and very few selling transactions, but no one else seems to have an issue with him! That makes me worry that I'm being unreasonable. I'm 40 weeks pregnant and terribly hormonal, so that probably doesn't help. Any advice? I also seem to be scared of making him upset at me, part of me doesn't want to leave negative feedback, even though I know that's what it's there for and there's nothing he can do about it.
