So Much For "3 Strikes and You're Out"

[designers*n*more]

Sold an item, heard nothing from the buyer, no response to emails, so have opened a dispute. 

Checked out her feedback and woah....

9 NON PAYING PURCHASES

Mine will make number 10 and i bet eBay do jack sh!t!!!

[countessalmirena]

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@gutterpunkz05wrote:

No, I dont like wasting words on people who are unlikely to comprehend my meaning.   First reply simply explained that they obviously had 3 strikes for non payments and were therefore blocked from buying my items.   2nd reply was even shorter. Not while your account is blocked.  They have not asked again so I presume they now comprehend.

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That would do it.
(I agree - what is the point of a block based on demonstrably bad buyer behaviour if all that the bad buyer has to do is ask for an exemption...?)

[gutterpunkz05]

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@countessalmirenawrote:

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@gutterpunkz05wrote:

No, I dont like wasting words on people who are unlikely to comprehend my meaning.   First reply simply explained that they obviously had 3 strikes for non payments and were therefore blocked from buying my items.   2nd reply was even shorter. Not while your account is blocked.  They have not asked again so I presume they now comprehend.

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That would do it.
(I agree - what is the point of a block based on demonstrably bad buyer behaviour if all that the bad buyer has to do is ask for an exemption...?)

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Exactly, and on far too many occasions after going out of my way to accomodate buyers, it has only come back to bite me, unreasonable returns etc.   Sometimes you just know a buyer is going to be trouble, no matter what you do.

[digital*ghost]

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@gutterpunkz05wrote:

cant see the point in having blocks

in place, if you are going to override them for a buck, every time a poor bugger me comes a long.

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I've done it a few times, but also don't have the strictest blocks in place for NPBs (2+ in 6 months rather than the max of 12, from memory) as they're pretty much the least of my troubles in the grand scheme of things, but I do like to have the gates shut for the habitual ones (I presume the worst offendors will always have a recent strike or two and there can be legitimate reasons for non-payment, so if they had 1 or 2 from 6+ months ago, I'm not too worried). The instances of NPB are very low for me, though, which might also have something to do with the fact that I am kinda lax about opening the disputes (anywhere from 14-30 days post sale), and quite a lot of people who've left it that long just up and pay 2 weeks after buying. 

Some of the buyers who've messaged have purchased from me in the past with no issues at all, so I exempt them. I also figure that when a habitual NPB is buying on a whim, making the purchase unlikely to be paid for, they are less likely to bother with messaging the seller and request to buy (I have blocked messages from blocked bidders, though, so most have to go out of their way to get in touch, some figure out how to contact via eBay, but I've also had emails come through the contact form on my website, my (abandoned) blog and my (abandoned) Facebook page). 

I always check FB left for others first, though, and don't say yes to everyone, just those that have been polite and respectful in their messages and don't raise any other red flags.

In saying that, I know there have been many a seller who relented and exempted buyers, only to be left with unpaid items, in a couple of cases even negs, so it's definitely at the seller's risk. 

[springyzone]

I think if i were selling and came across someone with multiple strikes, I would be hesitant to relent & let them buy but I like DG's approach of checking things out.

I suppose my view has been influenced by a recent experience. I am a little more forgiving now.

A couple of weeks back, I bought something for a daughter-a high chair for pick up. The seller did mess me around a bit with last minute changes of address & with mysterious messages about being worried my car might not be big enough etc but I went to pick up & found the item was not as described-it was described as fold away compactly for easy storage when not in use. The high chair in question did not fold at all, full stop, in any shape or form. The parents of the seller told me if it wasn't suitable I did not need to take it so I didn't.

The seller opened a non payment dispute & I contacted ebay to explain why i didn't pay and that strike has been removed. However, I was a bit put out by the wording which i assume is standard. It said ebay had removed the strike as a courtesy on this occasion.

So I presume the seller got his fees back & it wasn't handled as a not as described case.

But what if that strike had not been removed? And what if I got another for a similar reason (not that i have ever had a non payment strike raised against me ever before).

I have to say though I was impressed with ebay service as the second the non payment strike was closed by the seller, the strike was removed from my account, so the ebay rep must have put that in place.

ebay reps have no way to know, I suppose, who is in the right, so i think they pretty much give buyers the benefit of the doubt where it is at all possible.

If someone had a couple of strikes & could explain why I might (as a seller) relent & let them buy but if they had more than 2 I would be worried as I think it is possible to get strikes removed if they are unfair-so any strikes remaining have probably been earned.

[digital*ghost]

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@springyzonewrote:

If someone had a couple of strikes & could explain why I might (as a seller) relent & let them buy but if they had more than 2 I would be worried as I think it is possible to get strikes removed if they are unfair-so any strikes remaining have probably been earned.

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I'm actually more inclined to exempt a buyer if they don't make any attempt to explain why they have strikes, because it almost always comes across as an "it wasn't my fault" kind of thing - I'm sure there are cases where it wasn't their fault, I just don't need to know about it really.

If I exempt, it's typically the ones that just say something simple (eg "I know I have strikes but I really want this item, is there any way I can still purchase?"), anyone who is over the top, says how depserate they are (especially with multiple !!! ) or goes into detail about how some seller did them wrong, usually gets a hard pass.  

[springyzone]

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@digital*ghostwrote:

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@springyzonewrote:

If someone had a couple of strikes & could explain why I might (as a seller) relent & let them buy but if they had more than 2 I would be worried as I think it is possible to get strikes removed if they are unfair-so any strikes remaining have probably been earned.

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I'm actually more inclined to exempt a buyer if they don't make any attempt to explain why they have strikes, because it almost always comes across as an "it wasn't my fault" kind of thing - I'm sure there are cases where it wasn't their fault, I just don't need to know about it really.

If I exempt, it's typically the ones that just say something simple (eg "I know I have strikes but I really want this item, is there any way I can still purchase?"), anyone who is over the top, says how depserate they are (especially with multiple !!! ) or goes into detail about how some seller did them wrong, usually gets a hard pass.  

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Fair enough. I've never been in that position as a seller but I think what would sway me more is their feedback record & whether they seem to have a habit of not being happy with purchases etc. People who suddenly were desperate for multiples might be a worry too.

Sometimes though a strike really may not be wholly a person's fault. That's my experience anyway.

[sacramentalstoles]

I made the mistake of excempting a buyer once.
My automatic blocks stopped her from bidding on an item...too many unpaid items...

"I really want it & will make immediate payment" - so I allowed her to bid...

She didn't pay - I opened an Unpaid item dispute - still no payment.
3 weeks after the everything had closed - she emailed to say she still wanted the item...NOPE - I blocked her again!!
She claimed that she didn't get any messages from ebay...

Doh...you won the auction...you know you have to pay!! What difference does messages from ebay make??

She's now on my 'special' list too.

[digital*ghost]

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@sacramentalstoleswrote:

I made the mistake of excempting a buyer once.
My automatic blocks stopped her from bidding on an item...too many unpaid items...

"I really want it & will make immediate payment" - so I allowed her to bid...

She didn't pay - I opened an Unpaid item dispute - still no payment.

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It's definitely still a risk - so far everyone I have exempted has gone on to complete the transaction quickly, so I may just be lucky and I'd probably take a harder line if that has not been the case, but I do tend to dismiss people in a lot of situations like that when they are making an obvious, concerted effort to be convincing (promising immediate payment and the like is actually a red flag to me, and I'd probably say no to that person).

People who are confident in their follow-through are actually less likely to feel the need to make excuses, defer blame to someone else, or include promises in an attempt to convince others of their follow-through. In my experience, anyway. 

[brerrabbit585]

I had one person who said they were blocked but didn't know why. Next message said it showed that she had too many non payment strikes. I think she said she didn't have any. I figured she'd lied the first time by saying she didn't know why she was blocked so I didn't believe her when she said she didn't have any strikes and I never replied.

I don't often get asked to exempt anyone but I tend to just ignore ALL requests. I'm just not that desperate that I need to risk being messed around, and if they get narky at being blocked in the first place they could easily claim it didn't arrive.

I've had a few that have obviously come up against blocks so they open a new account to get around it, but I've never had any messages from them and mostly I haven't had any problems from them.

[designers*n*more]

That's the plan! Have added her to my very special people list 🙂