Why didn't you ship to the address I didn't give you??

[Betweenshades]

This is an older one, but by far one of my favorite sucky customer stories I've had at this new job!

When you sell something on eBay, you can print a shipping label right from the order. This is the important part: the address is automatically populated from the address they entered when they set up their account.

Added bit of info: if I don't ship to this address, I won't be covered under eBay/ PayPal seller protection. I will not ship to another address. Ever. I have and will cancel the transaction and be totally backed by eBay for doing this.

I got an email from a customer 2 days after I shipped his part wondering where it was (it was shipped parcel post from Florida going to California). I checked the tracking and emailed him his tracking number (that he already had, btw) and told him where it was and the approximate delivery date.

No response.

Two days later he sends me another email wanting to know where I sent it. I told him the address he gave me (insert cut and pasted copy of his address). This guy then flips out on me.

Apparently, I was supposed to know that he moved. Apparently, even though he put in his old address, my inner GPS and psychic ability was supposed to tell me to ship elsewhere and correctly guess the exact address of the location. I'm truly an inept employee.

I explain to him that a) I can only ship to the address I've been given 2) it's been 3 days; once it's mailed, it's mailed. Then, he blows my mind even more than he already has.

He wants me to call the post office and make them change the address. Even better: his friend does this all the time.

For giggles, I check the USPS website and talk to my friendly post office employees that are conveniently across the street from me. As I thought, you can either mail it correctly from the getgo or have forwarding set up on the other end.

So, I explain to the guy about why I can't make the post office change the address on ONE package and about forwarding. I even send him the link to do it. I even sent him a link to the change address area in eBay and the shipping rules for sellers, including the seller protection policy.

Cue him now writing in all caps and increasingly poor English about how horrible our service is and how we need to give him a refund. He also keeps on about how easy it is for the post office to pull a package and change the address.

So, I tell him that I will happily refund his money once he returns the package. You can imagine the response THAT got, but at least I stopped hearing from him every 3 hours for a while. I still heard from him every 3-4 days or so; he liked yelling at me for my incompetence at sending a package to the address provided. He finally got the thing a month later and promptly returned it.

I refunded him, blocked him and told him that I did and why. I can honestly say that was THE most cathartic email I've ever written at work! What was even better was he tried saying I didn't refund him 2 months later. :P

[lupo pazzesco]

o.O

it's like we're twins. Sort of. I'm dealing with the same thing on Amazon and half.

I've gotten SO many messages, though, from buyers who will place an order, then message me and say, "OMG, I forgot I moved, just send it to THIS addy instead!!"

Er. No. if you moved, get a forwarding addy form from USPS. I cannot and will not ship to any address other than that on the order.

Hey, do you get people who, after they place the order say, "I know I only paid for the slowest shipping, but I need it faster. whatsay you just overnite it to me, cuz it's good customer service?"

I've had 5 of those. Just today!! >.<

[Betweenshades]

I know I only paid for the slowest shipping, but I need it faster. whatsay you just overnite it to me, cuz it's good customer service?

OMGAW. Yes! These people make me want to scream. I honestly MIGHT throw in a shipping upgrade if you spend some serious cash on something, but the only people that make a deal about it are the ones that buy the $20 part with the free standard shipping. I mean, really??

[Teskeria]

I guess I really am a weirdo. If I need something shipped to a different address (usually grandkid presents) I email first and ask if they can do so. (Paypal now allows it according to the last nice person I emailed.) If they say no, I just dont bid. Neither of us has any hassle that way.

[Sapphire Silk]

Hey, do you get people who, after they place the order say, "I know I only paid for the slowest shipping, but I need it faster. whatsay you just overnite it to me, cuz it's good customer service?"

I've had 5 of those. Just today!! >.<

I've gotten this one when selling on eBay.

My response is thus: "I am not a business. I'm a private citizen cleaning out her closets. My policies are fair and customer friendly, but they are also not subject to negotiation. If you don't like them, don't buy from me."

[lupo pazzesco]

OMGAW. Yes! These people make me want to scream. I honestly MIGHT throw in a shipping upgrade if you spend some serious cash on something, but the only people that make a deal about it are the ones that buy the $20 part with the free standard shipping. I mean, really??

EXACTLY!!

We sell a LOT of textbooks online. SO many. and when corporate does what I call the price plummet, we get rid of old editions for $10. And sweet jeebus, it's like "I need it naaaooo, send it overnight in the name of customer service!"

Uhh...no. Just no...

>.<

[Merriweather]

I've gotten this one when selling on eBay.

My response is thus: "I am not a business. I'm a private citizen cleaning out her closets. My policies are fair and customer friendly, but they are also not subject to negotiation. If you don't like them, don't buy from me."

I do my spring cleaning / downsizing thru Craigs List, and though for the most part it goes well, some people do amaze me on what they expect.

On Craigs List, it's customary for the buyer to pick the item up, either at a set meeting point or the seller's home. I had one woman who wanted the item (under $20, if I recall correctly) delivered to her at work. I told her no, for that price I would not use the gas and spend probably close to an hour of my time to deliver an inexpensive item. Her response was to hit the roof over how my area (listed on the ad) was only 5 miles from her shop, so I was lieing, it would take me 10 minutes tops. Yeah, right. Her shop was in the main street through the town center, in the middle of town. It was during the Christmas season, which meant either circling the block for an hour waiting for an on-street parking spot to clear, or park in the multi-story garage several blocks away and walk. Both ways. An hour total from home and back was a very low estimate of time involved. Her suggestion after being told that?
Just pull up outside the shop and honk my horn til she comes out to get it We're talking a street lined with parked cars. So she wanted me to double park, with cars backing up behind me all the while, on the busiest street in town (i.e. constant traffic at that time of day and year) waiting for her to hear a horn on a busy street, finish with a customer if one was there, and come out, risking a ticket of who knows how much, for her $20 item And she totally did not get why I wasn't willing to do that for her.

Oh, and then there are the ones who want to set up a time/day to pick something up, and when I suggest a couple of days and say my schedule is fairly flexible, when would they want to come by, take "fairly flexible" to mean available 24/7, so if I say I can't do the exact day/time they suggest on first try, they hit the roof. Including one lady who went on and on about how I lied about being flexible, as any time she suggested wouldn't work out - the problem was, she would email me and suggest she come by in 10 minutes, and I didn't get back to her and say sure. Not only was I supposed to be available 24/7, I was supposed to be glued to my email 24/7 as well.

[mattm04]

I had a buyer bitch to eBay because they demanded that I ship to a difference address then his eBay/PayPal address. Oh, they also demanded I give them free overnight FedEx as they hated UPS. This was after i disclosed that i will not under any circumstance ship to a different address. They were told to do pound sand and accept it or ask for a refund. They got a refund.

[wraiths_crono]

USPS: nope cant change address far as i know, UPS tho can do an intercept (for a fee) shame almost you if it was via UPS coulda called them as the shipper, did the intercept and then charged the customer for it.


However on being told you cant do anything, he could call the post office and ask them to forward his mail still... Then again that taxes logic.

[Aethian]

forwards are good for one year after change. in the thirteenth month the forward gets returned with a sticker stating the forwarding address was expired...with the new address. after that, forwarding expired, no forward on file.

[Teefies2]

I do my spring cleaning / downsizing thru Craigs List, and though for the most part it goes well, some people do amaze me on what they expect.

On Craigs List, it's customary for the buyer to pick the item up, either at a set meeting point or the seller's home. I had one woman who wanted the item (under $20, if I recall correctly) delivered to her at work. I told her no, for that price I would not use the gas and spend probably close to an hour of my time to deliver an inexpensive item. Her response was to hit the roof over how my area (listed on the ad) was only 5 miles from her shop, so I was lieing, it would take me 10 minutes tops. Yeah, right. Her shop was in the main street through the town center, in the middle of town. It was during the Christmas season, which meant either circling the block for an hour waiting for an on-street parking spot to clear, or park in the multi-story garage several blocks away and walk. Both ways. An hour total from home and back was a very low estimate of time involved. Her suggestion after being told that?
Just pull up outside the shop and honk my horn til she comes out to get it We're talking a street lined with parked cars. So she wanted me to double park, with cars backing up behind me all the while, on the busiest street in town (i.e. constant traffic at that time of day and year) waiting for her to hear a horn on a busy street, finish with a customer if one was there, and come out, risking a ticket of who knows how much, for her $20 item And she totally did not get why I wasn't willing to do that for her.

Similar story .. I sell books on Ebay. Had a customer who purchased a $1 book. BUT he/she said "I don't want to pay shipping" (which was $3, $2.57 to the Post Office Media Mail and the other $0.43 pays for my paper, ink, envelope & tape to send it - a more than fair price, I think). He/she said I live in "G..." "I will meet you halfway to pick up the book". Well, "G..." is 30 miles from me and they want to meet me halfway??? It's not worth my time and gas to drive even 15 miles for a $1 book!!!!!!!!!!!

I told he/she so & refunded the money. Wanna bet how fast I got a bad review????

[Sapphire Silk]

I do my spring cleaning / downsizing thru Craigs List, and though for the most part it goes well, some people do amaze me on what they expect.

On Craigs List, it's customary for the buyer to pick the item up, either at a set meeting point or the seller's home. I

I've been using Craigslist more and more lately, since I don't like handing over more and more of my profits to eBay.

I never give buyers my home address. I meet them in the parking lot of the local Wal Mart: on one of the busiest roads in town, well it, and NEVER after dark. It's easy to get to.

I did meet an eBay buyer halfway on local pickup. I had an old computer that I sold on eBay. The shipping costs were rather expensive. The buyer lived about two hours from me and asked about local pickup to save on shipping. I didn't have a problem with that, I told him. Then he asked if I could meet him halfway because he was really tight for cash for gas.

The hospital where I worked was about the halfway point, so I told him to meet me at work at the time shortly before I normally arrived to report for work. We did the deal in the hospital parking lot, and he didn't do anything sucky like try to negotiate a discount (I would have packed the computer back in the trunk of my car and told him to take a hike if he had). He was actually really nice about the whole thing; he just had money troubles, and since I was able to accommodate without going out of my way, I did.

But this lady you mentioned was out of her mind to think you would deliver such an inexpensive item to her place of employment: I don't care what time of year it was. It could be the easiest place in the world to get to, and it still wouldn't matter. On Craigslist, when you're the buyer you go to the seller.

That's why CL recommends people go to public places like WalMart or well known shopping centers to do the deal. Public, open, and usually easy to get to.

And here's another reason why your buyer is STUPID. She doesn't know you from Adam. She doesn't know if you're some scam artist setting her up for a robbery. And she wants to bring that person to where she WORKS?

She's STUPID. And NUTS!

[Betweenshades]

I guess I really am a weirdo. If I need something shipped to a different address (usually grandkid presents) I email first and ask if they can do so. (Paypal now allows it according to the last nice person I emailed.) If they say no, I just dont bid. Neither of us has any hassle that way.

As you noted, there are ways around it. Besides, I have no problems with people emailing and asking- that way a solution can be found without me having to write a CS post about you :P

[Andara Bledin]

I got an email from a customer 2 days after I shipped his part wondering where it was (it was shipped parcel post from Florida going to California).

Oh, geez. I think we inherited your idiot, and he still hasn't changed his shipping info. >_< Your idiot wasn't in Campbell, was he?

We didn't get our widget back, but since it was a cheap part we have a ton of, we just made him pay shipping a second time to send another one out to the correct address. Moron.

Paypal now allows it according to the last nice person I emailed.

PayPal has allowed you to enter as many addresses as you wanted to for years. My personal account currently has three attached to it. And my work account has at least a dozen. So long as you have access to a credit card billing to that address, you can have it verified.

^-.-^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I guess I really am a weirdo. If I need something shipped to a different address (usually grandkid presents) I email first and ask if they can do so. (Paypal now allows it according to the last nice person I emailed.) If they say no, I just dont bid. Neither of us has any hassle that way.

As far as ebay goes, I wouldn't allow this. Paypal seller protection still requires the seller to ship to the address listed on the paypal transaction details page, which will probably be your home address since you're paying for the item. If I were to ship anyplace else I would lose seller protection and automatically lose an item not received complaint should I get one.

If I'm not selling through ebay, I only have to ship to a confirmed address, which could be a third party I guess.

I'm getting this from a paypal help page.

I could be wrong on this. It's been a while since I sold anything on ebay.