Comments (scroll down to add your own):

1. Let us know how it works out. I’m betting he’s just swamped.

   Comment by FMF — Jan 4th 2006 @ 9:26 am

2. Did you put in the subject line that you had a problem? I know when I come back to a swamp of emails I rely on subject lines to help me sort out what’s higher priority. Being an ex-relatively active seller, I’m more hesitant to pull the “claim” trigger (esp. on PayPal) unless it’s really become dire. However, if you’re coming up on the 45 day deadline I can understand.

   I, in no way, think you did the wrong or inappropriate thing though, don’t read what I wrote above as to mean that.

   Comment by jim — Jan 4th 2006 @ 12:18 pm

3. I’m betting he’s swamped too, but do let us know how it turns out.

   I had no idea that Paypal offered any kind of guarantee like that. That’s nice to know, and something to consider in my future e-bay purchasing.

   Comment by MoneyDummy — Jan 4th 2006 @ 1:14 pm

4. Not to be rude, but I would be mighty annoyed if you filed a Buyer’s Complaint for me only a few days after e-mailing me over a holiday week. Especially for a guy with lots of feedback – it’s unlikely that he will screw you over for $20. If it was over a week not on a holiday, that’s a different story.

   If you file a complaint, it is very likely that PayPal will FREEZE the guys account, so that he cannot take any of his money out. In addition, he will have to fax in everything but his underwear 0 SSN, Inventory Proof, Phone Bill,… . I had a guy do this to me because the package didn’t arrive after just two days, and it was a royal pain in the arse.

   Anyways, just a view from the other side of the fence. =)

   Comment by Jonathan — Jan 4th 2006 @ 1:40 pm

5. Jim: Yes, I made it clear in the subject that there was a problem.

   Jonathan: Yes, I may have ended up creating a major hassle for him. However, I had to file the complaint when I did because I had actually made the purchase in November, and the window for doing it was rapidly closing. I also gave him about a week to respond to my e-mail before I actually filed the complaint. Moreover, it’s been close to two weeks since I filed it, and he still hasn’t gotten back to me.

   Comment by nickel — Jan 4th 2006 @ 2:11 pm

6. Ah, see from your initial post it sounded like you just bought it right before x-mas and only gave him over Christmas to reply. Good luck! =)

   I’m interested to see if PayPal will actually refund your money.

   Comment by Jonathan — Jan 4th 2006 @ 4:49 pm

7. Yeah it sounded like that to me too, which is why I asked how many days until the window closed. In the end, it’ll all sort itself out but that guy might be at your door… he does know where you live.

   Comment by jim — Jan 4th 2006 @ 5:11 pm

8. hmmm.. thats a tough one. I generally dont recommend people to file buyer’s complaint.. because in my opinion, paypal does little to help – unless you file the complaint as not received.

   although maybe their practice and policy has changed

   do they have different levels of “not as described” now? I’ve had a “not as described” filed against me (I was seller), and paypal didnt tell me to do squat. they said that they will “investigate” and give me an update.

   eventually the complaint just disappeared. filed away as “closed”

   if you’ve paid with a VISA or MasterCard, you can always do a chargeback if paypal doesn’t pull through.

   but yeah 2 weeks is plenty of time to response, vacation/holiday period or not.

   plus he’ll see that “open claim” notice everytime he logs into his paypal account.

   hope it’ll be resolved! dead on arrival items irks me big time.

   Comment by Cap — Jan 4th 2006 @ 7:31 pm

9. If you bought it in November, why didn’t you test/try to return it then?

   Comment by FMF — Jan 5th 2006 @ 1:14 pm

10. Mostly because I assumed (mistakenly) that a guy with such good feedback wouldn’t sell me a DOA item. I decided at the last minute (just before wrapping it) that I had better check it out to make sure that it worked. Fortunately, I still had enough time to go out and buy a new one before Christmas (although I had to pay quite a bit more to get one new).

    Comment by nickel — Jan 5th 2006 @ 1:20 pm

11. Another alternative would have been to wrap it anyway, give it to your son, and then accuse hiom of breaking it. You could then ground him for a month. Good for lots of tears on Christmas day.

    Ok, so that’s why I’m not writing the parenting blog!

    Comment by FMF — Jan 6th 2006 @ 6:42 am

12. That sounds like fun, FMF…

    Comment by Blaine Moore — Jan 6th 2006 @ 7:28 am

13. Oh, yeah! I’ve got a million of them!

    Comment by FMF — Jan 6th 2006 @ 8:04 am

14. oh my.

    “did you know how much that game cost!? you’re going to work it off for the rest of your life!!”

    Comment by Cap — Jan 6th 2006 @ 8:06 am

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