Buying from ebay

[mint]

I am having a bit of an unsettling experience buying a rowing machine.

This is the first time I am attempting to buy anything from ebay and, so far, the experience is nothing like the norm when buying on-line.

A bit of background:

I found what I wanted to buy and I registered as I didn't think I could buy without registering.  I paid for the rower (able to pay for it in sterling, so all to the good) and I was expecting to receive an email giving me an order number of some sort and possibly giving me a date for receipt of the article.

That was last night.  By this afternoon, I checked my email account, no purchase to follow.  I looked in my credit card account, nothing taken out.  I rang my bank to be told they'd "approved" the amount last night.

But still, no email from the seller who are apparently called "True Shoppin'" and I am now confused as to whether I HAD bought anything.  I would have been inclined to think that for some reason the order didn't get done but after speaking to the bank, it was obvious that my transaction was noted if nothing else.

It's not easy to contact ebay and I don't now know what to expect.  Could well be they'd take the money tomorrow and write to me.

Just want someone used to ebay to say whether this is normal or not.

I'd cancel the order and try again except there is no order acknowledgement of any sort.

Any thoughts or comments, please?

[Russethouse]

 I have a friend who sells extensively through eBay and her constant grip is that eBay ALWAYS come down on the side of the buyer, so try not to worry!

 

[mint]

I'm not really worried, RH, just wondering if I am going to get my rower and if they intend to sell it to me[:-))]

BTW, how are you?

Haven't seen you here for a long time.

[dave21478]

I wouldnt worry.

If you go to My Ebay, there should be a section with "purchased items" or similar and it will be listed there.

How did you pay for it? If it was through paypal, then one of the icons to the right of the item should be "payment sent" or something like that.

Its not unusual to have very little (or none at all) communication from the seller.

Assuming the seller has good feedback, you will be fine. As said above, ebay is hopelessly biased towards protecting the buyer, so its rare for there to be problems.

[mint]

Thanks, Dave.  But that's just it, NOTHING anywhere for me to follow to show I'd bought something!

And yet, my bank said they'd "approved" the amount so presumably they haven't taken the money yet?  Very strange but I'll have another look tomorrow.

BTW, after you said about "noisy" rowers, I decided to go for a water based one which apparently only goes whoosh, whoosh!

[Russethouse]

 Give it 3/5 days, if you don't hear, contact EBay (There's a facility for this )

 I'm fine, not enough hours in the day ( I thought there might be as I got older, wrong again [8-)] )

Mother still around, aged 94, 82 years as a smoker...[blink] Some days she can't tell the difference between me and my sister which is sad and sometimes upsetting, but one foot in front of the other...it could be so much worse.

Children now in their thirties, both in decent jobs, but no serious relationships, leave alone grand children..... 

OH retires next year, we're thinking of buying a caravan.....

Current 'obsession' is Sonus and Spotify.....typically we play classical music in the day ( Bruch's Violin Concerto, Mendelsohn Violin Concerto, Lakme etc),  and schmaltz ( Johnny Mathis, Matt Monroe, Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra etc) in the early evening..... quite relaxing...

I'm of to Nice next Month and then a weekend at L'Enclume in the Lake District in November[:D] never a dull moment [:)]

[mint]

Oh, RH, how lovely to have your news!

So all is really well in your world[:D]

Wishing you happy visits to Nice and the Lake District!  Can't say you don't get around, can you?

[Russethouse]

 So far, so good, but I take nothing for granted. Just keep crossing my fingers  and hoping for the best [:)] How's everything with you ?  I look in, but don't comment so often.

I still miss Coops but happy to see Ian on FB.

[idun]

Log onto ebay and as suggested, look on 'my ebay',and it should be on there. Really it should, we have always had something on the account when we have bought something and my OH has bought quite a lot of stuff over the years. In fact his account his account is still considered 'french ebay'.

[Loiseau]

Wonder if this could be the reason you haven't heard anything yet, mint?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2724828/eBay-users-vent-fury-website-crashes-tenth-time-year-just-hikes-fees-sellers.html

Angela

[Lehaut]

Normally you can contact the seller. Look on the page you bought the machine from for either a "contact the seller" icon or a telephone number where you can ring them direct. If they have a "visit the shop" icon, click on that and see if there are more contact details. Google the company name, compare address and give them a ring?

This is one reason I buy everything I can from Amazon .fr Premium. It may cost a little bit more, but its nothing compared to sorting stuff out bought from the UK or Ebay.uk if there is a problem.

[Patf]

Good to hear from you RB [:D]

Mint - you should be able to contact the seller direct, as well as ebay themselves. Was it ebay.fr?

Go back to the page where you made the purchase, there should be something like "contact seller".

Perhaps they're on holiday. Today is some kind of religious fête, which makes things slower.

I've bought loads of things on ebay.fr and perhaps I've been lucky, but never had any problems.

ps Sorry I missed page 2 and LeHaut's advice which is same as mine.[:$]

[Judith]

"Today is some kind of religious fête"

It is the "assumption of the Blessed Mary" - no I'm not a catholic - but one of the few jours feriés in France which is really taken seriously as a religious day still [even more than Chrismas day].  We've had bells ringing from several different directions all morning ....  so yes, no post, faire le pont, and an SNCF strike - how good to be in France!

I have no experience of EBay, but would suggest it could be wise to check with the seller, though indeed, EBay itself is having technical  problems.  Good luck, hope it all works out in the end.

[mint]

Yikes!!!  I was in the middle of a LONG reply to everybody and, guess what, the whole kybosh just disappeared into the ether[:'(]

However, I will try once more.

Firstly, mega thanks to everybody who has replied and to say how lovely to gather you all together here and also to say I will try and respond as best I can in this post.

So, to all who have said follow it on the site, (id, you are one), I promise I can't.  On mon ebay, NOTHING to say I have bought anything, AUCUNE CHOSE to follow.  No number, no trace..................

Lehaut, I have found from my bank in the UK (Nationwide) that the company is called True Shopping.  Looked there but it seems they only sell everything else (home, electronics, garden) BUT rowers.

Loisseau, your page says no longer available so if you or anyone else can make your link clickable, that will be good.

Anyway, I am hoping that the rower will be available and that the company will contact me once they send it.  I am not too bothered AS LONG AS they don't take the money and, in any case, I paid by credit card, so I hope I will be able to reclaim.

Lastly but by no means leastly, RH, I am glad you and your folks are fine.  Thanks for asking about us: all is better than we have a right o expect.  Both getting older.  OH has more pills to take and another specialist to see.  My sight and hearing are not as I'd hoped.  However, no "nasties" and we still get on, making allowances for each other, and feeling that each day is some sort of unexpected bonus.

Also, me too, I miss Coops and I still sometimes imagine the things she'd say to some of the posts on here![:D]

[Loiseau]

Sorry you couldn't get my link to work, minty. I just went to it again, and copied the first bit of the article:

"Friday, Aug 15th 2014

EBay hikes its fees for sellers just as traders vent fury after website crashes for tenth time this year

Hundreds of thousands of users were unable to log on or trade on the site

Outage thought to be caused by crucial ‘nuts and bolts’ of the internet called the Border Gateway Protocol

Fees for sellers are going up from today - including for 'buy it now' feature

By RACHEL RICKARD STRAUS FOR THISISMONEY.CO.UK

EBay users have been venting their fury after the website crashed for the tenth time this year – in the same week that it hiked its prices for sellers.

The online auctioneer was out of action for most of the day on Tuesday, with buyers and sellers inundating the site with complaints about lost business after being unable to log onto their accounts.

Hundreds of thousands of users were unable to log on and the auction site was flooded with traders demanding compensation."

Off to try and make some pesto from the wooly one's glut of basil now!

Angela

[Russethouse]

Ian posted a photo of Coops, taken a few weeks before her final illness, on FB. Next time he pops in perhaps we can get him to post it here......it was the music festival she liked to go to just a couple of weeks back.

Can you contact the seller - ? If not go to eBay......

 

[Chancer]

Sounds like you are using EBay.fr Mint, its the same as the Uk one but here is how to see the list of your purchases.

Sign in.

Either _ hover over "mon eBay" at the top of the screen and then click on "objets achetés"

Or - Click on "récapitulatif" then look on the left and click on "historique des achats"

It should then show your purchase and you will be able to look at "détails de la commande" which will show you the estimated delivery date.

Dependant on the seller you may get several notifications from "your order is being processed" "been collected" "tracking reference" "your order has been delivered and signed for by XYZ" or you may hear nothing at all until it arrives.

[nectarine]

I use Ebay a lot and have rarely had a problem. It's normal for sellers not to reply immediately and take a few days. When you buy something there is always the opportunity to 'add a message to the seller' and I always ask for an email response, although it may take several days.

If you paid by credit card or PayPal then you're safe. The amount may not show instantly, the funds approval is just that, but no money has physically changed hands.

Let us know how you get on, although I wouldn't be worried at this stage.

[mint]

Thank you, Chance and Nectarine.

Yes, Chance, I looked at all the places you said but no trace to be found for my order.

Nectarine, I am not worried about losing my money, more worried that I won't get the rower as I feel as fat as a duck around my middle and I want to get going immediately[I]

Good news is I somehow managed to get on to a bit of the site where I could write an email without knowing the purchase number and, wonder of wonders, an actual person has replied and invited me to write to them directly!!!

So, I did.  All they asked me for was the number of the object on the site so I was soon able to provide them with that.

I am particularly pleased, Nectarine, to learn that it's normal not to hear for a bit.  There are only 11 of these rowers and 7 have already been sold.  I don't want to lose out as they are on 50 pounds discount and delivery to France is only 10 quid.

I'd buy it elsewhere except that everywhere else is about 200 euros more.

Edit:  apologies Angela and RH; thank you to you as well, of course.  Meant to reply earlier but I am getting all the things ready for a meal tomorrow.  Angela, isn't it just like me to buy something on a day when there was this great cafouillage [:D] (my word for this week) on ebay.  RH, do you mean the Fairford Convention (or something like that name)?  As you know, my knowledge of popular music is rather less than my knowledge of quantum physics. 

[mint]

Ebay seems to be full of people working today!!!

Apparently, the vendor is now not sure if the rower can be sent to France!  Yes, I don't believe it either!

So time to check up the bank account again and see if any money has been taken.

This is all so unnecessarily tedious for customers.  You'd think they wouldn't advertise on the French site if they couldn't send the item, wouldn't you?

[Russethouse]

Where is the seller ? ( Roughly) Was a shipping cost mentioned (sorry I may have missed this)

[mint]

As far as I can ascertain, the seller is in the UK and I paid in pound sterling.

The bank said the seller is called True Shopping but, as I have said, I can't find the article on True Shopping's website and indeed no "sports" section at all.

In the meantime, ebay has asked me to re-set my password so they are obviously having some sort of problem to which I am not party.  This is the THIRD email they have sent.

I'm just having a think to see if I do want to have any more hassle with this, TBH.

[Russethouse]

These requests for password changes are addressed to you by your user name aren't they ?

[suein56]

[quote user="mint"]In the meantime, ebay has asked me to re-set my password ... [/quote]

As RH says do be careful as scammers can send emails asking you to change your password so they can access your ebay account.

Please doublecheck that the email you act upon is genuine.

Sue

[nectarine]

Sounds like you're having a bad experience but that's fairly rare.

Firstly, the password change .... do check it's actually from Ebay (hover over the clickable link that they sent you to check it's an ebay web address). If in doubt, don't. However, some months ago there was some security issue and it was recommended that users change their passwords ... in that case, go directly to Ebay (type www.ebay.co.uk in your browser) and change your password there, rather than via an email link.

Secondly, always check postage and shipping when you buy. As you scroll down the main page there are two tabs lower down - Description and Postage&/Payments. On the Postage tab you will usually find either a calculator for postage to your area, or a statement saying that the seller won't deliver to France, or to contact him directly.

Now with a big item like a rower, there'd normally be a request that you contact the vendor asking you to contact him directly so he could calculate the shipment charge.

But he's got back to you and so you have dialogue. If the money has been taken he will organise a refund, and there's Ebay rules about the time frame for this (sorry, don't know the exact rules but everything is weighted on the buyer's side). Just keep communication with him and keep us updated.

Good luck