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More Gumtree Woes


Cryptocorynus

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I just made a sale to someone at the beginning of this week and now a few days after receiving their package they are saying they are now not satisfied with the amount of plants they got. I was quite straight-forward with them about bag sizes, etc. and I even threw in not four plants free, but four types of plants free (and it wasn't just val or cheap plants, either), with multiple plants of each of these four types. I've now found out they're not happy, even though the buyer had previously said everything was fine. This particular buyer also opened a PayPal dispute only because I had not replied to him for a few hours while I was busy with family before sending off his parcel. He later cancelled that dispute but as is plain to see, this guy has a very itchy trigger-finger.

Apparently now he is in the process of opening another PayPal dispute and has already contacted the Department of Fair Trading without attempting to sort things out buyer-to-seller beforehand (even though I said I would replace anything if it were to be damaged in transportation or if he wasn't happy with quality, etc.). Everything was fine then everything wasn't, then it was again and now it's not again. He told me it is his first time setting up a planted tank (and as that was the case that was why I was more generous than normal) but I now believe that he most likely now thinks he's out of his depth and needs a way out of the situation.

What is the process for things like this? Has anyone here been in a similar situation? I think now I'm going to give Gumtree a miss for everything aquarium-related. It's a nightmare. I think from now on (if I'm not sent to Guantanamo Bay or similar by the Department of Fair Trading for such a horrible act of fraud) that I'll only be selling to experienced fish-keepers. Lesson learnt. It's a shame to see that whether or not you are a buyer or seller, as long as you can be unethical and manipulative you can keep the upper hand in a situation like this.

 

UPDATE: I've now sent him a $20 refund as a gesture of good faith. I'm now waiting for a response.

Edited by Cryptocorynus
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Mate that sucks, it also is very disappointing how people can act sometimes. You didn't have to give him money back, if I was you I would of asked him to send back the plants and you will refund the money's. 

People like that ruin it for others like you said you gave a description of how many plants he was to get u even put in some extras to help him out then he chucks his dummy because it's not enough. I wouldn't worry about fair trading 

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7 minutes ago, Mitch91 said:

Mate that sucks, it also is very disappointing how people can act sometimes. You didn't have to give him money back, if I was you I would of asked him to send back the plants and you will refund the money's. 

People like that ruin it for others like you said you gave a description of how many plants he was to get u even put in some extras to help him out then he chucks his dummy because it's not enough. I wouldn't worry about fair trading 

I wouldn't either... if I was someone else, haha. I just have the absolute worst luck when stuff goes to a higher power to decide on an outcome, regardless of the situation. I was thinking about doing what you were saying, but the plants have hardly been in his hands three days after being mailed to him and posting again so quickly might just be a recipe for disaster. Well, I'll hope for the best but sadly it sounds like I may also have to plan for the worst. No more Gumtree for me. And I know I didn't have to do anything for him, I just don't like people being disappointed (if that's actually what is going on, that is).

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4 minutes ago, Cryptocorynus said:

I wouldn't either... if I was someone else, haha. I just have the absolute worst luck when stuff goes to a higher power to decide on an outcome, regardless of the situation. I was thinking about doing what you were saying, but the plants have hardly been in his hands three days after being mailed to him and posting again so quickly might just be a recipe for disaster. Well, I'll hope for the best but sadly it sounds like I may also have to plan for the worst. No more Gumtree for me. And I know I didn't have to do anything for him, I just don't like people being disappointed (if that's actually what is going on, that is).

Yeah I reckon he just wanted something for free and what easier way to do it, like I said if that's the case ask for the plants back . Anyways go the forums next that is if your still going to sell haha

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2 minutes ago, Mitch91 said:

Yeah I reckon he just wanted something for free and what easier way to do it, like I said if that's the case ask for the plants back . Anyways go the forums next that is if your still going to sell haha

Yeah, he told me he's on Centrelink and everything, so in a way I don't blame him if that's what he's doing. There was a time where a young me probably would have tried to get away with it, too. 

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10 minutes ago, Cryptocorynus said:

Yeah, he told me he's on Centrelink and everything, so in a way I don't blame him if that's what he's doing. There was a time where a young me probably would have tried to get away with it, too. 

Oh well haha live and learn on life's journey 

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Sorry to hear about your experience.. I've had 2 bad ones with gumtree so far but they were quite different from yours. On one occassion the poor fella's shrimp died overnight and he still has no idea why. He was quite rude to me about it.. I felt very guilty despite the fact that I had dropped the shrimp off to him locally and I had also shipped some interstate on that same day and the interstate postage went perfectly fine... The other time I sent someone some high grade rcs juvies which never coloured up for the customer. I tried to help him to sort out what was obviously something wrong with his setup and causing his shrimp to be stressed - I kept in touch over a period of a month or so .. he continued to guilt-trip me and then ultimately he shut down the conversation saying he would never buy livestock from a stranger again. I'm inclined to think that they probably had started to die off by that point in time and he was refusing to concede the fact - e.g. he's a total knob with no consideration of how I must have been feeling the entire time while trying to do the best I could for him.

 

Anyway there's always going to be overly selfish and very ignorant people out there I suppose, at least for the time-being. Thanks for creating the thread and providing the opportunity to vent/rant LOL

On a not so unrelated subject; is anyone less than excited about the Trump getting the republican nomination? :crashh:

love n peace

will

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That's annoying part when we deal with someone been so rude and thought their money was bigger than anything else and throwing attitudes.

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Thank you so much everyone! It's certainly uplifting to know that other people have had equally as bad experiences in the past! Now that I come to think of it, people that aren't really knowledgeable about plants (especially for things like buce, crinums, MLPs, etc.) might be happy buying something for a high price because it's got that rare tag attached to it, but once they get it into their tank and they think of it just as another plant it would be pretty easy then to become underwhelmed and annoyed that they paid so much for it. I think that could come into some situations.

 

12 minutes ago, revolutionhope said:

On a not so unrelated subject; is anyone less than excited about the Trump getting the republican nomination?

As for Trump, I've pretty much lost all hope in America already and am pretty much just waiting for Ol' Don to plunge the planet into a nuclear war.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Cryptocorynus said:

As for Trump, I've pretty much lost all hope in America already and am pretty much just waiting for Ol' Don to plunge the planet into a nuclear war.

 

Bush and Blair already tried.. .. at the gay bar ...

 

Let's hope Trump doesn't succeed ;-)

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Let him goto department of fair trading your not a registered business so they cant do crap to you. Record your conversation you have with him for the sake of paypal if it comes to it but it looks shonky on his part to make a claim then cancel and make a new one lol.

Paypal is also based in america and I have heard some instances where they are unable to do anything anyway. If he fails with paypal then his only option is to sue you in civil court and kudos to him if he tries lol cause I highly doubt he would be successful.

Probably be to much hassle for him anyway going to legal aid to get free representation. 

I wouldnt feel guilty I would tell him you will quiet happily wait to deal with paypal or tell him that you will be awaiting a summons to civil court because you already have a fairly strong brief of evidence. There is no way in hell he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt (providing they operate on the same basis of criminal court) that you have deliberately misrepresented yourself and ripped him off.

Its for reasons like this idiot that I have a PO box and no one gets my address unless i know who you are off a forum or its a documented sale like through ebay. 

Edited by OzShrimp
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Fair trading won't give a hoot about a private 2nd hand sale via Gumtree. How did the guy raise a second PayPal dispute? I thought PayPal only allowed for one to be raised and when closed tough luck.

A bit of bad luck lately for you so I'll share some SKF love. PM me your address and I'll send you a little SKF something. I need to check the box. Include your shirt size in case I have any left.

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9 minutes ago, NoGi said:

Fair trading won't give a hoot about a private 2nd hand sale via Gumtree. How did the guy raise a second PayPal dispute? I thought PayPal only allowed for one to be raised and when closed tough luck.

A bit of bad luck lately for you so I'll share some SKF love. PM me your address and I'll send you a little SKF something. I need to check the box. Include your shirt size in case I have any left.

Dude, are you serious? I could be making this up for all you know, haha. But thank you so much, @NoGi! It's all I seem to get from all you shrimpos - kindness, generosity and long, time-consuming paragraphs explaining the best way to do things that I should already know. In a recent trade I had someone send $150+ worth of plants to me without hesitation or any form of collateral, and that was someone I was talking to on a forum for only a few days! 

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1 hour ago, NoGi said:

That's what makes our community so great

+1 to what Nogi said.

 

I've been on many forums, and SKF is different.

Lots of caring, generous and thoughtful people.

Personally, I reply to others on this forum like I would like someone to respond back to me in the reverse situation.

Edited by jayc
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10 minutes ago, jayc said:

I've been on many forums, and SKF is different.

Lots of caring, generous and thoughtful people.

Personally, I reply to others on this forum like I would like someone to respond back to me in the reverse situation.

I'm just finding this! It's definitely a very tight-knit community here and I'm definitely glad I stumbled upon SKF, I can assure you. If I'm to be honest the classifieds area is a little stagnant (maybe it's just right now) but everything else is as lively as you could ever hope for. I do still browse AL and Shrimpscape and a few other forums, but only now to see what's for sale. If I ever need a second opinion or help with anything, SKF is now my first (and to this day, the only) port of call that I am needing to make to get a response, and that really is a credit to the community in its whole. 

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Yeah, the awesome and supportive community vibe at SKF is one of the main reasons I got into shrimp keeping beyond my initial office aquarium. Communities like this are rare!!

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SKF may feel like a community to you but once you have been here and active long enough it becomes more like a family :)

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33 minutes ago, OzShrimp said:

SKF may feel like a community to you but once you have been here and active long enough it becomes more like a family :)

That's so right.

SKF = Shrimp Keepers Family

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Sorry guys, I have to disagree: the people that conned me with shrimp on Gumtree are on this very forum. So unless the person on this forum already has a sterling reputation, I won't risk it.

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3 hours ago, KeenShrimp said:

Sorry guys, I have to disagree: the people that conned me with shrimp on Gumtree are on this very forum. So unless the person on this forum already has a sterling reputation, I won't risk it.

Cant tar everyone with the same brush though

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3 hours ago, KeenShrimp said:

Sorry guys, I have to disagree: the people that conned me with shrimp on Gumtree are on this very forum. So unless the person on this forum already has a sterling reputation, I won't risk it.

That's really disappointing. I've only been around for a year and a half and the regulars here seem very trustworthy to me. I've had nothing but positive experiences with perhaps a dozen different people here now. I imagine this person is someone who doesn't contribute often.

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4 hours ago, KeenShrimp said:

Sorry guys, I have to disagree: the people that conned me with shrimp on Gumtree are on this very forum. So unless the person on this forum already has a sterling reputation, I won't risk it.

Can't stop everyone from joining a public forum like SKF.

I think if that transaction was carried out on SKF (rather than Gumtree), the out come would have been different. At least the Mods on here would step in and assist with the situation.

 

Hopefully your trading experiences on SKF have been pleasant ones so far.

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5 hours ago, KeenShrimp said:

Sorry guys, I have to disagree: the people that conned me with shrimp on Gumtree are on this very forum. So unless the person on this forum already has a sterling reputation, I won't risk it.

yeah here is the odd ? dude on hear but most of us aren't. i know at least one member i wont deal with,  but  that's one person.

you cant brand use all withe the ? stick because of  one person   

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