Buyers who cannot read!

**Cali Craft and Gems** · 21-01-12, 22:30

Firstly...
I've just about had it with buyers who think it's great fun to dish out poor ratings left, right and center!

The latest rating was a neutral from a buyer who only paid after I filed the SNC and gave him a negative rating for non-payment. Transaction was dated 29 December so I think giving him over 3 weeks to get his act in gear was extremely fair!

He had originally attempted to pay via credit card for an amount of R75 on 1 Jan even though it clearly states in all my listings and numerous times through the order and payment process that credit card payments are only for purchases over R150! I reversed his payment and he had a hissy fit claiming that I do not know the difference between a credit and debit card... then silence until today when I filed the SNC.

He did an EFT payment within minutes of me filing the SNC so I retracted the SNC stating that full payment had been received, and changed his rating to positive with the comment "Payment received". Quick as lightning, he rated me neutral stating "Not able to pay by credit card".

I mean seriously! Surely it is the buyers' responsibility to READ the terms, conditions, shipping and payment information???

Secondly...
Buyer bids on a ring and wins the item. Completes the transaction with the note: "My ring size is K. If you do not have that size I would not like to purchase."

I sent her a message stating that the size is clearly described and shown in the listing and it is her responsibility to ensure that the size is correct before bidding (also that we only have once-off pieces so the size listed is the only size available). I reminded her that when she confirmed her bid that she legally agreed to purchase the item.

She promptly replies via email: "Cancel order number 4474547. i did not notice the ring sizes and that my size is not available. I also did not know shipping would be so much money."

Uhm... hello??? Did you not learn to READ before going online? Surely you have had to READ the terms and conditions (and complete the registration form) before you looked for things to bid on!?!?!?!

Grrrr!

**lilythepink** · 22-01-12, 04:51

Oh dear, Cali. You and Sipho seem to pick up some very strange customers indeed!

Hope the weather in Oudsthoorn has cooled down a bit - it is actually raining here in Grahamstown.

I'm up at this ung0dly hour because we had a stray cat in the house and our six were all up in arms (paws?) and there was horrific howling going on. The intruder scatted as soon as he saw me but I think he comes in to eat our cats' food! I dare not tell you that our two wonderful dogs (Ruby and Lily) carried on snoring until they realised I was up and about. Watch dogs don't seem to exist in our lives. Ruby far prefers to chase thunder than feline intruders, so it would seem.

**MiemsJewels** · 22-01-12, 10:14

Originally Posted by Cali Craft and Gems

Secondly...
Buyer bids on a ring and wins the item. Completes the transaction with the note: "My ring size is K. If you do not have that size I would not like to purchase."

I sent her a message stating that the size is clearly described and shown in the listing and it is her responsibility to ensure that the size is correct before bidding (also that we only have once-off pieces so the size listed is the only size available). I reminded her that when she confirmed her bid that she legally agreed to purchase the item.

She promptly replies via email: "Cancel order number 4474547. i did not notice the ring sizes and that my size is not available. I also did not know shipping would be so much money."

This is so frustrating. Such a pity they cannot READ!! Those type of buyers should not be allowed to bid on items!

**Not1CentMore** · 22-01-12, 17:31

Cali...

I am beginning to 'think' reading is a 'dying art'. More than a few people (here, too) do not read.

Hmmm...perhaps 'reading' is not the 'problem', perhaps it is that what they read gets 'all jumbled up' in the 'empty' space between their ears; clank, bounce, thud.

Ruthie

**tomattdirect** · 06-02-12, 15:20

Perhaps when bob does an upgrade on their software they can include a button to click to confirm that the buyer has read the whole listing as well as postage charges etc. It should be pretty simple to track whether the buyer has in fact even opened the postage details. If they agree that they have read everything and agree, then decide to punish sellers with neutral or neg when they find out they have made an error, those feedbacks should be removed by bob on request. I agree not all fb should be removed but if it can be proven that the seller has not done anything wrong then they shouldnt be punished

Originally Posted by Cali Craft and Gems

Firstly...
I've just about had it with buyers who think it's great fun to dish out poor ratings left, right and center!

The latest rating was a neutral from a buyer who only paid after I filed the SNC and gave him a negative rating for non-payment. Transaction was dated 29 December so I think giving him over 3 weeks to get his act in gear was extremely fair!

He had originally attempted to pay via credit card for an amount of R75 on 1 Jan even though it clearly states in all my listings and numerous times through the order and payment process that credit card payments are only for purchases over R150! I reversed his payment and he had a hissy fit claiming that I do not know the difference between a credit and debit card... then silence until today when I filed the SNC.

He did an EFT payment within minutes of me filing the SNC so I retracted the SNC stating that full payment had been received, and changed his rating to positive with the comment "Payment received". Quick as lightning, he rated me neutral stating "Not able to pay by credit card".

I mean seriously! Surely it is the buyers' responsibility to READ the terms, conditions, shipping and payment information???

Secondly...
Buyer bids on a ring and wins the item. Completes the transaction with the note: "My ring size is K. If you do not have that size I would not like to purchase."

I sent her a message stating that the size is clearly described and shown in the listing and it is her responsibility to ensure that the size is correct before bidding (also that we only have once-off pieces so the size listed is the only size available). I reminded her that when she confirmed her bid that she legally agreed to purchase the item.

She promptly replies via email: "Cancel order number 4474547. i did not notice the ring sizes and that my size is not available. I also did not know shipping would be so much money."

Uhm... hello??? Did you not learn to READ before going online? Surely you have had to READ the terms and conditions (and complete the registration form) before you looked for things to bid on!?!?!?!

Grrrr!

**oaks and acorns** · 06-02-12, 17:15

Hi tomattdirect, you can use Prompts and tweak the options so that the sale does not go through until the buyer selects Yes or No. This kind of prompt allows you to ask or prompt the buyer into confirming that he/she has read postage charges, etc. As I understand it, the answered prompt will also show itself in the order details (and should also be legally binding as an agreement).

Prompts - Options for Buyers When They Check Out - Powered by Kayako Fusion Help Desk Software

**mellowred** · 07-02-12, 07:43

At the risk of being unpopular .....

There are a lot of posts about buyers not reading.

Perhaps sellers need to review their T&Cs. Some T&Cs are just too long and contain far too much information. The important bits get lost in the haze.

We need to remember that life is fast nowadays, and many people buy on the internet because it is fast and convenient. Expecting them to read a full page of T&Cs may be a bit much. Most of these are covered by the BoB T&Cs in any case, so why not cut back on words and use bold and hi-light to make the relevant conditions stand out.

**wayjen** · 07-02-12, 07:57

Some Buyers could not care less about your T & C and will tell you what they will do or in some cases not do. We had/have a case now where a Buyer failed in his duty after 2 months and now wants to take the matter further cause he is unhappy about the ratings. I am sorry but if you BS me for 2 months I am not interested in your money now.

How hard is it to pay after a reasonable amount of time? Why is it that "old" Buyers think they can dictate how you run your auction, I can understand a "newbie" messing up but please if you have purchased items on BoB before, you know how it works. Is it so difficult to communicate with each other even though half the phone calls us as sellers get are lies anyway with promises of payments?

**lilythepink** · 07-02-12, 08:34

I wonder if we shouldn't have a message somewhere on BoB confirmation of sales to buyers where they are invited to join the forum (for their own good!)?

**Cali Craft and Gems** · 07-02-12, 08:42

"I paid yesterday, where is my tracking number?"

Uhm, hello??? Read the shipping details and you will see that parcels are shipped on Thursdays and Fridays only!

Do buyer's actually know what the "Shipping and Payment" tab is all about? Is it just there to look pretty?

**wayjen** · 07-02-12, 08:48

I don't think inviting people to the forum will help as it would end up in a free for all with he said and she said and anyway BoB has things in place to sort out this nonsense. Look at the DEADBEATS thread and look at those rules of posting and you will see that we all post there without telling the Non-Buyer to come to the forum to state their case.

If our terms as sellers are there and you do not abide by them then how can you come here to defend yourself and likewise as Sellers we need to do the right thing too to ensure the best is got out of the BoB trading platform for us and for everyone.

**voldermort** · 07-02-12, 09:07

Originally Posted by mellowred

At the risk of being unpopular .....

There are a lot of posts about buyers not reading.

Perhaps sellers need to review their T&Cs. Some T&Cs are just too long and contain far too much information. The important bits get lost in the haze.

We need to remember that life is fast nowadays, and many people buy on the internet because it is fast and convenient. Expecting them to read a full page of T&Cs may be a bit much. Most of these are covered by the BoB T&Cs in any case, so why not cut back on words and use bold and hi-light to make the relevant conditions stand out.

I agree with you Mellow & I am probably also one of the guilty ones who has quite a lot of words on my T&Cs BUT it is a simple fact - a lot of buyers simply do not read the T&C's (I wonder if some of them even read the ads, the amount of times I have had buyers thinking a LP was a CD - a CD was a DVD - a softcover was a hardcover etc etc etc)
I sold a book 2 weeks ago to an overseas buyer - bear in mind I have stated on my ads 2x that international buyers must please inquire about postage costs and still, they add local postage of R25.00 (yeah, right) & now want to know why is it their job to ask me for shipping costs?? BUT I have it stated in my T&C's 2x that they need to do just that.
I think it is just the same as some people speak before thinking, so too do some buy before reading.......resulting in a lot of unnecessary work re: snc's etc.
In an ideal world there would be one set of T&C's for all, unfortunately it is not an ideal world, some people post 1x weekly, some 2x weekly, some daily, some accept credit cards, some don't, some accept cheques, some don't - buyers just need to realise that before bidding/buying they really do need to read the buyers T&Cs.

**Jongleur** · 07-02-12, 12:06

As a buyer on BoB I have in the mean only had good experiences with terms and conditions.
However, all suppliers and clients are sinners, some more so than others. For these sins your
ratings must reflect positive, neutral or negative.

Two cardinal sins from sellers:

Not answering questions on time or not at all.
No dimensions, weight, etc.

Here endeth the lesson.

**wayjen** · 07-02-12, 12:13

Here is my lesson.

Buyers please read the listing and I mean everything before bidding and if you need further information then ask. Please remember, some of us do not sit in front of a pc refreshing the webpage every 5 seconds to see what bids or questions there are for us, so have some patience please.

**lilythepink** · 07-02-12, 14:12

I think it would greatly assist buyers if they joined the forum - they could then read all the horrific (and some of them are!) stories about buyers who don't read properly, pay on time, or whatever.

If they want to moan, there are enough of us who know better and can instruct them in a firm but kind way so that they will enjoy being part of BoB.

That is why I made the suggestion that we invite buyers to join the forum!