"Bait and Switch" on ebay? Advice, please...

scott s

scott s

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I've been using ebay for years, mostly as a buyer but I've sold a handful of items, too. I have 100% positive feedback and always pay promptly.

A couple of days ago, I used a sniper program to bid on and win a pair of Bridgestone Spitfire tires. The front and rear were listed seperately.
Within minutes of the auction end, I received this via ebay messages:

We have encountered a little problem at the warehouse. We sent out a set of tires to another fellow about 10 days ago. I have a 17 year old and a 19 year old working there. They didn't read the label as closely as they should have and grabbed the wrong tire. They sent two front tires to him and he was wanting a front and a rear in the Spitfire. I saw this rear tire sitting on the shelf so listed it, not realizing there was an error with the order. We only have the front tire in the Spitfire and not the rear. Would you be willing to cancel the tire sale for the rear? Or would you be interested in a rear but it would cost more? I would sell it to you for my cost for the same tire. I wouldn't be able to find out the price until Monday when our distributor is open. Anyways, I wanted to let you know why I haven't sent you an invoice. I won't be sending one to you until we get this all figured out. Thanks.


My reply:
I need a pair. If you have a rear you can sell "at cost", why can't you honor the auction price?

He replied today (or last night):
In answer to your question, "Because the tire was inventory stock on the shelf and not something we would have to order in from the distributor." The auction price on eBay for this tire is below our "at cost" prices but we are not sure by how much until we find out from the distributor on Monday. Be assured that the 19 year old was informed today of her mistake. She has worked for us two years and is a very capable and valued employee but anyone can make a mistake. We encourage rechecking items before they are boxed up and shipped. She just completed the task too quickly and didn't check the tire as carefully as she should have. For the other buyer's order, we not only have to pay shipping for the wrong tire to be returned BUT also we have to pay for the shipping of the correct tire out. By offering you the tire at our cost, we are trying to make the best of this situation. At this point, we make no money on either sale but we value our service to buyers (like yourself) and repeat customers. That is more important to us. If there is something more we should be doing, please let me know. Thanks.

I wrote back:

I'm really sorry that your employee made a mistake. However, you listed an item, I bid, I won. I don't see why I should have to pay for your/your employees mistake. This sounds like a typical "bait and switch". I have received invoices for both items. I'm ready to pay right now. Ebay will back me on this, I'm sure. As soon as you can assure me that I'll receive the items I legally and rightfully won, I'll pay for them. I'd really like to resolve this without getting the ebay resolution center involved.

So, what next? Should I pay the invoices NOW and let ebay figure it out? Should I give him a chance to respond?
I know that in ebay's eyes, the buyer is always right and, in this particular case, I don't see where he has a leg to stand on.
 
You will have to decide what is fair and right. The seller's "excuses" sound legitimate but you are also right that he should shut up and eat the loss. If he doesn't you aren't really out anything besides a bit of time and the joy of a "deal" lost. IMHO let it slide, life is too short to spend it fighting over nickels, and you'll feel good about your generosity.
 
Just cancel the whole transaction. I only buy tires from distributors. I want fresh rubber. The longer it's out of the plant and not installed, the more opportunity for it to be stored incorrectly and affect the performance of the tire. Old tires are crap. One of my friends bought a set of Dunlop 206's for his Valkyrie off E-bay. When he got them, they were 7 years old and hard as a rock. They were on the bike less than 2 months. They were over-aged and had never been installed. They made for good rolling burnouts, but lousy riding and grip!
Just my 2 cents.
 
Back out! Why would you want to pay,and then fight for your tires or your money???
 
pamcopete said:
Scott,

Cancel. Go to www.motorcycle-superstore.com they have discount prices, new stock and FREE shipping. I just bought a S11 SpiteFire 100/90-19 there for $94.99 and it was here in a couple of days. Did I mention FREE shipping?
Click to expand...

Not often that I quote myself, but this thread compelled me to research how to decode the date of manufacture of a tire and what is the shelf life of a tire.

The last four digits of that series of letters and numbers on the sidewall after "DOT" is the date of manufacture. In my case they were 4411 which decodes to the 44 th week of 2011, or the second week of November 2011 which means that the tire was manufactured about a year ago.

tiredate.jpg


The general industry standard for the " best before" date is 6 years after manufacture, so I have another 5 years to go on this "new" tire.

So, next time we are shopping for tires, especially tires with a very low price, ask the seller for the date of manufacture.
 
Last edited:
To add to that; before 2000 the date code had 3 digits 228 = 22nd week of 1998 I see a lot of 3 digit and NO numbers (pre 1990?) rim protectors on my barn finds, some times they still LOOK decent.
 
Did you ask the cost of the new tire the seller was willing to send? It might be a stone bargain even if it is higher than the original tire. The senerio sure looks to be unresolvable unless you get the new rear from these guys. They just don't have a 'warehouse' rear tire to sell you.

Bad luck for both parties. I know I'd ask for the price of the new rear and if it was a good deal I'd buy it. This seems the best way to resolve the situation.

Tom
 
A quick word on storing tires: Keep them as cool as practical and store them in a light blocking container (a black trash bag works fine) Preferably stood up on the tread, and as far from any elctrical sources of ozone (electric motors and flourescent lamps are the worst) as practical. This will keep your tire as fresh as possible until you use it. Good post on the tire "freshness" date.
The storage info above is why I prefer to get them as soon as practical. Negligent storage can damage the tire well before the shelf life expires.
$0.02
 
Further research indicates that the generally accepted practice for tire distributors is to sell their tires within two years of manufacture. I think in this thread I would ask the seller for the date code on the tires in question before going forward.
 
What is a sniper program.

You have bought 2 separate items and won them both, the way i see it is you are you are bound by the auction rules to buy the front, but if they cannot supply the rear then they are breaking the rules. I see inconsistencies in his story, (If you have quoted him correctly).
The time from the auction finishing and him admitting to the mistake could be important if you take it to a dispute, but him offering to sell you a more expensive product could be con-screwed as breaking ebay rules.

So now it is a decision on weather you want to make an example or let it go.
 
650Skull said:
What is a sniper program.
Click to expand...

It is a pretty cool thing. It bids for you, with about ten seconds or less to go in the auction. That avoids running up the bid from bidding earlier. It also means you don't have to be sitting at your computer when the auction ends to snipe manually.

I have used one that my brother used, which is actually a website that bids for you, not a program on your computer. What it asks you for is the auction number, your max bid for it, your ID, and your password. I think it gives you four free bids when you register and then you paypal them some small amount for a pack of four more bids every time you run out. I changed my password after I used it, out of paranoia, prob. not necessary.
 
I think you have to buy the front one, but can cancel the rear. It's very suspicious that the seller sent you the message so soon after the auction ended, but didn't pull the auction before it ended. Bad business regardless.

You can leave bad stars for them if you want. Bad stars are what convinced me to quit selling on ebay. Couldn't satisfy all the customers even if you refunded them.

I don't use ebay any more because it's horrid for the seller and not much better for the buyer. Suppose you can get some deals on used parts though.
 
Id back out of both transactions. If you feel he is sneaky then why would expect he would do the right thing on the tires? Seems like too much hassle for a few bucks.
 
Just forget about it, not worth your time. Ebay can't force them to send anything to you and you'll just be waiting for your money to be refunded from paypal (which can take a long time).

Just blacklist that seller and move on.
 
I had that happen to me. The seller said, right after I won, like 5 minutes, the item was accidentally "lost or misplaced", but there was a similar item if i wanted it. However, it was a little more money, but better quality and I wouldn't have to wait for the original item. Which was 2 weeks.

Oh no buddy!!! Sale was void.
 
Fleksta said:
Just forget about it
Click to expand...


Not an option. Terms are agreed to when you make a bid or sell an item.

1: Its an Auction, 2 separate items and there is only a chance of winning one or both.

2: You happened to win both so are bound by the rules to pay for both items.

3: The seller broke the rules buy not being able to supply the product and a second time offering a different item at a higher price so in effect, that makes no 2 void and you only have to pay for one item and the second item goes to dispute.

You haven't payed for the item in dispute so you have nothing to loose and the seller has.

Did the add offer a combined post.

If he did then you have every right to ask the seller for an invoice for both items won and the combined postage. If he won't give you a combined invoice for the first and second item, because he hasn't got the second, ask again. Put him on the spot and get a record of him failing to supply the item more than once so when/if you take it to dispute then it is him that is in the wrong and you have been more than fair and made several efforts to resolve the issue.
You can stall the first sale, due to the cost saving on a combined postage, Don't refuse to buy the item won but insist on both items on one invoice before payment is made.
State you sympathize with his problems, but they are his and you should not be disadvantaged, then point out how it is going to cost you more, because of no combined post, and on how it may affect you with any deals on buying a set of tires, now you only need to buy one.
 

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