Winner 4 Most Aggravating Customer of the Month

Yeah, the month isn’t even over yet, but this buyer will most likely get the award for the whole year.

It is Weds before Thanksgiving, 4:55 PM and BWB checks the e-mail one last time before completely relaxing about business for 40+ hours .

I see that I sold a nice $30 book, and it is going Priority.

But wait, what’s this? An E-mail from the customer demanding that it is sent OVERNIGHT, and by FED EX.

Ridiculous. Always e-mail the Seller first with any special requests or questions.

1-I don’t use Fed Ex, am not setup for it, can’t get to Fed Ex in a reasonable drive time, can’t wait around for Fed Ex to come to me, etc.

2- The price I am reimbursed for shipping comes no where near the actual cost to ship overnight ( $20+ using Postal Service)

3-Even if I did use the Post Office to overnight it so customer could get it on Saturday it would cost an extra leg–if I could even get to the Post Office on time Friday–with the holiday and all. Having my carrier pick it up would not work. UPS doesnt seem like a good option either.

Now, I’m sure some sellers out there would’ve rolled over and looked for a Post Office that stayed open late on Weds, or driven to the Fed Ex Center, and even ate the extra $15-$20 for the overnight shipping–Still the book probably wouldn’t make it there until Sat because of the late time in the day. Or maybe some would’ve elected to wake up really early Friday morning to send the book overnight with Saturday Service, and still eaten the $20+. Or perhaps they would’ve somehow got the extra shipping charge from the buyer.

But me? I can tell this transaction is going to go south from the moment special service is not asked of me, but demanded, and after the purchase. This customer wanted their book on Thanksgiving Day, I’d be lucky if I could get it there by Monday. They are going to be unhappy no matter what happens, and its also possible that they could file a claim and get a complete refund. If I was lucky enough to get the extra shipping cost from them, it wouldn’t be so bad as it would just be the original cost of the book–but would still piss me off.

So I refund, and explain that I do not offer Over Night, or Fed Ex shipping, and that because of the holidays there is no way I can get this customer their book in the time they need it. Of course customer freaks out and e-mails me a few times, I e-mail back suggesting that they try to e-mail other sellers to see if they can send it overnight, to which they reply, “I Did and they said no.” I e-mail back, “You didn’t e-mail first, the refund has already been processed, good luck.”

I’m sure that I will get another e-mail or two, but I have no need to respond anymore. I refunded the buyer within an hour of their purchase, there is nothing else I can do except pray that this buyer doesn’t order anything else from me.

Runner Ups :
Guy who bought a Serial Killer book on Ebay and then not only said he would pay me half of the price he bought it for, but insisted on Picking it up–Creepy. Yeah Ebay automatic feedback is a real great Idea. Needless to say, I did not complete this transaction, and made sure to bold in all my listings that Local Pick Up was not Available. Lucky for me, this book jumped in price and I sold it for $200 a week later, instead of the $100 that the guy bought it for, or the $50 he was willing to pay.

Another Ebay guy from Australia bought an item that was not available for INTL sale because of it’s size and weight, he had a US account so was able to get around the US only criteria. He explained to me how I could ship this 5lb book in a Flat Rate Envelope to Australia, with long, intricate instructions on how to tape the envelope. Well, there was no way that this book would fit in the envelope to begin with, also, my Post Office does not allow tape*. My Lord this guy sent me novels of e-mails, talking about his disabilities yada yada yada, and accusing me of discriminating against him. He would not of course pay to have it shipped in anything else besides a Flat Rate Envelope. This guy would probably win the award, but, because he had disabilities that might have caused him to be an anal jerk, I’ll bequeath him a runner up trophy.

Women who gave Amazon old address, she e-mailed me after I shipped the book and she got the shipping confirmation, I suggested that she file a forwarding order as sometimes it works for books, and if she did it online it might go into affect before the book arrives at her old address. I watch her book work it’s way through the Postal System for a week, and then when I see that it has been delivered to her old address and it is not coming back, I give her a FULL refund, even though this is not my mistake but hers, I also kept up good e-mail communication the whole time. A month later She leaves me a negative–but at least if people read her comment they see that it is all her fault, “I gave old address and never got the book.”

*yes I know they are supposed to allow one piece, but they give my excellent service and I’m not about to argue and cause some of my packages to be delayed, lessen the smiles I get, or cause headaches for my super nice carrier who goes beyond the call of duty for me–Besides, I know how to tape the insides.