A few weeks ago I was talking about a paper cutter I won on eBay. Nice paper cutter, the one I needed for my bookbinding work. Seller even said in the text of the listing that they would ship to Alaska and Hawaii. Yay!
I contacted them to find out what additional shipping to Alaska would be. No response. Ah well. They said RIGHT THERE that they would ship to Alaska, so, I felt safe in bidding on the item and we could work out the difference in cost or I could provide them an alternate address located in the lower 48 States to ship it to.
I bid, I watched my bid get pushed higher and higher in under $2 increments. Finally I won the paper cutter. Good price for both me and the seller, I paid at once and seller left me feedback that they were happy with my purchase.
Then they never contacted me. I waited. After a bit I sent an email, just to check in. Silence. I waited and waited. No response. Finally, as the time neared to file unreceived item at eBay I sent them another email. They responded with a short statement that they can not ship to Alaska and refunded my money.
Wait? What? They said in the listing, had to TYPE IT IN, that they would ship to Alaska. I told them I was ready and willing to pay extra, just let me know what it would be. I had four people ready to receive the item in the Lower 48 and forward it to me themselves. The seller could not be bothered to respond to one of my multiple emails asking about shipping?
Poor Poor seller practices TrulyRC. Very very poor.
My opinion: they were disappointed with the sale price and saw a chance to renege on the sale so they could relist it without being bitchslapped by eBay.
Advice to other sellers: Don’t ignore the customer. ASK them if they have alternate ideas before you flip them the bird and refuse to complete a sale they had entered into in good faith. They MIGHT, just MIGHT know what they are doing. I had a freaking TREADMILL, yes a treadmill, delivered to Alaska from an eBay seller in New York for cripes sake, I think I could have helped them work out getting me the paper cutter.
Click image for full size view of the original listing from eBay. Notice the last line that clearly indicated to me that the seller WOULD be willing to work out shipping to Alaska.
