tony de wonderful

I was just selling a high end bike of mine on egay and the auction finished a couple of hours ago.

I get an email from a guy I know was super interested and he said he could not put a bid on in the final few mins and it showed technical issues.

So I get on the chat to eghey help, and they did not say much really just ask the buyer to agree to cancel, and they said the site has periodic maintenance but that is all they would say.

(I am still waiting to hear back from the buyer)

So I was looking for the bid history and could not see it.

Then 10 mins later the bid history is available which shows NO bids in the last 20 mins. This despite 50 odd watchers and loads of interest on email.

So I get another chat window up and query this. Same answer - call the buyer. As soon as I asked if it was a technical problem the ****er shut down the chat his end after posting a C&P of how to contact the buyer.

I am ****ing angry they just shut the chat down on me.

I get the chat transcripts emailed but they say they have an attachment with the chat but I see no attachment. I cannot find the buyers phone only an option to msg him which I have done.

I'm pissed with ebay.

prodriverules

iTrader: (52)

What was the bike and price Tony?

tony de wonderful

My 2006 Time Edge with Campy Chorus. Was in excellent condition.

Went for £477

I could accept the price if I knew the auction wasn't (maybe) farked at the end by eghey technical issues. The bloke on email said he was trying to bid a lot more.

addi monster

iTrader: (6)

There was a big thing about a simlar instance about 3 years back when the system was down for 3hrs iirc, and it was pretty much the same response by them back then, its shocking, i would call them that way they will cancel the bid and stop any bad feedback, the chat system is a load of sh*te,
good luck

Will

That's ****!!!

hodgy0_2

surely it is common knowledge that "fake" bidding in ebay for bike/lycra related items is just a form of digital *******

just be flattered tdw and move on

tony de wonderful

You mean call the buyer? I can't get his phone no from the site? I looked under his name but it is not listed?

..or so you mean ebay? If they admit the site was broke will they not then be admitting liability for losses?

Will

E mail him and ask for his number.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

2 options... Take the highest bid or if there is a guy prepared to pay alot more (see the wonga!) then you could say to the highest bidder there was a technical fault with ebay and you need to relist the item. Do a 1day auction and let them bid it out...

WRXBOB

Just sell it direct to the other potential buyer and avoid eBay fees ?

tony de wonderful

Well if the original buyer tells me to bugger off I have one option which is to sell it to them unfortunately.

addi monster

iTrader: (6)

sorry tony (few old perculier's)
call ebay, talk to them direct and you will get some sense from them, that online chat screen is as you have found out (a joke)
steve

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Did you try and sell it on bike sites like Retrobike first ?

Shaun

addi monster

iTrader: (6)

you can also request the buyers contact details (phone number) through ebay, type "request contact details" in the help tab and follow the links,.
steve

tony de wonderful

I noticed also that the winner made 3 bids of the same price in one min. How is that possible? I have never seen that on ebay? Normally the bids increment up and are not repeated.

The Zohan

This might be due to the person increasing their max bid amount - i have done this myself, the amount will only go up if someone else then bids a higher amount, not the person who has placed placing the three bids.

Hope that makes sense

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

tell the buyer its been "lost". sorry. id rather swallow a negative feedback than losing a couple hundren quid. any decent person would accept that there was an issue with the bidding system and allow you to cancel and relist.

J

Jamescsti

I have to say if I was the winning bidder and you emailed me to say someone else has offered you more and you don't want to sell it to me I'd be mad, and wouldn't agree for you to just sell it to someone else.
I can see the op's point of view but I can also see how the buyer would feel.

Doobs Scoob

iTrader: (2)

Sell it to the person who offers you the most off ebay - avoid the ebay fees, then tell the highest bidder than unfortunately the bike was broken \ stolen inbetween the auction end and you sending it out.

tony de wonderful

LOL that would be supremely dishonest.

I phoned up ebay and they denied a problem. I don't believe them because I had a second bidder tell me they had problems too in the last 20 mins. It is possible they don't know there was a problem, but they do site maintenance at times and the first ebay help person I talked to on chat implied this can cause problems.

So I am waiting to hear back from the buyer still.

tony de wonderful

Even if you won because the site farked up in the last 20 mins?

Luan Pra bang

I expect the buyer knows he has a bargain and will cling onto his deal you may have to explain tbe situation and swallow tbe bad feedback, i would tell him straight you are relisting and why so its up to him what to do. The trouble is how much more can you get and is it worth it ?

tony de wonderful

Probably about £200 more.

It's not so much but I feel annoyed about it especially the way ebay shut the chat window down on me.

I would rather not get the negative feedback TBH so will have to sell if the buyer will not cancel.

Doobs Scoob

iTrader: (2)

Very true, but unfortunately it happens all the time on ebay.

Or you could just put it down to bad luck and take the hit on the price. I wouldn't bother asking the winning bidder to pay more..... they would never go for that.

Good luck with it anyway... Ebay are a pain in the rear to deal with in situations like this.. If its not worth more than £200 to you I really would save the time if I were you and just move on!

tony de wonderful

There isn't much more I can do with ebay to fight it. I don't have as much faith in teh system now or should I say their integrity. I think they were carefully selective with what they said on the phone and on the chat, but as you imply they are never going to admit a failure their end.

Doobs Scoob

iTrader: (2)

If they didn't tell you about it instantly then they will never admit it. Really shoddy customer service in my experience.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

As above: the chat is AFAIK, computer generated.

Call them and speak to a customer services rep, if you aren'ty happy with what THEY say, ask to speak to a supervisor.

BUT: best of luck.

tony de wonderful

I got a 3rd person tell me they had a problem bidding to now.

Is chat computer generated? Really? It was my impression the person was able to select a few stock sentences instead of having type "hello my name in Baz how may I help" each time, but it never seems like a computer I was talking to.

The phone call center is in the Philippines FFS.

I am gonna compile a complaint email after collating the evidence from the failed bidders.

Jamescsti

As the buyer I would still want the item to be honest mate.

scud8

iTrader: (1)

Threaten them with small claims court if they don't reimburse you or invalidate the auction - it sounds like you have plenty of evidence if you have emails from other bidders. Ebay would probably do anything to avoid having a judgement against them because of the precedence it could set.