Last week, on the 19th Nov, I bought some lovely Noro Kureyon (at a v attractive price!) from an eBay seller. I planned to knit this with it for my beloved’s birthday next month. I paid immediately, by PayPal, as is my habit. Postage was for 1st Class Mail, so I expected to receive it within 2 to 3 days. I figured I had enough “secret time” in which to complete the project if the parcel arrived promptly. Only… the yarn has not yet arrived.
This morning I received this email:
You’ve received a question about eBay item: STUNNING NORO KUREYON SHADE 157 lot C (200172259449)
Hi I have just changed my address and am having problems with PayPal at the moment. My email address is now ***. could you please bear with me until it is sorted. regards ****
Well, if there’s a question there then I do not see it. Nor do I understand the message. However, I did have a deep sense of foreboding and I wrote back to enquire:
I am sorry, but I do not understand your message. I have paid for my item, though I am somewhat worried that it has not yet arrived. I have to knit a gift for a birthday in 2 weeks’ time.
PLEASE confirm that my purchase was dispatched in a timely fashion.
The reply appears to confirm my worst suspicions: the parcel appears not to have been sent and the seller appears to have no concept of customer care. It seems to be my responsibility to unpick her mess, somehow…
Hi sorry for the delay I have been having problems with my new address. Could you please cancel your payment to *** and resend it to *** this will hopefully then go through and I can post your parcel.Regards ***
In short, she seems to care not at all that she has made no effort to sort herself out and to send me my item.
*sigh*
It’s probably just me. I seem to be the last person in the world to understand any notion of customer care. I’m an old-fashioned girl. To me it is obvious: the purchaser did everything correctly, the seller cocked it up. The seller should refund and re-invoice and in the meantime, send the goods anyway as a matter of good faith. And if they really can’t be arsed to do that then at least they should have held their hand up before now and informed the customer that the goods have not been sent! A timely notification would have allowed me to purchase elsewhere.
I have cancelled, of course. It would be of no use to me by the time that it finally got here. Mr L won’t get his present as I have no alternative source to buy from that doesn’t involve postal delay.
I was so looking forward to knitting this up, too.
I really feel grumpy now.