[78-L] Ebay buyer being held as hostage by sellers!!

[don ward]

Im in middle of a dispute with a seller where i won 3 different bids for much less than the next set of similar items sold for.
Cut to chase>>>>  the seller substituted 3 packages of "junk" records in place of what i won.  Seller refuses to talk to me  directly and through ebay only offers to refund my money if i send the junk substitute  back at my expense.
Ebay hasent resolved the issue of assuring that the contract  with the seller is  observed...  
Small claims court here in  calif is the next step i guess...
Any one else have similar experience ??
 dnward 

-----Original Message-----
>From: Chris Zwarg <doctordisc at truesoundtransfers.de>
>Sent: Jan 23, 2009 12:30 PM
>To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>Subject: Re: [78-L] Ebay feed back being held as hostage by sellers!!
>
>On Ebay, a seller receives his payment usually before the buyer receives the item, so logically the seller should give feedback before the buyer gives his, namely at time of receiving payment (not least as a confirmation that he did so and agrees that the sum paid is correct), while the buyer replies likewise after receiving, checking, and accepting the item (also confirming to the seller that the shipment arrived OK). That's the way I usually experience it as a buyer, and habitually do it in the rare cases I sell things.
>
>Problems used to arise from *sellers* holding back positive feedback despite prompt payment and waiting for (potentially negative) buyer feedback for (potentially inferior) goods, only to reply with a "revenge" negative afterwards. This has been corrected by the recent change that made negative seller-to-buyer feedback impossible, which rarely had been of real use except for the kind of "tit-for-tat" petty revenge described. After all, under the usual system of advance payment there's just two possible outcomes for the seller:
>
>- buyer pays, item is shipped (thus deserves positive feedback)
>- buyer does not pay, item is held back (item can be relisted at no cost and minimal effort, seller blocks unreliable buyer this time, no real damage done).
>
>while the buyer (in any online purchase BTW) takes a much higher risk as there are many ways an item can be misrepresented by the seller or lost/damaged in transit.
>
>Chris Zwarg
>
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