Ebay Disaster!

[calixtesaint]

Here is the item description; (It was listed in single file, I put it like this to save space)
MRE's that date back 2006 day 134. I will Randomly select 16 different items from the list below.
If you want specific meals and sides add $15.00 and email me what entrees and side you want here is a list of what i have.
* Pears * Mixed Fruit * Pineapple * Peaches * Apple sauce
* Potatoes Au Gratin * Mexican Style Rice
* Corned Beef Hash * Beef Frankfurters * Beef Steak Chunked * Spaghetti with meat and sauce
* Chicken and Rice * Chicken Stew * Grilled Chicken Breast
* Cheese tortellini in tomato sauce * Pasta With vegetables in tomato sauce * Tuna With Noodles
* Pork Chow Mein * Cooked Ham Slice * Pork And Rice in BBQ Sauce * Escalloped Potatoes with Ham
So, he lists 5 fruits, 2 sides & 14 different sides.
In emails, he said each set would have 10-12 entrees and 4-6 sides.
I bought 7 sets of 16. The seller charged separate shipping for each but combined the 1st 5 sets into 1 box (charged $13 x 5 = 65$; he paid $48 to ship)- have not received the last 2 sets yet. Below I list what I received to date- in brackets I put the years of production that I found through this site.
What I received to date that was listed: 65 items
8 Corned beef hash (88-94)
2 Potatoes w/ ham (88-96)
2 Pork & rice (88-97)
10 Tuna w/ noodles (88-97)
8 Chicken stew (88-99)
2 Chicken & rice (88-01)
8 Beef franks (93-00)
8 Pork chow mein (93-00)
8 Spaghetti with meat sauce (88 to present)
9 Applesauce
What I received that was not listed: 18 items
10 omelet with ham (88-94)
4 Beef Stew ( 88 to present)
2 Chili & macaroni (95 to present)
2 White rice
The 72 entrees break down as follows :
15 from 1992, 32 from 1993, 7 from 1994, 4 from 1995, 14 from 1996
The 2 sides are from 1996
The 9 applesauce are mostly 1993 and 1995.
These 5 sets cost $113 total without shipping....so that comes to 22.60 per set..with shipping at $13 per set, I paid 35.60 per set.This was bought on March 6th.

I do acknowledge that I should have known that most of the listed items could not be from 2006 day 134 as he stated, but I had not yet found this site.
I do acknowledge that I got 83 items total versus 80 as expected.
I do acknowledge that I should have been suspect that he was a member from 2003 but only had a total of 93 feedbacks. His feedback score was 96.6% with 45 ratings in the past 12 months.
It seems he came online and sold MREs in lots of 16 between March 6 and the 17th. Now he has nothing listed.

He states his stuff is from 2006 day 134- I see this as false advertising.

My questions are:
1. How come, even if randomly chosen, that in 5 sets of 16, I did not get any of:
- 5 different stated entrees (beefsteak, cheese tortellini, chicken breast, ham slice, pasta with veggies)?
- 4 different stated desserts ( pears, peaches, pineapple, mixed fruit)
- 2 different stated sides (potatoes au gratin, Mexican rice)
2. How come I received a total of 18 entrees that were not even listed?
3. What do I do now?

As an aside:
I did try 1 omelet with ham (3306) and 1 corn beef hash (2356) yesterday. Still alive today with no digestive problems.
The omelet was almost pinkish in colour but smell was good and taste was tolerable once I added Tabasco! Not my favourite & I have 9 left to eat!
The corn beef hash was excellent- good colour, texture and taste..so I'll enjoy the other 7!

Thanks for listening and I look forward to your feedback!
Cali

[norge]

to bad,theres always some bad apples on ebay.
next time buy from treesuit or other members here
thats the best.or from 100% score ebay sellers.
i never buy stuf from new sellers on eaby with no score..
and leave negativ feedback if the seller dont fix this issue.

but i can be interested in buying some meals from you
if you want ?

2 Pork & rice (88-97)
8 Beef franks (93-00)
10 omelet with ham (88-94)

cheers from ken.

[Treesuit]

Cali,
Hmmmm...that does sound very odd that that seller was claiming to have stuff from 2006 when obviously it wasn't. Since you have most of the items, I would continue to contact this seller and get an answer out of him. Seeing as how this seller has 93% postive feedback the feel should have been good on the sale, I mean with 93% postive feedback, you could have placed a bit a confidence in the seller to do the right thing.

For right now, press him on details and if they don't answer or refund your money then open a claim with ebay. Once a claim gets intiated then the seller has to respond in a certain amount of time. Also once you do that then you have a certain amount of buyer protection from ebay and paypal. If the seller totally does not respond and a stike is given, more often than not your money will be refunded and the seller will have to be put on a watch list because of a violation.

Other than that you also did the right thing in putting this asshat's name up here so we all can be on the watchout for him. Most honest sellers will do their best to try and correct the problem. Been there, done that. If it's an honest mistake or slip up then at least give the seller the benefit of the doubt. If not go after this person on ebay. Oh and post any updates here for the rest of us, if you would please. That way we can help you out. Good Luck

[calixtesaint]

Thanks Norge for the offer to buy items but I am terrible at mailing anything!
Thanks for the advice Treesuit.
I will contact the seller and see what he says.

[calixtesaint]

Here is the seller's reply to the letter I sent below:
Dear cmoore2760,

The guy that sold these to me showed me the dates on the boxes and the said 2006 so i dont know what dates you are
looking at i said randomly because i didnt sort anything out i just grab 16 and shipped them yours since you bought so many
together you probably got some same kinds if you want another box of sides or something i would ship you 16 more since you
bought so many and didnt get some of the sides and entrees. And if you got some entrees that were not listed i am sorry i
must have missed them. so if i refund you this money will you send them back to me?

- jonezz88

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: cmoore2760
To: jonezz88
Subject: cmoore2760 has sent a question about item #110502006211, that ended on 06-Mar-10 01:05:57 EST - MRE Meals Ready To Eat 16 Entrees
Sent Date: Mar-21-10 20:03:55 PDT

Dear jonezz88,

"MRE's that date back 2006 day 134. I will Randomly select 16 different items from the list below. "
Here are my concerns:
1.I paid 13$ for shipping x 5 sets of 16 items (65$)I expected 5 boxes but you shipped in 1 box at a cost of $47.35 to you.

2. You describe the items dating to 2006 day 134.
All items received are from 1992 to 1996.I paid for items from 2006;you sent me items that are 14 to 18 years old!
The 83 items received breakdown as follows:
17 from 1992, 36 from 1993, 8 from 1994, 7 from 1995, 15 from 1996.
I would like my payment of $113.00 refunded.

3. How come, even if randomly chosen, that in 5 sets of 16, I did not get any of:
- 5 of the 14 listed entrees
- 4 of the 5 listed fruits
- 2 0f the listed sides ??
4. How come I received a total of 16 entrees & 2 sides that were not even listed?
Ebay states the seller assumes all responsibility for the listing.
I expect a refund for this transaction minus your shipping cost and for my Mar 10th transaction for 2 sets of 16.

- cmoore2760

1. I do not like his attitude about not being sure which dates I was checking as he claims the boxes all said 2006.
So, do I send him a detailed list of what i received and a link to this website so he can see for himself that some stuff he sent me - like the omelet with ham etc- have been out of production since 1994, so they can't be from 2006.
I might also let him know that no individual entrees would have 2006 printed on them but maybe 6134
2. I do like that he is willing to send me 16 more of something.....but would I want it? And would he charge me shipping again?
3. He is 'sorry' I got stuff not listed...he just missed that...........I find that hard to believe!
4. He is willing to refund but seems to want the stuff back.
How can I be sure he will refund the money?
Personally I do not want the hassle of having to pack and ship these back to him.
The box was huge (9"'H x 18""W x 20"L) & weighs over 45 lbs and is falling apart at the moment.
My costs will be much higher then his as I would be shipping from Canada as I had him ship these to my buddy in the US- his cost was $47.35 from zip 59741 (Manhattan,Montana ) to zip 12910 (Altona,NY)- for the same size box- it would cost me $ 80.00 to ship from here to Montana-that is the cheapest I could find.
If I wanted to make sure he signed for them, the cost almost triples. And I guess he will want me to pay for the return shipping charges.
So I paid a total of $178.00- (113 + 65 shipping) if i ship them back it costs me another 80 for a total of $ 258. To get back 113? I'd still be out $145.
Even if he refunded it all- the $178 I'd still be out the shipping costs to return the items- 80$


Treesuit said it could be an 'honest mistake'........not by the sounds of his letter in my humble opinion..but then I am a bit cheesed off so I may be looking at this badly.
So I need some help here..........how do I respond ?

[calixtesaint]

Update:
I replied to him saying I accepted his offer to send me 16 more and to refund my $ minus shipping.
And I clarified that I would not be shipping anything back.

His girlfriend responded saying he is away for 30 days but agrees to refund my $ on April 20th.

That is exactly 45 days after purchase.

So..............do I trust this?

[Treesuit]

Cali,

You could talk with the person managing his account for now and see if that way works, or wait till the 20th.

[calixtesaint]

Treesuit,
I followed your advice and contacted customer support.
They said the limit on opening a case is 45 days from the date of purchase. and April 20th = 45 days exactly.
So I will try to contact the person handling his account and ask for the $.
Maybe I need to give them a deadline to pay or regretfully will have to open a case against him.
Cali

[Treesuit]

Cali,

Okay, that sounds like a plan. Definitely see if the person can help you out on this. Other than that it'll be a waiting period before something happens. Be patient and if anything else comes up let us know.

[scottymonger]

You should open a case. The seller has 1 week to respond, and then Ebay will render a judgement. I recently went through this and it all worked out fine. The opening of a case is critical, because it forces the other party to respond and will resolve the matter ASAP. There is no need to wait 45 days for satisfaction. Open a case, tell Ebay all of the details, and they will force the issue in 7 days. Keep in mind that there is no guarantee that Ebay will rule in your favor, but if you believe you have been wronged, then state your case. Like I said, I have done this once myself, and I ended up getting fully reimbursed by Ebay.

Scotty