Dealing with Underminded Ebayers
First off, for anyone who notices these things, things are still kicking over at Layne's, as evidenced by this pic that serves as home page.


Nice work, Cassie! Good to see that some things are still good of their own merit.

And now back to the percolating post.
The back story, I sold my Canon Elph S200 through Ebay as I normally do with tech toys that I'm upgrading from. No worries, I sold it for a bit less than I'd wanted to get but that's how Ebay goes. Sometimes you make a killing and sometimes you just sell things and parcel them off.

Anyway, no problems with the transaction, no questions, no nothing. Until a week or so after the camera had been sent out. I get an email asking me about the battery and why it doesn't charge up better. I offered a suggestion to maybe get some more life out of it but also should have mentioned that rechargeables aren't immortal and perhaps this battery was dying.

Next communication from the auction winner is an email from Square Trade telling me that I need to go and respond to an issue with the auction. The asshole filed a claim against me for a dying battery. Accused me of stealing the regular Canon battery (the one in the camera was an Ebay spare) even though the auction never says anything about what battery or other peripherals were included. Just that a battery was included. He goes on to say that he would like me to refund all of his money because a spare battery will cost $50-75 (bullshit because I found a two pack on Ebay for $12).

What's more, to even respond to the issue, I was going to have to register my information with Square Trade.

Instead, I wrote an email directly to the idiot and explained four different reasons why the issue was done. And then went on to explain a little bit about conflict resolution and not attacking somebody you're hoping to resolve something amicably with.

I ended the email with a line to the effect, "I'm sure you're irate by this point, That's fine, so am I." And this morning, lo and behold, there was a four word response from him, "Don't worry about it." Which was fine because I wasn't worrying about it at all, I was pissed off that this jackass expected me to give him his couple of hundred dollars back for an auction that hadn't misrepresented the camera, its condition or its accessories.

And I'm sure there are some savvy Ebayers out there who might be thinking about the feedback aspect. Was I worried about getting a negative feedback rating for the auction? Yes, I was until I checked and saw that the guy had already posted positive feedback for me on the camera. Nice work!

No moral here or anything like that. Just a quick story of the narrow minded stupidity of some people. I'm not a store, there are no money back guarantees, you buy it, you own it. Have a nice day but, to paraphrase a good movie line, "Don't confuse kindness with weakness."

And there is a moral here, don't post feedback on an auction until you're absolutely clear that you're happy with the auction results. Would I have changed my behaviour if he'd not left feedback yet? Maybe but probably not. I was in a very, very strong position, he had no leg to stand on as he'd assumed facts not in evidence (the battery would be the OEM Canon battery).

The guy also burned up any chance at a reasonable resolution for the issue by attacking me with the complaint. I might have been more likely to deal with it if he hadn't sent the dogs after me. As it was, I'm tempted to file a counter claim on some pretext just to piss him off. But I think I'll likely just let it die off so we can all move on.

And in You're-An-Idiot News
Guy Doesn't Get Job After Video Shows Him Robbing Construction Site the Night Before which is really just insane. Why in the hell would you rob a place and then try to get a job there? Is he handicapped or just stupid? Or arrogant in having perpetrated the perfect crime even though there were video cameras all over the place.

Hope they put him in a cell with Sam Waksal who just got Seven Years for Insider Trading. This doesn't bode well for Martha Stewart as Waksal was her crony, her guy on the inside and now he's going to be someone's bitch for 7 years.

Cool Forward from Esther
I've heard about these before but I've yet to see one in action, until now. From Esther, I deliver unto you, the gas powered blender for the ultimate tailgate party. You can now play with your blender while making fru-fru drinks for your pals. Its pretty cool but its also huge, has two grips to hold on to it with (which indicates to me that this thing is part blender and part mechanical bull).

But I'd still like to have one!