My first bad experience with eBay pt 1

Some people always used to badmouth eBay to me and I have had an on/off relationship with it since 2009 since I registered my own and current account. I've used it for the "little things" that people buy. Cables, hats, clothes, games, albums, cheap tat and recently when I picked up photography again I started using it to buy cameras and lenses.

Since 2009 I've had not one bad experience with eBay. I've had a near miss when trying to purchase a replacement flatbed for scanning comics in 2011 but thanks to the seller being sensible and having good communication skills a solution was reached near instantly. What was the terrible problem? The seller dropped the scanner while packing the item and sent me an e-mail within six hours of me paying for the item to apologise and refund. There's been the odd item that was lost in the post but almost every seller has quickly sent out a replacement or offered a refund.

I think it's fair to say that with my Amazon boycott going strong for over six months that I've come to like eBay. I hate auctions because of people engaging in bidding wars and I can't be bothered to wait for the item to end. Sometimes items are scheduled to end at odd hours of the day and you have to wonder why people can't just schedule a listing instead. Buy it now is the one area where eBay really shines along with the ability to restrict items only from within the European Union to avoid nasty import fees. There's a few things I'd change about the way it handles searches and tighter regulations on listings but otherwise I enjoy using it.

The little qt camera that seems so elusive.

TPP: The Problem Purchase

So what changed recently? What was the first experience I had that I could describe as bad?

On a Friday night on the 20th November I purchased an item that was required by the 30th November. I had a few hesitations on purchasing the item because only 2nd class Royal Mail delivery was offered along with a quoted dispatch time of three working days. Royal Mail 2nd class is actually a really good service though offering delivery within two to three. working days and most of the time they will arrive within two days.
So buying the item on a Friday night and paying for it within an hour of winning the auction it would be safe to say that the item should be dispatched by Wednesday and would arrive on Saturday the 28th November.
Now the first problem is that I bought the item at night on a Friday. What a madman! This is something I'd never do usually, but take a look back and you'll see that I hate auctions. They have a fixed end time and if the end time is on a Friday evening then there's not much you can do about it. I but the bullet and took the risk but I still should have received the item on time.

A few days past and the other items relating to the camera body that were bought separately arrived. I had the lenses, some new strap rings, new camera leather and even a soft shutter to make it a little bit more qt. Saturday came and went and I hesitated on sending a message, trusting that someone with 100 items sold with positive feedback was an indication that I would surely receive the camera on time on the Monday.
Monday came as quick as it went and after receiving no camera in the mail I sent a message asking for more information and prepared to disappoint someone on their birthday. I clicked around a little and noticed the seller had another body on sale ending on the 3rd December. Perhaps it had been relisted, I awaited for a response and set the other body to watching (as it was cheaper). Thursday came and with less than 5 minutes to go for the auction to end I placed a winning bid. The camera is still very much required and really this is a complete gamble but one that would maybe be worth it.

I opened up a request on the original and placed a reference to the original message inside requesting a refund.
Just a little under three days (by 1 hour exactly!) I got a response from the seller. Only after I had won the new camera from them and raised the request. Now that's what I call customer service. Curious to see what the response could be I crawled to my computer to check the message.
Oh boy. As ol' Skyhammer says: HERE COMES THE THUNDER

I can sympathise with people being ill considering I have HMS/EDS and all the wonderful things that go with it including POTS and neuropathy. I really can sympathise with that.
What I still find incredibly strange is that despite me purchasing the camera on the 20th November and sending a message on the 30th, this is the first contact I would receive from the seller. Correspondence which would be received just after I opened a request. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

At this point it's hard to hide the fact that I'm incredibly salty over this. Not only is the camera missing, not only is the reply three days late, but there is not one tracking number provided for the item or at least a proof of purchase attached. This would be the very minimum that you should expect in this situation and is the very least that I would do. 
In fact. That's a bare faced lie.
That is not the very least I could do. The very least I could do do is to also apologise to the customer for the inconvenience caused.

I responded asking for a refund for one of the bodies (if there are really two for sale) and a refund of at least the postage and packaging for my troubles. This is what I personally would do in this situation if I was on the other side.

As of right now, the dispute is still open and at least one qt Yashica unreceived. I'll do a follow up post if I remember or I'll update this post.
For now? I'm still satisfied with eBay and I can't let one bad apple ruin the bunch. If years of purchasing things online have taught me anything, it's that it is incredibly simple to use escalation tools on ecommerce sites.