eBay (need I saw more) [ G, I, PI ]

The names were shortened to protect the stupid.

This is why eBay can be hit or miss - for every transaction you have some mouth breather who asks things like "will you ship to the Canary Islands" when you plainly state US only, or they buy a used lot of items for pennies on the dollar and are not satisfied unless all items are pristine. Let me tell you about a fun transaction I had recently.

Dear mark
do you combind shipping?
stoned

In retrospect - the initial misspelling in the e-mail should've tipped me off... just as an eBay user name with "stoned" in it should've, and he's not into lapidary either. I was going to point out the obvious E. E. Cummings writing style similarity, but felt not many would notice it.

Dear mark
just recieved the gameboy games all but one didnt work. cubix dont work
stoned

Dear stoned
I would try cleaning the contacts. These games were is storage for years and to the best of my knowledge were working when put away. These are solid state game cartridges and rarely if ever fail. I would try cleaning the contacts and/or see if they work in another GB.

Dear mark
got these games also 2 worked 2 didnt. matt hoffman's pro bmx and lego alpha team dont work i tryed the games in a game boy color.please message back
stoned

Dear mark
I DID WHAT YOU SAYED AND WENT TO THE SIGHT AND CLEANED IT LIKE THEY EXPLAINED AND STILL NOTHING I EVEN TRYED THEM ON OTHER GAME BRO COLORS AND STILL NOTHING
stoned

(don't have to SHOUT!)

Dear stoned
Please return the defective games and I will refund the $1.13 via PayPal.
mark

Note this is how the math works out; I have no idea if this is just some scammer who wanted some free games, although in hindsight my bad for not just eating the $1.13, so imagine my shock when I saw not one but TWO negative marks on eBay saying (so eloquently)

"not all games worked said send it back i had to pay shipping aint worth it."
(again, so like E. E. Cummings).

I wrote one last time, just to try and explain how the real world works:

Dear stoned
When someone makes an attempt to refund 100% of the price you paid for a defective item - which as noted was not known at the time of sale - proper eBay etiquette is to either accept the refund or just "man up" and acknowledge that when buying used things, sometime onesies or twosies won't work - hence the name "buying used" as opposed to buying new. At the very least mark feedback as "neutral". I find it staggering that I graciously offered you 100% of the refund due (above and beyond what is due). At least I get a good story for my Blog about the people I have to deal with on a daily basis. Please do not respond; doing so gives me approval to publish said reply, for all to ridicule.

Which leads me here. Ten years on eBay, 100% perfect record, shot to hell.