The Drop Zone, possible bad trader

[nitsky416]

I hate to say this, as I can see that he has almost four times the feedback score as me, but as I haven't heard from him in weeks, I have to escalate this and post here.

I 'heard' about dropzone through here (an ad of his is at the top of my screen as I write this right now), and contacted him to purchase some bitz. It was not originally arranged on BT - through email - but I can see that he's been active here without responding to my repeated emails and PMs (and even a phone voice mail), so I have to take issue, especially when we're talking about almost $50 of bitz.

Communication is as follows (reversed order of emails so they're top-down instead of bottom-up):
11/17/2006 12:08 PM

I'd like to place an order for bitz, but I don't see online anywhere
where/how to send in a list of what I want. Attached is an XLS that I
made myself detailing what I want, would the total be a straight 20%
off? Also, what would be the ETA on that?

Evan Bassett
630.853.9365

11/17/2006 1:38 PM

Evan
yes it a straight 205 off of 58.00
your total is 46.40

from the time i order it ti takes 4-7 days
i take credit cards checks moeny orders paypal but if paying by paypal your total is 48.50
paypal charges me 4.5% sorry
you can reach me at 704-236-4329 for credit card orders
Thanks
Robert

11/18/2006 9:50 AM

I'd like to pay via paypal. I understand paypal takes a percentage, so increasing the total a little is fine with me. Could you send me an invoice me for it? I've attached another copy of my 'order form' with the shipping and contact info included on there so its all on one sheet.

Evan B

11/20/2006 11:03 AM

Maybe you didn't recieve my last email. I would like to place that order, and pay via Paypal, but would appreciate it if you could send me a paypal invoice (for both of our records) to which I could respond with payment and shipping info. Failing that, if you could at least tell me the payment email address, I could just send the payment. Attached is the same XLS from my last email, which has shipping and contact information on it.

Thanks again,
Evan Bassett
630.853.9365

11/20/2006 12:18 PM

ill be happy to send you a request for payment
whats your paypal accoutn i cant send the request until i have that info
Thanks
Robert
my paypal account
rlecomputers@bellsouth.net

11/20/2006 12:49 PM

sending the request to evan@at0m.org will be just fine.

e

(a bill was recieved from paypal on 11/20/2006 1:51 PM, which I paid on 11/21/2006 10:42 AM)

I waited a while without hearing from him, which is to be expected. Then I noticed that he posted he'd had a family emergency and that there would be delays on many orders. I waited a few more days, then asked him to make sure he told me when he had shipped:
11/29/2006 1:46 AM

I realize that you have problems at home with your father, and I know things have been rough at the store (I'm nitsky416 on bartertown, i read your post), but if you could give me tracking info when my order ships, I'd really appreciate it.

Evan Bassett
evan@at0m.org
630.853.9365

11/29/2006 9:13 AM

evan
soon as the bitz arrive ill be happy to give you all of that info no sweat
things are getting back to normalim getting caught up no worries
R

I waited another week, and started to get impatient:
12/7/2006 2:34 PM

Any news? Its been 2+ weeks since I paid for the order, just thought I'd check back since I'm at university and will be leaving here next week to go home. I didn't think it would take this long...?

Evan B

No response.

Then, after noticing recent forum activity, I sent this:
12/09/2006 7:34 PM

From: nitsky416 ( 42 )
To: The Drop Zone
Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:34 pm
Subject: my bitz order
Robert:

I noticed that you've recently posted on the board, but haven't responded to my inquiry as to what was going on with my order. I paid for it almost 3 weeks ago, and haven't heard anything about it. I recall you saying it usually takes 4-7 days to get the bitz from GW, and I assume it would be another 2-4 (depending on how you shipped them) before I would receive them. Could you please let me know whats up? I'm at university currently, and am going to be leaving soon to go home for Christmas, and thought i'd ordered everything far enough in advance that i'd receive them before i had to leave town.

Evan Bassett
cell: 630.853.9365
!----i pasted in all of the email conversations thus far at the bottom of this PM. i removed them for the sake of saving space---!

I noticed that this PM moved from my Outbox to my Sentbox without receiving a reply, so I tried calling the number he gave me on 12/12/2006 2:25 PM and left a voicemail (before you ask: we're in the same timezone, Eastern Standard, so business hours should be a non-issue). I also looked at his website, and tried the contact number listed there, to no avail. That number (which is in a different area code from the one he gave me via email) is not in service. I sent one last email...

12/12/2006 2:44 PM

Robert:

I hate to get impatient, as I realize you've stated you had a family emergency, but I can't really excuse your ignoring my repeated requests for more information about my order. Its been three calendar weeks (thats 15 business days) since I placed the order, and I haven't received it despite your estimate of 4-7 days, nor have I had any assurances from you that it is in process or that it will be shipped shortly or that you've had another emergency and that there will be a further delay. I can see from Bartertown that you've had enough time to both read my PM, and make several posts responding to people's want ads and stating that you may no longer accept paypal, but you haven't had the time to let me know what was up.

If I don't hear from you in the next day or so, I'm going to be forced to file a Paypal Buyer Protection claim against you to get the $48.50 that I paid you on 11/21/06 back. I really don't want to resort to that, as I can see from your feedback record that you've seldom had problems 'delivering the goods' so to speak, but I can't abide a lack of communication on your part when you already have my money in hand.

Awaiting your prompt reply,
Evan Bassett
630-853-9365

PS your website lists a contact number of 803-802-5280, which is different from the number you gave me to give you credit card information ( 704-236-4329 ), was no longer in service when I tried to call it. You may want to correct that on your website.

I tried calling again today 12/13/2006 12:18 PM from my cell phone, and later from a land line, and there was no answer either time. I didn't leave a second voicemail.

I'm not wrong being impatient now that its been almost a month, am I? This post is my last attempt to resolve the issue unless he contacts me...if I haven't heard from him by tomorrow I think I'm going to get Paypal to start the process of getting my money back.

(full email headers available upon request)

[The Drop Zone]

Evan

one thing about calling me when the phone line is down at the mall if i leave the phone in my wifes car chances are the next day i wont be able to answer it
thats a small thing..

you are absolutely correct.. this has been poor communication on my part
things are hectic no doubt about it am i behind oh hell yes.. can i fix it given time yes...none of this is your problem but mine

where does that leave us... well yes i did send you a request for the money as you directed, yes the agreed upon time frame should only be 5-7 days a few more depending on the vagaries of gw

yes i did receive the paypal payment on the dates as shown

here is where the problem began.. i didnt receive your xcel list

here is what you wrote... if this was in btown you didnt attach a list that im aware of

Maybe you didn't recieve my last email. I would like to place that order, and pay via Paypal, but would appreciate it if you could send me a paypal invoice (for both of our records) to which I could respond with payment and shipping info. Failing that, if you could at least tell me the payment email address, I could just send the payment. Attached is the same XLS from my last email, which has shipping and contact information on it.

Thanks again,
Evan Bassett
630.853.9365

there is no list there is no attachment i dont have an email on gmail or btown from you on the 17th or any date thereafter

and i have no list for you anywhere

what i do have is 2 evan's that bought product from me only one sent me a list of what he wanted

and honestly not having a list i dont know what to order or that i need to order anything

would that i can show you every email from nov 17th foreward you would see i dont have your list

it is of course your call if you want to resend me the list i will order it first thing in the am and when it arrives i will overnight mail at my own exspense.. barring that you want a full refund i will of course send it to you immediately

your the customer its your choice

Robert

[nitsky416]

Thank you for responding so quickly. I will follow up on your reply via PM, and post updates to this thread if/when the problem is resolved.

[Linrandir]

Just as a general FYI, .xls file extensions are not allowed as attachments to the private message system. .zip files are, but they can be tricksy sometimes.

[Anglacon]

I may not know how all this works, but how could a price be reached without knowing what he wants?

[The Drop Zone]

if you tell me the retail price is 58.00 i know what the discount is its not hard to subtract 20%

Robert

[nitsky416]

I didn't want to have this argument in public, but it appears that it needs to happen. For the record, I'm not out want to tarnish The Drop Zone's record as a retailer or trader: I want to know what went wrong with my trade, and what is being done to ensure it doesn't happen again, so that I can either continue to buy items from him with the confidence that this is a unique event, or take my business elsewhere. That said...

Just as a general FYI, .xls file extensions are not allowed as attachments to the private message system. .zip files are, but they can be tricksy sometimes.

I know, and thats why I was originally setting the deal up via email. I like the security of knowing that if the BT site goes down, I won't lose all the details of the deal. Its happened to me before. In our conversation last night over PM, I zipped and PM'd The Drop Zone additional copies of both spreadsheets.

I may not know how all this works, but how could a price be reached without knowing what he wants?

Thats my point. I didn't mention in my first email what my total order amount was. He had to have been able to open the first spreadsheet to see both what I'd wanted and what the total was. Plus, he uses gmail, so that email should still be there, including that attachment.

if you tell me the retail price is 58.00 i know what the discount is its not hard to subtract 20%

Agreed, its not hard, but I stated via PM as well as above that you had to have looked at my list to know that I wanted to order $58 worth of bitz.

What really frustrates me here is the fact that this entire deal took place via email (except our conversation last night on PM), that both of us are gmail users, and The Drop Zone is claiming to not have received things that are in my sent box. I mean cmon.

Also, there's another hole in the story. Why was it not mentioned until just now that The Drop Zone didn't have my list?
- The Drop Zone sent me a Paypal money request (instead of an itemized invoice, which is what I was expecting, but thats OK too), which I paid, and The Drop Zone didn't say anything. My payment has my shipping information and contact number associated with it. I sent The Drop Zone a new spreadsheet to make it easier for him by including that very same information on the spreadsheet.
- The Drop Zone even went so far as to tell me that he'd let me know as soon as the bitz arrive ill be happy to give you all of that info no sweat, but he didn't tell me that he didn't have my list. What The Drop Zone said actually implies quite the opposite: that he'd already ordered them and that he'd let me know when they came in from GW and shipped them to me.

The Drop Zone: Via PM, you offered via PM to make right by reordering everything and shipping it overnight as soon as it came in. That is an acceptable solution to this problem, as I stated in my own PM, but I would still like to understand where the communication breakdown was. If it was somehow my fault by not being clear and concise, then I will formally apologize and request that Linrandir nuke this thread so that it doesn't tarnish your reputation on this site. If it turns out to be your mistake and you own up to it, I'll also ask that Lin nuke this thread for the same reason. This should've been resolved between the two of us, the only reason I posted here was to get your attention to finally resolve the matter, as it appeared that you were ignoring all of my other attempts at communication. I've accepted your offer to reorder and overnight the bits, but so far as this thread is concerned, the ball is in your court.

(admins: the excel spreadsheets mentioned above available upon request)

[GMMStudios]

Considering his 102 perfect feedback and his address is right there in his sig, I doubt he is trying to screw you over...

Things happen, and after reading his feedback I can see he has had his share of poor luck, and said feedback is still perfect.

Yes he is late, but I would be willing to bet they will be to you soon.

That's my .02. Best of luck to both of you.

Brandon

[megsdadlamarr]

I think there are miscommunications here in spades but The Drop Zone did accept and keep funds when he didn't know what the customer wanted. I'd be irate if I was on the end of that kind of deal.

[The Drop Zone]

""""I didn't want to have this argument in public, but it appears that it needs to happen. """"

you know what? your the one making it all public and you have that right.. your the one who hasnt received their product so i am aware of how you feel

but here are some things for you to chew on, and think about

#1 which i pointed out to you in pm's but you want to bring it out here fine by me
i pointed out your excel sheet was formated wrong with the wrong part numbers.. i have the pm saved shall i post it ? to show that what you sent when you sent it to me last night was wrong and i think i would have noticed the wrong part numbers before now...

#2 last night was the first night i ever had to open a zip file to read a spread sheet you are the only one i know who zips a 8k document if it was that big.. so i would have known about a zip xcel sheet

#3 if i could show you a lst of emails from november 17th till last night and i save all emails by the way for tracking purposes.. you wuld not see your name anywhere in there

#4 """""What really frustrates me here is the fact that this entire deal took place via email (except our conversation last night on PM), that both of us are gmail users, and The Drop Zone is claiming to not have received things that are in my sent box. I mean cmon. """"

ok here is where im going to start losing it...and im going to take into consideration the fact that i screwed this up somehow.. but being called a liar ...no sir.. my integrity is everything to me.. and i am trying to be cool right now but im pissed...ill move on tho..customer has a point..

#5 """The Drop Zone: Via PM, you offered via PM to make right by reordering everything and shipping it overnight as soon as it came in. That is an acceptable solution to this problem, as I stated in my own PM, but I would still like to understand where the communication breakdown was. If it was somehow my fault by not being clear and concise, then I will formally apologize and request that Linrandir nuke this thread so that it doesn't tarnish your reputation on this site"""

i sure did i offered you a choice i stand by that choice i readily offered you a full refund and i still do even tho i called in the order today and ordered the items

so here is what im going to do to put an end to this
you are receiving a full refund



Name:
Evan Bassett
Email:
evan@xxxx.xxx
(email hidden for privacy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Total Amount:
-$48.50 USD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Date:
Dec. 14, 2006
Time:
19:28:13 PST
Status:
Completed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Note:
Full refund for Bitz orders. You will be recieving the parts when they arrive i will then ship them to you. you are recieving the Bitz free of charge
Shipping Address:
rlecomputers
622 saratoga dr
clover, SC 29710
United States
Confirmed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Funding Type:
Instant Transfer
Funding Source:
$48.50 USD -

Back Up Funding Source:
Visa Card

the bitz when they arrive you will receive them free of charge

thats all i can do if that isnt enough then im sorry

[MagickalMemories]

I am satisfied that this is one retailer trying hard to make things right.

As far as the emails are concerned... I can't speak on that.

One says they were sent, the other says his email file (which he keeps every email into) does not have any record of them.

At this point, I'd call it even, if I was the initial poster, and consider it a satisfactory end to a seriously fouled up trade.

Drop Zone... You did do a good job in "falling on your sword." It says a lot for a business who is willing to stand up and admit, whole-heartedly, that the error was their fault. Especially when you are willing to go to these ends for it.

Eric

[insidius]

Ok, case closed.

Leaving the thread open for further discussion if necessary, as long as it remains civil.

[Linrandir]

For the record...

Morlock and I have experienced the same problem that appears to have happened between Drop Zone and nitsky. we're both on gmail, and any email I send to him with an attachment (in any format) fails to arrive. The email shows up in my sent mail list, but never arrives.

I can screen-print if necessary, and I'm sure MB would be willing to do the same.

chat log follows:

Sent at 12:26 PM on Friday
me: I guess Gmail didn't want you getting that picture. Sorry about that.
MB: I think you are lying to me and TEASING ME
STOP DOING THAT
me: It's showing up in my sent mail.
MB: to mbloodletter@gmail.com ?
Sent at 12:35 PM on Friday
me: yes
MB: well it's not here
let me sign out and sign back in
me: Just re-sent
Sent at 12:37 PM on Friday
MB's new status message - Hey, the kiss fell on my ass. I didn't ask for it. 12:41 PM
MB: Nope
nothing
me: Dammit,
that's annoying me.
Looks like Robert has some justification after all.
MB: let me try to send YOU one and have you reply
me: ok
MB: Is away
me: ok
MB: but yea maybe we SHOULD say something on his behalf?
me: hm
MB: I got your reply
without
me: Should be another one soon
MB: k
ok, so why could I send you emails with pictures.. but I can't receive them from you?
Sent at 12:47 PM on Friday
me: Curious.
Sent at 12:49 PM on Friday
me: I am posting accordingly.
MB: I still have not gotten anything from you with an attachment
me: Odd

Just saying that a technological hiccup could have been responsible for at least part of the problem. Gmail is still in Beta-testing, after all.

[insidius]

Aww, your guys' banter back and forth is so cuuuute.

[Linrandir]

No comment.