Need Advice How to Handle a Non-Responsive Member

When I posted that I will pick up pins for members on my most recent trip to WDW, one of the members asked for two pins of a specific "theme." He wanted me to buy them, and then trade them to him for two of his. I found two pins I would trade for, to which he agreed. When I returned home, he changed his mind about the pins he wanted to trade, and he asked he to select two different ones. I can understand a change of heart, but unfortunately, he only had 31 pins listed for trade, and none were appealing to me.

So, I asked him to Paypal me the cost of the pins + postage (to recoup what I spent on his behalf); no profit, no extra charges, just cost.

He said he doesn't use Paypal, and when I PM'ed him 4 days ago about his "plan," there's been no response at all.

Do I leave him negative feedback here, or should I continue to wait? This isn't life and death, of course, but he didn't do the "right" thing, and I'd hate to see someone else make a trade with him, send pins, and have him change his mind again after pins are sent.

You should leave feedback saying what happened. With the economy the way it is, I would want to know before I spent money on behalf of someone else.

What were the pins? Maybe someone else would take them off your hands. I would put them in my little bad book and not offer them anything again.

This would be something I would consider leaving negative feedback.

You purchased two pins in good faith and are now out the money or trade.

This has actually happened to me. Someone asked if I could purchase an EBay Auction because it was USA only & then when I received the pin & tried contacting them, no response.

I know things happen but this was a pin I would never want and am now stuck with. Also the pin was about three times more than the original price, which I could not get now.

I will not trade or help this member anymore because of it.

Protect yourself and the rest of us please!!!!

Vicki

I do not have paypal..but what were the pins?Maybe I could send a check next FRI for them...if that would help,all depends on the pins you got
Were they a new member here?


Judy

To answer some of the questions that have arisen, he is a "Senior" member. He has quite a few posts, but a low feedback score. The pins are $10 rack pins that are specific to WDW, so I doubt there is much interest. To be honest, I have the receipt and WDW is good about exchanging pins with the receipt, so I'll just end up exchanging them on my next trip. The real question is the feeback issue.

Well if he promised to purchase them,thats like a contract...maybe neg feedback would be right to do,you could PM the mods and ask them
before you did and see what they say..they are great getting back to us here on DPF!

We are all humans and change of heart can be expected - though not desired. By the low count of traders I am assuming that this person is not much into trading, and maybe does not think that once you ask for something to be purchased, it becomes a commitment. Sadly, I too had a member go deadbeat on me once when I had purchased a low LE pin from ds.com.


You acted totally out of good will and kindness towards rest of your pin friends here. Playing around like this and ignoring your requests is not acceptible. The least that other person can do should be either purchasing those pins from you or offering you help in selling them (selling them on your behalf to avoid shipping twice) or something like that.

I think if (s)he is acting in an un-gentlemanly (is this even a word?) way, that should be reflected in their feedback to caution the rest of the DPF community. That said, I had not left bad fb for my bad experience as I was able to sell that low LE pin quickly.

I think you should leave negative feedback since you had worked out a trade & they are now ignoring your messages. You held up your part of the deal, even buying those pins specifically for that trade at their request, now you are out the money & the pins & thats not right. Its people like that that make me hesitant to buy pins for other people.

I have to agree, It's sad when the matter is only for a measley $20.00 but then again you could have used those funds differently while you were on "your" vacation. You both were on a honor bound agreement after you both negotiated online but definitely after you bought those pins for him/her. Unless it works out soon, give the person a negative review but give a dignified response: eg. trade backed out last minute, out of pin funds. etc.

He needs to get okee-doked.

I think negative feedback should be left. If you've tried to come to a mutually acceptable resolution and he isn't willing to communicate, in my opinion, it is warranted. As a trader/consumer, I would like to know this information about someone before entering an agreement with them. I think what you've asked, to be reimbursed for your money, is more than fair. Someone should not expect you to use YOUR money to buy something for them and then to just back out of this agreement and leave you stuck with pins you probably don't want. Regardless of whether or not you end up using them as traders, that is not the issue. The issue is you purchased these pins for a specific person on good faith that they would follow through with an agreement you made. Since they are not going to follow through or even try to work out another resolution, I think negative feedback is definitely deserved.
I will caution you on this though. It seems that everytime someone gets left negative feedback they suddenly come out of the woodwork with some sob story, so be prepared for a possible guilt trip. I understand that life does not revolve around pins and pin trading and that sometimes these things DO happen. But it is a common theme and I have to question the validity of the story when sometimes it does seem to be used as a defense.

I think a Negative should be left as well, since this was an agreed upon transaction, you spent money to make it happen, and they first changed the deal, and then backed out altogether by not returning your PMs. Feedback should be left if only to warn others that it might happen to them

On a slightly related note, what are the pins, as some of us who might not get to WDW too often might want to take them off your hands depending on what they are.

swim2sea said:

What were the pins? Maybe someone else would take them off your hands. I would put them in my little bad book and not offer them anything again.

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U have a little bad book.???? I hope i never end up in that one.. Kind of sounds like santas naughty list...

JJ, negative feedback is certainly called for in a case where you entered into a contract and the contract was broken, such as credit scoring. Whether its a purchase or a trade its still a verbal contract. You are a more than understanding person, as I recently witnessed, and if ample time and opportunities have been given neg fb is a must. It was set up that way for a reason. Some might disagree, but we are all as a whole a little on the too forgiving side. Negative feedback is a tool to be used when the need arises! 2 cents given.

KT07 said:

U have a little bad book.???? I hope i never end up in that one.. Kind of sounds like santas naughty list...

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I have that set in a frame =) I am always on santas naughty list

Sounds like you need to dish out what the pins are! Maybe WE want them!!!!!

Thanks for everyone's input. We haven't yet consummated the deal, but he is being responsive and is trying, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. To anyone whom I've PM'ed his DPF name, please withhold judgment at this time!

Good news...it looks like this trade will finally be completed! I'm glad I was not hasty with feedback. Thanks to everyone for their great advice.

I seem to be getting a similar problem as well, Not Happy.