UPDATE- SUCCESS. This thread is starting to hold some serious power.
@Chicken #420 I hink we are really onto something here. We have a mighty bargaining chip (or a carrot on a string, with a hot branding iron on the other side.)
After some deliberation, Saturday I played my card with this message to Glass7:
"Thank you for your last reply and offer. However this is not an acceptable solution. I have no interest in the bong you offer me which looks very low quality, awkward and totally unsuitable for my needs.
I am a kind person. I have been thinking very hard what is a fair solution here for everybody involved. Because I am kind hearted my emotions have been affecting my thinking, because I do not want you or your business to suffer.
I looked up to see how much it would cost me to return the item to you for a full refund.
If the item was usable to me I would possible request a partial refund.
But the item is useless to me and it would not be correct for me to lose any money myself as a result of this mistake.
That would not be correct or fair. The problem is the expensive return postage. It will cost £15-20 it seems to send the item back to you, and I cannot be liable for the return postage costs myself. I have been thinking very hard for a fair solution where nobody has to lose money here.
But this is the only fair solution- to return item for a full refund plus postage costs refunded as well.
I have asked for advice on the forums. I had to share my experience but I asked the moderstors to wait until this problem is resolved to give your business a chance to keep a good reputation.
I asked them- please dont place Glass7 into the "bad seller list" until the situation is resolved.
At the moment, they agreed but they have added you to the list :
"Problem Sellers (Sellers with extra drama, delays, and possibly returns)
alza
beyond1688
daimoon
glass7
justdoit66
qsb13064987222
seller2020
smokingdogo
vaporizerworld"
This was not my request and is only temporary. The community is watching this case now and I will do my best to seek a fair solution. If you can do the right thing here you can still keep a good reputation and be placed in the "Good seller list"
Everybody on the forum is very shocked at how I have been treated over this transaction. Nobody would be at all happy with this purchase, and they say the 18 mm green bong you offer me is totally unacceptable.
This is the only fair outcome here. I feel I have even more right than usual to insist on this action because I did ask you to make 100% sure you would send me the exact same model in your product photos. And you said yes, you checked and it will be the same.
Now you tell me that was the old model, and now you have sent me the new model. If you had ckecked properly at the time then this whole situation could have been avoided. That was my intention ,to save this hassle.
So please can we agree to this resolution? I dont know how to proceed. I will need to find the cheapest postage option I can. I dont onow what the formal process is here.
Do I need to open a dispute? Or can we arrange this ourselves with your agreement to refund full amount plus return postage?
I cannot accept any other solution as satisfactory and faie to everybody involved. Every good business wouod agree with this and woukd automatically do this correct course of action. They would offer this solution without arguing against me.
I am hoping you will do the same now and can see that this is the only fair outcome.
If you can do this it will help your reputation very much. Many thousands of potential customers view this large forum everyday and use it as a buying guide.
This is not a threat. This is just what we are doing to identify the good and bad sellers, to protect the buyer and also to support the good businesses. So it is an automatic process where a good seller reputation is guaranteed to create more business for you.
I await your response and I sincerely hope we can resolve this matter quickly and smoothly.
With thanks, Alexis"
Yesterday I had these 2 replies, some time apart:
"OK,I see,We are on holiday,will handle It on May 2 When We back to work."
"Hi,we decide to give you full refund,you keep the bong and donot need to return It back.If It is useless to you,you can throw it.And you Let glass7 out of the problem seller list,OK?If OK,we will refund you after We back to work."
So it worked a treat and this bodes very well for us all. If we can all work together on this and take the same approach, building and recording our experiences as we go, then I am sure we can affect very many cases and motivate sellers to be more attentive to detail, admit their mistakes when they are on the wrong, and be more willing to compromise.
We have some great potential here to keep this project and compendium going to put pressure and incentive on the sellers. If we all keep sharing our good and bad experiences and more of us communicate with the sellers in reference to this thread, as I have done above, we can take this a long way and make a real impact on how some sellers operate.
And reward the good guys.
So now what to do? Glass7 have backed down. They gave in and agreed to the fair outcome. I told them it would help their reputation a ton. They have not exactlt redeemmed themselves as a good seller yet but
@Chicken #420 I feel we still owe it to them to honour their wishes and give them a chance to mend their ways, so that for the meantime at least they are not in any of the bad lists.
I sent them this message of thanks and encouragement:
"My dear friend you are so extremelt kind I really cant thank you enough. I honestly have no intention of harming your business. Ww only want the best all round relationship between buyers and sellers so that trust can be established. I promise you I will report this very positive action and fair solution which I am perfectly happy with.
Just to be clear your business has not been placed into the bad seller list, I only asked for advice on the forum made it clear that it was unfair to place Glass 7 in a bad seller list, asked to wait and give you lots of time to offee a solution. I want your business to be a success and will share this posirive outcome.
However for the sake of your business and future income for your family, please learn from this experience. You will be far more successful if you can know more exactly which items and models you have in stock, and give more accurate indication of current models/options.
This is what is expected, and this is how the "good sellers" operate and have established a strong reputation. I say this for everybodys own good including your own especially.
Thank you sincerely for your kind and fair offer. I am very sorry that you suffer a loss here. And I will report this quick resolution immediately. Alexis"
So I would like to be able to give them due reward with the assurance that they are no longer in the "problem seller list". I will be sure to make it clear that we will be monitoring reports and keeping an eye on their dealings. I hope they will be relieved and try extra hard to keep customers happy from now on.
Very pleased. Except- I still cant add a new bankcard to dhgate so Im not sure they will be able to refund me.