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Monday, Sept. 15, 2003 / 7:09 p.m. ~Live and Learn~ So the seller of the items I purchased on Ebay refunded the shipping for one of them. Two items shipped together, two fees, me freaking out. I never would've made such a big deal, but he didn't respond to my first email. After he'd responded so quickly to the purchase... It was funny to read the posts on the discussion board at Ebay, some calling me a 'whiny baby', for wanting to be refunded, some telling me I got my items so I should just shut up, and some saying they totally understood and they would want the same, they would feel screwed as well. And people referred to me as 'him' or 'he', and the seller as 'she' or 'her', though I'd mentioned the seller is a man. I didn't mention my own gender, and my Ebay (I keep typing 'Ebaby') username is not gender specific. The whole thing was a learning experience. I'd read through the seller's feedback, again, after the fact, to find the very few scattered negative comments, and he'd replied to the people writing them, calling them 'newbies', as if he were a Nazi calling Jewish people 'lousy Jews!' or something. So, I'd written to him to tell him that I am indeed one of the detested 'newbies', and he'd written back to tell me I was accusatory and threatening, and he would handle the matter. Which was odd. He should've said that in the first place, instead of condescendingly asking me, "Did you REQUEST combined shipping?" Uh, no, I ordered two items and you shipped them together, charging me double shipping. So in his last email he tells me how he loves 'newbies', how they are the bulk of his business, etc., not knowing or realizing that I've read all his nasty comments to the negative feedback about him. Bottom line is this, he refunded my PayPal account $8, and I got some understanding on the discussion boards finally, even one person who was defending me for asking for help and instead being attacked. I appreciate that. Why are people on the Interweb so fucking mean? Jesus. I just wanted to know if I could do anything about getting ripped off, and the seller seemed to be ignoring me. Turns out he was just taking his time getting back to me. I'd already paid, what did he care? Then when I imply I'll buy more from him, because I like what he is selling (lots of pop culture tins, lunchboxes, mugs, etc., stuff I really dig), he's all sweetness and light. Ah, but I lied. That's twice in the past three days. I lied to the dude on Yahoo! Messenger too, told him I had to go, I was meeting a friend to go out, which seems a likely scenario for a vital and somewhat attractive and dynamic person like myself, on a Saturday night, but couldn't have been farther from the truth. I stowed away my Ebay items. They're in the closet, pushed far down in a bag of Christmas wrapping, bows, cards, things. I never want to see them again. This seems so dramatic, so drastic, and yes, sure, childish, but it so pissed me off, probably the reactions I got on the discussion board more than if I'd just waited for a response to my first email from the seller (I am SOOOOOO impatient sometimes, okay, all the time), that I never want to see the crap again. It was total impulse, totally spontaneous, and it got me nothing but grief, and a big charge to my credit card. And the other mug, the one I actually bid on and won, and PAID FOR??, I've heard nothing from that seller. Nothing at all. Fuck Ebay. Never again. Mark my words... marking, marking, memorizing, committing to memory, I don't care what they sell, who sells what, it's people out to make money, and they don't give a fuck about the customer. The WORST customer service ever. I will not do it. Oh, sure, some of the folks on the discussion board said I shouldn't judge Ebay by one lousy person, but they're wrong, I should, and I'm judging by them and their nasty responses to me, and their derision of me, the 'newbie who should've known better', the one who 'should've asked first', and blah, blah. In other news... I finally watched the movie "Secretary" last night. I don't have a lot to say about it though. There was no real rhyme or reason for any of it, it just was what it was, the characters just did what they did. And it wasn't as racy as I expected, not as sexual as I expected, not as dark, it was more comedic. But Maggie Gyllenhaal can act! Even James Spader was good. Yes, acting was good, set design was really interesting, screenplay was lacking, but casting was good, and, well, that's it. Now I've seen it. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good, it just was. I didn't really enjoy watching it, although I found one scene very erotic. I think I wanted more. Of anything. It was... lacking, and I can't even say what. I verified employment today on a man named Phlegm. I am not kidding. That's his last name. No, I'm not kidding. I had to call Jane at her cubicle and get her to type in the guy's social to see it herself. I said it's like 'snot', or 'poop', or 'urine', 'smegma', and I kind of kept going, I guess, 'bowels', Mr John Bowels, or Mr and Mrs John Gangrene, or Mrs Jane Gism, or is it Jism? What is the origin? Was it a joke? Are there more of them? Do they have big Phlegmy Family Reunions? And is there lots of tissue around? How could someone be named that? Really? Jane said, "Oh, that's not right. I'd change my name, I would", and I said, "I know! Me too!" So, anyone want to buy my Ebay shit? It's left a real bad taste, worse than phlegmy, I don't even want them anymore. Mr John Shit sold them to me, and he's a dick. His emails are so rude. What a bad experience. It's like going to the store, with your sale circular in hand, all excited about the items you want to buy, finding everything in your size, getting to the register and the cashier being really rude, dropping your camisole you haven't even worn yet on the floor, overcharging you so you have to go back later, talking to her coworkers while she rings you up, clicking the keys of her register with those long fake nails with stars and suns and moons on them, in gold, smacking her gum, and ripping the bag she puts the breakables in, so you walk a few feet and the bag spills the contents to the floor, and you have to go back, and she sends you to the Customer Service Counter, but you've already been in the store for an hour and a half and you're hungry and you want to go home, feed your cats, yourself. When I was a little kid I liked to play 'store'. I'd gather up all my little trinkets, and my brother and sister did likewise, put them on display, and we'd sell each other our things, make our purchases with Monopoly money. So when I grew up and got jobs in retail it only made sense. And because I was raised with the Golden Rule and Common Courtesy and Reason and Rationalization and Common Sense and Deductive Reasoning, and etc., etc., I treated Customers as if they really WERE always right. I was taught this. And I knew I was a Customer too, always. I spend my money and it's hard, I don't like to part with my money, and when I do I want to be treated with respect. This, and happiness, are all I've ever wanted. Respect. But both seem to elude me. Still, and to this day. I don't know anyone who really respects me. Maybe Norm and Glad. Maybe. They have to though, if they want me to feed them. They respect my power more than anything else. But even they railroad me from time to time. Not that I need to hang on to it any further, but I think if I'd emailed the seller, and waited, patiently, for him to reply, not gone to the discussion boards, asking for HELP, it never would've escalated, I never would've freaked out, and I would've gotten my refund as well. I honestly thought he was blowing me off. And it was only a day or so. Email is so quick, it's almost instantaneous, we tend to expect an instantaneous response, especially if it's a business dealing. Live and learn. Always. I learned, I'm still living, it never ends. And my baubles, put away, because of super bad juju. Oh well. (Addendum to add... if you really want, you too can read the thread that got me so riled - click here to read Ebay discussion board trash talk about yours truly - I love how nice some people are, and I hate what dicks are others. It's true, we are the same people we were in kindergarten, we simply never change, the bully always the bully, the humanitarian always the humanitarian, Rush Limbaugh always the big fat idiot, and Me, always the coward who wants to fight but runs away and hides instead, crying all the way - ain't life grand?) Cost of the War in Iraq
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