eBay Horror Story

The Internet boasts some pretty impressive successes and few are comparable to online auctions. Unfortunately, not all experiences with online auctions have been pleasant. Amy at Rants in my Pants provides an example, writing of her family's unpleasant experience buying and selling on eBay.

In a nutshell, a product was ordered and paid for, but the product received, although similar, was not what was advertised. It was also damaged. Attempts to resolve the issue through eBay were unsuccessful. Read Amy's account of the whole episode here (scroll down to 1/23/04 entry).

From an anecdotal and logical perspective, online auctions have to be considered a crapshoot. Since buyer and seller are typically separated by hundreds, if not thousands, of miles, and, since the value of most transactions is minimal, conflicts between the parties are seldom resolved through outside intervention. After all, if I'm in Ohio and I buy something from a California seller for $10 and don't receive it, what possibly can eBay, or any auction company, do? The whole system of online auctions is predicated on the assumption that both buyer and seller are fair-minded and reasonable. Sadly, that's not always the case and there is no shortage of crooks in society.

The best that any online auction participant can expect when they have a complaint is that it will be documented.