Anyone purchased anything from Centsible lately?
James @ cbm264
17th. Here it is, the 29th, and I have not heard anything from the
seller since the auction ended. I have sent four emails so far: three
through Ebay's "Contact the Seller" and one through PayPal with the
payment.
Ebay auction link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5173827243
PayPal shows the transaction as complete (money not refused, either).
I just sent off one last email stating that if he did not respond
within 48 hours I would file non-receipt of merchandise with Ebay.
I have cc'd myself on all my emails to him, and my cc's through Ebay
and PayPal have come back to me, so I know my email address with them
is valid. The seller has posted more items for sale on Ebay, and
responded to several of his feedbacks yesterday and this morning, so he
has been online and on the Ebay site.
I was just wondering if anyone else was having trouble with
Censtible..... misery loves company, maybe?
James
www.cbm264.com
Guy Macon
James @ cbm264 wrote:
Centsible tried to cheat me, then eBay/PayPal investigated,
found in my favor, and forced him to give me a full refund.
See [ http://groups.google.com/groups?q=guymacon%20centsible ] and
[ http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=centsisoft ].
Here is the full story (long):
On December 12th, 2004, I won eBay auction 5145817402, "Commodore
Shopping Spree." from eBay user "centsisoft". You can view it at
[ http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5145817402 ].
I got an invoice that said the following:
|
| Congratulations on winning our shopping spree. As the shopping
| sprees work somewhat different than a normal auction, the process
| on them is also a little different. Upon receipt of your payment,
| we will email you with complete instruction on how to claim the
| $100.00 worth of software.
|
| We thank you for bidding on our auctiona and hope to hear from
| you soon. -Bill Griffin, Centsible Software, wd8...@locallink.net
|
I paid in full the next morning (the 13th) at 7AM. I went to the
website [ http://www.centsible.com/ ] looking to see if there was
a way to put in the order at the price I paid, but the website
wouldn't accept an order unless I paid four times the price plus
shipping. Fine, I thought, I will just wait for this "email with
complete instructions."
A week went by with no email. I checked my spam folder - no luck.
So I sent a gentle reminder, saying:
|
|Dear centsisoft,
|
|I am the winner of Commodore Shopping Spree (5145817402)
|How do I place my order?
|
No reply.
After another week or so I tried again.
No reply.
On January 5th, 2005, I sent a bunch of copies to every email
address that I could associate with the seller, sending each
from two different ISPs.
No reply.
On January 10th, I got a series of emails (I guess he finally
checked all his mailboxes) all saying:
|
| My apologies for not getting things out for your orders
| and/or auctions. I have been sick.
|
| Just before the new year, I caught a cold. last tuesday
| afternoon, the cold turned rather vicious. it settled into
| my left ear, my sinuses, my throat and my chest. My doctor
| has me on antibiotics (he says primarily for strept throat).
| But for the better part of a week, about all I had the
| strength to do was go from the bed to the bathroom and back.
|
| I am better now (although the hearing in my left ear is
| still a little fuzzy). Now I just have to play "catch-up"
| for the next several days. Again, I apologize for this. I
| will try to get everyones auctiona and orders out as quickly
| as possible. I thank you all for your patience.
|
| BTW, I sent you the instructions for the shopping spree the
| same day I received notice of payment. I also sent tham the
| same day I got your first note on the matter.
|
| I will be working up your order this week and will let you
| know what of the FCFS items I still have in stock. If I do
| not have all of it, I will notify you so you can make
| alternate selections.
|
| Bill Griffin
|
| Centsible Software
|
FINALLY, an answer by a human! The "I sent you the instructions"
bit worried me, though. I checked again - no such instructions
were sent. Oh well, I thought, I will just ask him to send them
again.
He refused, claiming once again that he had already sent them.
I wrote back saying:
|
| I received no such instructions.
|
| What I received was:
|
| "Congratulations on winning our shopping spree.
| As the shopping sprees work somewhat different
| than a normal auction, the process on them is
| also a little different. Upon receipt of your
| payment, we will email you with complete
| instruction on how to claim the $100.00
| worth of software."
|
| I am puzzled as to why you failed to simply cut and paste
| the instructions into either your "I will send you the
| instructions" email or one of your "I already sent you
| the instructions" emails.
|
Now he started writing back with "I cut and pasted the
instructions my previous email" assertions. Once again I
checked every email, including everything in my spam folder,
and found no instructions. His emails just got more and
more nasty.
So I turned things over to eBay/PayPal fraud investigation.
Here is the reply:
|
| Dear Guy Macon,
|
| PayPal has concluded our investigation of your Buyer Complaint.
|
| ------------------------------
| Complaint Details
| ------------------------------
|
| Transaction Date: Dec. 13, 2004
| Transaction Amount: -$25.00 USD
| Case Number: PP-063-778-944
| Seller's Name: William Griffin
| Seller's Email: wd8...@locallink.net
|
| You have received a refund via PayPal in the amount of $25.00 USD.
|
| Any portion of your original payment that was funded with your credit card
| has been refunded directly to that credit card. The credit to your credit
| card should take 2-3 business days to post, and may not immediately
| reflected in your card balance.
|
| Sincerely,
| Protection Services Department
|
At this point I was planning on leaving neutral eBay feedback, giving
him the benefit of the doubt. Then I saw that he had left me negative
feedback, even though I paid promptly and tried to resolve the problems
for well over a month, filing the fraud complaint only after he refused
to deliver and refused to give me a refund. I gave him every opportunity
to resolve this, either by delivering the item or by refunding my payment.
I was quite reluctant to tarnish his reputation - there are so few
Commodore vendors left - but giving me a negative was the last straw;
I fulfilled my obligation when I paid him. He went on to cheat other
people, and now has a feedback score of 97.1% (264), with 7 negatives
and 6 neutrals and leaving me with a feedback score of 99.2% (3 negative,
no neutral) on my buyer account and 100% positive on my seller account.
In other words, he shot himself in the foot without hurting me at all.
I strongly advise avoiding this seller. :(
8-Bit Classics
here). But a person who wanted a keyboard repaired thru me needed
some parts for his PET keyboard. Centsible had one for auction which
he won. He never shipped it, said something like it was damaged and
wouldn't send it out. Finally got him to give a full refund.
Corey
On 29 Mar 2005 19:35:13 -0800, "James @ cbm264"
Bubba Jones
This sounds something like my story. I bought a 6502 book from seller
FRSTBORN
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14906&item=5166150109
Seller would not respond to e-mails after payment made - to provide
detail when / if book was shipped.
After a month of this, I called seller at contact number and they hung
up on me.
I gave seller plenty of chances over course of more than a month to
simply respond to messages before I left negative feedback.
There are a few sumbags out their on ebay willing to rip someone off.
Thanks for warnings on Censtible
Riccardo Rubini
> I was just wondering if anyone else was having trouble with
> Censtible..... misery loves company, maybe?
Bill Griffin has always politely replied to all my e-mails, but, after all
the bad stories about him I've heard, including yours, I admit I'm scared of
having business with him.
It's a pity, he happens to sell some interesting items I'd like to buy. But
shopping is supposed to be a pleasure, not a nightmare, am I right? I don't
want to risk to cope up with people who don't take Ebay sales seriously.
The sad part is there are not too many reliable Commodore vendors out there.
Listening to people, the whole category seems doomed. If you want to go
extreme, look at Merlancia!
Well, at least just recently many good stories about Maurice and CMDRKey
popped up. Seems we have Maurice back in forces, and I think that's a
positive note.
Riccardo
Bill Forbes
of Centsible. I have bought from him through eBay
and directly from his website. He has always treated
me great with good emails, packing, and shipping time.
I am puzzled with all the bad experiences with Centsible
that are posted here, but I have to go with my own
experience and fearlessly buy from Centsible.
"James @ cbm264" <doctor...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112153713.1...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Guy Macon
What I found frustrating was his behavior. He kept saying that he
sent the payment instructions. I would reply that I never got them
and asking him to please resend. He then started saying that he did
resend them. When I pointed out to him that he could have simply cut
and pasted the instructions in one of his multiple "I already sent the
instructions" emails he replied that he had cut and pasted and pasted
the instructions. On each round he got more and more insulting and
less and less reasonable. I can only think of two explanations; either
he has a mental illness or he was hoping that I would pay an extra
$100 for something that I had already paid $25 for.
Look at his nagative feedback comments below. A good seller with the
amount of sales he has should have 2 or 3 negatives at the most (no
matter how good you are, some people will complain, but the number
should be well under 1% of the total)
WARNING-deadbeat seller. Got money, no shipment,
no response to email. AVOID
BEWARE-DEADBEAT SELLER-Got money, no shipment,
no email response AVOID
Missing chips which were shown in ad picture and
broken chips from poor packing
Very scuffed up and very poor packing
Poor communications. Never got everything I was
supposed to. AVOID!!!
Had to call numerous times. Very poor customer
service. Still owes me $10.00
Avoid:did not chip what you see, Buy MB receive
no chip on it,DID not tell about
well packed but the rusty & dirty unit was not
as pictured, ASK CONDITION FIRST
Received fast and in good condition. Were mostly
not Commodore disks, though :(
Sellers beware, HE CANNOT BE SATISFIED. Tried to
get more than what was listed.
Very slow start, eventually came through after
several reminder emails
Refused to deliver; I gave him a month+ eBay/PayPal
fraud investigation in my favor (they forced him
to give full refund). :(
A mix-up caused over a month's time to pass before
item was shipped
item was not as described, sent an email to complain,
no response back!
NEVER received the item. Left numerous phone messages,
no response
Kenzo
after reading above, I would be hesitant to bid on a high-dollar item
from him.
John E. Bielak A
recommend that you, by no later then the April 6, file a buyer protection
claim! Paypal/eBay limits the length of time you can file a claim to
within 30 days of the end of auction, and I've made the mistake of buying
into excuses till I'm way past the recovery point... Unless the seller is
close enough to file in small claims court.
Don't get swayed by any sob story the seller has, just file it to protect
yourself! And this is the important part: DON'T REMOVE THE CLAIM TILL YOU
HAVE THE ITEM OR A REFUND!!! YOU CAN'T REFILE A CLAIM ONCE YOU DISMISSED
IT!!! Don't buy into sob stories, and especially threats not to send the
item till you remove the claim (report the for that!!!)
Here the message I send to every eBay seller now:
*******
Dear Seller,
Because of an number of bad transactions, and PayPal's policy of limiting
buyer protection claims to within 30 days of the sale, on PayPay's
recommendations, I am now forced to automatically file paypal buyer
protections claims if items, or a valid tracking numbers, are not received
within 21days of the end of sales. This is a precautionary action only and
will be withdrawn as soon as the item arrives or I have confirmation of
shipment. PayPal assures me that once a claim is removed, it is as if it
never existed and there are no negative repercussions to the seller.
I apologies for the need of doing this, and please understand that it in no
way reflects what I think of you, or the feedback that I will leave upon the
completion of the transaction. While the majority of sellers have been
honest and great to deal with, I have run into quite a few that have
repeated promised to send the items, only to delayed me beyond the point of
any possible recovery.
I also ask that all items be shipped with tracking and insurance, and that
all UPS shipments be signature deliveries. All seller with pending
transactions, please let me know the additional cost and you will be sent
the additional amount via PayPal.
Thank You.
**********
Don't be swayed by the "I've had no problem" messages... It doesn't matter
how small the percentage of transactions he screws the buyer on, the fact
is: If he takes your money, gives you nothing, and won't respond to you,
he's a crook. (or at least doing a good impression)
=== John E. Bielak ===
www.Questarian.com
"James @ cbm264" <doctor...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112153713.1...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Kenzo
I woke him up when I filed a wire-fraud claim via a U.S. gov't web
site. It was easy to do from the web site form. If I remember, it was
via the U.S. Postal service. Shortly after a confirmation contact with
me, the postal inspectors sent the rip-off seller a warning letter
about wire-fraud and copied me on it. Within a few weeks I got my
product as expected.
No shit, I did this and it worked...
James @ cbm264
1) the folder pictured is not included, only the schematics and
troubleshooting
2) two pieces of paper were included. One is an invoice, showing the
auction number and sale method (Ebay), dated 3-28-05, a FULL 10 DAYS
after the auction ended. This invoice also shows that my other item,
ordered on centsible.com for 50% discount and no additional shipping,
is backordered. This "other item" is the Abacus book "1571 Internals",
on the website for $15.00.
The second piece of paper included was a photocopied form letter
stating that the order was shipped partially complete because he cannot
find the remainder of my order, and he will not notify me until 21 days
have elapsed as to whether he can fill the order.
Now I refer back to the invoice, and I have $7.50 "store credit" until
this book is found. I don't want the store credit, I want the book.
It's not my fault if he can't find the inventory he claims to have on
his website. If it were my site, I would only list inventory that I
knew where it was and its condition. If he had sent an email when I
placed this order, stating "You ordered something that is still in the
storage unit, please allow a couple of weeks for me to find it" I would
be more understanding. But to hold the order for 10 days before
shipping, not answering any emails!?!?!
So, I'm about 40% satisfied right now. I feel cheated that I didn't get
the whole item auctioned, plus what's the point of offering 50% off
plus free additional shipping if you can't ship the other items
ordered?
I have a feeling I'll get an email right on 21 days from now, stating
that I owe additional shipping charges, and no refunds if I cancel,
only store credit....... :(
Also, I just checked email and there's nothing from him after 24
hours... I did allow him 48 hours to respond though.
James
www.cbm264.com
James @ cbm264
> Bill Griffin has always politely replied to all my e-mails, but,
after all
> the bad stories about him I've heard, including yours, I admit I'm
scared of
> having business with him.
Well it's always easier to be polite to people that pay "full price"
than to those who buy "minimum bid" (I was the only bidder on this
auction).
> Well, at least just recently many good stories about Maurice and
CMDRKey
> popped up. Seems we have Maurice back in forces, and I think that's a
> positive note.
It helps me feel better when the other person involved is in the same
"social group" (for example, a member of this newsgroup when I am
dealing with Commodore stuff). That way I know that if he doesn't check
emails, maybe he'll see something here.... or other members of the
group might be able to pick up a phone and see what is happening.
I bought a 1570 from Bo Zimmers through Ebay for this reason.... if I
didn't recognize his name from here I wouldn't have bid at all.
Then there's also the people that I have done favors for, in hopes of
getting a favor in return. For example, I sent SVS a rare Plus/4 PRG
and a new-in-box 1581 drive in return for a couple of hours' code work
he has done for me. I hope that if he ever comes across a working 1551
he'll remember my gifts. :)
I hope that everything ends well with Censtible, but I still have this
feeling that there's going to be a problem.
James
www.cbm264.com
ramswell
Not lately, but I have ordered stuff in the past from them and they are
a little slow, BUT YOU WILL GET YOUR STUFF. I waited almost 3 weeks
once, but I got my package ok. Just hang in there.
Charles
Casca
James @ cbm264
reply to this.
James
www.cbm264.com
Casca
the people who left all that negative feedback? pretty much ALL off them have
lots of negative feed back from other sellers totally apart from centsible
because they just rifle off negatives high wide and handsome with out even
stopping to think " HMMM should i contact the seller about this first?"......"
NNNNAAAAHHHH NEGATIVE FEEDBACK RULLESS!!!!! then if the seller leaves them
negative feedback or a negative follow up to having previously left a positive
they brand the seller as
"RETALIATING"
and while this most likly does not apply to your case, i don't take pay pal but
lost my first ebay account because of a pay pal fraud investigation, neat isn't
it, I have NEVER EVER had a pay pal account!
they accepted a payment "by mistake" then told my buyer i had received it, but
would not let me refund it to him because i had to have an account to receive it
so i tried to open one but being as i live in canada, they limited my choice of
bank, wanted outrages fees to convert the payment etc.
and after a bit of research it seems pay pal has made the mistake of accepting
"misdirected" payments something like 10 MILLION TIMES to the tune of over $48
BILLION
just something to think about the next time your ready to pay by pay pal!
Guy Macon
Casca wrote:
>if you would like a perspective from and other Commodore
>Ebayer email me,
That's not a good way to evaluate an ebay seller. A seller with 90%
positive feedback is a really bad seller, and yet nine out of ten
customers said they liked him. One good transaction does not a good
seller make.
>i don't mean to flog a dead horse Guy but did you bother to read
>the feedback on the people who left all that negative feedback?
>pretty much ALL off them have lots of negative feed back from
>other sellers totally apart from centsible
And yet, somehow, thousands and thousands of eBay sellers manage to
somehow avoid all these evil buyers and to have a *much* better
feedback score than Centsible. Why do you suppose that is so?
I don't know about anyone else's experience, and I assume that there
are a bunch of Centsible customers who simply paid and got what they
paid for, but I also know how I was treated, which was very poorly.
Short version:
I won an auction from Centsible and paid in full the next
morning at 7AM.
He tried to charge me four times the amount of my winning bid,
plus shipping costs.
He ignored my emails and messages sent through the eBay system
for the next 27 days. Then he refused to send me what I paid
for and refused to send my money back.
I turned things over to eBay/PayPal fraud investigation and
they made him give me a full refund.
He themn left retaliatory negative feedback, despite the fact
that I paid promptly and gave him every opportunity to resolve
the issue by delivering the item or by refunding my payment.
I stand by my advice: avoid this seller.
----------------------------------------------------------
Long version:
On December 12th, 2004, I won eBay auction 5145817402, "Commodore
Shopping Spree." from eBay user "centsisoft".
I got an invoice that said the following:
No reply.
No reply.
No reply.
I wrote back saying:
I strongly advise avoiding this seller.
Keywords: Bill Griffin, Centsible Software centsisoft centsible William
Griffin www.centsible.com centsible Commodore C64 C128 Bill Griffin,
Centsible Software centsisoft centsible William Griffin www.centsible.com
centsible Commodore C64 C128 Bill Griffin, Centsible Software centsisoft
centsible William Griffin www.centsible.com centsible Commodore C64 C128
Bill Griffin, Centsible Software centsisoft centsible William Griffin
www.centsible.com centsible Commodore C64 C128 Bill Griffin, Centsible
Software centsisoft centsible William Griffin www.centsible.com centsible
Tom Lake
>>Ebayer email me,
>
> That's not a good way to evaluate an ebay seller. A seller with 90%
> positive feedback is a really bad seller, and yet nine out of ten
> customers said they liked him. One good transaction does not a good
> seller make.
>
>>i don't mean to flog a dead horse Guy but did you bother to read
>>the feedback on the people who left all that negative feedback?
>>pretty much ALL off them have lots of negative feed back from
>>other sellers totally apart from centsible
Just a further note here. I just tried to use PayPal to pay for an item
from Centsible
but PayPal will no longer accept money on behalf of that company. I guess
there
were too many complaints about it.
Tom Lake
Casc...@casca.com
>from Centsible
>but PayPal will no longer accept money on behalf of that company.
Yes or you were just lucky that paypal didn't steal your money, they
burned me AND stuck me with a fraud claim when I first started out,
even though ebay owns them now I still refuse to deal with them.
Any company has "Accidentally" accepted $48 billion then REFUSED to
give it back has something wrong with it!!!!