Ethical Or Not?

I recently bid on, and won, 11 lots of C23 blocks and plate number singles. When the shipment arrived it was 4 lots short with a cryptic note saying I had a PayPal refund and nothing more.

I email the seller and he sends me a snooty response saying he may have sold them on another auction site or to a customer. He doesn't remember and doesn't have time to worry about it.

In your humble opinion, is it ethical or not ethical to list a single item on multiple auction sites and then choose the best bid leaving one or two other winners with nothing but a fake winning bid?

I'm no attorney but I would think such a tactic at least comes close to fraud.

Dan

Of course it's unethical, but that doesn't stop a lot of people from doing that. A lot of people don't care about being ethical or fulfilling their responsibilities. I'm terribly slow at getting things done, but I do get it done... eventually.

A lot of businesses operate with a similar practice of double-dipping. Consider the airline practice of overbooking. Even if you've paid for the ticket and have a confirmed reservation, you may still not be able to get on the plane because your reservation was "sold" to someone else. But at least most airlines will offer an apology and compensation.

its shameful make sure you neg him and dont ever do business with him again

I will add to this later.
In the meantime, KHJ did you get my email ?? {it's important]

Londonbus1

VERY unethical. I'd file a complaint wit E-bay or whatever auction site you used.

I would blast him with a negative feedback

This is unquestionably unethical and possibly fraudulent.

The key question is how your seller would have reacted had YOU chosen not to pay for part of your auction win. He undoubtedly would have cried foul.

If this was on ebay, he deserves a ding.

I would complain with full force.
Don't let it rest.
Get him !

These kind of goings on should be reported before they get worse.

I will be reporting about another unethical practice later on a seperate thread. This one is very close to us all.
Stay tuned.

Londonbus1.....get him, get him....

try your best to make him pay the full penalty.

I would neg. him and contest the ammount of refund. He probably didn't like the price that the auction was won at and decided to keep the best centered ones. Enter a "not as advertised" complaint through paypal and at the least negotiate a better refund.

Richard

this is unethical indeed

i like what ziggy said its probably what happened

I'm behind in my emails; had to make an unexpected trip back home and then it's back on the road again today. Time to go check my emails...

This is 100% unethical. I would NOT neg him as others suggested but would never do business with him again.

Agreed with litphil. I wouldn't be one to leave negative feedback unless I was ripped off in some way. Did you get the refund you were entitled to? If so, I'd probably just leave it at that and remember not to buy from that specific seller again.