Paid for, never got!

[Bini]

I am so flustered right now. It doesn't help that I'm about to pop and have my baby, either, it's just adding additional stress. Short version. I ordered something handmade and personalised from a lady that seemed reputable. Initially, she was, and I received 2 items from her - no problems. Then a few weeks later, I decided to order a third and decided to go ahead and pay in advance, only I've realised that I did so as "friends/family transaction" and not a "services transaction" via PayPal, which just means if crap hits the fan, I don't get reimbursed. Between the first of October up to now, which, is Oct 3, I've had zero contact with this individual. I cannot reach her via her FB page, she is not responding to messages, and I don't have a physical address or phone number. Oddly, her FB is public and I've been following her wall, and she is actively posting on it! We're not struggling where $20 is going to put us in the poor house, that's not where my frustration stems from, it stems from the lack of courtesy and professionalism. I do have her full name, not sure how far I can go with that, though... I do have the text messages I sent her and receipt of payment to her. I feel like I should be taking some sort of action here, as I don't feel "just letting it go" is the right move, I should be proactive the best that I can be. Then where things fall, they fall.

 

Any advice in what I should do at this point?

[Bini]

***Oct. 30 not Oct. 3!

[Guest MormonGator]

Bini, my advice is usually terrible, and being a BoyGator, I can't relate to you having a baby. Congrats though! 

 

I'd keep every receipt and proof of payment you could, and if possible maybe send her an email just asking how it is going? Something like "I'd like to check the status of my order please?"  Maybe she honestly forgot. 

Edited October 30, 2015 by MormonGator

[David13]

I think you implied your own right answer.

$20 is not worth stressing over.

dc

[Bini]

@MormonGator

I hoped that was the case but I can see that she's 'read' my sent messages and just isn't responding for whatever reason. My last attempt, I did politely ask for a refund if the item could not be received. I'm so confused!

[Bini]

@David

Regardless of the amount, I want to be proactive in figuring out what has happened, and not just ignore this situation of bad - lack of - communication.

[Guest MormonGator]

@MormonGator

I hoped that was the case but I can see that she's 'read' my sent messages and just isn't responding for whatever reason. My last attempt, I did politely ask for a refund if the item could not be received. I'm so confused!

 You are right, this does change things. Is there a third-party you can contact? Can you leave a negative review somewhere? 

[Backroads]

I'm not sure of how this lady runs her business, but I'm the type that would leave, if possible, reviews about my experience. People pay attention to that stuff.

[Bini]

No, there is no way for me to leave any kind of feedback! I found her on a local FB yard sale group taking personalised orders, so all communication was done through the FB private message system, and not by any actual business page. As I said, I received two items from her before but did not pay ahead, which I did this time and it bit me in the butt! I couldn't find her on Etsy, despite, her supposedly having a shop on there. I tried searching her as a user but there are so many personalised wreaths on there - it's impossible to track one person down - and sadly I don't know what her business's name is! Tough lesson to be learned... Though, I want to at least do everything I can in my power to contact her, before giving up entirely.

[Just_A_Guy]

Probably worth noting that she's not a professional; she's a lady making wreaths out of her garage.  I wouldn't necessarily read ill will or dishonesty into it.  For all you know, she's had a sick kid or a death in the family.

 

If you really feel she's running a scam and want to deter her from pulling it again--you know her full name, you're pretty sure (?) she's local.  If you really wanted to push things you've probably got enough info that you could give a private investigator $50 to run a PeopleSearch on his database (it'd probably take him just shy of two minutes), and give you an address; then send her a certified letter.  That'd probably grab her attention, at least. 

[Bini]

@JAG

She's not in distress. Her FB profile is public and she has been actively updating it, even adding pictures of a week long trip to Oregon! She added a selfie of herself at church last Sunday wishing everyone a great day. She has chosen not to respond to me.

[Bini]

So bummed I'd have to dish out $50 on this woman! Grrr! I do believe her FB is a legit account. She's got images of her husband and family, actively posting status updates, etc. It's just so weird and stressing this prego mama out! Sigh.

[Bini]

It was a gift for someone special, too...

[Guest]

I would tell all on the Facebook yard sale page where you found her. 

[mirkwood]

Quit PMing her and post on her public page for all to see.

[Mahone]

If it proves difficult to leave a public review or find another way to get her attention, cut your losses. Remember your time is also valuable - don't invest any more of it in her. It's not worth it for the minor amount of money that was lost.

A few years ago I fell into a tourist trap. Thankfully I only lost a very small amount of money and realizing immediately that something wasn't right, I left. I read online later that many other tourists haven't been so lucky and ultimately lost hundreds of dollars before figuring out what was going on. At first I was angry and tried to find the culprits but they had disappeared. Then I felt grateful that I'd realized quickly enough to prevent any major loss, aside from my damaged pride for falling for it in the first place.

In the famous words of frozen, let it go...

Edited October 31, 2015 by Mahone

[Guest]

I understand you can't ask Paypal for help, but is it possible to dispute the sale through the issuer of your card?

[Bini]

I would tell all on the Facebook yard sale page where you found her. 

 

I did it, finally, today.

I was super hesitant about it because I hate having to complain about someone publicly. It's just not my style. But after confiding in a handful of people, everyone seemed to encourage it as a last resort, so I went ahead and did it today! Funny how quickly she responded - within an hour! - of posting my ad seeking anyone who knows her to forward my message of not receiving my item! Her response to me was: "Oh sorry, I got a new phone number..." Yup! Seriously. I made sure to get that phone number and did in fact text it to see if I would get a response, and I did, today at least. She has promised to send item out tomorrow, so we'll see if that happens.

[Bini]

Quit PMing her and post on her public page for all to see.

 

She doesn't have a business page. She uses her own personal FB page but I cannot post on it as we are not friends.

[Bini]

If it proves difficult to leave a public review or find another way to get her attention, cut your losses. Remember your time is also valuable - don't invest any more of it in her. It's not worth it for the minor amount of money that was lost.

A few years ago I fell into a tourist trap. Thankfully I only lost a very small amount of money and realizing immediately that something wasn't right, I left. I read online later that many other tourists haven't been so lucky and ultimately lost hundreds of dollars before figuring out what was going on. At first I was angry and tried to find the culprits but they had disappeared. Then I felt grateful that I'd realized quickly enough to prevent any major loss, aside from my damaged pride for falling for it in the first place.

In the famous words of frozen, let it go...

 

I hate to let it go because as someone else had mentioned, you want others to know that this person is not reliable, and does not follow through. This person is local, she has a personal FB page, and was taking orders for personalised wreaths a month or so ago. I was one of the first people to jump on it and place orders. First two were legit but the third order is yet to be seen, though, I have made contact with her today via my response to Eowyn. Exposing her publicly, which I really hesitated on, actually worked - she responded pretty dang fast! So now, others on the same local yard sale sites as me, know that there's a possibility their order may not go through either.

[Backroads]

I would have accepted the new phone number explanation if you hadn't been struggling with getting her a PM as well. You'd assume one of those would work.

[Blackmarch]

I am so flustered right now. It doesn't help that I'm about to pop and have my baby, either, it's just adding additional stress. Short version. I ordered something handmade and personalised from a lady that seemed reputable. Initially, she was, and I received 2 items from her - no problems. Then a few weeks later, I decided to order a third and decided to go ahead and pay in advance, only I've realised that I did so as "friends/family transaction" and not a "services transaction" via PayPal, which just means if crap hits the fan, I don't get reimbursed. Between the first of October up to now, which, is Oct 3, I've had zero contact with this individual. I cannot reach her via her FB page, she is not responding to messages, and I don't have a physical address or phone number. Oddly, her FB is public and I've been following her wall, and she is actively posting on it! We're not struggling where $20 is going to put us in the poor house, that's not where my frustration stems from, it stems from the lack of courtesy and professionalism. I do have her full name, not sure how far I can go with that, though... I do have the text messages I sent her and receipt of payment to her. I feel like I should be taking some sort of action here, as I don't feel "just letting it go" is the right move, I should be proactive the best that I can be. Then where things fall, they fall.

 

Any advice in what I should do at this point?

I don't think that 20$ is worth going to the authorities over.

I'd suggest sending a message to whichever accounts you think she would be most likely to check stating how you ordered something and have yet to recieve it-

I'd include something along the lines of

I assume you mailed it, is there a mail tracking number to see if the post lost it?

If you haven't mailed why has it not been sent yet?

If I don't get a notice why after <set amount of time> I will cease to do business with you and will have to leave a review stating this incident of your practice

or something like that.