Unfortunate Experience with Bricklink Customer Support

[DrJB]

I hope it is ok to post here, otherwise, please move accordingly.

I've had a buyer's account on Bricklink for several years and like many on here, I spent a fortune on that site.

Few months back, I opened a store and listed some extra/old sets I have. I did receive 3 orders from people with zero history (Turkey, Malaysia, Russia) and when I asked for payment, I never received an answer. Now because I did not 'cancel' such orders, Bricklink is asking me to pay seller's fees because according to them, the transactions did take place when in fact they never did. To make things worse, they purged the orders from their system and there is no way to trace this back and investigate. I tried to reason with them (Shelly) but to no avail and they insist on me having to pay the fees before my selling privileges are restored. Shelly (Customer Support) insists this was in the agreement rules and that this is my responsibility. My position: I made a mistake, I did not read the fine print ... come on, give me a break, I am NOT paying for a transaction that never took place.

Anyone here had a similar experience and knows of a way to resolve this situation?

Thanks,

JB

 

  

Edited March 1, 2017 by DrJB

[DrJB]

I just wrote Bricklink again and this is the answer I got. Is this for real? I have highlighted/Underlined what I feel is inappropriate language, especially coming from Customer Service.

 

Hi there,

 

I completely comprehend your inquiries, but am not going to allow anyone to violate our terms of service. I am sorry that you do not understand nor want to cooperate with them, but we do not make exceptions. I understand that mistakes happen, but they also have consequences and for you those are fees.

 

BrickLink has actually grown and improved dramatically since it has changed ownership. No other site has even come close to amassing the sales that we have.

 

However, we understand that this your choice to do business with us is optional, so you are free to pursue those other sites if BrickLink is not the right option for you.

 

We have an overwhelming number of satisfied customers. All of whom understand that if they do not follow the rules, they must bare the consequences. This is true of any business transaction.

 

I am sorry that you don't agree with accepting those consequences, but there is nothing further I can do for you should you choose not to pay the fees.

 

Sincerely,
Sheryl
BrickLink Customer Support

 

[Artanis I]

Shouldn't you issue a NPB (non-paying buyer) alert after a certain period of time? Then everything would've been covered for you. I'm not a seller, I don't know the details.

I think you've gotta follow the process and take a hit when you make a mistake like this, if you can't prove your innocence. I got fined by 3 different police officers for 1 expired vehicle registration before I could do anything about it: $600. Had to pay all of it, and even then it still wasn't registered.

But I hope you can get it sorted, unless the fees aren't too much.

Edited March 1, 2017 by Artanis I

[dr_spock]

Have you tried contacting someone else at BrickLink who has authority to make or approve ToS exceptions and waiver fees?  Perhaps management or the owners. 

 

 

[DrJB]

4 hours ago, Artanis I said:

Shouldn't you issue a NPB (non-paying buyer) alert after a certain period of time? Then everything would've been covered for you. I'm not a seller, I don't know the details.

I think you've gotta follow the process and take a hit when you make a mistake like this, if you can't prove your innocence. I got fined by 3 different police officers for 1 expired vehicle registration before I could do anything about it: $600. Had to pay all of it, and even then it still wasn't registered.

But I hope you can get it sorted, unless the fees aren't too much.

It is all my fault, I reckon this. I do not sell on bricklink for a living and when I did not get an answer/reply from the would-be buyers, I simply ignored it (Why would I need to tarnish their reputation ?). In doing so, Bricklink (Shelly) is trying to penalize me ... upside down world if you ask me. Common Sense Customer Service says they should help because this is an honest mistake. No one needs Obnoxious Customer Service if all they do is read the agreement to you. 

As for the car registration and cops, well, I had a similar event once. I did get my sticker, put it on the license, left my car for few days in an airport (was traveling). When I got back, I got  ticket for no registration/sticker. I took a picture of my plate (with the sticker) AND the receipt when I got the sticker (had a date stamped on it) and sent it to the police. They dropped the case and wrote me, not admitting that they messed up, but more like "Since we cannot prove that you did not have a sticker, the fine is waived". Yes, you're guilty until proven otherwise ... I think the parking cop who gave me the ticket was color blind and could not tell the difference between old/new sticker color ...

Back to Bricklink, I'll bug them again, and if they insist, I'm done with them. Yes, there is eBay and other avenues out there.

Edited March 1, 2017 by DrJB

[Cwetqo]

After you get each order, you get email, saying (among other things):

Quote

Buyer and seller should contact each other and arrange payment within 3 days of this e-mail.

and:

Quote

All orders (regardless of status) and all items in those orders are purged from the BrickLink website 6 months after the order date.

In my opinion Bricklink did nothing wrong. System, as it is set up, is done is such way for benefit of everyone. You SHOULD report problematic buyer if you do not get any response in few days (or a week) to have him sanctioned/removed and save others from similar trouble. It seems that you waited at least six months (since old orders are purged then) and that fee amount was less than 15 dollars (otherwise you would have to pay fees earlier).

In my opinion you should take is as (hard learned) lessons to keep things tidy and current on Bricklink.

[Alpinemaps]

How I are these orders that we are talking about?  I think Bricklink's fees are 3%. Even if we are talking about 3 orders for $100 each, that's only $9. 

It might be the principle of it for you, but I'd just pay it and move on. Lesson learned to track your orders and file actions as appropriate. 

[biglesdug]

Chalk it up as a lose and learn from it. If you want to continue to sell pay the fees if not just move on. 

[Criosphynx]

Yeah, there is a time frame in which you must do their steps. Its similar on ebay, you have to flag that the sale never actually went through, otherwise they don't know whats going on (and they don't care tbh).

In this case i'd just call it "tuition". I made mistakes that cost me $ when I started selling items, and I just viewed it as a cost of learning on my own.  In a year or two your  mistakes will be minimal and you'll be thankful for the experiences.

Best of luck to you. :)

 

 

Edited March 1, 2017 by Criosphynx

[DrJB]

It's not $9 ... those are expensive sets (Williams F1 Racer) ... and the fees added up to over $50.

[Darkdragon]

That fact is that you ignored the ToS and it is very clear on time limits. They would have billed this to you the same month or next month after the purchases, so it is very strange that you would wait to argue about it until after the orders have been purged. There was plenty of time to take care of it and file the NPB or cancel the orders and incur no fees.  If you won't pay the fees, you can always sell on another site, they aren't going to send creditors out to take your car away or something.  I don't see any reasonable reason to expect Bricklink to make an exception in this case at all.

[DrJB]

Let's not be judgemental ... there is a fine line between 'ignoring' and 'missing the point'. One is pre-meditated, the other is an honest mistake. I came here asking for options/opinions, not asking to be lectured. 

You saying I ignored is like Shelly (cust service) saying I violated their rules. No, I did not violate any rules. In fact, violate is a very strong word to use ... but it's ok, I bet English is not her native tongue ... but I'm digressing here.

Everyone else, thanks for the helpful feedback.

Edited March 2, 2017 by DrJB

[Capparezza]

Just out of curiousity an honest question: Is there some place on BL where one can educate himself about how to be a seller and how not to do stupid things on day 1 and ruin the selling experience as it did for DrJB?

I really would like to sell some stuff that has accumulated over the years and are not needed anymore. But reading the above paragraphs leaves me wondering if I should venture out to new waters with a Bricklink seller account or better stick to my current, more local selling options.

[dr_spock]

1 hour ago, Capparezza said:

Just out of curiousity an honest question: Is there some place on BL where one can educate himself about how to be a seller and how not to do stupid things on day 1 and ruin the selling experience as it did for DrJB?

I really would like to sell some stuff that has accumulated over the years and are not needed anymore. But reading the above paragraphs leaves me wondering if I should venture out to new waters with a Bricklink seller account or better stick to my current, more local selling options.

It's in the Terms of Service link at the bottom of their home page. In the ToS, you can also find links to their various policies on billing, old data purge, buying and selling offenses, etc.  At the bottom of the home page, they have some links for Sell like Getting started, Tips on selling.  Read them over too.  BrickLink has a discussion forum to ask questions and stuff.   I guess you can weigh BL ToS and fees against your local selling options and headaches in dealing with distance problem buyers to determine if it is worth it.

 

[zux]

You said order was purged. You've waited 6 months for buyer to pay the bills? Because that's when orders get purged. If payment didn't reach you in a week you can raise a NPB. Any time limit more than 2 weeks would have been a strong sign buyer is not going to pay.

[MAB]

Something is not right here. If they are purged, then the orders are over six months ago. If you owed $50 in fees, then you would have been emailed multiple times over the latter four months by bricklink, telling you that you owe $50 and to pay your fees. And your store would have been suspended months ago for non-payment. You are invoiced end of the month, you get a month to pay and then you get suspended if you don't pay. So you get about 2-3 months to pay from the date of the order to avoid suspension. But as they are over six months ago, you must have been suspended probably three months ago for non-payment of fees to BL.

 

21 hours ago, Capparezza said:

Just out of curiousity an honest question: Is there some place on BL where one can educate himself about how to be a seller and how not to do stupid things on day 1 and ruin the selling experience as it did for DrJB?

I really would like to sell some stuff that has accumulated over the years and are not needed anymore. But reading the above paragraphs leaves me wondering if I should venture out to new waters with a Bricklink seller account or better stick to my current, more local selling options.

2

Reading the emails they send also helps. They tell you when fees are due by email.

On 01/03/2017 at 5:16 AM, DrJB said:

It is all my fault, I reckon this. I do not sell on bricklink for a living and when I did not get an answer/reply from the would-be buyers, I simply ignored it (Why would I need to tarnish their reputation ?). In doing so, Bricklink (Shelly) is trying to penalize me ... upside down world if you ask me. Common Sense Customer Service says they should help because this is an honest mistake. No one needs Obnoxious Customer Service if all they do is read the agreement to you. 

 

1

Do you check the email address that you used to sign up to BL? Or do you ignore all email to that address?

Edited March 3, 2017 by MAB

[aeh5040]

I'm not sure there is much point in pursuing this further. As you say, it was your ultimately your mistake that you did not read the terms of service carefully enough (if I understood). That mistake resulted in a financial cost. You are basically asking them (bl) to pay that cost instead of you. I.e. you are asking them to subsidize you. That may be a reasonable request, and some businesses might do it in order to keep a valued customer happy. But it is also quite reasonable for them to refuse.

I don't see how any of the language in the email can be construed as inappropriate, although the numerous spelling, grammatical, and factual errors (e.g. pretty sure amazon has amassed more sales!) do suggest this customer service representative is inexperienced. If you're determined to pursue it, I'd definitely insist on talking to a manager...

[stella2015]

that stinks. cost of doing business. As long as your not out the product, no big deal. make it up on the next deal.

[Jayoheazy]

Found this thread via Google as I’m also currently dealing with a NPB situation. That said the only mistake I see that BrickLink made is not proofreading or training their CS well enough. The rep was correct in their conclusion but worded her response very poorly IMO. 

Just pay the fees and move on. Sucks but the ToS is there for a reason :D

Edited February 3, 2018 by Jayoheazy