any lawyers in here? issue with seller saying they will sue for negative feedback.

[foo_dog]

I bought some coral from an ebay seller...my fault I didn't really pay attention to their DOA clause, which I dont like...but that is my fault for bidding. I said i was going to leave negative feedback based on their DOA policy and me not agreeing to it (3 corals dead in the bag), but they brought it to my attention that it is breech of contract if I leave negative feedback in regards to their DOA policy, since I agreed to it. So they would sue me in their court for breech of contract and short of flying out to their state, there would be no way for me to win the case.


Let me elbarote further...I got the package at work around 10:30am...corals seemed bleeched to me, but couldn't tell if they were dead or not. Box sat in my work at a room temp of 75 degrees in there box that were in and sealed, I got home...cut open the bags and noticed that 3 were dead...I contacted the seller, asked about the DOA policy, he stated that a photo needed to be submitted with in one hour of receiving it from fed ex and had to be in the bag...I waited a few hours after getting the package and cut them out of the bag before I contacted the seller...so instead of arguing with the policy, I said i'd leave negative feedback...then ALL of the sudden, he wants pics and he "see what he can do", I dont want credit, because I dont trust buying from him again and dont want to pay another 35+ in shipping to end of with dead corals...but I sent him pics later that night, when I got back home. Contacted him this morning and he said he never got them and blames me for dragging it out...I said, you know what, I am not messing with this anymore...I sent pics, I am not doing it again...so i will jsut leave negative feedback...and that's when the lawsuits are threatened...

I will say that paypal screwed up and held my money for two weeks and so he did hang on to the coral for an extended period of time, until I could get paypal to release the funds back to me...but that was the only thing he did that was nice...it has all been down hill from there.

I said fine, I am unhappy overall with being threatened with court and the rest of the coral that survives and the person's rudeness overall. He says, that because I stated originally that the negative feedback would be due to the DOA policy, that no matter what I say, he can sue for breech of contract.

I asked him what he would ask for breech of contract, since he has his money for the corals..and he said 25k....

So basically I can file a lawsuit, with some sort of sketchy grounds and win because the person does not have the means to fly out and attend a court case out of state? That just doesn't make sense...is there anyone who can clarify this for me?

[LizardLou]

What time did you get home from work?

[foo_dog]

Originally Posted by LizardLou

What time did you get home from work?

6pm

[FTDelta]

This needs to be moved to another forum thread. Perhaps in Vendors' feedback?

But seriously? A breech of contract? The seller is nuts if he thinks he's gonna get 25K for breech of contract. I'm no lawyer but if he didn't enclose a legal binding contract with your order, I don't see how he can legally sue you for breech of contract.

IMHO - he's blowing smoke.

[Khemul]

Report him to eBay AND post the negative feedback.

You should have a log of the messages sent back and forth. Items arrived dead. No reason you can't post that as feedback. The DOA policy is so you can't demand your money back, not to prevent you from posting negative feedback.

[Dissy]

1) You did agree to all of the terms of sale, whether or not you read them, when you big on, and won the item. Therefore, the seller doesn't deserve negative feedback. Had you signed for, opened the package, and THEN found three dead corals, contacted the seller immediately, according to their policy, sent pics, etc and he refused to do anything, THEN you would have justification for negative feedback. You left the corals alone from 10:30 TIL 6:00.

That said...feedback is nor a requirement at all, much less a specific TYPE of feedback. The seller attempting to threaten to sue you is hogwash, and isn't worth the time required to respond.

I think if you leave negative, tho, after leaving your own corals sit for almost 8 hours without touching them, it's unfair.

[ReefPharmer]

My wife runs an eBay store . Him threatening you is hilarious. You can leave any feedback you want . Matter of fact, you should report him to eBay for threats . He can have an absolutely no refunds , sales are final policy and eBay will still take your side as the buyer if you are reasonable .

Whether you feel like he is at fault is another story but don't let his bs re lawsuit but you. He completely is blowing smoke .

[crn005]

Yeah I think that maybe you could have gotten the corals home a little quicker or waited until you could have them delivered on a day that you could do so. However, him threatening to sue you is BS. He should know better. You should sue him him for harassment.

[ingtar_shinowa]

There are always two sides to a story, and this thread had run its course elsewhere.

[Mr. Brooks]

Lesson learned. Plan to be home when your corals arrive so you can get them out of the bag immediately. Can you prove they didn't die under your care at your office?

This is why most online retailers have a policy of requesting an image within an hour after signing for the package. It's pretty standard.

He shouldn't threaten you, but you should take some responsibility for not reading up on his DOA policy.

[FTDelta]

The more I slept on it after I read your post, then waking up this morning to read more responses, I am in 200% agreement with ReefPharmer. There's no way he can sue you for breech of contract for posting a negative feedback on ebay.

[Touring]

i would say who the seller is and ill buy something just to leave a negative feedback hahahahaha

[avandss]

just asked a lawyer, laughed for 5 min about this, he said its ridiculous and go leave a 20 page detailed negative feedback

he cant do anything

[ninjamini]

I'd create a web site with his emails. Remember no contract can supersede law. You have freedom of speech. I'd bet his policy brakes eBay rules too.

If you do get sued he has to serve you here. You'll write the court and request a "change of venue" since he does biz in your state he has to sue you here.

[miniwhinny]

Originally Posted by Mr. Brooks

Lesson learned. Plan to be home when your corals arrive so you can get them out of the bag immediately. Can you prove they didn't die under your care at your office?

This is why most online retailers have a policy of requesting an image within an hour after signing for the package. It's pretty standard.

He shouldn't threaten you, but you should take some responsibility for not reading up on his DOA policy.

You got the corals at 10.30am and didn't even get home to start acclimating them for 7 1/2 hours! After they had already been shipped from goodness knows where to goodness knows where.
I'd say you have at least a little responsibility in their demise. I certainly wouldn't order corals on a day I knew they were going to sit around in a box all day before I even got home to acclimate them. No wonder they died.
Just drop the whole thing.

[trae]

25k?? Haa, I hope you paid through PayPal. Talk to them, get your money back if you deserve it they love the buyers story. But honestly, do you think it's fair business after leaving them closed in a 75 degree room to ask for anything more?

[marietrg]

I would try to negotiate with him in a non-confrontational way. Tell him the bottom line is the corals didn't make it. Any reasonable person including himself would expect a refund or another shipment. Ask him if there is anything to do to make it right.

[foo_dog]

They were DOA upon arrival...in the bags...but ive seen coral that bleech quite bad during shipping, that look near death and I get them home and I see there is hope...but the sellers DOA is pics in the bag and no more than hour after they arrive...

I wanted to get home and make sure they were in fact dead, before I contacted the buyer...it has nothing to do with the other ones.

Frankly I see everyone talk about leaving them in the box for a few extra hours...Live A, delivers around 3-4pm in my area and sometimes later and pretty much never an issue with them. I dont see how it's worse in my temp controlled office or on the back of a delivery truck. Ive also done this exact same thing with plenty of other coral vendors and NEVER an issue.....

Again, they were dead in the bag...and that was checking on them 3 mins after I got them. Not the others...

But it's a moot point...my question is can someone in fact file a suit knowing you cant show up hundreds of miles away?

[marietrg]

If you leave negative feedback make it non-specific like you were dissatisfied. Don't let him get you into the weeds and hairsplit over the specifics

[FTDelta]

Originally Posted by foo_dog

But it's a moot point...my question is can someone in fact file a suit knowing you cant show up hundreds of miles away?

No. I also spoke to a lawyer as well. He has as good a chance as a snowman in hell.

[dax123]

Originally Posted by ReefPharmer

Him threatening you is hilarious. You can leave any feedback you want . Matter of fact, you should report him to eBay for threats . He can have an absolutely no refunds , sales are final policy and eBay will still take your side as the buyer if you are reasonable .

Whether you feel like he is at fault is another story but don't let his bs re lawsuit but you. He completely is blowing smoke .

+1

Negative feedback regarding dead corals when you know that you need to accept some responsibility is your decision, but negative feedback over customer satisfaction is a different story. Not wanting to refund your money based technicalities in a contract is one thing but threatning a customer with court action is another ball game. I say post whatever feedback you want and end with IMO. No one can sue you based on your opinion.

[gonpostal]

Originally Posted by ingtar_shinowa

There are always two sides to a story, and this thread had run its course elsewhere.

I thought this sounded familiar.
I wouldn't expect this to end any better for you here than it did at the other forum.

[ganjero]

Originally Posted by dax123

+1

Negative feedback regarding dead corals when you know that you need to accept some responsibility is your decision, but negative feedback over customer satisfaction is a different story. Not wanting to refund your money based technicalities in a contract is one thing but threatning a customer with court action is another ball game. I say post whatever feedback you want and end with IMO. No one can sue you based on your opinion.

You don't need to end with "IMO", it is understood that the feedback was your personal experience, nothing beyond that.

OP, tell the seller to read eBay's "Feedback extortion policy" (you should read it too), if the communication happened through eBay's messaging system you can report him. Leaving negative feedback is not breaching a contract, it is in that policy that sellers are not allowed to force you not to leave negative feedback. They can have whatever DOA policy ("send me pictures within seconds or within a month, or whatever), if you don't like it you are still entitled to leave negative feedback saying that their DOA policy is unrealistic, not good, or whatever.

If the seller doesn't like it he can dispute it through eBay and have them remove your comments or he can just follow up your feedback with their comments. Nothing beyond that.



Lesson learned, when ordering corals make sure you are going to be home or you are able to go home as soon as you receive the package.

[slief]

Originally Posted by foo_dog

But it's a moot point...my question is can someone in fact file a suit knowing you cant show up hundreds of miles away?

People can file suit for anything they want. Whether it holds up in court is another story. Having said that, if they file suit, you would have to defend yourself or risk loosing.

That said, if you left bad feedback after having not read his DOA policy, all he has to do is contest the feedback on those grounds and eBay will remove the negative feedback within a few days. Whether he would follow through on his threat is a gamble. Odds are that he would not but you never know these days. People are sue happy.

[lokii_37]

I think what it comes down to is that you were unhappy with how the corals arrived to you. All you have to say in your negative feed back is that you were not happy with the corals when you got them. Unless he can prove that your feelings about how the corals arrived was wrong then he has no case. As long as you don't post lies about the sellers products you should be good to go.