Primadonna on clothes section of bob

[Jacqueline0923 10]

I am extremely concerned that primadonna is a scam. I have made 3 payments to her store - all of which have been received since november and when i gave her a negative rating, she cancelled the sales so i was no longer able to rate her. In addition, she has not refunded my money. This is serious - and every consumer on bid or buy needs to know this. Please help. Regard. Jacqueline tarallo.

[lilythepink 10]

Hi Jacqueline. You need to report this, as soon as possible, to communitywatch@bidorbuy.co.za. They will get back to you as soon as they can but as it is new year holidays, please give them time to respond. (I am not one of the staff but I have always had excellent service from them).

[ka69 10]

Hi Jacqueline. You need to report this, as soon as possible, to communitywatch@bidorbuy.co.za. They will get back to you as soon as they can but as it is new year holidays, please give them time to respond. (I am not one of the staff but I have always had excellent service from them).

 

I am also struggling with this seller. No communication from them since 22/12/12 and their phones are off. Also do not respond to email.

Starting to get very worried as I have been waiting for my purchase since 04/12/12. They did give me a tracking number, but according to SAPO this parcel is addressed to someone else!!??

[MiemsJewels 10]

The last date she/he rated a buyer was end of November. Strange......is he/she still alive?

[ka69 10]

No, they still rated as late as 27/12/12. I have been keeping an eye out for activity on their account as I am getting more and more worried. I did post to the link supplied by lily to see if I can get any response from them.

[Miss Jewels 10]

This seller is an authorized drop shipper who carries no stock on hand. They are going to be dependant on their supplier sending the items out and with the public holidays, an even further delay might be possible.

I think BoB needs to look at sellers like this and take the necessary steps against their accounts - even it it means losing their drop ship ability

[svw 10]

I have just been looking at their ratings for the past month - 18 Neutral and 17 Negative with a 89.9% positive rating - not very good.

 

The seller is not registered as an international seller - not to sure if they are a registered dropshipper or not but for a local seller their shipping costs are very high [R150 for the first item plus R125 for each additional item] plus the buyer has to pay customs and duties over and above the shipping amount quoted?

[ka69 10]

Their rating has been steadily declining through December. When I purchased in early December it was quite high, 94% if I remember correctly. What really ticks you off though is the fact that it is impossible to get any response from them (since 22/12). Also, they initially claimed 10-15 working days delivery and were aware that I wanted these items as Xmas gifts and said it would be fine. After struggling to get tracking number, they then said 15-21 working days. Also, the fact that they supplied me with the tracking number of an item intended for someone else makes me very uncomfortable!!

[MiemsJewels 10]

Good grief!

 

[TABLE=class: item_shipping_table]

[TR]

[TD]Shipping method[/TD]

[TD]Shipping details[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]STD International Airmail 10-15 Working Days[/TD]

[TD=class: right]R350.00 for the first item

R275.00 each additional item

Insurance is charged at an additional 3.00% of the order value[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Miss Jewels 10]

I agree Miems....this is a total rip-off. What a way to make extra money! :sick: I certainly hope the "powers that be" are watching this account very closely.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Miss Jewels
spelling

[ka69 10]

I agree Miems....this is a total rip-off. What a way to money extra money! :sick: I certainly hope the "powers that be" are watching this account very closely.

 

It seems they are, all listings by this seller have been removed. Good luck to those of us who have allready paid and are waiting for items, such as myself and Jacqueline. Many others also as they were running auctions up until today. Spoke to the "powers that be" on the phone and they are also trying to contact them, hopefully with more success than I've had.

[ka69 10]

UPDATE: Saw that the seller rated/replied to buyers on 03/12, but still no reply to me. I phoned BOB and spoke to the person handling my complaint and was told that they (BOB) had in fact been able to contact the seller. The seller appears to be out of the country and does not have access to phone etc, but somehow still manages to rate on BOB but cannot respond to the several emails/sms/voicemail I sent?

 

I read through some other threads this morning, specifically on the matter of negative ratings given by buyers when sellers are unavailable. I can understand that sellers get ticked off by ratings such as these, but honestly think sellers should not be allowed to post items if they are not going to be available to conclude transactions. Likewise, they should inform buyers waiting for items that they are going to be unavailable to avoid the buyers getting progressively more irritated/nervous/angry as they cannot make contact with a person who has a (sometimes sizeable) chunk of their hard earned money and nothing to show for it but a tracking number. Keeping buyers informed of availablity is of course also open to abuse and will probably not reduce the level of stress experienced by the buyer.

 

I do business with Have2Have. They should serve as an example of how online sales should work. They email you almost daily along every step of the way as your item wings its way across the world towards you. For example, I received mail when my item left the US and again when it arrived in SA, even up to the point where it had been delivered to my PO and was awaiting collection. Maybe a tall order for some sellers on BOB, but absolutely brilliant from the buyers perspective.

 

As a buyer, I view a sale as complete once I have received my purchase. I get the idea some sellers view it as complete once thay have chucked the item in the mail, so being unavailable once you have chucked an item in the mail is just as irritating as not being available when selling items.

 

A suggestion was made in another thread about a "status" function where buyers would be able to see that the seller they are struggling to contact is unavailable for some reason. I think this is a brilliant idea, but could be open to abuse by indifferent/dishonest sellers.

 

Another suggestion made was that payment only takes place once delivery has taken place and that BOB keeps the money in "escrow" from payment to delivery. BOB has explained that they cannot do so, but I still think this would be the ideal system. A buyer has no real "leverage" to use once he has parted with his money except for a negative rating and/or filing a ticket with BOB. Maybe an additional rating such as "items awaiting delivery" or "sales not completed" which gets posted by BOB once payment has been made untill delivery has been confirmed after which it will then change to "sales completed" as part of a sellers rating. This will make it obvious to prospective buyers whether this is a trustworthy seller and also give an indication of how promptly a seller does his bit after receiving payment.

 

In my case, all I have to show for my cash almost a month after payment is a tracking number. Actually not even that as the tracking number I received was for someone elses item and no contact from the seller for more than two weeks. I can definitely NOT describe this as a positive experience.

Edited January 3, 2013 by ka69
Spelling

[ka69 10]

Seller contacted me on 14/01. Very apologetic about the error with original tracking number, reckons his supplier in China made the mistake. Seller was out of the country from 19/12 until 13/01. He has given me a new tracking number and says items were reposted on 09/01, but this tracking number does not show up on the tracking website they use. He promised to sort this out as soon as possible.

 

Think I'll give them untill the end of this week to sort themselves out....

[ka69 10]

Next update. Seller has been in constant communication about the tracking number which was not giving any info on the tracking site. Item is now showing on tracking site and indicates as being processed for shipment to addressee. Carefully optimistic now.

[primadonna 2010 10]

Primadonna responds

 

Good day,

 

I have noticed the comments on this thread. We are registered as drop-shippers on bidorbuy therefore our items are shipped directly from the factory/suppliers to our customers address. We were out of the country during 19/12/2012 until 13/01/2013. We were in an area that had very unreliable internet in Africa. When we did get internet access we tried to do as much as possible before we would lose signal again. The mistake we made was to keep our items listed while we were out of the country. We have contacted the majority of our buyers with outstanding orders to inform them of the situation. If you are a buyer and we have not contacted you please contact us.

 

Bidorbuy was aware that we were out of the country during that period. Jacqueline0923 has been refunded for her orders that were not shipped. Her first 2 orders are at her post office awaiting collection since 12 December. She now refuses to collect the items and is insisting on a refund. We have decided that in order not to prolong this matter we will refund her.

 

We understand that our buyers are extremely frustrated at the situation. Therefore we are making this public apology.

 

Kind regards

Primadonna 2010

[Miss Jewels 10]

Very nice of Primadonna to respond to this thread as very few do. Well Done! It is always advisable to close all auctions/buy now if you are not able to give immediate responses. The other option is is to put a notice in your shipping options that you will be away and postage will be delayed.

The only issue I have is with your postage charge and insurance charges.

I find that to charge R275.00 for additional items is extremely steep. Items shipped go according to weight and you are already charging R350.00 for the first item. Also note that currently Speed Service charge 3% and all other postal charges are 2%

It will be appreciated if you could reply to this as to how you shipping charges are calculated to substantiate charging R275 for your additional items.

[lilythepink 10]

I think Miss Jewels has asked pertinent questions and it would be great to hear the replies.

[ka69 10]

New Update.

 

My item(s) has departed from behind the Bamboo Curtain and has started it's long and treacherous journey across the world towards me. Yay :biggrin:

 

Now it only has to bravely endure arrival, SA Customs and then, oh my faint heart, the dreaded SAPO.....

 

Hats off to Primadonna for the public apology!!

Edited January 19, 2013 by ka69

[ka69 10]

My item(s) seem to have reached SA.

 

I was wondering how it takes 3 days to reach SA from Hong Kong (18/01 to 21/01).

 

I assume it is by airmail; do they use geriatric seagulls or is it just admin delays? :smile:

 

Do any of the other wise folk on here use Hong Kong Post and can they maybe shed some light on this.

[Miss Jewels 10]

Hi ka69

3 days from Hong Kong is a bit soon.......:notrust:

I import weekly and my one supplier has the best international delivery of 5 workings days. Parcel is pre-cleared in the states by FedEx, so there is not hicups in SA. I make payment on the pre-clearance and item is at my door within 5 days of payment. Standard shipping (economail) for example, takes average 10 working days.

Check the postage stamps when your parcel arrives....

[ka69 10]

Hi ka69

3 days from Hong Kong is a bit soon.......:notrust:

I import weekly and my one supplier has the best international delivery of 5 workings days. Parcel is pre-cleared in the states by FedEx, so there is not hicups in SA. I make payment on the pre-clearance and item is at my door within 5 days of payment. Standard shipping (economail) for example, takes average 10 working days.

Check the postage stamps when your parcel arrives....

 

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The three days I mentioned is not from posting there all the way to my PO. It is from Hong Kong airport to the JHB international mail centre.

Item was posted on 12/01 and then spent some time at customs on the Hong Kong end, then departed for SA on 18/01 and showed as arrived at the JHB Hub today(21/01). Those are the 3 (or 4 depending how you look at it) days I was wondering about.

 

Surely aircraft cannot take 3(or 4) days.

Thanks again!!

Edited January 21, 2013 by ka69
Spelling again

[Not1CentMore 10]

If I may...

 

Parcels may show such-'n-such airport and then such-'n-such airport... three, four or ten days later. From my side, this is 'routine'. Parcels will show as having 'cleared', for example, NYC International, but that doesn't mean the parcel was 'physically' carried from the point of where scanned to the plane. Often, here anyway, it takes a day or two (sometimes longer) to actually 'work it's way' on 'down the line' and then to be put on a plane heading 'towards' SA.

 

I can post a parcel from my local Post Office (out here in the 'boonies') and it will go to Northside Station and then to the main Post Office in town, before going to either Memphis or Nashville. From there, it will travel (usually by truck) to either Miami or New York or California (Customs), where it is scanned 'showing' as having left the US, but that is about as helpful as a 'spit on the ground' in the middle of a drought.

 

When it is finally put on the plane, the parcel may travel the 'scenic route'; 'Country hopping' before it actually arrives in SA. Then, there is SA Customs.... which can be 'smooth as a baby's bottom' or a 'nightmare' from which you wonder if you will ever wake. Finally, it is off to the Buyer's address or Post Office to be collected. Sometimes, that seems to take almost as long as the 'first leg' of the journey. 'Normal' time in transit, from posting to delivery: 4 - 8 weeks.

 

Ruthie

[ka69 10]

If I may...

 

Parcels may show such-'n-such airport and then such-'n-such airport... three, four or ten days later. From my side, this is 'routine'. Parcels will show as having 'cleared', for example, NYC International, but that doesn't mean the parcel was 'physically' carried from the point of where scanned to the plane. Often, here anyway, it takes a day or two (sometimes longer) to actually 'work it's way' on 'down the line' and then to be put on a plane heading 'towards' SA.

 

I can post a parcel from my local Post Office (out here in the 'boonies') and it will go to Northside Station and then to the main Post Office in town, before going to either Memphis or Nashville. From there, it will travel (usually by truck) to either Miami or New York or California (Customs), where it is scanned 'showing' as having left the US, but that is about as helpful as a 'spit on the ground' in the middle of a drought.

 

When it is finally put on the plane, the parcel may travel the 'scenic route'; 'Country hopping' before it actually arrives in SA. Then, there is SA Customs.... which can be 'smooth as a baby's bottom' or a 'nightmare' from which you wonder if you will ever wake. Finally, it is off to the Buyer's address or Post Office to be collected. Sometimes, that seems to take almost as long as the 'first leg' of the journey. 'Normal' time in transit, from posting to delivery: 4 - 8 weeks.

 

Ruthie

 

You most certainly may!

 

Thats what I meant by "admin delays" in my earlier post. The first parcel I tracked in December (which turned out not to be for me) travelled al over SA for a couple of days before it eventually got to a post office and I could ascertain who the addressee was. At the hubs along the way they cannot physically check the address as they don't physically see the parcel, only the info on the system which can differ from the actual address on the parcel. SAPO admitted that they sometimes make these mistakes. Anyway, I'm watching this one like a hawk!!

 

BTW, the seller indicated 10-15 working days on the original listing.

 

Thanks for the reply!!

Edited January 21, 2013 by ka69

[Miss Jewels 10]

Very interesting that the seller has not responded to my request to clarify shipping charges....

[Miss Jewels 10]

I'm sure Primadonna is somewhere here on the forum, or can someone please ask her to join the shipping discussion. I would still like some clarification as to the shipping charges from her....