Generally all you have to do is ask.

Generally all you have to do is ask.

I was buying a telegraph key on eBay the other day and some or another kind of gremlin hopped in and caused a doubletap on the 'buy it now' button. I found out that I had bought two of them in error. I promptly paid for the first one.

I then immediately got in touch with the seller and simply explained what happened and he cancelled the second transaction. I didn't try any funny business, nor get upset or threaten to drag eBay into it, I simply fessed up to my mistake, explained what happened and asked him to fix it.

I suppose he looked at the pair of transactions and saw what happened, shrugged and cancelled the second transaction. OK, a customer made a simple mistake. Quick fix.

There was no drama, no ruffled feathers, no nothing. The guy at the other end sat down at his keyboard for a minute and fixed my mistake.

Most people you deal with are not fools. They want you to be a satisfied customer and to be happy because if you are you will continue to do business with them.

It seems to me that most of the drama in this world is generally made by people that do not have anything worthwhile to do but create problems for themselves. Instead of simply explaining that there was an error an awful lot of people simply refuse to fess up and admit their mistake and wind up in the middle of some sort of spitting match where nobody wins.

My telegraph key has been shipped and if it is even a halfway decent key than this guy is going to get some serious good feedback. If it is a serious piece of junk I will probably note it, but I will make a very pointed note that this guy is a decent guy to work with. Fair is fair.

Of course, I could have wound up getting stuck coughing up for two keys if the seller wanted to be stubborn and greedy about it but most serious sellers have found out over the years that it is best to make an effort to keep the customer happy. For one thing, it is simply good business.

Over the years, just like everyone else, I have run into my fair share of jerks that want to play hardball over some dopey nickel-dime thing. If it is a cheap enough deal I pay the bill and simply consider it to be a tip-off that the person is a jerk and sooner or later they get what is coming to them. Word gets out and they seem not to stay in business for very long.

A business deal is a two way street and you have to take some initiative, too and if something isn't right you have to make sure the other person knows what is going on.

I'd bet this seller is one of those guys that wants to stay in business for a while because he appeared interested in keeping his customers happy.

My item has been shipped and I am expecting a reasonably good quality for a reasonable price and it's a pretty good bet I'll get what I expect.

As for the seller?

I see a couple more odds and ends I will probably be able to use.



my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/