I just bought 1996 & 1997 Finest starter sets; well, sort of... (but NONE after 1.5 months!!)

Estil

1996 & 1997 Topps Finest Bronze Sets

I don't know what my fascination is lately with Topps Finest sets. Maybe they're very shiny, pretty cards that can be had for an affordable price?

Now if only getting the silver and gold sets were this easy... I see there's no trouble finding the other sports, but where's baseball?

1996 Finest football (G, S,
1996-97 Finest B-ball (G, S,

Estil

Well, I just paid the seller (I had to wait till my pay day today) and I'll let you know how these turn out when I get them. You'll also be pleased to know that I had finished peeling all the 1995 Finest cards (yes, I know, total blasphamy; I'll probably be excommunicated real soon ) a few days ago and yes, I'll also be liberating (as one person here put it) the 1996 and 1997's as well. I guess this means I won't be getting those 1996 Finest cartons after all.

Stingray

I have a 1995 Topps finest hockey set that I peeled off all the covers, they look so much better without them IMO!!

Estil

Indeed they do! Nice fresh unblemished shiny surfaces; went right into Ultra-Pro pages as soon as I peeled each one. You won't believe how many binders of complete sets I have now...

Estil

Well, almost a month now and still no cards. I hope this is not a bad sign. I'm really looking forward to these cards and I have another friend who can sell me the 1996 Finest silver set for a good price too.

sagard

Get on the seller's case. He doesn't look like the type of guy that would rip you off for $35 so give him the nudge to figure out where the cards are.

Estil

<< <i>Get on the seller's case. He doesn't look like the type of guy that would rip you off for $35 so give him the nudge to figure out where the cards are. >>



I already sent him a PM doing just that. He's the one I bought the 1992 Ultra master set from and that too took at least a couple weeks to arrive, but on these sets I've now waited almost a month. I mean, those other guys in his feedback received their cards; don't I deserve prompt service too?

Estil

Since it's now also been two weeks since he sent me a form email claiming the sets were shipped on Nov 29, I sent him another PM warning him that if I don't get my cards by the end of the week, I'm leaving a negative and filing a claim with Paypal. I'd rather have my cards of course, but the fact that he's ignored all my emails/PM's doesn't really leave me much choice.

I mean, look at his feedback record with all those other guys who placed orders as recently 11/25 and got their stuff while I'm out in the cold.

Tedw9

I recently had the same sort of problem with an Ebay seller. Like your seller, the seller I was dealing with had good feedback. I filed a dispute with Paypal and got his phone number from Ebay and called him. He turned out to be a nice guy and we were able to work it all out. I would suggest you getting his contact information and placing a polite phone call to him. More than likely you will find he made an error thinking he shipped the items but did not. Usually a gentle nudge will get them to do something about the missing cards.

Estil

<< <i>I recently had the same sort of problem with an Ebay seller. Like your seller, the seller I was dealing with had good feedback. I filed a dispute with Paypal and got his phone number from Ebay and called him. He turned out to be a nice guy and we were able to work it all out. I would suggest you getting his contact information and placing a polite phone call to him. More than likely you will find he made an error thinking he shipped the items but did not. Usually a gentle nudge will get them to do something about the missing cards. >>



I hope you're right; I really would rather have those cards to go with my 1993-95 Finest sets.

Estil

Well, here's the seller's response (verbatim, and yes he did use ALL CAPS):

I ANSWER EVERY EMAIL SENT THROUGH EBAY-- THE CARDS WERE SENT AND INSURED-- IF YOU DONT RECEIVE I WILL SEND ANOTHER SET W/DELIVERY CONFIRMATION-- WWE TRY TO MAKE SURE EVERY ONE IS HAPPY-- THIS IS A MINOR TRANSACTION AND WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE CARDS OR REFUND-- STAN

Don'tcha just love how he calls this a "minor transaction"?

Tedw9

DON'T YOU LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE SCREAM AT YOU IN EMAILS??


Well, at least you got a reply!

Estil

I just received this one today:

i will need to find and send-- will try to do in the next day-- please note i have already sent one so this is a second and it has now put me into looosing money oin this transaction-- but i will make sure you receive item -- thanks stan

He thinks HE'S losing money?? What about the fact I paid for a product and did not receive it after almost FIVE WEEKS?? Anyway, this guy seemed like a good seller, but I should've known from his recent transactions that he takes a very long time sending stuff out and how do I know he won't just make me wait another couple of weeks? I just hope this man is sincere, but I'm starting to seriously doubt it. I don't want my money back, I don't even care that much about feedback; I just want my damn cards (and they had better be DAMN good for the wait)...

1966CUDA

He also said the 1st pkg. was sent with insurance...he should get his money back for that too (thru the Post office)!!

storm888

Some Tips:

Make sure you file the INR dispute with EBAY (and PayPal if that was your
payment method) before the time limit runs out.

Never threaten an experienced seller with NEGative FB. The threat is
implicit, and stating it usually assures that a good seller will stop
trying to help you. Bad sellers will simply trade NEGs with you, once
they have been threatened.

It has now been 30+ days. The USPS insurance claim can be filed.
Tell the seller to send you the forms.

storm

jradke4

My biggest complaint about ebay is that when you email a seller after waiting a month post payment (via PayPal) and say you havent gotten the item, they always say they sent it. But generally have no proof other than their word. Sometimes, I get the item that day in the PO box. Sometimes it takes another week, with a postmark post my email. Usually when I say that I still havent gotten the item it works out. After 4/6 weeks and at least one email I file with Ebay and PayPal. I let that system work itself out. Just make sure you dont forget the PayPal deadlines. You can always cancel a claim after its been filed if you get the item.

Just remember though that we are in a high volume mail part of the year. Especially for packages.

Boopotts

My guess is that the odds that a guy with this feedback is trying to screw you are about 1 in a 1000, so I don't see how escalating the situation by threatening negs, etc., is going to help you resolve it. Just call the guy on the phone, and let him know that if you don't receive the cards by the 29th day you're going to file with Paypal, but if they do show up at some point you'll resend him the money.

I think it's real easy to assume that you're being jerked around when you don't look at the entire context of the situation.

jimq112

Something is going on with the seller. He got 2 negs this week about late shipping. Either he's overwhelmed or he's got something more important going in his life. Make sure you file the "item not received" in time with ebay and paypal and then just see what happens. You still have a couple weeks for feedback, no need to rush that.

Estil

A few people have told me about filing claims "before the deadline" yet no one has said when that deadline is; two months? Three months?

Tedw9

Directly from the Paypal site....


"You can open a dispute in the Resolution Center within 45 calendar days of payment."

"If you and your seller are unable to agree on a solution, you must escalate the dispute to a PayPal claim within 20 calendar days of the date the dispute was opened. By escalating to a claim, you would be asking PayPal to review the case and decide the outcome."

EagleEyeKid

Oops, Ted just beat me to it within seconds.

Estil

Okay, I had opened a Paypal dispute about a week ago and the seller contacted me with this message (yes in ALL CAPS as usual):

I SENT YOUR FIRST ORDER-- IF YOU DIDNT RECEIVE-- I CANT HELP THAT-- I FOUND A 96 1 AND 2 -- BUT I STILL CANT FIND THE 97-- I RECENTLY MOVED -- IT WAS OVER 6 MILLION CARDS--- I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD FIND BOTH SETS AS I HAD MANY OF EACH-- I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME AND MONEY TO MAKE YOUR ORDER HAPPEN-- I APOLOGIZE THAT IT HASNT COME THROUGH FOR YOU-- I HAVE REALLY TRIED-- IF I CANT FIND AND SEND 2 DAY AIR BY MONDAY I WILL SEND A REFUND -- STAN 214 503 0983

Now this is a joke for two reasons; 1) I had the package sent INSURED (as I always do) so he should've had no trouble filing a claim to get his money back for the lost package and 2) If he "recently moved", then how is he still able to sell dozens of products at one time? Unfortunately, just the 1996 set won't do me any good because I have another friend who's offered me his 1996 Finest Bronze AND Silver for $172 (counting shipping), so I did ask for my money back.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed that I was forced to wait about a month and a half and not get the cards that I had my heart set on getting. And do you know what the worst part is? Now if I want the 1997 set, I'll probably have to pay about as much as I did for this individual's 1996/1997 set combo just for that set alone, unless of course, one of you guys has both the bronze and silver 1997 Finest set you can sell me for a good price.