I ran into an interesting happenstance on eBay and I wonder if anyone else can shed some light on it. I was responding to a current BuyItNow auction for a Flyer repair part, and my bid was “rejected”. No apparent explanation as to why, they just refused to sell me the item. There is nothing in the listing that would explain why they would do so. So I looked up the eBay proceedure in such a case, which was to send the seller an email. But when I tried to do that I ran into another wall. A message indicating that “due to our volume of business, we do not respond to email inquiries”! Woah!
I am at a loss to explain this. My eBay record is 100% positive. I can’t think of any reason they would have to blackball me. The last time I purchased an item from rfgco was in September of 2010, and they gave me a positive ranking for that sale. The only accept PayPal, but I only use PayPal for my eBay purchases. Has anyone else had a similar occurence with this vendor?
Not that I’m going to loose any sleep over it, I’ll just have to go to Portlines to get what I want.
your bid was rejected was it the buy it now bid or was it a best offer bid. also they may have had a bad dealing with someone that has a very close ebay name as yours and they just blocked him/her but missed spelled it and ended up with yours instead. thats the only reasons I can give you.
When you hit the “buy now” button and then confirm, there is a message “The seller cannot accept your bid.”
I am considering the possiblity that the item is sold out, they listed a total of 10 of the items for sale. But then why not just end the auction if the stock is all gone? I am unfamiliar with the rules with respect to these commercial listings.
Being that it was a Buy It Now, and the quantity was more than one, the auction should have ended when the last one was sold. That’s the way eBay works.
Since you have 100% positive feedback and have bought from the seller before, I seriously doubt that he blocked you.
That said, it may remain a mystery if the seller doesn’t respond to questions.
one more long shot idea but yes it could happen there could of been say 2 left and someone just a milisec befor you bought the last 2. just an idea as I have lost out on a item where someone did the buy it now just as I was doing it.
Here is the message that you get when you try to ask the seller a question:
We’re sorry we couldn’t find an answer for you. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of messages this seller receives, they are unable to respond to your specific question right now. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller’s listing.
My guess is that the seller inadvertently blocked all buyers when setting up the auction.
I have never bought from this seller on eBay, but when I first pulled my old American Flyer out of storage a couple years ago, I purchased a number of items directly from Rfgco. His requirements are very rigid, and the shipping time was in months, not days or weeks. Communication is nearly impossible, and inquirries about the status of your order are punished by further delays in completing your order,. Once the order was shipped, it was only partially filled. Naturally, the items I needed most were not included. And, some of the items were not equal to the originals, they were inferior in quality.
So, I turned to Doug at Portlines, and I was totally satisfied and the order was quickly shipped. You should do the same.
A while back I somehow managed to score a bottle of the RFG “original formula” AF smoke fluid from a different auction site, I think it was eCrater. It’s the closest yet to the aroma of memory, curb stomps the Mega Steam version, but an internet friend who ordered some directly from the RFG site has not yet received his (it’s been months) and he doesn’t much care for the sample I sent him.
If I had to guess, the R.F. Giardina Company is a one-man operation that may be somewhat overwhelmed by the power of the internet. Not making any excuses, just hypothesizing.
BTW, if you want authentic smelling Flyer smoke fluid DO NOT, repeat DO NOT be tempted by Anormal1’s ebay offering, which literally stinks.
Just a follow-up. Today I spend a couple of hours, burnt up nearly half a ream of paper, and probably used up all of the red ink in a nearly new printer cartrige, but I have a checkerboard overlay for the water town I am refurbishing!
I won the item on eBay, along with a “Sam the Signalman”. Both items were heavily rusted, so I have been doing a fair amount of sanding and wirebrushing. I have started the repainting process with an undercoat of Rust-oleum Rusty Metal Primer. Tomorrow I will put on the topcoat. The glass tube is intact, currently I’m using a soda-straw cover for masking it during the paint process. Fits like a glove.
So I guess that will be the end of the saga of the RFGCO eBay sale that wasn’t.
I thought it was just me. I recently had the same problem while trying to make an Ebay purchase from rfgco. Six months ago I tried to order multiple items from their main store and received notice that they were having problems due to a storm. After waiting a couple of months, I tried to contact them and was stone walled. I still haven’t received an answer. Unfortunately, they are the only ones that have certain parts. Maybe he has a disgruntled employee who is sabotaging his operation, or he is just a nut case sitting in a dark corner rejecting all these orders because he just loves to piss people off.
Call Doug at Portlines and tell him what you need. I would bet that he either has the part or can get it for you. Let us know. Incidentally, what part are you looking for?
I will agree with everyone else, Portlines is the way to go. I’ve talked to Doug in person, he was quick on getting on the parts I needed, and had every single little piece going for a PREWAR engine, which he doesn’t seem to specialize in. Definitely go with Portlines.
