Well this has never happened to me before (eBay/PayPal)

[patmiller]

I recently purchased a clarinet from a US seller. I paid using PayPal.

Today I got an email headed "Your PayPal payment has been refunded". I thought "oh-oh, the sale has fallen through". But no, when I opened the email I got the following message:

"Message from merchant: Hello Patrick......The shipping and insurance was lower than expected ($68.20) so I'm refunding you $20.00.............Hope this helps some on the shipping "sticker shock"....Very best regards, Rich at toontone.....PS your customs number is CW********US"

There's a first time for everything I suppose. The seller is toontone (Richard Doss) also trading as Clarinet Heaven. Feedback score of 1157 at 100%.

He get's my vote!

[tictactux]

I got such refunds, too!

On the other hand, when I find out that the seller underquoted the actual shipping, I'd send them the delta. Fair is fair...

[Pete Thomas]

I have often given such refunds if I find the shipping is significantly cheaper than I first anticipated, I would hope that this is normal behaviour for a an honest seller rather than exceptional.

[bradfordlloyd]

Wow....I'm adding toontone/clarinet heaven to my list of favorite sellers! It's so nice to hear about positive experiences and good sellers (as I seem to be racking up negative experiences with not-so-good sellers recently)

[gemsler]

I recently bought an Alto, the shipping was already cheap, quoted at $18 Dollars, but the Seller sent me a note and refunded $4 Dollars! , I was also very surprised.

[jlima]

I have often given such refunds if I find the shipping is significantly cheaper than I first anticipated, I would hope that this is normal behaviour for a an honest seller rather than exceptional.

I've done this too several times. Just seems like the right thing to do.

[patmiller]

I've done this too several times. Just seems like the right thing to do.

You're right of course, and I'm sure there are sellers who'll do it; I know I would. But two things made me post about it. Firstly, it's the first time EVER for me. Granted I've only got 143 feedbacks, but I've been an eBay user since 2004. Secondly, the general run of SOTW posts in respect of eBay and PayPay experiences tends to be negative, so I wanted to post my positive experience.

[tictactux]

You mean, we're looking for a word with the opposite meaning of "whining"? :-)
(isn't it amazing how many words we have with a negative connotation, and comparably few words with the opposite?)