OMIGOD! i just read the title of my little rant and it looked like i was also screwed by etsy! NOT - i meant to alert that i'd added some stuff finally! damn - i never should post while fuming! (unless it is about republicans, that is...)
EDIT: i WAS on the phone when i started this - not currently.
i am on the phone with ebay right now and i am absolutely livid beyond words!
i am, as many of you might have picked up , moving. i can't afford my little 800 sq ft cottage any longer and am moving into a friend's house (10x9 room to fill with a lifetime of "stuff" - and throw out what can be replaced another day.
the move is horrific - i'm not as young as i used to be and at 67, was grateful for a friend who moved the bulk of my big things in a three horse slant - two trips (LOVE ya, scottie marnell!)
so, in between taking care of sani (laminitis, cushings, insulin resistance - daily meds) and packing up and loading what's left in my old van (that has to come out of non-op, along with the little rv i lived in for years and may one day need again) - i put together some earrings and stuff last nite for etsy. when i need to raise funds to pay for the critical things, i make things. that's how i've done it my whole life. right now it is critical because i have to be out tomorrow. no more extensions.
it's critical because my hand surgery that was postponed when sani got sick - now it's rescheduled to dec 21 (yay - laid up for christmas.... oh well..._ BUT - back to ebay...
here's the scoop. i sold a saddle to pay the vet for sani's emergency treatment. ebay now has a "nice" little policy of taking a "fee" out of shipping charges - i only charge the actual cost - so, i ended up losing money on shipping. ebay ALSO was refusing to release the money until the item was delivered (even though it is sold as is but is perfectly great saddle that i used for sani - i don't sell stuff i wouldn't want to buy).
why the fury right now?
ebay (who owns paypal) tapped my paypal account and took the fees without my knowledge. didn't have money in the paypal account, so paypal paid it anyway and then tapped my bank -where i ALSO didn't have any money. $35 insufficient funds fee levied for a charge i didn't know was being charged. i was trying to dispute the shipper fees and it still hadn't been a month since the item sold.
paypal did an investigation when i objected to the ebay automatic stealing of the money - but paypal came back and told me that i had signed an "automatic payment agreement" with ebay in 2010. huh?
i sold a beverage cooler in 2010 - and paid the fees by paypal. i did NOT sign a lifetime agreement that if ANY item i ever sold in the future would automatically be till tapped by ebay. ebay keeps saying paypal set it up and paypal says ebay set it up. so two friggin' years after selling one item, ebay has set up with paypal (they OWN paypal) to simply pay themselves without my authorization! i am so livid i can't even begin to speak!
this has been my reminder to send the letters to both paypal and ebay tomorrow that i do NOT agree to "binding arbitration" EVER with them!
finding the little caveat that the shipping charges would be assessed a "fee" (along with the item sold "fee") was so buried in the fine print that it took their own rep over an hour to locate where that announcement was made.
so - i am now stuck with trying to get my bank to reverse the $70 in "overdraft fees" for a payment that i didn't authorize - and if i push it with paypal, my account (which has been in excellent standing) will be trashed and limited.
why $70? because after i disputed the payment to ebay, paypal first limited my account and suspended my debit card until i raised holy hell - that was restored, but the "claim" was dismissed because ebay CLAIMS i signed an agreement to automatically pay their fees with paypal. i paid ONE fee in 2010 - i never signed any agreement. i am NOT that "senile"! so, when the claim was rejected by paypal, they dinged my bank account a second time to pay themselves for paying ebay without my consent. i then got another email telling me to put money in my bank account to prevent any further "insufficient amount" fees from my friggin' bank! how do you spell "extortion"?
this problem ONLY occurs with ebay transactions - paypal does not do this for anyone other than the company that owns them. incestuous, isn't it!
so - back to the current issue at hand. i'm moving. i have to take my old van and rv out of non-op tomorrow - borrowed from a friend to do this - and am trying to get my pics uploaded to etsy of the new items i'm putting up. starting today, i'll be adding every other day (or daily, if i get myself unpacked with enough room to work) AND i have to deal with damned ebay and paypal.
i'm definitely filing a complaint with the consumer protection board over this, as well as the attorney general and california dept of fraud, btw - but not until i get the move settled. in less than a month, i'm going in for hand surgery and during the next month, i'm having the joint replacement on the OTHER hand because one of my two surgeons is moving to texas!
oh - and the sony dcr-sx 65 software is not working with mac lion operating system - i've been trying for hours to upload from the camera - so i set up the old dell and just copied and will email them to myself to then download them to edit then upload to etsy!
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
and i have to be out tomorrow - damnit - why can't i be cloned?!?
sigh - that wouldn't work - who needs multiple versions of myself that are old, arthritic and cursed!
okay - rant over for the moment - check etsy in about an hour or so if you want to see what i was doing while trying to move everything out of this house by myself (except for the two loads that scottie helped me move.)
well, back to loading and packing - only another 12-14 hrs of hell left to go...
2:07 AM PT: i've posted a few pieces to etsy - but the power is going on and off here tonite... the pineapple express is playing havoc with the wires around here - don't know how long i'll keep power/internet. it's sporadic but we need the rain, so i won't complain.
by sunday/monday, i should have etsy filled with goodies - and i'm knocking the prices down and will be putting some inexpensive things on for those of us who are feeling the pinch this year.
if i don't get to answer all of you, it is because i am in the dark - literally! battery powered laptops don't work without tubes!
thanks for letting me let off steam - as usual, ya'll have made me feel better.
thanks, dk family!