Another Ebay (grumpy) tale

Even though I'd promised myself not to buy anything off ebay this month (I spent way too much on wax boxes), this seller I knew had some nice cards I wanted for some of you people. While I was at it, I added some for my own collection (they were all .99 cts each). But the most interesting part is the story behind the ebay purchase itself. Which I'll tell right after showing them off.

One of the incredible amount of autos and relics I'm missing from the mid-2000s, and a logoless piece of bat. Nice clouds.

I just liked the cards. More than the players, that I don't know that well. I'm pretty sure Sergio Mitre isn't around anymore, and I briefly remember seeing him pitch for the Yankees some time ago. Cliff Floyd is on a SC card with an Expos jersey, and I have a bunch of his cards from the 90s, so that's enough for me to snatch it for 99 cts.

Ok, so here I cheated a little. This card was intended for Matt, but when I received it, I thought it really looked great (it didn't scan well because it's encased). So I asked Matt if he already had a copy. Of course he did (he has everything that's pretty), so yay, I get to keep it ! This one was a little under $5.

And finally, a few Knicks relics (the Ward is pretty nice).

Anyway, here's what happened :
I have two addresses, on Ebay. One for my Comc mailbox, for all the sellers who don't ship international, or who ask $20 for one card to send it to France, and my address in France. Usually my default address is the one in France, but for some reason, I'd forgotten to change it. I won about 20 cards from that seller, and he directly sent an invoice, using my default address, ie the Comc one. Since the seller offers very fair international shipping quotes, I always have him send them directly to me. Especially since, with 20 cards, it'd have cost me $10 in Comc fees + postage + having to wait 4 to 6 weeks to receive them.
In that case, all I have to do is send a new request for the total, using the right address (it happens from time to time, I'm used to it. Sellers can be very impatient and don't wait for you to ask for the invoice).

Which I did.
And seeing that I wasn't receiving the invoice, I asked again (I'm very polite).
Still nothing.

24 hours later, I receive 20 messages from Ebay telling me a claim has been filed by the seller and that I have 3 days to pay.
Needless to say, I was not very happy.

I sent an email to the seller, telling him I'd love to pay him, but that he hasn't been answering my requests, and that I don't think it's really fair for him to open a case with ebay without even referring to me, or seeing that I had bought from him numerous times before.

They didn't apologize or anything, just answered that they couldn't change the address, so I sent yet another request, and that was that.

My job is to sell books, in real life. I know what customer service is supposed to look like, and how vital it is. Theirs is lackluster to say the least. I got the cards in good condition and quickly, so I don't think I'll be leaving negative feedback, but I'm really on the verge of doing so.

And that's how you lose a very cool French customer who just wanted his cards sent home.