gyg wrote:Many years ago, I followed Millwall around the country for a season or so(a friend was a real 'fan') and I can say that I was genuinely scared for my life on more than one occasion!! BUT, however strange it may sound I can really see how people get 'carried away' (for want of a better phrase) with all of the stereotypical football hooligan behaviour. A mob mentality takes over that is almost tangible, and when the adrenalin starts pumping....... - strange days indeed.
(I'm not in any way condoning such behaviour btw. As it goes, I'm not really cut out for hoolaganism - when push comes to shove I'm a bit chicken and I don't really like getting punched!!)

i have only seen football violence once in my life from a personal view.

that was the 1st round of the FA cup waaaaaaaaay back in 1981. my home town team Runcorn, were away at Burnley (the days of Martin Dobson, ex-Everton!). Walking to the ground at Turf Moor with my Dad and his two mates, a burnley fan walks over to a guy not 10 feet in front of us and just chinned him on the spot and then laid a boot in and walked away!

to say i was shocked (i was only 13 at the time), is a vast under-statement.

since then, i have been to a multitude of liverpool matches, home and away and have never seen anything.

funny that though, isnt it?

Al

He manipulates online deals simply as a pastime until he gathers the items he needs to break the demon pacts that trap him in this world.

"Moonglum, tonight I tire of these petty...collectors. I must seek vendetta against them."

"So long as the gold flows into our hands, why bother?"

"Because I am the Emperor of Melnibone and they may not vex me even in ignorance...and because I must gather souls to shatter the bonds that hold me in this place."

"So...M-Bags again, is it?"

"Charge back all of them...and jack up the shipping on that B2."

   

A new adventure for the Powerseller Eternal!

As many of you know by now, I am not a 5-star rated powerseller or even close to one of eBay's high-volume RPG sellers. You also are aware that I have been posting my plight with eBay seller "cougarrinard" here in these forums.



Today, I received an email from eBay that has me on the verge of an eBay boycott - no purchases, no sales, anything. I would like to ask you members here, whom I greatly respect as re-sellers and collectors, what you think!



I don't want to be an alarmist or overreact, but this whole situation has me really wondering WHO eBay is designed to help. And I can't STAND organizations, business or otherwise, that condone trampling on the little guy.



Let's just say that I believe eBay will be REMOVING my feedback about cougar.



I got this email about 10 minutes ago, and I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor.

Recently we became aware that your eBay account was involved in the following activity:

Feedback abuse -- Any abuse of the feedback system that results in a violation of the intended use of that system. Feedback is intended solely as a rating of the actual performance of a bidder or seller in the conduct of their transaction.

The following feedback comment was left from your account:

" HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE...Bids on US ONLY auctions despite being told NOT TO!!! Seller: centerstagehobbies ( 127) Jun-10-07 11:09
Reply by cougarrinard (Jun-10-07 11:25):
item states ships worldwide, Q&A states ok to UK, when won wont ship, AVOID WIPE
Follow-up by centerstagehobbies (Jun-10-07 11:43):
TYPE "COUGARRINARD" ON GOOGLE BEFORE YOU BID AND WATCH YOUR EYES POP OUT!!!!

HUGE AD&D Module and Hardcover Book Lot - VINTAGE (#180106346448) -- View Item
"

Because the text of this feedback comment contains a URL linking to another page, it is in violation of the following feedback removal policy:

· Feedback containing a link to another page, picture, or JavaScript.

The feedback forum was designed solely as a rating of the actual performance between trading partners. We realize that you may not have been aware that there was a rule against this activity and our goal is to help you understand our policies to ensure successful experiences at eBay. Therefore, we respectfully request that in the future you refrain from posting URLs within the feedback forum to avoid the possible suspension of your eBay registration.

We invite you to review eBay's policies on feedback, which can be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/fdb ... abuse.html

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this important matter.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc

This man can abuse customers repeatedly....demand mutual withdrawals..."lose" shipments....overcharge on shipping...ignore auction descriptions in VIOLATION of eBay's policy, etc. and eBay does NOTHING, yet someone who leaves a comment in the attempt to let others know about his problems gets a WARNING AND THEIR NEGATIVE FEEDBACK REMOVED?????"



When I reported cougar to eBay for auction interference (i.e. bidding on an auction which the description specifically said he could not bid on) I got replies from both eBay UK and eBay US that they could not find any violations on the part of said buyer. And I'm sure all of you who read my responses saw it was pretty CLEAR that there were NO INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS allowed on that auction.



Am I just losing my freaking mind??? Or is eBay keeping a powerseller - no matter how terrible, dishonest and scum-sucking - in business because he helps their bottom line?



Is this worth an eBay boycott? Is this worth a petition? Or should I just shut up and let it go, knowing that this asshat is blocked? Rally the troops, gentlemen, because this man has been throwing nukes at honest eBayers and RPG collectors for several years.



Your suggestions would be appreciated. This has got me REALLY ticked, and darn it, this shouldn't happen to anybody else on eBay because WE as buyers can't tell the "truth" about this seller!!!!!!!!!!!

"The feedback comment contains profane, vulgar, obscene, or racist language or adult material."

WIPE fit this description?

"The feedback comment contains links or scripts."

Actual line from Ebay's list on that abuse page, and again none of your responses do.

Don't rant..calmly write another email back to Ebay suggesting Wipe as a derogatory term and that the violation you are supposedly having, is not by the terms laid out by Ebay, since no link, so violation.

ShaneG.

We're talking about this auction, right?




** expired/removed eBay auction **




If so, it's pretty obvious what the major problem is: the top of the page clearly states "worldwide shipping." It really doesn't matter what you put in after that — the "official" part of the listing (where the type is eBay-created rather than user created) states you'd ship anywhere. Rational bidders would scroll down and see that that part of the listing was a mistake and then they'd move on to another listing. Cougar, of course, does the opposite.



Here's the second part of the problem: Cougar, for all his many faults, is an absolute genius at playing the eBay system. He's like an eBay savant. He knows how far to push, which rules are flexible and which are not, and how to register his complaints with the right parties. Seriously, he would have been kicked off eBay 25 times by now if he didn't know how to play the system.



So he complains to eBay that you are a non-performing seller whose listing stated "worldwide" ... and, technically, he is right. I'm sorry, but he is. Technically. You should have cancelled his bids and blocked him, according to eBay logic. He complains that you mention another website in your feedback and, technically, he is right. He's probably also reported you for email harrasment and God knows what else. Again, he knows how to play the system.



(And, sorry, but that listing is just way too full of holes. "Please ignore the box at the bottom of this auction which says shipping is $5/$12?" All due respect, but that's the sort of thing that needs to be fixed by the seller before it even appears on eBay. Again, mostly because clowns like Cougar will be sure to try to exploit it somehow).

Center_Stage_Hobbies wrote:Is this worth an eBay boycott? Is this worth a petition? Or should I just shut up and let it go, knowing that this asshat is blocked?

It's not worth any of that ... unless you've discovered another auction site with more than 120 million registered users. I'd start letting it go ... secure in the knowledge that Cougar has cost himself tens of thousands of dollars over the years by slowly but surely alienating most of the D&D collecting community. The man is a joke: he sells $1 modules and brags about his feedback. That's it. He's a parody of himself, basically. He's not worth the heartache. Time to move on.



+++++



Sidebar: none of the above, of course, does anything to explain the absolutely horrible way that CougTard treats other people or the fact that he is a confirmed thief and liar. There are no explanations for those things.



I'm just pointing out that when you challenge Cougar, you're taking on someone who knows how to work the eBay system.

I wouldn't worry about it. I think we've discussed this in another thread, but you're in the "Cougar anger" stage right now. We've all been there; I've been so mad at him in the past that I could barely think straight.

But it passes. Blocking him and never bidding on his stuff help in that regard, as you'll never again be dealing with him directly. As time passes, I think you'll move on to the "Cougar indifference" stage and, my current location, the "Cougar humor" stage. Seriously, he just sits in front of his computer all day for the thrill of losing money. That just makes me laugh.

That's not to say that I like seeing him rip people off and generally treat others like dirt. I'm not a big fan of that, and if I ever run into him, he will be informed of that fact (as Al says, "simple as"). But I've decided not to be a part of his little world of misery, so I'm able to shrug at it more often than I used to. And, as stated, you've got to come loaded for bear if you want to challenge him on eBay; he knows the system.

(plus, every so often, I enjoy bumping up all of his bids on eBay. It's perfectly legal and it ends up costing him money ... more smiles for me!   ).

Just so you know - if ebay removes the neg you left him they will also remove the neg he left you.   I believe that has always been their policy.

smarmy1 wrote:As Xaxaxe suggests, advance to the "Cougar humor" stage and have a good laugh at his expense.      

It really is a wonderful stage to be in. The laughter is almost non-stop: there's the spelling, the feedback obsession, the "Titanium Powerseller" line, the weird sales (single plastic zombies? empty boxes?), the weird purchases (diapers? through the internet?), and the complete over-reaction to non-positive feedback.

I think I've determined that there are actually Five Stages Of Cougar:

1. Introduction: Who is this clown? What is his problem?

2. Disbelief: There's no way this guy is getting away with this, right? No? He is getting away with it? Get out!

3. Anger: I will fight the Coug. I will report him, jack up his bids, warn other sellers, report him, mock him relentlessly, and report him.

4. Indifference: This guy just doesn't matter. He's a small-time seller of $1 modules. He's the biggest joke in the entire D&D community, and, deep down, he knows it.

5. Humor: I laugh in the Coug's face. He's an Englishman who can't speak English. He scans in photos of single plastic zombie miniatures. He uses the word "wipe" in really strange ways. He is free entertainment.

lawrenson wrote:Hey Al,

next time you're round there, call in and get us a photo of him!

Go on, you know you want to!

Cheers,
Malc

I'm guessing that he'll have a booth at Gencon UK?