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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: Wuff on April 08, 2012, 06:12:00 PM

Title: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Wuff on April 08, 2012, 06:12:00 PM
How does one tell the ebay seller that this paperweight (http://cgi.ebay.ch/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310392343155) is definitely not Caithness - if (s)he doesn't allow queries to be sent  >:(?
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: oldglassman on April 08, 2012, 06:20:41 PM
HI,
        " (s)he doesn't allow queries to be sent "    why not ? scroll to the bottom of the listing and 'ask a question'.

  cheers,
               Peter.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Lustrousstone on April 08, 2012, 06:26:27 PM
That doesn't work because apparently they get too many emails to answer!
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: KevinH on April 08, 2012, 07:37:07 PM
I have sent the following to the seller:

Quote
I have used a general Contact Member facility to send this message because there is no way to advise you about a listing through the normal listing facilities.

Please note that the paperweight offered as Vintage Caithness glass paperweight (item no. 310392343155) is not Caithness. It is a Murano "mushroom" weight in an incorrect box.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Wuff on April 08, 2012, 08:19:33 PM
I have used a general Contact Member facility to send this message  ...
Does anyone know how that works? Is the "too many mails" response something sellers can switch on, whenever they want to be left alone, or is there some automatism behind it, counting attempted queries, or is it ebay just randomly allowing or blocking requests?
Of course, I had tried the same general Contact Member facility as well - same silly refusal.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Roger H on April 08, 2012, 08:45:42 PM
Will say it is the best Murano mushroom Ive seen. Roger.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: KevinH on April 09, 2012, 01:32:38 AM
Hi Wolf, the route I took for the contact was:

- Go to eBay UK (there may be differences based on country)
- Using the Feedback Forum, search for eBay member
- In the Feedback Profile page, click the "Contact Member" link at the top right of the page

This gives a page with an option to "Select and Item" or tick a box for "This is not about an item".
Choosing the first option ends up with the "Too many emails ..." result but the second option alows the direct contact.

I have no idea how the "Too many emails ..." response works. I guess it could be an option available to (some) sellers under certain conditions.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Hourglass on April 09, 2012, 07:04:17 AM
If the seller says that they get too many emails to answer it's probably just a lame excuse to avoid questions about items that they have little or no knowledge of, click on the 'report this item' and fill in the details and eBay will remove the listing as it's miss-selling. If you were able to contact the seller via the normal procedure they would probably ignore it and not offer a reply anyway.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Wuff on April 09, 2012, 08:28:54 AM
Hi Wolf, the route I took for the contact was:
- Go to eBay UK (there may be differences based on country)
I didn't get this option with ebay CH ... so next time (if it happens again and I can be bothered) I'll try the UK site.

If the seller says that they get too many emails to answer it's probably just a lame excuse to avoid questions about items that they have little or no knowledge of, click on the 'report this item' and fill in the details and eBay will remove the listing as it's miss-selling. If you were able to contact the seller via the normal procedure they would probably ignore it and not offer a reply anyway.
There are all sorts of sellers out there - some greatfully acknowledge and modify the listing, some greatfully acknowledge and ignore the advice, some don't respond, some turn nasty and tell me to shut up as I don't know what I'm talking about. In the latter case I occasionally wait for feedback on the item, to find out the buyer and inform the buyer. Fortunately the sellers accepting advice are the majority, or I would give up informing sellers.
I have given up informing ebay - it's a waste of time.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: oldglassman on April 09, 2012, 08:46:58 AM

There are all sorts of sellers out there - some greatfully acknowledge and modify the listing, some greatfully acknowledge and ignore the advice, some don't respond, some turn nasty and tell me to shut up as I don't know what I'm talking about. In the latter case I occasionally wait for feedback on the item, to find out the buyer and inform the buyer. Fortunately the sellers accepting advice are the majority, or I would give up informing sellers.
I have given up informing eBay - it's a waste of time.

HI ,
          This has also been my experience and as Wolf says contacting eBay is a complete waste of time ,in report the item feature there is no facility to report a 'fake' or a mis represented item unless you have actually bought the item , i went as far as to phone eBay about this and after being passed from department to department i was told they did not have anyone able to verify complaints of 'fakes ,reproductions or misleading listings so could not do anything about them , even after I had supplied them with concrete evidence of were the seller had bought a reproduction , sold as that at public auction, and then offered on eBay as genuine. I have also noticed that some 'dodgy' sellers must now be asking buyers not to leave feedback,what excuse the give I have no idea, but that stops you contacting them afterwards to inform them of the mistake.the best that can be done i am afraid is to keep all friends informed of 'dodgy sellers. I also think that if buyers took he trouble to look at sellers feedback not only with current ID's but also past ones they would soon see that they are best left alone .

cheers ,
            Peter.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: rosieposie on April 09, 2012, 11:12:52 AM
Just look at the number of times he has changed hid eBay identity.  :o
I tried KevinH's route and it works....
Also,  for quickness see below.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: rosieposie on April 09, 2012, 11:14:29 AM
http://contact.ebay.ch/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ContactUserNextGen&recipient=55-degrees-north
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Wuff on April 09, 2012, 12:27:56 PM
Thank you, Rosie - but how did you get to this URL?

When I am logged into ebay-CH and try to find the contact form of a member (using the member's name - not coming from an auction) I am logged out, and transferred to ebay-DE. There I have to login - search again - and will be told this member doesn't exist ... hmmm? No way >:(.

So I tried ebay-UK: they actually find him (her?) ... will they only find members within the same ebay region?

Anyway - found him - but before being allowed to contact this seller, I would have to register as one of his friends ... which I am certainly not going to do 8)!

Therefore - thank you for the link: works actually, also for me - and I sent the seller a note about his error.

I also saved the URL: seems that one can just replace the member's name with any other member's name. Life could be sooo easy, if only ebay would not always try to prevent this.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: rosieposie on April 09, 2012, 01:41:20 PM
Hi Wuff,  it was the url that came up on ebay UK !

I 'saved' the listing as per the gmb link, and then went to my own saved list. 
It was there,  so, I clicked on it,  the sellers listing came up. 
I went to the feedback page, clicked the contact a member at the RIGHT side of the star ratings box and then ticked the box saying it wasn't about a listed item. 
That question box came up. 
So the easiest way to send you all that info was just to send the url I got......simples!! ::)
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: wolkenreb on April 09, 2012, 04:48:06 PM
Did Kevin get a reply from the seller?
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: KevinH on April 10, 2012, 12:29:31 PM
Not yet!
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: chopin-liszt on April 12, 2012, 02:06:11 PM
Even misattributed, it is quite an exceptional piece - perhaps worth more than many of the Caithness weights.

It doesn't strike me as a deliberate wrongful attribution with intention to mislead and hype the price up.

And I would have thought those who collect Caithness or Murano would spot it for what it is.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Hourglass on April 12, 2012, 05:46:07 PM
With reference to paperweights in this instance, unless it has a name, brand or label on it no-one should make an assumption that it is by a particular artist or Company and anyone selling should certainly not, not only is it very misleading but probably illegal.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: chopin-liszt on April 12, 2012, 06:03:03 PM
Who's to say the seller didn't find it stuck in a Caithness box?
In charity shops, finding a pretty box to display something in may well occur - and item and box may well be completely unrelated.
(There's an insignificant flat weight with a photo stuck on the base in a Strathearn box in a local one near me. ::) . The box has a nice satin cushion, it shows the weight off prettily.)

Labels can be removed and restuck, unscrupulous folk dremmel names on things.
I'm not sure where "branded" stuff comes into it, but I avoid anything with brands/logos, they're so ugly.
(I black out a horrid white tick shaped logo on the back of my partner's black jacket with permanent black marker pen so it doesn't show. ;D )

You need to know and understand the actual glass work too.  :)
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: rosieposie on April 12, 2012, 06:27:53 PM
With reference to paperweights in this instance, unless it has a name, brand or label on it no-one should make an assumption that it is by a particular artist or Company and anyone selling should certainly not, not only is it very misleading but probably illegal.

To my mind Hourglass, what you say is a given....and if the seller has changed names at least half a dozen times and hasn't answered Kevin's question,  it seems more than a little suspicious....but you might be right Sue.....he could just be innocent of attempting to mislead.......couldn't he?  ???
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Wuff on April 12, 2012, 06:36:50 PM
Let's get back to the basic posting (mine): I did not(!) say the seller was mis-attributing this weight on purpose - people buy weights in "wrong" boxes and (not knowing better) believe in the attribution. Honest sellers, however, are willing to accept or at least discuss advice: on average I send out of a couple of corrections each evening (I regularly check ebay for images of weights which might be useful for the ScotlandsGlass catalogue): the majority of sellers are grateful for any correction, several of them will ask back for supporting info - and then correct their descriptions.

Now - this seller has
1. tried to avoid comments being sent in the first place, and then
2. has not responded at all to Kev's note (nor mine, sent in the meantime), let alone done anything to correct the description.
Two possible explanations come to mind: either he is mis-advertising on purpose (hoping to increase the price), or he just doesn't care. You might argue, just being ignorant is less serious than fraudulent ... hmmm ... I don't like either type of seller.

This issue is independent of the quality of the weight: I consider it one of the nicest Murano weights I have seen - without the seller's attitude I would even consider bidding, but my bid would depend on how much I like the weight, irrespective of Murano or Caithness. Whether the seller hopes for a better price with the Caithness label ... and whether this might work out, I don't know (and don't care) ... I just try to contribute a little (very little) to improved paperweight attributions on ebay.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: rosieposie on April 12, 2012, 06:41:43 PM
Well said Wuff.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: chopin-liszt on April 12, 2012, 06:55:19 PM
It looks to me that he's a high volume seller, does not specialise in glass and probably doesn't care - which is why he doesn't want queries.
Either it sells or it doesn't and that's that.

I would be a bit suspicious of buying something from a seller who won't get back to me or allow contact or who doesn't seen to care.
If it went wrong, I'd have a real communication problem!

I apologise, Wolf,  :-[ I was getting just a little confused about what exactly, the original issue was, given it didn't look like fraud to me. I can only juggle one subject in my working memory at any given time.....
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Hourglass on April 12, 2012, 08:43:29 PM
It seems as Wuff says, this seller is either ignorant or doesn't care, the latter is more probable together with a good smattering of the former and again as you say Wuff, just because it's in a named box does not mean that the weight belongs. If the seller was honest and had respect for his potential purchasers and himself, he should describe as, 'although in a xxxxx box, there are no markings on the weight' then people can decide for themselves. I believe that in collecting weights, if you like what you see and it's affordable, then have it regardless of what it's in and what, if any, markings are on it which I'm sure is what a lot of people do and when they do and if they get more serious in their collecting, that's when you join discussion sites like this one and buy the books, that's how it started for me.
Title: Re: Caithness mis-identified
Post by: Wuff on May 29, 2012, 07:54:14 PM
Well - the seller has been informed by at least two people (I finally managed to send a note) ... ignored this ... and got the following feedback:
Quote
Overall very good service, just item was wrongly named, would do business again, A*
So it's not surprising that the seller likes this commendation for knowingly mis-attributing items, and responds (after not responding to hundreds of feedbacks)
Quote
We highly value this feedback and this buyers custom, thank you