My Craigslist War and the Peeps

   I have no issue with Craigslist, just one particular seller.  As in every situation there are two sides to the story.  In this case there is my side and the side of the evil, totally in the wrong seller.
  We have used Craigslist (CL for the remainder of this post) quite successfully in the past.  Last summer we bought our chickens through CL and got a Rubbermaid storage shed for $50.  One of the guys hubby works with uses a mechanic from CL for auto repairs.  I even found our latest chicken supplier on CL.  Like anything you need to be an informed consumer when buying from CL.
  The Peeps are going to need a home other than the dog crate very soon.  Chicken Coops can be very expensive and we don't have the skills needed to build one properly without one of us being charged with manslaughter so I turned to CL  I found a number of listings for coops being sold.  Some were by private owners most were by three different coop companies.  After checking them out I discovered that the price was way out of my budget or the condition of the coop was not even worth an email.  Then finally last Wednesday I found it, the diamond in the rough.
     Listed as if being sold by an individual was the perfect coop for the perfect price. I instantly contacted them by email inquiring if the coop was still available.  When I opened the response I saw that this wasn't an individual but one of the coop companies.  OH well I didn't care the price was right.
     We exchanged emails with the seller and set up delivery for Tuesday. There wasn't a picture with the listing as it had to be painted but he'd send one asap. In the email I received Sunday there was an attachment of the coop that I couldn't open I could only see the red roof.  I confirmed delivery and forwarded the email to hubby.  Monday afternoon we are outside getting the yard ready for the coop and I realized that how hubby is describing the coop is not what I ordered.  Using a different computer I was able to open up the picture and lo and behold things are not right in Oz.  So I decide to call the seller.
     Well this is where it all goes sour. Before I go any further here's part of the email I received from the seller:

This coop is the same walk in that I build on my website at XXXXX , the only difference is that this walk in is built from reclaimed wood, it is red and white and has a red roof.

    I told him we were still interested in getting a coop but the picture he sent didn't match what we had originally  discussed in his email.   He proceeded to tell me I was crazy to think I was going to get the shed on the website for the price we discussed.  I explained how we felt mislead seeing as how he said it was the same walk-in with different wood.  He then said I was a liar and that he told me it was similar.  I told him I was reading directly from his email.  After calling me crazy again he puts his wife on the phone.  I asked her to read the original email to which she replied she was spending the day at the beach with her kids and didn't have time for this crap.  Thank you we're no longer interested.  BUT it's not done.  Five minutes later he calls back, speaks to hubby and then denies having called me crazy.  The conversation is now over.  

     I was soooo mad.  Had he taken just two minutes to listen he would have heard that all I wanted was an extra piece of wood around the bottom on two sides.  We knew that even with it not being exactly what we wanted it was a good price and push come to shove we would have added the wood ourselves.  NOW I want revenge.  Unfortunately CL doesn't have a way for you to report fraudulent listings.  So I decided to turn to the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint there. 

     So what have we learned from this escapade:

Lesson #1  Clarify.  There were no pictures of this new product but he would get me one asap.  So we went to the website and were thrilled that he had created a version that cost over 50% less than what we were looking at.  I should have asked does it look exactly like the mini walk in coop on your web page

Lesson #2 Do not assume basic language skills.  I thought that the word same in his email meant just what every reader of the English language knows it to mean: equal, alike, duplicate, matching, uniform ~ not similar which is what he said over the phone.  We won't even spend time on his misunderstanding of the phrase "the only difference" ?

Lesson #3 Always be sure to open pictures.  When I couldn't open the picture I should not have replied saying it looked great when all I could see was a thumbnail portion.  I also should not have committed to the purchase until I saw the picture.

Lesson #4 Emotions do not belong in business Things are a bit rough around here right now and I think that played into why I was so upset with the entire situation.

On the upside.... We are still going to get a new coop.  Instead of finding one on CL we are going to hire a local teen who has incredible carpentry skills and could use the job/experience.  I'll probably get a better coop exactly how I want it ~ so there!!

For some reason I don't understand the blog gods wouldn't let me attach the picture of The Peeps to last week's blog post so here it is~

The peeps Day 1