This weekend, I got this email on one of my eBay listings:
hey i have some anoying person that allways look at what i sell and buy. so i changed my name from [redacted] to [redacted] . if thery had me a saved seller will i be on there still? i need a 100% right answer to that. thanks you.
This is from a user I’ve never had a single transaction with.
If my eBay ID was in some way related to The Whine Seller or if this question had come through my email (either through this site or my main site), I would have assumed this person just wanted to pick my brain. But my eBay ID is pretty well separated from “me” so it really seems like this person just completely randomly contacted any old user through the eBay site.
I’m immediately suspicious even though I can’t see any way this could be a scam. What would they gain? It’s a legit eBay email so it’s not a phishing spoof scenario.
But why would someone pick a completely random user ID and email them a question that’s clearly for eBay support? Especially when they claim to need a “100% right answer.” I always go to a completely random stranger instead of the source when I want a 100% correct answer, don’t you?
I mean, there’s stupidity and then there’s throwing fishing hooks into the sky randomly because you want trout for dinner.
I emailed the person and told them that they should probably contact eBay support with that question but I have to ask you… what do you think of this?
And if you feel like it, go ahead and answer his question if you have a “100% right answer” on hand. 😉
RSS - Posts
Hey sweetie, didn’t bother reading your emails, you know you were wrong . An honest person doesn’t have to defend themselves. Now please continue writing, the world needs the “Complete handbook of Strawberry Shortcake”
So, I’m leaving this comment up because I find this amusing even though it’s clearly been posted on the wrong article because this person is the bad example that just keeps on giving like some kind of gift from the God of Internet Trolls. Background: this commenter did a bunch of personal attacks (on this post http://thewhineseller.com/2012/01/acceptable-time-leave-ebay-seller-dsr-shipping-cost/) and I used it as a teaching moment and did a post length comment breaking down how their post was a destruction of their brand, showed a lack of common biz sense, etc. Now, this person is commenting on random posts instead of the original one (which doesn’t make them come off as sane as they might like), talking about emails I never sent (unless he/she subscribed to email updates of the comments and is just really confused and thought follow up comments were an email), clearly has a case of “MUST. HAVE. LAST. WORD.” syndrome and now the best part yet: He/She thinks I’m Jan Lindenberger despite the fact that it’s made pretty clear on this website, several times, that I’m Hillary DePiano. I’m sure this mix-up will completely offend Ms. Lindenberger who awesome (she has what seems like a billion books and I own many of them) but I will take it as a compliment of the highest order.
How you can confuse an e-commerce blogger and playwright with a bestselling non-fiction powerhouse like her is mystifying. But I do find the image of this person leaned over their computer with rage, shaking their fist at the sky going, “Damn you, Jan Lindenberger!!!!!” hilarious.