!WARNING! !WARNING! !WARNING!
I have had a very bad experience with a certain Ebay seller. Her user id is sherri-jo and her name is Sherri Jo Lucas. She makes and sells mascot costumes. I purchased an Easter Bunny costume from her in an auction that ended on February 20, 2003. In the photograph on the auction, the costume looked really cute, but it was not possible to see up close what the fur of the costume looked like. I emailed the seller, asking specific questions about the faux fur she would be using to make the costume. My specific concern was that the suit NOT be made of a fabric called fleece. I wanted it to be made of a high quality faux fur like that of a rabbit (short haired rabbit) like you would expect to find in a stuffed animal (plush stuffed bunny rabbit toy).
Here is her reply to my email question:
Subj: Item #2911865935
Date: 2/19/2003 5:25:46 PM Central Standard Time
From: Fantasy1@charter.net
To: mnmorris19@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
its plush fake fur not the thinner fake fur..Its the 12.99 a yard stuff with
over 6 yards of fur in one costume.....Like a stuffed animal..I wont use the
fleece stuff..
When the cotume arrived, I was seriously upset! It was made out of a faux fur called "Sherpa" or as is printed on the end of the bolt at Hancock Fabrics,"Shearling", which looks like the wool of a sheep! It was extremely thin and could be seen through. I immediately emailed Sherri Jo with my concerns and got this reply:
Subj: Bunny Suit
Date: 3/24/2003 11:12:25 AM Central Standard Time
From: Fantasy1@charter.net
To: mnmorris19@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Hi Mary..
The fur I buy is Sherpa fur and it is made by one of the leading mills in the US.. They are located about 3 hours from me and sell to all the fabric stores. I have not had ONE complaint about the bunnies!! Everyone loves them... If you look at bunny costumes there are 2 major types...professional and handmade.. I put in my auction that it was handmade.. I have sold over 25 just from people emailing me and everyone has emailed me that they love their bunny..I sell Dalmatian costumes to Fire Departments all over the states, all of them have loved their costume.I will also send you the email from the girl that bought the bunny after you, she thought it was adorable and loved it. I have tons of emails from buyers saying they love them... I save every email to and from a buyer till the auction is completed.. The only conversation we had specific to material was you ask me if the body was made of fleece... I said no it was sherpa fur..I never said it was bunny fur in fact bunny fur is not even listed in my book of fabrics.....I put pictures of the bunny on the auction so buyers would know what he looked like. I went to Hancock Fabrics this morning and showed them my bunny, they thought it was adorable and a great costume !!!!!! I have these same costumes rented to malls, stores, Lion's clubs etc for Easter. All of my customers come back year after year to rent them..NEVER have I had a complaint!!! I sold over 20 animals to the Copps Corp, many to the Trump Corp and even made Hardee's characters for the corporate office..all made the same way and same materials. I understand you are new on ebay but you need to remember you are bidding on an auction.. You bid whatever amount you are willing to pay and sales are final. I have been to many auctions in my life and I never heard of buying an item and then asking for a refund or partial refund.. I have bought many items on ebay that were not even wearable..or so dirty that you have to throw them out.. I knew I bought them on auction and would not get my money back..
I have over 100 costumes I have bought from major companies..Disney. Warner Brothers, Rubies, Caufields and others...90% of them are Sherpa fur...The professional costumes I have Scooby Doo, Tigger, Pooh etc are all the same fur...If you are not going to use the bunny you can list it on ebay with a reserve bid and sell it easy being before Easter. If you feel the need to leave negative feedback that is your right. I would hate to leave negative for you, I have not left negative feedback unless I did not get my item, even if I received a costume that was not useable...Again these are auctions and you bid what you want to bid...
I'm sorry you are disappointed but I described the costume accurately and even had pictures.
Sherri Jo
Now, as you can see, her first email addressing the fabric, said nothing about "Sherpa" fur. It wasn't until I won the auction and had received the costume that the word "Sherpa" was first mentioned! "Sherpa" is the kind of fake fur used by many coat manufacturers as a lining fabric. It looks like sheep's wool, not bunny fur. Had she told me this upfront, I would have retracted my bid or not bid at all!
She also used the fact that I was very new to Ebay to her own advantage. In several of her emails to me before the auction ended, she told me there had been a very high number of hits on the hit counter, indicating to her that many people were looking at the suit. She told me there would most likely be a few sniper bidders, as she called them, that would come in and outbid me at the very last minute. She suggested I decide upon a price that I did not want to exceed and place it as my highest bid amount. She told me what her reserve bid was and told me that she expected the auction to far exceed that! Her reserve bid was $125.00. I was caught up in the moment and went way out on a limb and put my high bid at $325.00. When the auction ended I won the costume at $310.00. I thought I had done very well. . . until the suit arrived!
She also was pretty insistant that she wanted me to pay her with a postal money order, so I did. She received the money order on Feb 26, 2003, just 6 days following the close of the auction. And here's the real kicker! She would not leave feedback for me until I posted it for her first! She even THREATENED me abOut leaving negative feedback for her, as you just read in her email above! So, felling very bullied and controlled, I left her a NEUTRAL feedback and was even very kind in my comments! In reality I was actually VERY ANGRY, although you cannot tell it in my feedback! I had not only received an inferior quality fur, but the costume really was not well made at all! I had to add a casing and a drawstring in the neck, a 22" zipper in the back and elastic in the sleeves to hold the hand mitts on. I had to reinforce the stitching on the hand mitts because they came unsewn the first ime the suit was used. I had to make another pair of shoe covers because the ones she sent were too small! When I washed the bunny's pink and white vest and bowtie, they faded terribly and shrivled up. Apparantly the fabric was not machine washable, but she never stated that in the auction, in any emails, nor were there any washing instructions included in the box with the suit. The vest and bowtie are both ruined and cannot be fixed! They will have to be replaced -- AT MY EXPENSE! I had to add way too much materials and labor into the suit for it to have cost me this much money!
She had the nerve of posting a retalitory NEUTRAL feedback for me, stating only "payment received"! As you can clearly see from all the other feedback ratings I have received from many other sellers, I pay lighning fast and am a very pleasant good natured person to deal with!
Therefore, I felt compelled to try to draw everyones attention to the truth -- the FACTS -- and hopefully this will save you some grief in the future.
DON'T BUY FROM SHERRI-JO!
Thank you for you time. Currently there is a fraud claim investigaton pending against this seller. When it is resolved, I will post the results here. Thank you.
UPDATE on this dispute!
I involved Ebay to help me settle this dipute. After they concluded their investigation, reading through every email I had sent AND RECEIVED from Sherri Jo Lucas (the seller), they ruled in my favor and awarded me $175.00! Since I had originally paid Ms. Lucas $310.00, I was elated to have won this dispute! By receiving $175.00 back from her, meant that I actually only paid $135.00 for the sub-standard bunny suit. I can live with that, since I did use the suit after practically "remaking" it. I had no choice but to use it, as I had several Easter gigs booked in 2003! I feel that Ms.Lucas did not actually LOSE any money on this costume as a result of this dispute, as she had a reserve bid of $125.00 on the auction. She made $10.00 more than her reserve bid and I think even THAT is too much to profit on this particular item! Once I received the suit, I actually went out and priced the EXACT same Sherpa faux fur fabric, the fleece and felt used, the foam used for making the head of the rabbit, and the replacement fabric I had to buy to replace the vest and bowtie that were ruined in the washing process. The RETAIL material costs came to UNDER $75.00! The labor was not figured into the material cost and could have increased the cost of the suit to $125.00 -- which was her reserve bid amount. At any rate, I am satisfied to have had justice served.
To date, I have used the bunny costume for the Easter 2003 & 2004 seasons. The person wearing the bunny suit MUST wear white pants (not shorts) and a long sleeve white shirt while inside the bunny suit, making it very, VERY hot for them! If they do not wear the white clothing underneath, their clothes and EVEN THEIR SKIN can be seen THROUGH THE SHERPA FUR!
If you are interested in a bunny suit, I suggest you NOT buy one from this seller (Shari-Jo Lucas)!
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Praise: Great communication. A pleasure to do business with. |
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Praise: Great communication. A pleasure to do business with. |
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Praise: Thank you for an easy, pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer. A++++++. |
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Praise: Hope to deal with you again. Thank you. |
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Praise: SUPER EBAYER, DID EVERYTHING THE RIGHT WAY, THANKS. aggie10 |
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Praise: Good buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended. |
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Praise: º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸ A+++++ all the way. Thanks for your business |
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Praise: Great ebayer, did everything the right way, thanks, Aggie. aggie10 |
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Praise: Great ebayer, did everything the right way, thanks, Aggie. aggie10 |
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Praise: Excellent Buyer hope to do business with again in the future |
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Praise: Excellent Buyer hope to do business with again in the future |
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Praise: Excellent Buyer hope to do business with again in the future |
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Praise: Excellent Buyer hope to do business with again in the future |
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Praise: ‹(•¿•)› Great eBayer all the way!!! A++++++++ |
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Praise: Good buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended. |
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Praise: PROMPT PAYMENT!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! |
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Praise: Good buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended. |
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Praise: hightly recomend excellente buyer-communication-transation you welcome anytime J |
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Praise: Great communication. A pleasure to do business with. |
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Praise: Good buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended. |
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Praise: -:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-•*Thank You*•-:¦:-•:*'''*:•-:¦:-•*SPDY PYMT*•-:¦:-•:*'''*:•- |
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Praise: Prompt Payment~*~Great Buyer~*~Thanks for your purchase! |
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Praise: Excellent Buyer. Thanks for shopping with us! |
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User:cz191 ( 192 ) Date:Mar-16-09 10:22:36 PDT |
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Praise: Lovely buyer--Great communication |
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User:etor( 656 ) Date:Mar-13-09 23:21:51 PDT |
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Praise: FAST PAYMENT - THANKS! |
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