Suffering Fools.

I was apparently put on this earth to suffer fools.

I've been selling magazine back issues on eBay and I have two different idiots trying to back out of winning bids because they were STUPID and bid on multiple auctions for the same exact issue. Sorry, it's not my fault that you're now the proud owner of three different December 2006 Domino magazines. Now pay up, moron. I have $80 in unpaid auctions right now because of stupid people.

Speaking of stupid, I never told you guys the other story I alluded to in this entry. Well. It's something. I'll start by saying this: despite the attitude I give off in this blog, I'm a pretty reasonable and understanding person. I'll forgive a lot, but if you rip me off I will COME AFTER YOU. I hate being cheated more than almost anything. I cannot let that shit go. So, here's the story:

I post on a fairly large fashion-related online forum, and a bunch of folks who post there have created a private Yahoo swap group to sell or trade without having to deal with eBay. A year and a half ago I listed a red designer handbag for sale at a very reasonable price. A girl bought the bag from me. She p@ypaled me and I shipped the bag to her via Priority mail the next day. I didn't get a tracking number (this is stupid, never do this) because I'd checked out this girl's eBay account and she had great feedback. This used to go a long way with me.

A week goes by and she contacts me and says the bag never arrived. I told her to wait another week just in case, as sometimes Priority mail isn't all that. Another week, no bag. So I did the right thing: I refunded her money. But, I kept an eye on her. I knew her eBay account name and watched her auctions. I got alerts every time that particular brand of bag in red was listed. I kept an eye on the private swap forum just in case she was dumb enough to try and unload it. I suspected she had the bag, but I had no proof. I just tucked it back in my mind and continued on with my life.

You know what's coming next, right? Oh, it took 18 months, but I got her. That brainiac posted on the same swap forum about several items she had for sale, including a red designer bag. O RLY? I had a friend request photos from her and damn if it wasn't my bag. Aside from it being a rare bag in a rarer color, I also had my old photos of it and it matched down to the last ding and scratch. I lined them up side-by-side and it was the exact same bag. OH I DON'T THINK SO. I emailed her, very calmly, and asked for my money. She denied it. She also erased the swap forum info (but not before I got a screen shot!) and deleted herself from the fashion forum. Ha, guilty loser.

I pretty much kept on her and told her if she didn't pay me I'd be giving the San Francisco police a phone call. And I meant it too. I don't know that it would've done any good, but I would've done it. The email exchange went back and forth, and then I got this:

I am dealing with a death in my immediate family. I do not have the energy or desire to deal with you and your accusations right now. Give me a few days and I will send you the money that you are extorting from me. If my grandmother hadn't died and I wasn't flying out of town I would be going to the police as well.

Extortion! Dead relative! Oh, ho ho. Woo! Good stuff. In the end, she did send me the money she owed me and that was the end of it. Now I just have to get busy extorting funds from eBay morons. It never ends.