OUTSIDE THE BOX - A Little Lesson To Always Be Nice

I received an item a little while back that fits nicely into my Linden pc.  It's not a card (and most times when it's not...I move along), but the price was right and I had never really seen one before.

But this item comes with a little story (and lesson).  I like stories.

So I was doing my daily hourly Linden search on ebay when I came across an item that was distinctly Linden.  I say distinctly because it was housed in NHL & NHLPA strewn packaging.  That's always a first look when I go after things that are not cards.

I noticed a low BIN (very low in fact) with a surprising twist....FREE SHIPPING.

Wow!  I decided to e-mail the seller just to make sure.  He lived in the States and so when I got the all good...I hit the BIN.

A couple weeks later I receive a plain white envelope in the mail with my item...the packaging nicely bent and ripped.

Now I'm a Linden collector, so an item like this is something where I had planned to keep it unopened and just stored with my other Linden extras.  No such luck here.  So I did what most would do...I contacted the seller.

I contacted the seller with the intention of opening up dialogue.  I did not ask for a refund or replacement.  I did not bitch and complain.  I just mentioned that I received my item damaged (an item that was described as "New").

The response I got was actually pretty stunning.

I was lambasted because the guy sending had to spend almost twice the price of the item just to ship it (remember, shipping was free in the auction).  He offered to send me his wallet seeing as what I received wasn't good enough.

Now I kept my cool, but inside I was ticked.  So I mentioned just how surprised I was in his response.  I mentioned that the auction clearly stated that shipping was free and the item was "New".  It's not my fault that I wasn't opening up the item (it was just the packaging that was damaged).  Calmly and cooly I sent the message.

Nothing.

So I did what most would do.  I slapped him with a negative feedback.  I was honest about my comments and I decided to move on.

Well, that wasn't good enough for him.  He responded by further (and not in the right way).  So I wrote to him again.  I simply stated that my communication to him was done with nothing but respect and honesty.  I was very disappointed in his responses and felt the shoe fit.  I told him that my intentions were to have this transaction end in a way where we can both win.

He went back to look at what he wrote and soon apologized.  Stating that he was in the wrong.  He wanted to make things right.  He said he had a bunch of the Lindens and he sent me off another package.

I received this in the mail earlier this week.

It's a Trevor Linden magnet jersey.  And in fact, he didn't just send me one (in a bubble envelope this time), he sent me four.  And a couple Brett Hull magnets to boot.

So I e-mailed him back and asked what he had paid in shipping for both packages.  I was planning on sending him a bit of paypal to offset some of his costs.  He refused, saying that again he was in the wrong.

I told him that I would reverse my feedback.

Long story short, dealing with people respectfully and in a "nice" manner is really the best way to get positive results.  Sure there are times when you're dealing with complete jerks (and they shouldn't get the time of day from you), but when the ball is in your court - you control your actions.

It looks like I might have a couple Xmas gifts for fellow Linden collectors.