Just an off topic question

You see a pinball machine listed on craigslist

You see the city listed and are not sure which city it is in ( you have never heard of it, and don't have the means to look it up right now. I had my phone but couldn't check as I was busy with something but was able to use it to send quick email)

So you ask the person in a quick email, " Hey what city are you in and where?"

The person responds with the same city listed in the ad.

So you ask then " Hey, I'm in XXXX city How far is that?" At this point I had enough time to look up the city ( About 2 hours away ), but had already sent the email earlier.

You get a response of "Look it up."

Now I ask...is this rude, or am I wrong? All I did was ask a simple question but I get a rude response of "Look it up". Would you want to deal with a person who responded like this?

Opinions?

I'm fine dealing with that, it's the people that say unless you have the cash in hand you can't look at the machine. People that are jerks from the get go are a no-go on me picking up machines from them.

I guess that means someone else gets to luck out on that pin that I was too bullheaded to suck it up and give the guy my money for.. I just have issues with giving too much money with people that aren't worth my time.

i think some people put a wall up so they filter out the a holes....
i am pretty nice to all the people i deal with off of cl..and usually they are nice back, just makes for an easier more pleasant transaction. i sell alot of sport tickets and various collectables on cl, unfortunately i haven't found a pin that i could buy yet through cl but i will keep looking...

If you received 25-30 emails with people asking you to be their GPS
and roadmap would you be happy as Oprah to respond to every one
with those details?

With the resources available on the net the seller could take it that you're
being lazy and that you could do your part by looking up that info.

He could have hit DELETE but chose to reply.

Consider yourself lucky?

Hi,

I found CL to be hit or miss, the majority of the folks on the phone are nice but the condition of the pins vary wildly from their description as does the price. I generally don't ask for more information than needed to determine if an in person visit is warranted. I did buy one pin off CL and the person was another collector so it works out in some cases.

JWS64 said:

If you received 25-30 emails with people asking you to be their GPS
and roadmap would you be happy as Oprah to respond to every one
with those details?

With the resources available on the net the seller could take it that you're
being lazy and that you could do your part by looking up that info.

He could have hit DELETE but chose to reply.

Consider yourself lucky?

I'm sorry but if you want to sell something, you are being a salesman. The first rule is CUSTOMER SERVICE. You want to sell me something, I feel you should be nice to your potential customers, and not turn them off by being rude. I know it pissed me off enough I told him forget about it, don't want the pinball that badly

If people are rude to me when I'm selling or buying, I don't go through with the transaction. The only time I break that rule is if they are selling something for way less than half of actual value.

I understand your point of view, but it would appear that the seller doesn't. Looks like he just wanted to slap up an ad on CL and do the least amount of customer service.

The attitude wouldn't bother me at all, but I will admit that I am probably immune to this type of behavior. I have been dealing with jerks almost all of my life.

This is an individual selling an item not a real store or Stern/JJP retailer. You are not buying from a dealer so CUSTOMER SERVICE is nonexistant in most cases and I would never expect it. Also, I am sure that if this is the first time the guy has sold something on CL he is quickly becoming frustrated with the many silly offers and no shows for appointments.

Guess I disagree with most...I would have rolled my eyes and thought you were ignorant or lazy. But I'd probably give you the info

robertmee said:

Guess I disagree with most...I would have rolled my eyes and thought you were ignorant or lazy

IMHO thats rude. What ever happened to general kindness? Guess people in the world are more rude than nice. Information assimilated.

Assuming someone is ignorant and lazy I don't think is right, you don't know the circumstances on the other end. A simple response would be all it would take to be nice.

Again just my opinion.

Agreed a little bit rude but see it from his perspective could have been the 20th person today to ask.

Also as for customer service these are usually one time transactions from a person not a buisness.
The only time I have report with people long term is when they are fellow collectors.
You want to BS about the same stuff and have a very common interst.
Plus if they are selling pins and your buying pins they want you to come back for the next one.
If they only have one pin and it is not a prized possesion they just want it gone yesterday and cash in there hand already. No offense but mostly I find this attitude in grumpy old men that have nothing in life if it were not for there money and pinball collections.

As always this is my opinion.

The biggest problem I find is no response. I put in a clear message that I'm a buyer, my name, my email (even though it shows up) and phone number. Its amazing the number of times I get no responses at all even after its listed.

When I've been a buyer on CL I've paid people extra to meet me at the highway exit nearest me.
This way I don't have to drive out of my way to get the item. Who's gonna turn down extra money?

When I've been a seller on CL I've arranged the "meet and greet/transaction" in the parking lot
of a strip mall nearest me.

If the buyer/seller doesn't agree to those terms then it's no deal. Never had any bad experiences.

Xanathar said:

robertmee said:Guess I disagree with most...I would have rolled my eyes and thought you were ignorant or lazy
IMHO thats rude. What ever happened to general kindness? Guess people in the world are more rude than nice. Information assimilated.
Assuming someone is ignorant and lazy I don't think is right, you don't know the circumstances on the other end. A simple response would be all it would take to be nice.
Again just my opinion.

Look at it from his....suppose he was in same boat as you and couldn't look it up and was only able to hurriedly respond. He's not a business he's a busy person same as you. I think you're not seeing the larger picture IMHO

JWS64 said:

When I've been a buyer on CL I've paid people extra to meet me at the highway exit nearest me.
This way I don't have to drive out of my way to get the item. Who's gonna turn down extra money?

I don't think I'm going to load up a game by myself to take it to the nearest highway exit. You want it come get it and we'll both load it up.

As someone that has sold a number of pins I can attest that at this point if someone asks stupid questions I tell them to go away. If they low ball me I let them know it. I am not a business and quite frankly I do not want to deal with it. I have also found that troublesome buyers up front tend to be the ones who bug you down the road when something goes wrong with the machine.

I will also say selling int his hobby has gotten worse the longer i have been in it. It honestly didn't use to be this bad. Sure you always get the annoying ones, but really in the last year it has gotten bad. The only thing that hasn't changed are the amount of scams which for the most part are fairly low. I probably toss 2-3 emails per machine I try to sell that are pure scams.

Selling a machine means dealing with picture collectors. I have 14 pictures of the pf for a machine. All different angles going over the entire thing. I still have people tell me they cannot see what they want to. a 1023x682 picture isn't big enough for them to spot wear... These aren't cell phone pictures. I shoot with a rebel xt because my fiancee is into photography and that is the size phtobucket uploads to.

No joke, but some people expect me to email them 50 4mb pictures 3 at a time to their email. I take pics of the cab that show things like wear, lockdown bar holes, etc and I still get emails asking me if the cabinet has any wear because people are too lazy to look.

Then you have the lowballers. They ask my lowest price and I will tell them. Then they bug me to put it lower. It doesn't matter what it is on ebay. It doesn't matter what the game sells for at auction. Doesn't matter what they sell for on rgp or here. You hear all kinds of bs as to why its not worth anything. Then if you tell them it won't happen they throw a bitch fit.

There are a number of people that want something for nothing. They believe that prices haven't gone up in the hobby for years. Anyone who has been around awhile knows I used to be the price police. I stopped doing it because prices have gotten ridiculous. Some games made huge jumps in value. Some games are still the same, but not a whole lot. these people will listen to what you have to say and then throw out a price that was valid sometime in the past with explanations that the game hasn't gone up or isnt desirable.They may email you back and forth for quite some time before it comes down to this. The best is when you hear that they would pay more if it was huo and you are asking the going rate for routed. HUO might mean tacking on another 500-1k to your price.

Don't forget for the ones that want free delivery. I live in Indy and I get people that expect that when I sell a game that I will drive it to them for free or the cost of gas alone. Why yes I will drive the machine you have not paid me for 300 miles, put wear on my car, waste an entire day, setup the machine, make sure everything works, and take all the risk because you won't get off your ass and come get it. Better yet the ones that expect me to knock the cost of gas off the machine. Sorry, but if it is worth x amount it doesn't matter if you live next door or across the globe. I do understand that some people are too busy to make a drive like that. I also get that gas is expensive which is why a lot of folks are asking more and more to meet at shows. That is fine, but I am talking about the ones that really do believe I am a free delivery service to their doorstep.

then there are the trade offers. It doesn't matter if you post no trades, or if you say I only want x title and nothing else. Will you trade your 3k game for an 80's gottlieb plus 500 cash? Better yet is when they offer you a blown out project for your nicely shopped game. Say both games have the same average value and their's has major issues. They still expect you to make the trade.

I am not the only one who feels this way here. I have a few other local collectors that have been in the hobby for awhile and they all say the same things. It has gotten to the point that I will turn down trades for games I used to want, simply because I do not think I will keep them in the long run. It gets to be too big a hassle going through shenanigans every couple months. A few of us have decided we will get the last few titles on our hit lists and then walk away for awhile.

I would respond the same way. Is it rude? Maybe. Is it rude to not take the time to figure it out yourself? Maybe, also. I'm not your navigator or cartographer. Figure it out. I'm also not Sears. I don't have a customer service department, nor the time to deal with silly requests.

Xanathar said:

robertmee said:
Guess I disagree with most...I would have rolled my eyes and thought you were ignorant or lazy

IMHO thats rude. What ever happened to general kindness? Guess people in the world are more rude than nice. Information assimilated.

Assuming someone is ignorant and lazy I don't think is right, you don't know the circumstances on the other end. A simple response would be all it would take to be nice.

I don't know what circumstances could allow someone to email, but not check google maps. It takes more effort and time to email someone else to do it for you.

As a seller, I'd be thinking "boy, this guy won't even use google by himself.. what's going to happen when he needs to replace a coil sleeve, I'm sure I'll be getting phone calls years down the line.."

If we're talking manners, what makes you think it's not rude to ask other people to get easily obtainable information for you? I'm sure it wasn't your intention, just saying that you shouldn't expect others to hold your hand.

I've dealt with "rude" people, and I agree with most that I wouldn't go through with the transaction if I didn't feel comfortable handing over cash.

I would get that e-mail asking for a geography lesson, and presume it is either someone that isn't going to be serious about buying the machine and is a time-waste, or is a kid.

Erik said:

JWS64 said:When I've been a buyer on CL I've paid people extra to meet me at the highway exit nearest me.
This way I don't have to drive out of my way to get the item. Who's gonna turn down extra money?

I don't think I'm going to load up a game by myself to take it to the nearest highway exit. You want it come get it and we'll both load it up.

NOT PINS!

I've never bought a pin on CL, nor would I expect anyone to load their's up and bring it to my exit.

Sorry, should have made it extra clear, all my CL purchases so far have been NON-PIN related.
My bad..

Xanathar said:

Just an off topic question
You see a pinball machine listed on craigslist
You see the city listed and are not sure which city it is in ( you have never heard of it, and don't have the means to look it up right now. I had my phone but couldn't check as I was busy with something but was able to use it to send quick email)
So you ask the person in a quick email, " Hey what city are you in and where?"
The person responds with the same city listed in the ad.
So you ask then " Hey, I'm in XXXX city How far is that?" At this point I had enough time to look up the city ( About 2 hours away ), but had already sent the email earlier.
You get a response of "Look it up."
Now I ask...is this rude, or am I wrong? All I did was ask a simple question but I get a rude response of "Look it up". Would you want to deal with a person who responded like this?
Opinions?

This is not intended to be offensive, but you asked so here it is Yea, I think you should have done your homework a bit before emailing. Those sorts of questions are sort of annoying. There's a good chance he would have had to load up maps and determine the answers to your questions. Why should he have to put the same time and effort into something *for you* when you should do it yourself?

It probably takes you less time to look up location information than it does the seller to type out an explanation of where a town is. So basically your question implies that the sellers time is of no concern, or at least of less concern than your own. I certainly would not have replied that way but am not surprised that some random guy on CL did...

It was rude but I would wonder how someone could see my ad but not have the means to google my town? If they still ask I tell them xx miles SW of nearest city. Most serious buyers would do their own legwork if you gave them your city/town in the ad. Most buyers that wouldn't look it up also wouldn't follow through anyhow. That being said, it wouldn't have taken much to give you a better answer.

dung said:

Better yet the ones that expect me to knock the cost of gas off the machine. Sorry, but if it is worth x amount it doesn't matter if you live next door or across the globe. I do understand that some people are too busy to make a drive like that. I also get that gas is expensive which is why a lot of folks are asking more and more to meet at shows. That is fine, but I am talking about the ones that really do believe I am a free delivery service to their doorstep.

That is ridiculous. Some people really do have brass ones.

gambit3113 said:

I would respond the same way. Is it rude? Maybe. Is it rude to not take the time to figure it out yourself? Maybe, also. I'm not your navigator or cartographer. Figure it out. I'm also not Sears. I don't have a customer service department, nor the time to deal with silly requests.

Well put

I also agree with dung as I have sold alot.... of arcade games before getting into pins.

dmacy said:

The biggest problem I find is no response. I put in a clear message that I'm a buyer, my name, my email (even though it shows up) and phone number. Its amazing the number of times I get no responses at all even after its listed.

Amen!!!

Same here.

I've sold a fair amount on CL, and have to agree. There are rude questions as well as rude answers. Those that ask picture after picture never buy too.

Deaconblooze said:

I'm sure it wasn't your intention, just saying that you shouldn't expect others to hold your hand.

.

dung said:
As someone that has sold a number of pins I can attest that at this point if someone asks stupid questions I tell them to go away.

Wow. I'm sorry I even asked the question. Didn't realize I was wanting hand holding and thinking I was 5 years old. Guess I have to accept the fact that people are just plain rude and don't give a S***. Sorry I even posted this now

RustyLizard said:

Most serious buyers would do their own legwork if you gave them your city/town in the ad.

Pretty much!
At the end of the day it is YOUR attitude- not theirs, that gets you the sale. Being patient and not nit-picking every little detail just to save fifty cents goes a long way with the seller. The person I bought my Grand Lizard off of was sick and tired of similar behavior and turned down about 35 other people before I ever got to see it. After I told him my views on this type of behavior over the phone, he had no problems holding it for eight hours, just to sell to me. He was a really nice guy at the end of the day and even helped me load it up, which is usually very rare when picking up a pinball machine.
I think being fairly local to the seller helps out too, but- treating them like a human being first should take priority...
Just my two tokens.

You didn't give a shit to look up where the machine was located. Why is his response worse than your laziness?

Xanathar said:

Guess I have to accept the fact that people are just plain rude and don't give a S***. Sorry I even posted this now

I didn't intend anything malicious, but you have basically told the seller "you look up the information I want to know. Even though we both have equal access, my time is more valuable." In my opinion, that was rude.

Xanathar said:

Now I ask...is this rude, or am I wrong? All I did was ask a simple question but I get a rude response of "Look it up". Would you want to deal with a person who responded like this?

Opinions?

This was the original post people were responding to. Whether the seller is rude or not is completely subjective. But you did ask for opinions...

There is no shortage of ignorant people in the world!

I have been in sales, primarily conducted over the phone, for many years. Generally if a person is rude to me, I highly doubt they will ever give me their money. After all, that would put me in the driver's seat to some extent and why would you want someone you have treated rudely to have any power over you in any way? They might suddenly stop taking your crap.

Sellers that are rude are just bad salespeople, that's all.

In your case, I dont think there was anything rude in suggesting you look up the location as you are already on the web and might have been the 20th inquiry that day.

I love lowballers! Usually, I will just email back agreeing to the deal and ask them when they want to come pick it up. When they email back for my address I ignore them!

Xanathar said:

Now I ask...is this rude, or am I wrong? All I did was ask a simple question but I get a rude response of "Look it up". Would you want to deal with a person who responded like this?

That's rude?

is it saint patricks day yet? who needs a beer. lol. i'd say people don't have time for anything these days. i'm just laughing because the pin was '2 hours away' from you location and you didn't know that? do you live a city with 700 square miles of suburbs? LMAO

I just would have worded it differently.

"I am not exactly sure, I have found google maps to be very useful in these situations. Have a great day!"

But we will see if that sentiment changes the first time i publicly sell a pin

JWS64 said:

If you received 25-30 emails with people asking you to be their GPS
and roadmap would you be happy as Oprah to respond to every one
with those details?
With the resources available on the net the seller could take it that you're
being lazy and that you could do your part by looking up that info.
He could have hit DELETE but chose to reply.
Consider yourself lucky?

True, but when you are selling something you'd think it's in your best interests to give as much info in the listing as you can. In dense population areas the little townships would probably get confusing until you learned where they all are. I don't really have that problem out here, but I can see where others would.

Xanathar said:

Wow. I'm sorry I even asked the question. Didn't realize I was wanting hand holding and thinking I was 5 years old. Guess I have to accept the fact that people are just plain rude and don't give a S***. Sorry I even posted this now

No, you don't have to accept that fact....In general, people aren't rude. To recap, you posted on a public forum about your experience with a CL seller. A seller you felt did not give an appropriate response to your question and one that you felt was rude. The consensus opinion is that it in fact was not rude and that you should have waited to do your homework, which you eventually did anyway.

What you now are doing is a similar response. We all gave effort to respond to your inquiry just as the seller on CL did. But you didn't like the response from us and it wasn't what you expected, and so now you're in a similarly frustrated state. Take a breath, do some introspection and realize that perhaps you were wrong and be a little more tolerant next time.

Anim8ormatt said:

But we will see if that sentiment changes the first time i publicly sell a pin

That's the thing, I've never sold a pin, but I have sold plenty of other things. I've had people set up times to come out to look at a motorcycle, and then they never show... I clear my schedule and sit home waiting and you don't even call? That's BS, my patience is pretty thin after experiences like that, so maybe I'm a bit cold.

Anim8ormatt said:

"I am not exactly sure, I have found google maps to be very useful in these situations. Have a great day!"

That's a pretty good way to do it. Letting someone know you're not their errand boy while still being polite. I think I'd probably respond with something closer to:

"google.com"

Xanathar said:

Sorry I even posted this now

Don't be. None of it was an attack on you personally. And there were some great stories told. I found this thread entertaining and informative. Personally, I would have just answered your question. But you never know about people, might have lost his job that day or something.

I've Bought Alot of Pin's From C.list seller's .. Some were Very Rude , but so Can I be.. Especially if I drove a Good Distance to find out it's Not what they described.. Most Rude people can be broken down if pushed enough.. The Head-lock & Cobra Clutch are Very Effective .. ..

But 4-Real ,, I hardly ever have a prob- w/ seller's !! Been lucky I guess..

I would respond with this.

http://bit.ly/xQWPTE

Price has something to do with it too. If the guy was selling a machine for a premium I would hope he would be super nice. On the other hand if the pin was priced right I'm sure he got a ton of people responding. Consider yourself lucky he replied to your email.

I've sold a few pins on CL, always for a fair price. I get a ton of responses. I try to respond to all of them. IMO it's rude to put an ad on CL and not reply to emails at all (This happens a lot in PHX).

Personally, when buying I try to be as kind and respectful as possible. Especially when I know there is a good deal to be had. As far as the seller being rude or weird or whatever, I don't care because I just want the machine.

I find it much worse when the seller continues to give me directions after I've told them I have gps.

sleethering said:

I would respond with this.

http://bit.ly/xQWPTE

Did you just Scan my PC ,,,, ?

BLACK_ROSE said:

The Head-lock & Cobra Clutch are Very Effective

Bwahahaha . I actually have yet to deal with a rude pinhead. But I just started. Buy that Sopranos B_R!

BLACK_ROSE said:

Did you just Scan my PC ,,,, ?

Nope ,,! It was Just-A joke ,,,, !! no harm Done!

Xanathar said:

dung said:
As someone that has sold a number of pins I can attest that at this point if someone asks stupid questions I tell them to go away.
Wow. I'm sorry I even asked the question. Didn't realize I was wanting hand holding and thinking I was 5 years old. Guess I have to accept the fact that people are just plain rude and don't give a S***. Sorry I even posted this now

I have to ask, how many machines have you sold?

I don't mind answering questions, but I prefer to help people that help themselves. If a buyer gets home and maybe an assembly came loose (set screw on fh) I take pictures off the net or that I have and talk them through it. If something doesn't work that is a little difficult to figure out I will do my own research and get them an answer. I enjoy doing such things because I like to learn. I do it for locals who ask if I know how to fix a problem. I don't always find the answer, but you would be surprised how often I do.

On the other hand, if you buy a machine off me. Get home and start calling me up every time you want to know something. I get a bit miffed. I have had some annoying buyers that think just because I sold it to them they are entitled to free help indefinitely for every little thing. when I sell a machine I tell them "It is working right now, you can do all the tests you like, but it works right now. When you move it, it becomes your responsibility."

Believe me I am sure alot of sellers can chime about buyers calling about stupid things. It isn't that uncommon to hear that they tried a hack to fix it. Telling someone to clean the grease off that they just used to FIX the game, is always fun.

sleethering said:

I would respond with this.

http://bit.ly/xQWPTE

THAT was cool. I need to know how? PM? Share?

The_Gorilla said:

THAT was cool. I need to know how? PM? Share?

Happy to share!

http://bit.ly/uJf97S