Published on 12, July, 2020
I am compelled to 'do the right thing'. It's very deeply ingrained into me and i strive to be perfect in everything I do. if I have a negative interaction with people or am not sure if I have behaved correctly, it troubles me to the point that I can't sleep. I will process it over and over again seeing if I can be judged to be 'at fault'.
For example - A few years ago, I sold a car on ebay - it had a slight overheating fault - nothing terrible - I've been driving it like that for 6 months. I did an awesome advert, lovely pictures etc. - but clearly stating 'spares or repair only'.
A guy bought it, came to collect it and thrashed the *** out of the car as he drove off down the road. I was concerned.
I got a nasty e-mail from him in the evening claiming I'd mis-described the car as he'd blown it up on the motorway. After an exchange of e-mails he backed down. I had done nothing wrong. I re-read my advert over and over - and it was all absolutely clear. Did my superb advert cause this muggle to read more into it than was actually there?
It upset me a lot - it took a year before it wasn't intrusive in my mind. It still bothers me - it's just another of the many little things that I get to reprocess in the small hours when my brain decides to wake me up for a laugh.
Yes I get this 100%, to the extent that I feel compelled to list every possible niggle with things I sell on eBay - most people would simply rely on the implicit "sold as seen / no returns".
I once sold something that worked 100% but had been repaired & I forgot to mention it, got accused of trying to pull a fast one, and simply gave a "no return refund" rather than argue.
It really upsets me too if someone questions my motives / suggests I'm not being honourable.
I do the same - I cannot live with the thoughts that I am without honour - maybe I'm part Klingon?
On the other hand - the definite and careful descriptions and well framed, focussed and corrected photos typically earn me 50-100% higher sale prices when compared to the illiterate 'pictured in the dark' photos of muggle's-adverts. .
I avoid selling sites now for this reason. One big item I lost was a phone for 250 pounds. The person said it didnt arrive. They refused to help me by filling out a form from the post office saying so. Therefore the post office wouldn't pay the compensation so I pretty much gave my phone away free and paid their postage.
I dont trust people anymore but I'm still as honest as I can be. I cant figure out why they dont care about other people.