Recently I took the plunge to upgrade my laptop given the need to do more multimedia work. I looked at all the major computer store chains and none of them could come close to......yes, you guessed it, the world leader in online trading: e-Bay.

I had previously made a promise to myself never to order any electronic equipment over $1000 from e-bay after another rough experience I had a few year ago. On that occasion I had ‘won' a ‘NEW' Camcorder which ended up being used and there was practically nothing I could do about it.

My, how short my memory is. Now with nearly $400 to save by ordering the laptop on e-bay I did it at a total of $1385. The e-bay seller had a reasonable reputation at 98% positive feedback so all was looking good.

Postage was fast but the wrong laptop arrived in the right box. I was livid, so after doing some online research, I found the company profile with the seller's phone number (not always easy to do). He answered the phone but all he had to say in an oriental accent was "no talk ....only e-mail....no talk" which was repeated a few times before he put the phone down.

Staying calm under these circumstances was difficult as I saw $1385 flash before my eyes. I e-mailed him with the incorrect model number I had been sent and did get a reply soon afterwards asking me to post it back. What do you do under these circumstances other than do what he says? I did feel totally helpless. He had the power or so I thought at this stage.

He received the laptop back and posted me another one. This time it arrived and was even a lower specification than the last. OK, this time I could not hold back!

I sent an e-mail telling him I would be posting his contact details and story in total defamation of his company and self character all over the web. Please note: I had held back putting any feedback up on e-bay at this point. This is an important point to note as there is power in this. There is a power in the unsaid word, just as there is in the said and sometimes more so. I even e-mailed him a photo of his office (located above a small take-away Thai restaurant) which I scraped off Google street maps. Boy was I getting personal here. Once again there is power in the visual aspect of "I know where you live."

Actually at this point I was even more terrified as to the potential outcome of this all after seeing the crummy little office in the outer suburbs of Sydney where he operated this sham from.

At this point he started to apologise which was a good sign. He instantly refunded me the postage which I had outlaid to send the laptop back. This gave me a little more confidence.

Today the correct laptop was apparently posted and he has also added some additional peripherals to make up for his mistake. He has apologized profusely. Here is the last e-mail I received:

"hi luke u should get laptop tomorrow i included some free accessories for the laptop i hope you like it sorry for all the troubles you been through. i hope those accessories will make you happy . also how much that registered post you paid i will reimburse if you can when you get laptop please give me good feedback. i will do the same. thanks very much "

OK then here is the summary of the power balance in all this.

1. I initially felt helpless as he had my money and I had the inferior product.
2. He has been operating an e-bay business for the last 6 years and feedback is the backbone of his business credibility.
3. Negative feedback would have a profound effect on his business.
4.  By remaining relatively civil towards him he realized that I would probably construct a well thought out defamatory comment which would ripple through his potential clients. I would also post this up on searchable Blogs for other prospects to see if they did some investigation on his business prior to purchasing.
5. After calling him the first time and leaving a message which simply asked him to call me back, he returned the call on his mobile phone and I noted the number down for reference. (Knowledge is power)

The future success of business will be determined by feedback from clients. We see this on sites like epinions.com and other sites which rate service and product based on those using them. They key is to seek guidance from more than one rating site like a type of triangulation process to get a picture of what the service is like from different angles.

They buyer does have power!