U.S. EBay Seller Refuses Canucks
 

By Charles Mandel
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,58190,00.html

02:00 AM Mar. 25, 2003 PT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- On eBay, the highest bid wins -- unless the item on sale is a laser printer from CompAtlanta and the bidder happens to be Canadian.

That's what a tax consultant discovered last week when he tried to buy a printer on eBay, but was refused by the vendor when it was discovered he lived in Vancouver.

David Ingram received notification that his winning bid of $24.50 had been canceled, along with this message: "At the present time, we do not ship to, or accept bids from, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany or any other country that does not support the United States in our efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. If you are not with us, you are against us."

Ingram's .ca address sparked the notice from CompAtlanta, based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Canada is one of a number of countries that said it would not support an American invasion of Iraq without United Nations' approval.

"I've made a winning bid,'' Ingram said. "To discriminate against me because I'm a Canadian is ridiculous."

Sid Mitchell, CompAtlanta's president, could not be reached for comment. However, an e-mail exchange between Ingram and Mitchell clearly laid out the company's policy: "What part of this listing do you not understand?" Mitchell wrote Ingram. "This item will not be shipped outside the USA, and we do not accept bids from Canadians. Both are plainly stated."

That didn't stop Ingram from trying again over the weekend. He bid for the laser printer a second time, offering $107.50 to avoid being outbid and specifying delivery to an American address. In a separate message, he informed Mitchell that he wanted the printer shipped stateside.

Judging by Mitchell's reply, however, Ingram isn't likely to get his printer from CompAtlanta: "You are obviously trying to get around the fact that you are Canadian," Mitchell wrote to Ingram, "and we will not honor your bid or ship to any location for you."

Ingram said Mitchell lacks a good business reason for not shipping to a Canadian who uses an American address. "If they're going to do that,'' Ingram said, "then they shouldn't sell to the 50 percent of Democrats and the 20 percent of Republicans that aren't supporting the war, either."

CompAtlanta is one of a small number of companies boycotting countries opposed to the war. The German newspaper Deutsche Welle reported late last week that a German shoe-supply manufacturer lost a contract with an American firm over Germany's stance on the war. There have also been reports of American consumers boycotting French wine and cheese.

But the boycotts aren't widespread yet. JoAnn Dupont, a customer service representative with eBay vendor IkeSound.com of Florida, said her company's policy of shipping to Canada and other countries has not changed as a result of the war.

And some eBay vendors selling such items as Saddam Hussein "terrorist hunting licenses" and dart boards will ship them anywhere in the world.

Andre Lemay, a spokesman for the Canadian department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa, said he wasn't aware of any reverse boycott. Nor did he believe such a boycott would be an issue, since Canada and the United States remain each others' two largest trading partners. "We still believe our relationship with the U.S. is good -- in fact, enviable,'' he said.

EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said CompAtlanta was the only eBay merchant he knew of that is boycotting buyers for reasons related to the war. He said sellers can decide with whom they want to do business, but eBay frowns on posting overtly political messages. Pursglove said eBay ordered CompAtlanta to remove the auction item and to modify its message to bidders from Canada, Mexico, France and Germany.

But CompAtlanta's message is still more or less intact, which incenses Ingram. He says he plans to pursue the matter with eBay.

He may also take it up in person with CompAtlanta. If he doesn't receive his printer before a scheduled trip south of the border later in the fall, Ingram says he'll pay the computer vendor a visit.

"If they don't send it,'' he said, "sometime in September or October I will park outside their store with a sign saying they discriminate against Canadians

P.S. I love Canadians - both false ones and true ones

You can give an idiot the license to sell goods, but he's still an idiot.

This phrase saves us all.

'The Right To Refuse Service To Anyone.'

Been done for years, just takes a canadian to cry about it.

oh come on even people who are pissed with countries like the US and france have got to realize that not everyone in the world has the same opinions and that there is nothing wrong with that.

Isint the US based on the right to have your own views regardless of what the goverment believes ?

Both the buyer and seller are being retarded. :2 cents:

Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Belgium, China, Russia are all HUGE trade partners with the US and against the war.

If ALL those countries refused trade with America it would hurt their economy badly...Every country would feel the hurt but America worst of all.

Just about every US ally was paid billions for their support on this war. Except for England and Australia, who does America have supporting them right now?

:thumbsup Pretty childish.

I am stunned I actually agree with stocktrader. Both of those guys are being jack offs.

"If they don't send it,'' he said, "sometime in September or October I will park outside their store with a sign saying they discriminate against Canadians."

That canadian guy will pay. No doubt thats how a lot of people feel in the sellers community.

The dude is discriminating against paying customers based on the opinion of their government. The government doesn't necessarily represent the views of all its citizens.

What if the buyer was Canadian but pro-war? Would he ship then?

yeah, they'll lose a lot of business over that.:1orglaugh

i didnt say it was right.

i said thats what they hide behind.

people are free to do business with whom they choose and can refuse you for any reason.

while i may not agree with it, thats the premise of any estbishment.

especially bars.

:glugglug

canadians need to be liberated from their socialist govt.

aren't there laws against discriminating based on race, religion, nationality, sex, appearance, etc. if i open a store and but a sign out that says "no whites, christians or dutch", won't i get in legal trouble?

We are talking about printers here... Not chemical weapons.

As long as their money is good...I'd do business with them.

I'm sure he'll enjoy his stay in the enemy combatant camps.

LMFAO
:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

why do you think i disagree with you?

im saying in millions of businesses around the world there are little signs that say:

'we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.'

ive never been refused service.

i guess its cuz im WHITE. and im AMERICAN.

I know some place refuses services ( saw that a few weeks back in FtLauderdale):

" Guys,if you have no shirt on , you have no services.
Girls, you get free drinks."

They're both being stupid.

The "boycotts" are the "pro-war" version of protesting. They're both stupid as all hell.

Protesting against a nation because of one isolated incident/disagreement is silly at best. They need to grow up. But at the same time, they can refuse business to whoever they want to. That's the nature of the beast, deal with it.

i never said i think you disagree with me. my post was because you said this line:
"people are free to do business with whom they choose and can refuse you for any reason." so i asked a serious question :)

so it's ok for europeans to boycott, discriminate against US citizens and companies, and even deter business and destroy property?

but then if we turn it around, it's evil?


i don't agree with either side, boycotting is dumb, and so is stereotyping. but still.

It's too much of a hassle to send to canada. I had a couple of shipment sezied by customs.

people can refuse to do business with you for many reasons.

and no doubt, since he is in America, he can simply say, I choose to NOT ship to CANADA or out of the UNITED STATES.

so he is covered.

I know the times I have sold a few things on eBay dealing with canada sometimes was a pain and i eventually stopped doing ALL FOREIGN deals because of rip off traders. Postage is a bitch dealing with some foreign assholes.

so even I did this.

I'm hearing stories about some of my relatives that have recently travelled in the US being denied service in certain restaraunts and stores because of this.


Whatever.


People are going to be ignorant no matter what the issue is or where you go. Whether it be booing a national anthem at a hockey game, or treating visitors like dirt because of decisions their government makes, it's all the same.... ignorance. What's more amusing than knowing it exists is that some people seem surprised when it happens. In the equation of human existance, ignorance is a given.

This is one hell of a marketing ploy, how much exposure has this guy gotten because of this??????

As for boycotting, if you refuse to sell to someone, its your fucking loss, thats what competition is all about. The next guy will be more than willing to sell.

and just for the record, im all for the war, and killing that crazy fuck Saddam!

That laser printer he's selling was probably assembled in one of those countries.