As usual, when Christmas comes around I’m on eBay quite frequently. Over the past few years, I’ve had plenty of experiences, great and terrible, to report.

For one thing, I’ve learned that when I write the seller emails about his or her negligence, often it is just the threat of bad feedback that gets their ass in gear to ship the item, pay me, or refund my money.

But recently I used that logic only to get it thrown back my face. Our email chain was getting long and going nowhere, so I decided to use my sternest voice and request a refund on an item that was sent to me in the wrong size. And I got this:

“I must say you do have a terrible attitude though! Please use a different seller in the future.”

Crap. What would my mom say?

I guess there are people out there who simply make mistakes, and more importantly, don’t deserve my online tongue-lashing. I would never be so cold in person. Actually I’m one of those people who can never think of the right thing to say in the heat of the moment anyway, so I end up saying nothing 95% of the time.

The internet really gives me that confidence to speak up. And now I have an attitude problem. What would you do?

Best,

Laura Wolf