The $34,000.00 Vase

eBay Letter:

Oh my gosh!!! I was just checking my watched items before leaving for work and I noticed that someone(my 9 yr. old son) put in a bid for me on this vase! He is at school right now, which is a good thing for him, otherwise I'd skin him alive! I've been watching this vase for a few days now, and initially, I wasn't too upset. I'd rather do my own bidding and he was in for a talking to and some computer grounding, then I checked on the max bid!!! OMG!!! Little boy is in some serious deep water now! He may never get to use the computer again. He knew I wanted this vase and he did this after I was asleep. I don't know if he meant to do a good thing (probably) or if this is some kind of a prank. Either way, it's a ridiculous bid and he is in serious trouble. He's 9 and doesn't realize how bad this is! Please, I humbly beg of you to cancel this bid! It's ridiculous and there's no way that I can make good on such a bid! I don't know WHAT he was thinking! There will be serious consequences !

Sorry, I ran out of characters,... I WILL get to the bottom of this and punishment is due. I am so very sorry for this. I am appalled and deeply ashamed to have to ask this of you. I also realize that you are not in any way obligated to "fix" this, I just had to try. I hope and pray that you will understand (Lord knows I don't!). Thank you for your time. Sincerely, XXX

My Response:

Hello XXX, it's very difficult to attempt to wrap my head around this
story. The main point is, you can cancel the bid yourself. I don't
cancel bids unless there's a threat of non-payment, etc. My
main concern will always be that the item goes to who really
wants it. If you did not intend to make the bid or if the bid was
made in error, then by all means, cancel it. If you tell me what
the "max bid" is, I might be able to figure out whether or not
you might get outbid. Again, if you feel uncomfortable about
the bid that was made on my item, then please cancel. Regards,
Daniel

XXX response:

Thank you for your quick response. My child put in a bid of over $34,000.00! My husband has the ebay site set up so that you only need to hit "Sign In". XXX knows how to enter a bid because he has watched me do so. I don't know how to cancel a bid, or I would have. Frankly, I didn't know that it was possible to cancel a bid. I'm so terribly sorry for all this. I have a 100% feedback score. I'm a very responsible ebayer, really. I don't know what that kid was thinking!

My response:

Hello XXX, again, it's not a big deal, I just wanted you to be able to cancel
the bid yourself. Have a hot cocoa, sit back and breath, it's a story
to tell your friends if you ask me! Daniel

And everyone lived happily ever-after, I'll have to wait for that Down-Payment another day!