eBay

oceanviewengineer2015 · ‎04-08-2018

I got a message today about an item I sold about 6 weeks ago, let's call it a dress. Buyer says the item isn't light blue like in the pictures but darker and very ugly.

I respond that I will gladly allow her to return and refund her 100%.

She responds that shipping it back will cost her too much and she now has no choice but to leave me negative feedback.

She hasn't left it as of yet but I anticipate she will. If I call Ebay and they look through the back and forth messages, will they see it as feedback distortion? ( I feel it is)

It would be my first neg out of about 1500 FB and it will be worth the pain of calling Ebay if it's got a shot of a postive outcome.

It seems I am getting more and more of these types of messages now with the free returns **bleep**.

luxe_auto_parts · ‎04-10-2018

I'd put a disclaimer about how an item looks on pictures and that it might looks slightly different "live", so buyers wouldn't be able to complain they didn't like color.

bigdeals.etc · ‎04-10-2018

Based on what you said, it does not qualify as feedback extortion under ebay policy. It has to be strictly black and white, absolutely no room for uncertainty that the threat has been made. I.e. "If you don't ____, I will leave you bad feedback." Ebay is super scared to remove negatives and anger the buyer (for fear of lawsuits), so they've told me. That's why it has to clear cut. Even a statement like "Your actions will determine my feedback" will not qualify as extortion because agents will say maybe the buyer is saying they will leave you good feedback. I doubt the leniency on this has changed.

It is correct that color shade is considered remorse and not covered by MBG, agents have confirmed with me many times. It's due to the many viewing devices buyers use with different color settings.

I get this type of buyer alot... they are unhappy but vague with what they actually want. Few may want nothing but just an apology, some fishing for partial refunds (or free items), some just wanting to return for their money back. Some buyers don't tell you what they want, then get offended after you ask them... because they believe it should be obvious what steps you should take (something I don't agree with). But that's just how some are. They want you to read their mind immediately and fix the issue yesterday. Others are vague because of negotiating tactics. To never be the one to ask... see what they are willing to offer you then demand a little more than that. It's like a game to them to squeeze out as much as they can. Then the rest are just too flakey and forget to ask right off the bat what they want.

It's hard to tell which one of these the buyer is, so asking the buyer can go both ways. One thing though... if you keep messaging the buyer and they in fact are trying to extort, you might be able to get them to incriminate themselves by typing a more obvious threat.

tellmemama · ‎04-10-2018

@coolections wrote:
@tellmemama wrote:
Her complaints are clearly buyer's remorse. I would wear the neg with pride.
@tellmemama
Someone buys a light blue dress and receives an ugly dark blue dress and you call it buyer's remorse and suggest wearing the negative with pride. OK

Since we can't see the listing, we don't know exactly what the item is or how it was described so we can only go by the information given. That said, the OPs buyer bought a blue dress and decided it wasn't the correct shade of blue. I don't know how the dress suddenly became uglier than the pictures but that's another story. Even eBay has a disclaimer about how colors can show differently on different monitors. Whichever the case, the blues have stated many times that shade of color is not SNAD. Plus the OP offered a refund but the buyer refused and went right to feedback.

In the real world, no normal buyer is going to keep an item s/he is unhappy with and forgo a refund upon return if that is available. It's no secret the MBG is heavily favored towards buyers so she likely would have gotten the return shipping label too (provided of course the OP didn't try to fight the clear remorse return). Instead she runs to feedback. That's the Scammer 101 move to get the price reduced or better yet a free item. If not, what would you call it?

The calm response showing the OP doesn't roll over to scammers is the badge to be worn proudly. It helps keep the other scammy buyers away if they see that being uncooperative in the returns process or threatening negative feedback still won't let them get their way.

Maybe they can move on to your listings. They won't get very far with mine.

Joe

mr_lincoln · ‎04-10-2018

@oceanviewengineer2015 Trout season opened here a few weeks ago so lots of people are fishing ... one interpretation of the Buyer's reply would be they are Fishing for a Refund.

The Buyer mentioned money in the reply (the bait on the hook) in the form of shipping costs then throws down the ultimatum of the neg FB ... that's a strong statement BUT was not followed up with the threatened action. The Buyer is waiting for you to offer $$ in the form of a Refund that will be at or above what the shipping cost was.

One option is to repeat your generous offer for a full refund with a returned item then add a link to eBay's Feedback Extorsion policy ... I wouldn't call eBay at this point.

You wrote: " ... It would be my first neg out of about 1500 FB ...", sadly, the current FB system has been intentionally unbalanced in favor of Buyers so they can use it (unspoken at times) to manipuate Sellers ... those are the facts.

I Buy and Sell but am primarily a Seller. However, when I am Buying and contact Sellers I am very, very careful with what I say and how I say it in eBay's messaging. I also identify myself as a fellow Seller too.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor