Would you unblock this guy?

[porcupid_63]

A few times a buyer can confuse the Navy Blue shirts I sell to look like Black because they are so dark. I usually tell them to look at the underside of the shirt since it tends to be a bit lighter to see that it is not Black, it's Blue. Most of the time that solves it. Other times they end up not even bothering with my response and just continue to yell at me saying it's Black and returns it. I always receive those back as returns and it's Navy Blue.

This one buyer made this mistake too but sent me a pretty harsh first message. He filed a SNAD too, it got auto-accepted. In his very rude message, he tells me he is going to leave me a negative, some of it yelling using all caps, says how extremely upset he is with me, name calls, and goes on. I immediately blocked him. I didn't reply to him yet and the next day he closes the SNAD and messages me that now he can see that the shirt is a dark Navy Blue and to ignore his first message.

Now, 3 weeks later, he messages me saying he is trying to buy from me. And asks me if I blocked him. What would you do? unblock him? I'm concerned that he's liable to jump to crazy conclusions again with his attitude. Thoughts?

[city*satins]

I would definitely keep this buyer blocked.  The mistake was one thing but the abusive manner toward you makes him a bad bet.  Also, once one transaction has gone badly, anything 'possibly wrong' is sure to go wrong next time because even if the buyer admits he was wrong, he'll be hypervigilant forever after and looking for reason to find fault.  It's human nature.

As a clothing seller,  I've run into this black vs dark navy blue from time to time.  I tell the buyer to take the item and something that is absolutely 100% certain black (like a black clothing hanger from the closet or a black belt or a black spatula from the kitchen etc) and put both side by side under a bright light.  Best way to see if the item is black or navy blue or dark navy blue (india ink)

[southern*sweet*tea]

Unblock? Ummm, no.

I have no problem with returns. I do have a problem with nasty attitudes.

[slati_2013]

No, no, no. Don't. You will live to regret it. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me".

[3eyedfishcatcher]

I looked at some of your listings set the color to navy blue then black. for the navy blue the dark back ground makes it hard to tell if it is blue or black. However as you are using variation listings Since the buyer is selecting the color it is hard to say I thought I was getting black as they selected navy blue.

Perhaps a white back ground would be better and do a separate listing just for the navy blue would help.

[porcupid_63]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

How badly do you want/need the sale? That should be the first priority.

Otherwise, no, don’t unblock. I’m not one who normally blocks as a general rule, but think i’d make an exception in this case. Did he apologize for the first rude message? One top of that, it is a policy violation to threaten a seller with poor feedback. Called you names and yelled. No excuse. He squandered your good will, and this is why we have a block list.

@gwzcomps great advice to restrict the communication of those on a seller’s block list. To clarify, that specific Buyer Requirement block doesn't work if the buyer has been in a transaction with the seller. But good reminder!

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I don't really need the buyer's business. My sales are fine. He didn't apologize, just told me to disregard his first message. He just said he will leave me a negative that was when he still thought the shirt was black. I don't think that counts as an actual threat according to ebay but we all know it is. I've gotten only about 3-4 buyers who made this blue and black mistake out of hundreds. And like you said its not about the mistake, just send it back. its about the buyer who lost his temper without waiting for me to even reply yet.

One concern also is that he can still leave a bad feedback for the first purchase still. I wont be surprised if someone like him with a quick bad temper do something like that if I don't reply to him. Would you still ignore him?

[webwanna]

Without name calling, I would unblock.  Everybody can have a bad day.  & he did acknowledge his error.

Upset is one thing, but there is no need to name call.

You can expect similar treatment if he ever has another issue, so it just depends on what you are willing to deal with to make a sale.

[fern*wood]

Your buyer is blocked and knows it--that alone is enough to sour the relationship.  So no, I would not unblock. 

[gracieallen01]

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@porcupid_63 wrote:

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I don't really need the buyer's business. My sales are fine. He didn't apologize, just told me to disregard his first message. He just said he will leave me a negative that was when he still thought the shirt was black. I don't think that counts as an actual threat according to ebay but we all know it is. I've gotten only about 3-4 buyers who made this blue and black mistake out of hundreds. And like you said its not about the mistake, just send it back. its about the buyer who lost his temper without waiting for me to even reply yet.

One concern also is that he can still leave a bad feedback for the first purchase still. I wont be surprised if someone like him with a quick bad temper do something like that if I don't reply to him. Would you still ignore him?

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Yes.  There is no respect there, and never will be.  The decision has been made whether to leave feedback -  blocked or unblocked won't make a difference.  Just my opinion, you understand.

[thingsoldandnew10]

Keep the block on your buyer - he deserves to be blocked due to his threating message(s). Judging from your remarks you would have accepted their return without any problem. Your disgruntled buyer should not have threatened you with negative feedback and been more civil in their messages.

As far as a reply - no reply necessary. The buyer is blocked, so leave it rest. No use in poking the bear. Keep a record of your buyer's name and address. This buyer just might come back with a different userid and buy,

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@porcupid_63 wrote:

A few times a buyer can confuse the Navy Blue shirts I sell to look like Black because they are so dark. I usually tell them to look at the underside of the shirt since it tends to be a bit lighter to see that it is not Black, it's Blue. Most of the time that solves it. Other times they end up not even bothering with my response and just continue to yell at me saying it's Black and returns it. I always receive those back as returns and it's Navy Blue.

This one buyer made this mistake too but sent me a pretty harsh first message. He filed a SNAD too, it got auto-accepted. In his very rude message, he tells me he is going to leave me a negative, some of it yelling using all caps, says how extremely upset he is with me, name calls, and goes on. I immediately blocked him. I didn't reply to him yet and the next day he closes the SNAD and messages me that now he can see that the shirt is a dark Navy Blue and to ignore his first message.

Now, 3 weeks later, he messages me saying he is trying to buy from me. And asks me if I blocked him. What would you do? unblock him? I'm concerned that he's liable to jump to crazy conclusions again with his attitude. Thoughts?

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[*madison]

Wow this is a pretty tough crowd.  And here i go going to disagree with everyone. 

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And then you actually read the ops post, did a 180 and agreed with everyone..

[baantiques]

Once someone is on my blocked list, they don't come off.  Ever.

[classic_luxe]

I would leave him blocked, if he gives you a negative for the original purchase then I would contact eBay. With his threats of leaving you neg fb, plus his eBay message stating that he realized it was navy and to disregard his nasty response there's about a 100% chance that you would get the neg fb removed after explaining and letting eBay look at the exchange of messages.

[monster-deals]

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@porcupid_63 wrote:

What would you do? unblock him? 

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Nope.

[zmoz]

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The fact is you don't need this buyer. And you don't need to make them happy. What you are selling is not rare and weird with a small number of people interested. There is no need for them to be rude, and it just shows you what kind of person they are right from the start. You will never have a good relationship with this person, it just won't happen. Replying to anything will likely just turn into a long string of harassment, threats, and insults. There is nothing to gain, except stress. Do you need more stress?? When people are rude, obnoxious, threatening, etc, that's it, I'm done. You will not be my customer. If you already are my customer, you get pushed to the very back of the line and then I will never speak to you again. This is how most businesses work - if you are rude and belligerent on the phone, they will either hang up on you, or simply ignore you and push you to the back of the line.  They may pretend to be nice and happy on the phone, but in reality they are talking about you behind your back and making notes on your account.

To  the OP: If he leaves a negative fight it. Call ebay, demand a supervisor. Don't take no for an answer. If you have to say "that's not a good enough answer" and sit there in awkward silence for a bit, do it. The ebay staff has to explain to you in great detail why the feedback can't be removed, if they do not. Make sure you read the rules very carefully and have them in front of you when you call, because you will have to read them to whoever you are talking to.

Keep this in mind: You can call ebay and fight for an hour, talking to 3 different supervisors, and none of them cooperate. Then, you can call back tomorrow, get somebody else, and 5 minutes later your problem is fixed. This is how ebay support works, this exact situation literally happens to me all the time. If they say they "can't" do something that means they "won't", which is different. And if they say "and that is my final decision", it is not final, they are in no position to be making decisions.