Love it when feedback extortion attempts are explicitly clear
Summary: jonathanbrightlight shared a situation involving a buyer who requested a change in shipping method after purchase, threatening to leave negative feedback if their demand was not met. The buyer appeared to be another seller and may have misunderstood the shipping cost due to the item's size and weight. Several participants expressed support and offered advice, suggesting a firm yet polite response emphasizing the buyer's freedom to cancel the order if unhappy. jonathanbrightlight mentioned managing a business account and outlined their cautious approach to handling such situations, considering the impact on feedback and returns. Overall, participants expressed frustration with unreasonable customer behavior.
Just got a message from a buyer (they already bought and paid, btw):
"I just purchased this book. I expected Shipping Media Rate would be $6.49– which is what I charge my customers. Instead it’s almost $12! You could ship it Priority for that. SO: please change Shipping to Priority envelope. OR: Issue a Partial Refund of $6. If not, I will certainly include your unfairly high Shipping rates in my Evaluation. Thank you."
Yeah... we won't be doing that, and that attempt has been reported. They're obviously a seller as well from that comment, though I assume they thought the book was smaller and lighter than it is (though the size is shown in the listing). What a wonderful world we live in...
I also just had a clueless buyer who bought a book with shipping ask if they could switch to the free local pickup option they saw on the listing so they could pick it up near their home in Ohio. We're located in Florida (and yes, that listing clearly shows that, it isn't affected by the bug that I have seen where the location was being changed).
jonathanbrightlight
OP2 weeks agoI don't tend to cancel orders without the customer confirming they want to (and preferably initiating the cancellation request themselves, since that blocks negative feedback I believe), but since this is a relatively cheap item with relatively high shipping, and our cancellation rate is great, I'm considering it just to avoid the risk of an INAD return. We have buyer-paid returns on this item, but this type of buyer isn't likely to file a remorse return.
christworks
·2 weeks agoI swear that sounsd like the old geezer in front of me in line at an estate sale on Wednesday. As soon as he heard that I'm a reseller, he brought up the topic of shipping costs. He even tossed a supposed friend of his under the bus and said the friend makes more off shipping then the item. I told him his friend don't know what he is doing and must be buying junk or overpaying, but it was cute that he knew the ins and outs of his friend's business. He told me it didn't cost $7 to ship anything. When I pushed back, he got loud and I got louder. He shut it mouth when I pulled out the receipts.
I would struggle not to write a snarky comeback to your buyer. I have zero tolerance for people like that. That's one of my many faults.
jonathanbrightlight
OP2 weeks agoI do better not writing snarky comebacks because it's not my account, I manage an account for a business owned by someone else. If it were my own selling account, I'm not sure I would have responded graciously at all. (I was still firm with them, just in a polite way.)
meme6253
·3 weeks agoI agree with Hawaii, You posted the shipping, they paid it, Ask if they want to cancel. Customers have gotten out of control, They think they can demand whatever they want & too many sellers are coddling them which just emboldens them to keep doing it.
jonathanbrightlight
OP2 weeks agoYep, that’s precisely what I did. Politely but firmly.
inhawaii
·3 weeks agoDear customer, What I charge for shipping is clearly in the listing. If you are not willing to pay that you shouldn't have bought the item. Would you like me to cancel your order?
jonathanbrightlight
OP2 weeks agoThat’s similar to the reply I sent.
chapeau-noir
·2 weeks agoDear customer, What I charge for shipping is clearly in the listing. Would you like me to cancel your order?
jonathanbrightlight
OP2 weeks agoYep, basically.
chapeau-noir
·2 weeks agoI only revised the above comment to take out the personal question (though I would ask it in my mind).
stuff4divas
·3 weeks agoWOW!!! some scary people all over the place!!
albertabrightalberta
·3 weeks ago · Edited@jonathanbrightlight
Don't you love it when you get one who thinks they're smart but they out themselves so obviously?
I know what my reply would be but I'd like to see yours.
My reply would be the following (assuming you don't offer MM because you wouldn't have received that message if the buyer could have chosen it). I don't mention the extortion because I don't want him to back down.
"Thank you for your purchase. My listing doesn't offer Media Mail. As shown on your order, shipping is almost $12 and the shipping service is clearly stated so you were informed before your purchase.
As a seller yourself, you know sellers can choose and charge for whatever appropriate shipping method they choose. And as a buyer, you can choose to purchase or find another seller who uses the shipping method you'd rather have.
If you'd like to cancel, please let me know and I'll do so."
EDIT: Oh and report the scoundrel immediately, whether you cancel or not!
albertabrightalberta
·3 weeks agoThat's weird.....my reply isn't showing
jonathanbrightlight
OP2 weeks ago · EditedThe listing does use Media Mail actually, he just mistakenly thought it should be cheaper (it’s a large and heavy book). Otherwise that’s similar to my response to him. Edit: and Priority Mail even with us passing on most of the discount would be almost double what he paid for Media Mail. And he saw both prices at checkout.