To Reach Out or Not To Reach Out
Edit: I fully refunded my buyer and responded to their feedback. Keep reading if you want to know what all of this was about. Merry Christmas!🎄
I had a buyer leave positive feedback on a coffee/spice grinder. They are (amazingly) very happy with their purchase, despite the fact they noted that it acted erratically. This prompted them to remove the outer housing where they discovered the inner housing around the motor was cracked. They stated they are attempting to repair it with epoxy.
Other than the cosmetic issues that were visible on the outer housing and noted in the listing, it worked well. The outer housing was not cracked or else I would have opened it up to inspect the inside or, more than likely, I would have never bought it to start. I included a video of it working in the listing, and I tested it again prior to shipping. I did not observe it acting erratically. This makes me think maybe it was damaged
during shipping, though I cannot understand why the outer housing is not also damaged unless that motor is loose and slammed up against the side. The buyer did not mention the motor being loose.
Normally I would say don't reach out, the buyer is happy. But, since the buyer included a photo of the damage in their feedback, I don't know if I should just let that hang out there. I'm amazed they are happy and want to keep it.
What would you do?
christworks
OP7 months ago@ryry-jj I proactively issued a refund. After reading @itsjustasprain 's post, I reviewed the listing closer and saw where I mentioned a crack on the internal piece where the burrs are. This had been listed a while, and I had forgotten about that. So now when I put that with what @itsjustasprain mentioned and what my buyer found, this is something I shouldn't have listed as used even if it was functional. This may have been dropped at some point, and I'd rather take care of my buyer now than get a return down the line or them taking the loss for it. A buyer should not have to "fix" something that was not disclosed in the listing. This one is on me.
I appreciate everybody's feedback, even those who said "say nothing." There are times when that's appropriate. I ultimately decided that was not the case here.
jdbelt1960
·7 months agoI would have probably contacted and refunded the buyer with no return request.
ryry-jj
·7 months agoI'd reach out to them and let them know you saw the feedback and if they are having issues they can still return it. If they think they can fix it, great, give it a try. I'd still allow a return if the fix doesn't work.
christworks
OP7 months ago@itsjustasprain Thank you. I see it now that you pointed it out. This is not of the quality of something I would have sold as used, even if it functions. I am going to follow @12345jamesstamps advice and take care of my buyer. I do not really operate on a repeat buyer business model, but that is irrelevant.
ccomic
·7 months ago"Take the win" means selling someone a broken item is OK so long as they don't complain or if their complaint will scroll off the screen quickly enough? I frequently try to fix things as well and will tell the seller about problems without asking for compensation, so I guess its OK, but if they were really happy, I don't think they would have mentioned it at all.
itsjustasprain
·7 months agoActually if you look at photo #14 in your listing you can see in that view of the bottom that one of the two squeeze release tabs near the center has broken off and is missing. That seems to be the reason for the lower part of the outside case to have a slightly lopsided gap around the middle (photos 1-4, especially #4). There might have been more damage than that which you missed.
12345jamesstamps
·7 months agoBuyer is OK but will buyer return to purchase something else?
'Repeat Buyers' of course is a seller's goal.
If buyer paid for shipping...I would refund shipping which I believe we can do without getting a 'ding'.
I usually do combine shipping as a reason.
Tis the season to be nice🎅ðŸ¼
a_c_green
·7 months agoTake the win: don't post a response and just let the Positive feedback eventually roll off the page. If the buyer does file a Not As Described claim, then you can decide whether to refund with or without requiring the item to be returned first. I cannot see what that buyer's Feedback Left for Others looks like, but now that he has left a Positive for you, that's locked in. I would just carry on without further interaction with the buyer.
stuff4divas
·7 months ago@christworks not knowing what 'really' happened, and that they posted their satisfaction with the product, i think your job is done and time to move on to the next project, in other words, IGNORE
if they want something more from u, they will let u know straight out