When, Or If, To Enter Negative Feedback?

[j.seymour]

Hi All,

I purchased an item described as "in mint condition."  You guessed it: It's not even close to being in mint condition.  So I wish to return it.  I sent the seller a courtesy heads up, and he replied "I don't offer returns."  So I guess this is going to be an adversarial relationship from here on.  (First time in my nearly nineteen years on eBay.  I suppose it was bound to happen, some day :(.)

I've initiated a formal return request based on the description being inaccurate.  My question is this: Being as the  seller has chosen to be uncooperative, I would be inclined to register negative feedback.  (Also a first, for me.)  Would that be approrpriate at this time, or should I wait to see how the seller responds to the formal return request?

I want to do the right thing.  Just not certain what is the right thing to do.  I know a lot of sellers get a raw deal.  I don't want to be one of Those Buyers.

Heck, I was even going to volunteer to "share the pain," by offering to pay the return shipping.  Now I'm not so inclined, given his initial response.

[j.seymour]

Very well, lightlily, I'll send the seller a polite note.

I will make sure not to miss any deadlines.

[mr_lincoln]

@j.seymour  I recently had to share some of eBay's Help Page guidance with a low volume Buyer who left a less than Positive  FB before doing anything, through me initiating correspondence they admitted they "thought" FB had to be left right away and they never messaged me prior to processing a Return request which I accepted and its in process.  " ... Many problems are misunderstandings that can be worked out when members talk to one another. The first thing we recommend is for the buyer and seller to communicate. ..."

You may want to message the Seller again giving them a 2nd chance to be amenable and are welcome to include that quote from eBay.  Do NOT however mention anything about Feedback in correspondence.  Just let them know YOU are trying to resolve the issue with the tools eBay supplies, that's eBay messaging, the Resolution Center, etc. and would simply request that the Seller respond in kind in your efforts to the return the item for a full refund.

[j.seymour]

In fact I did just that, mr_lincoln, w/o having to consult eBay's guidance.  To me that's just normal consideration.

When, by late the evening of receipt of the item I determined I just could not overlook the disparities between the condition in which the item was claimed to be and its actual condition: Still I slept on it.  The next morning, still feeling "No, I'll never be satisfied with this, no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise," I politely messaged the seller that I wished to return the item as it did not match his desciption.

Heck, I would have paid the return shipping ("share the pain") and still given him positive feedback if he'd just been cool.  That's the real shame, here.  He's shooting himself in the foot.  Repeatedly.

And, no: I have not mentioned feedback, or the fact I would have been willing to pay return shipping.  I've kept all correspondence to just the facts.

[mr_lincoln]

@j.seymour  You're the kind of Buyer I certainly appreciate.  I Buy too but am mainly a Seller and yes, communicating is the normal way to do business and it solves a lot of issues, that's for sure.  My Buyer has already asked if there is a way to change the FB they left but due to their inexperience I have a fear they may accidently change a Neutral to a Negative LOL!  Anyway, sounds like you are giving the Seller every opportunity to be professional about the return but they seem to be resisting your efforts ... their loss.

Have you looked at their FB history?   Sometimes there are clues there to the general type of Seller they are by what others say.  Personally I am not a fan of the current FB system since it is unbalanced in that Sellers can ONLY leave Postive FB for Buyers but Buyers can leave 3 types ... I'd love to see it replaced with something else ... but I digress.

You have to go with your gut feeling on this Seller ... they have indeed created an adversarial relationship with you which is a business no-no as you well know.

[lightlily_arts]

I do a significant amount of buying.  The seller's feedback is even more important to me when a transaction goes south.   I read all their feedback to determine if other buyers had any problems with the return process so that I know what to expect.  When I see comments that they lost their money, received bad product, or the seller wouldn't work with them I know what to expect.  Quite often you'll see the seller response telling the buyer to contact them so they can make it right.  If you see a large number of these comments it's their way of trying to make other people believe that they are trying to resolve the problems, but they really aren't or all those negative comments wouldn't have been there in the first place.  You see this sort of commentary mostly with the chinese sellers. But my point is that buyers need to see comments when a seller is difficult to work with so they don't get caught in  bad situation with them too.

[j.seymour]

Thanks, mr_l.

I've dealt with vendors in both my professional and personal lives for a good number of years. It has always been my feeling that a vendor/customer relationship should be a cooperative one.

[j.seymour]

lightlily: Re: "...buyers need to see comments when a seller is difficult to work with so they don't get caught in bad situation with them too."

*sigh* When you're right, you're right. I hate to do that. I don't think I've ever left negative feedback before. But this guy is making it impossible for me to justify doing anything else.

[mr_lincoln]

@j.seymour

---

wrote:
Thanks, mr_l.

I've dealt with vendors in both my professional and personal lives for a good number of years. It has always been my feeling that a vendor/customer relationship should be a cooperative one.

---

Exactly ... and you are more than welcome ...

[lightlily_arts]

The last thing I want to do is leave negative feedback because I know it hurts the seller.  Sometimes they just don't give you a choice especially if you have to ask eBay to step in to resolve the return problem.  Fortunately most sellers are very accommodating and helpful when I have to do a return.   When I purchase something it's because I really wanted or needed it.    I read item descriptions carefully to make sure it's what I want before purchasing.  With discretionary purchases I put them on my watch list and think about it as the last thing I want to do is waste my time returning stuff.  I love shopping on the internet as it saves me the time of running around to stores.    I have almost reached the point of buying just about everything on the internet but food and household maintenance items. I could even do that because some of the local stores offer delivery service.  If I ever become disabled I could see how that service would be really valuable too.