A tale of 2 customers.

[inhawaii]

A tale of 2 customers.

Ungrateful customer:

Last week i had a customer request a return an a small aquarium filter.  He said it was "defective" and "didn't fit".   There's not much to it.  You hook it to a aquarium air hose.   I doubt it was defective but who knows?

In any case i apologized the the buyer for the defective filter and gave him a full refund. I told him he is supposed to send it back, but to avoid the hassle, just keep it or throw it away. (It's a $5 filter that costs me about 25 cents.)  All I asked was that he "leave me a nice feedback". No feedback was left.  Not even a "thank you".

Grateful customer:

Today i received a ebay message from a customer thanking me for the free gift I included with his order.  He was also smart enough not to put "thanks for the free gift" on my feedback.  😃

[slippinjimmy]

What is the ungrateful customer supposed to be grateful about?

There is even a whiff of feedback extortion in your request as in  "I'll give you a refund and let you keep the item IF you give me extra nice feedback.

[gracieallen01]

That's one thing about selling on any platform - it is occasioned by people, and everyone of them is different.  Never know which one you are going to get, at any given time.

[loveyourimagination49]

Why would the buyer leave you nice FB ? You sent him a defective item and you decided not to pay return shipping.

[luckythewinner]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

What is the ungrateful customer supposed to be grateful about?

There is even a whiff of feedback extortion in your request as in  "I'll give you a refund and let you keep the item IF you give me extra nice feedback.

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I agree with all of the above. 

[gracieallen01]

Ummmm, with all due respect, the OP doesn't mention anything about 'positive' feedback, nor do I get the impression, from reading what the OP wrote, that the refund was predicated upon feedback - good, bad or ugly - but already a done deal.

[inhawaii]

No, the refund was going to happen. It would have been NICE to get a nice feedback.

[inhawaii]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

What is the ungrateful customer supposed to be grateful about?

There is even a whiff of feedback extortion in your request as in  "I'll give you a refund and let you keep the item IF you give me extra nice feedback.

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Well, that he doesn't have to pack something up and send it out.  Many buyers have no clue how to ship something out and would consider it a headache. 

Is that not worth a "thank you"?  

I would have thanked the seller ... but that's just me.

Apparently you wouldn't ... that's just you. 

[slippinjimmy]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

Ummmm, with all due respect, the OP doesn't mention anything about 'positive' feedback, nor do I get the impression, from reading what the OP wrote, that the refund was predicated upon feedback - good, bad or ugly - but already a done deal.

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"leave me a nice feedback"

Do you think the OP would consider a negative to be "nice"?

If the refund was predicated on the buyer leaving ANY feedback then it's not a "whiff" of feedback extortion it becomes BLATANT feedback extortion.

I consider feedback extortion by buyers to be quite a bad thing, when it's done by sellers it's a TERRIBLE thing. I do not think the OP intended to extort anything which is why I used the word "whiff". The OP simply has unrealistic expectations that the buyer should somehow be thrilled to receive a refund for a defective item.

If a seller tried that on me they might just get the feedback they wanted so badly and they would not likely be happy with what they got.

[inhawaii]

This board amazes me.  How you can take a simple post where i thought I did 2 nice things for 2 customers and turn it around on me trying to make me look bad is amazing. 

Shame on me for asking a customer who i did something nice for to leave me nice feedback. 

Unbelievable.... 

[gracieallen01]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

Ummmm, with all due respect, the OP doesn't mention anything about 'positive' feedback, nor do I get the impression, from reading what the OP wrote, that the refund was predicated upon feedback - good, bad or ugly - but already a done deal.

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"leave me a nice feedback"

Do you think the OP would consider a negative to be "nice"?

If the refund was predicated on the buyer leaving ANY feedback then it's not a "whiff" of feedback extortion it becomes BLATANT feedback extortion.

I consider feedback extortion by buyers to be quite a bad thing, when it's done by sellers it's a TERRIBLE thing. I do not think the OP intended to extort anything which is why I used the word "whiff". The OP simply has unrealistic expectations (Some people are just like that ) that the buyer should somehow be thrilled to receive a refund for a defective item.

If a seller tried that on me they might just get the feedback they wanted so badly and they would not likely be happy with what they got.

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Well, I guess we read it differently - I read it as 'please don't leave a nasty feedback'.  No offense meant, but even a neutral could have been a 'nice' feedback.

[dhbookds]

shame on me for asking a customer who i did something nice for

I think many view what you did as your job........not something exceptionally "nice".  If the item was defective or even if it wasn't, since the buyer claimed it was.....you were going to give him a refund one way or another.  The fact that you let him keep it.....most of us would say was smart........because it saved YOU the return shipping. 

The buyer searched for the item, waited for it to be delivered and then was disappointed when it didn't work.....presumably.  I would be glad he didn't leave feedback.....

[inhawaii]

Thanks for explaining that without jumping all over me and calling me a extortionist.

I'm going to grab a mai tai and sit on the beach.  😃

[a_c_green]

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@inhawaii wrote:

In any case i apologized the the buyer for the defective filter and gave him a full refund. I told him he is supposed to send it back, but to avoid the hassle, just keep it or throw it away. (It's a $5 filter that costs me about 25 cents.)  All I asked was that he "leave me a nice feedback". No feedback was left.  Not even a "thank you".

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I have to admit that I cringed a little when I got to the part about "leave me a nice feedback." There's really no good way to ask that of a customer who has already reported a problem with the order. You did the right thing in dealing with it promptly and deciding in this case to refund with apologies, not to mention telling him to keep it, but you should really let that resolution speak for itself.

• A buyer who intends to leave feedback and was satisfied with the outcome will leave you good feedback anyway.
• A buyer who intends to leave feedback because he was not happy with what he received and will now have to locate another one elsewhere may not be so positive about the whole experience, and reminding him to leave a "nice" feedback will not improve his outlook.

Once you've provided your best customer service, just let it go; you've done all you can at that point.

[luckythewinner]

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@inhawaii wrote:

 i thought I did 2 nice things for 2 customers 

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... and then came to this board to complain about one of them by:

(a) questioning his honesty;

(b) calling him ungrateful; 

(c) solicited feedback; 

(d) complained that he did not leave said feedback 

IMHO this board did not react to the "nice thing" you did for this customer.

It reacted to the strings you attached to that nice thing, and the spin you gave the situation when you reported it on this board.