Hi @crayfish26qr2
So sorry for your troubles.
Before commenting, wanted to suggest that it is usually better to start a new thread rather than post at the tail end of one written months prior. The original posters have long since moved on and one’s present-day concern can be lost in the crowd. Responders may not realize you are a new voice on a months-old discussion and may even comment on the old or to the now-gone posters, rather than yours, the new.
Moving on, i see you are a successful, well-established seller of many years. As such, you’d know that giving a refund to an unhappy buyer in an attempt to resolve their concern does not prevent that buyer from leaving feedback.
In addition, as is the situation here, sometimes the buyer’s attitude is not assuaged by the seller’s helpful efforts. So they remain upset and share this in feedback. I am certain this feels unfair though little can be done about it. One can continue efforts to satisfy the recalcitrant buyer in hopes of a feedback revision, but that is unlikely to be helpful in this case.
I am curious, @crayfish26qr2 How did the buyer receive a refund if he never sent the item back? Was it a Not As Described case and eBay refunded, or did you jump the gun and refund before receipt of the goods? What happened?
A final thought: I see in your response to the negative feedback that you accused the buyer of dishonesty. Name-calling, particularly to an upset buyer, can leave a poor impression on the one audience that matters—one’s future buyers. They want to see how a seller handles themselves when dealing with a troubled transaction.
An ill-advised response from the seller can do far more damage to a seller’s reputation than the negative itself. Things like name-calling, blaming, angry, or defensive remarks need to be avoided in feedback follow-up comments for this very reason. They can make a seller’s customer service skills look bad.
But one might consider that a negative feedback is a prime opportunity to either increase or decrease one’s esteem in the eyes of current and future buyers. The impact of a negative rating can be utterly undone and defused by a well-thought out, non-emotional remark expressing concern for the buyer’s issue and steps taken to address it.
Alternately, a negative can be cemented as well-deserved and damning if the seller follows up with nothing but buyer criticism.
