Are Sellers now required to be Multi Lingual to sell on ebay?

[Anonymous]

I have a buyer who refuses to speak English to me though I live in the United States and English is the only language I'm willing to speak.   The issue is over a package that the incompetent US post office has temporarily lost.    Ebay's policy obviously is that this is my fault, as I didn't go to the post office and supervise the job they were doing the entire way from my house to the customers.   It is also my fault because I don't speak the customers language.  

There is a tracking # is 9400108205497395142210 and it shows that it stopped moving about 3 - 4 days ago because the post office can never do their job properly.   It also shows I mailed it well within my 1 business day handling time. 

The problem now is the self entitled buyer who thinks I should learn 16 languages to sell $8 items on Ebay is demanding to know where their package is.   I keep telling them I can't answer that question because I'm not the post office, and that it appears the package is stuck and it might move again, give it a few days and if it doesn't move I'll refund you.   The buyer doesn't understand that, because they don't speak english.

Do I have to go learn 16 new languages to avoid negative feedback though I only sell to people in my country which should speak my language if they are trying to buy items off me?   I know that's where this is going, it's going to be another unwarranted negative feedback received on ebay which will probably result in my taking my inventory to amazon.    People say negative feedback doesn't effect you, it certainly does, when I get -'s my impressions drop drastically until my feedback % comes back up, i am absolutely tired of getting unwarranted negative feedback for issues that aren't my fault.   I've also compared similar sellers and I can definitely see how people with higher feedback get more sales. 

What on earth should I do, I refuse to learn a 2nd language to sell on Ebay!

[kare-bearb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am not selling internationally, this is a customer in the USA that refuses to speak English.

I tried google translate and it provides broken Spanish.   I keep typing what i want to say in English and having it translate and all they do is keep repeating the same question to me every time they respond. 

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When using an online translation service,

be sure to keep your sentences short & to the point.

Complex sentences give google translate a migraine.

example:

I do not sell internationally.

This customer is in the USA.

They refuse to speak English.

[pikabo-icu]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

I think your customer service skills could use a little fine tuning. Your buyer, who gave you their business, has a concern. Instead of addressing it, you are complaining that it isn’t your fault, that you don’t speak the language and cannot answer for the post office. Well, whose responsibility is it to assist the customer, if not yours?

If this were my buyer, i would find a way to communicate with them, contact the post office and find out what’s up with their package, and relay that info to them. That would be helpful and might calm down their concerns so you don’t end up having to pre-maturely refund them. 

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Yeah that's good advice from @fashunu4eeuh 

If it were my customer; I would do everything I could to give them good customer service.

A LOT of sellers complain that eBay doesn't provide good CS as of late but perhaps we need to focus on the customer service "WE" are providing. 

Use a translator, explain you used a translator and only speak English. As suggested copy the tracking into your message..

Treat your buyer the way you would want to be treated by a seller. 

[popblox]

It sounds like you're able to interpret their messages, despite the language barrier. More than likely, the buyer is repetitively asking you the same question in hopes that you will reach peak frustration and just refund early to make them go away. Don't do it.

The item will eventually arrive - if you refund now, the buyer will keep the money (and the item) and you won't have any recourse. Inform the buyer that the next step according to eBay policy would be to file an item not received case - see this post for more details on how to handle an INR after it's been opened.

If they continue to psycho-message you, I've found the best way to respond is by answering with a question, such as "Sorry I don't understand why you're asking me this again, did you get my last message?". If that doesn't do it, I would suggest letting them know that you have already answered their question and you will be unavailable for the next 24-48 hours. Then just ignore them, they'll tire out or reach max messages eventually.

[dnasilver]

Why do you think everyone in the US is required to speak your native tongue?

[dariudaudery_0]

Sold item on ebay.com, buyer from France.

What he wanted was partial refund for dumb reason like different colour cord. He had pictures to see that cord was Brown and not Black like on a box (50 year old item or so).

He speaks french i speak english, using google translate, but buyer kept insisting that i use French when speaking with him because he is not gonna use google translator...

He also kept insulting me because i was not speaking French, then mentioned my feedback in attempt to get partial refund. After few more exchanges he actually left a negative feedback and sent 2 more insults. 

I have not blocked him right away because i was curious what else he will do. He has made an offer on a different item. While offer was great i had to decline and blocked him.

Still have that negative if anyone is curious, not sure if i should even try to get it removed because ebay CS sucks and they don't ever help with anything...

[dnasilver]

that does go both ways unless one feels entitled.

[gwens*4saleitems*]

You could learn American Sign Language. That's a second language.

[doc-holmes]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am not selling internationally, this is a customer in the USA that refuses to speak English.

I tried google translate and it provides broken Spanish.   I keep typing what i want to say in English and having it translate and all they do is keep repeating the same question to me every time they respond. 

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Are they actually refusing to communicate in English, or do they just not speak the language? 

[lepke1979]

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@gwens*4saleitems* wrote:

You could learn American Sign Language. That's a second language.

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Sadly, it makes emails quite large. 

[reallynicestamps]

Fun fact.

English is not an official language in the USA.

The USA has no official languages.

[gwens*4saleitems*]

IKR !?!?!?

[Anonymous]

I'm doing quite fine selling to US buyers only and have no intentions of dealing with anything international.    Telling people they won't be successful if they don't sell internationally is utter nonsense. 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I don't get paid enough to care that much about an $8 transaction.   I'd just refund them and block them, but the last time I refunded someone before they opened a case I got a strike for cancelling for out of stock.   Had nothing to do with being out of stock, but appealing was useless. 

You can have your opinions, in my opinion spending 2+ hours on a $8 transaction is a great way to go out of business. 

[Anonymous]

When did I say everyone in the US is required to speak my language?   I said if you're ordering from me, you're required to speak my language.   If you don't speak English, order from someone that speaks your language.  pretty simple policy. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks I'm going to copy paste your message and just wait until they open an INR.