Buyer left weird, negative feedback without contacting me first- didn't ask for refund!

[vanpatrick2005]

     I sold and shipped a book to a buyer who did not have recent feedback in a long while, like she hadn't bought on eBay for a long time (my radar was up, but the buyer had a verified address and has been a member for years). This buyer just left me weird, off-the-wall NEGATIVE feedback which I frankly don't understand... stating something about a workbook and prison or whatever, the negative feedback was written like the person was drunk!

     This buyer did not try to contact me first, nor did she request a refund or issue an INAD... so here is my question: should I can send a feedback revision request first (which is usually ignored or the buyer will demand this and that), or do I respond reasonably to the negative feedback (where you leave replies next to the buyers FB) by saying 'Buyer did not reach out to me prior to leaving this feedback, as returns are available upon request for any issue that the buyer may have.'  

---Then maybe I could go to eBay Facebook customer service to 'beg' eBay to remove this strange, untruthful neg feedback?--

     I DO NOT want to refund this person if I don't have to, but of course I will if I must... my dander is up and I am feeling pretty gnarly about this foolishness.

    However, I am NOT going to let this just slide- 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of unfair eBay buyers is for good sellers to do nothing'-, because I have been selling on eBay for 20 years and will fight for TRUTH, JUSTICE, and the American way Ha! Ha! Any suggestions or ideas from you, my fellow eBay selling compatriots? Any advice is certainly welcome, and also I just need a collective forum hug- I feel violated1

[mam98031]

Buyers do not have to reach out to sellers before leaving feedback of any kind.  However when leaving negative feedback there is a question on the screen asking the buyer if they contact their seller first and suggesting that is a good idea.

NEVER send a feedback revision form to ANY buyer UNLESS you have had communicates with them FIRST and they agree that they would revise the feedback.  You would also want them to know they would receive an email from Ebay and inside that email is a link so they can easily revise the feedback.

Another couple of reasons you NEVER want to send these blindly, you have a limited number of them you can use and they have a shelf life.  If the Revision form expires because you buyer didn't agree or didn't know what it was, you can not send them another one.  So it simply is not in the sellers best interest to send these out without a commitment from the buyer.

If you've done this in the past with buyer, sending them with no prior commitment, that is likely why they are ignored.  They aren't looking for an email from Ebay nor have any idea what it means.

There is NO refund request in play unless something has changed since you posted this.  So NO, don't send a refund.  Require the buyer to return the item before refunding.

Don't jump to conclusions.  Your FIRST step should be a polite and professional email to your buyer asking them if there is some issue that you can help them with.  Stay polite and helpful no matter how they respond.

To me, it sounds like they meant that feedback for another seller, so you may be getting all worked up on this and they didn't mean to post it for you.

Communication, you need to communicate with them.

[iamalwaysright]

I think I can decipher what the buyer is saying in their feedback but I need to confirm something. I know sellers have a character limit in the address field when creating postage thru ebay. Do buyers have this limit when they enter their shipping address?

Because if so, then what the buyer is complaining about that they mistakenly thought the book was a workbook. Also the buyer originally tried to have the book shipped to a prison penpal of some sort but the system did not accept their 40+ character address due to the limit. Rather than trying to truncate that prison shipping address, they used their shipping address instead which you shipped to. It's not really a complaint about you, but a complaint about the ordering/shipping process the buyer experienced.

[candd205]

Just a bit of info, take it or leave it. Not blaming anyone, just sharing a bit of info.

I know the buyer must be a little frustrated, because people can't send a book directly to their loved one in prison. How easy it would be for someone to just mail a book directly to their loved one in prison, but no, it must be purchased and then sent by a seller to their loved one in prison. So now the buyer has a book he doesn't want and his prison loved one doesn't have a book. Everyone just trying to get through the day.

[fbusoni]

@vanpatrick2005 

If I read the negative feedback correctly, it sounds as though the buyer was asking you in a note or via an eBay message to send the book NOT to the address on the shipping label, but rather to a completely different address (a prison).

Is that the case?

If so, that would be grounds to have the feedback removed, I'd imagine.  

Seller are obligated to ship only to the address that the buyer has registered with their account on eBay.

If that is what you did, you followed the rules.

[pickapaper]

@vanpatrick2005 

I don't think your buyer sounded drunk, just frustrated.

Did she ask you to ship to a different address prior to your shipping?  If so, you could have told her that you can only ship to the address eBay gives you and that if she wants it shipped to a different address, she would need to put that as an alternative shipping address in her profile prior to ordering.  

You do not owe her a refund unless she returns the book.   And do not tell her you will give her a refund if she removes the negative.  That is against policy and buyers don't always follow through with "their promise" anyway.

[soh.maryl]

Have to ask:  Your radar was up because you had a buyer who hadn't bought on eBay for awhile? 

[weedhopper3]

If you think you'll get any help from eBay to remedy this you are living in a dream world

[chevymontecarlo88]

@vanpatrick2005 

In some cases, contacting eBay via their Facebook group can be helpful. 

eBay Facebook Customer Service 

When you do send them a message, include your username and any relevant information pertaining to your problem. 

-Good luck

[fern*wood]

---

@fbusoni wrote:

Seller are obligated to ship only to the address that the buyer has registered with their account on eBay.

---

Maybe I'm just reading this wrong, but we are obligated to ship to whatever ship to address comes with their payment.  I do this all the time for my dad and his address is not my ebay registered address.   You are correct that notes asking to change the address do not count.

[gloryglorygifts]

You can change the ship to address, as a buyer. The seller shouldn't alter a shipping address at the request of the buyer, like in the purchase comments or via messaging. 

[luckythewinner]

so here is my question: should I can send a feedback revision request first, or do I respond reasonably to the negative feedback 

You have a third option, which is to do nothing. 

by saying 'Buyer did not reach out to me prior to leaving this feedback, as returns are available upon request for any issue that the buyer may have.'

Too many words. I would suggest "The item was shipped to the address provided, and I offer free returns". 

Then maybe I could go to eBay Facebook customer service to 'beg' eBay to remove this strange, untruthful neg feedback?

I dop not see any grounds for removing the feedback. There is nothing in eBay policy about removing feedback that is "strange" or that eBay will attempt to determine the "truth" of a feedback. 

[simba6]

I would not worry about that feedback.   Makes that buyer look very dumb. Don't think buyers would even consider that rambling rant.

[vanpatrick2005]

Ha ha the feedback is unintelligible... can't make heads or tails of it!

[vanpatrick2005]

Yeah, I agree that eBay customer service won't probably do anything. Though you would think it would be in their best interests to do so- if that dumb negative feedback somehow affects my sales, then it affects their money too!