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

[vanpatrick2005]

Thank you! And I checked it out, you cannot sent hardcover books to a penal institution, and nowhere in my listing does it say 'workbook' in my item description.  I am going to contact Facebook ebay

[vanpatrick2005]

My point is  is that the transaction was strange- you can't deny the feedback is basically incoherent! By the way, if you sell on eBay, you should shop on eBay- why give your money to Amazon? Shop on here and spend some $$$, chapeau!! We eBay sellers are starving on here, don't you know!?

[vanpatrick2005]

Good question! Maybe some buyers like private listings because sometimes I sell risque or personal items; as a buyer, I would not want feedback showing I bought something 'naughty' or personally embarrassing (like adult diapers)... also a lot of things I sell are gifts, and you can find out stuff on shared computers...

[vanpatrick2005]

Believe me, I have good nerves. I have been selling on here for 20 years, and for a 2 year period, it was a major source of income. But I can't stand ignorance, malice, or lack of empathy. You know, I have bought on eBay for 30 years, and have NEVER left a negative feedback? I have left neutrals for sure, but when you leave a NEG, you are messing with a person's business, you are screwing with a person's money.  When I buy on eBay, I personally look at the seller's FB, and if two sellers have comparable prices and one has poorer feedback, guess which one gets my business? I bend over backwards to please my customers, because I do have OCD, I am a perfectionist. So when a NEG FB appears on my account- which is never until now- I get a little gnarly because I CARE. I put too much time in this to have **bleep** happen. If something is my fault, well then I have to take the consequences. But what's right is right- RIGHT?

[vanpatrick2005]

I checked it out and it looks like a regular address, no prison address came up on my search. So it just is so weird!

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@vanpatrick2005 wrote:

Thank you for your response, I agree with you- and maybe I can get an eBay rep who realizes 1: the buyer did not request a different shipping address and 2: you can't ship anything other than letters to prison because its considered contraband and it will be confiscated!

---

The rules differ by state and sometimes also by prison. In some states it is possible for some sellers to ship books to prisons.

This part is understandable, and you should have raised a red flag rather than ship to a prison. Asking the buyer to cancel the sale would have been prudent.

The buyer makes it clear, you shipped a hardback book when they expected a paperback workbook. If your listing did not make it clear that it was a hardback, you risk an INAD claim.

[mam98031]

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@vanpatrick2005 wrote:

Thank you! And I checked it out, you cannot sent hardcover books to a penal institution, and nowhere in my listing does it say 'workbook' in my item description.  I am going to contact Facebook ebay

---

Just so you know, whether or not it was a workbook will not help you get the feedback removed.  It simply isn't important to getting it removed.  I realize it is important to you, but Ebay isn't going to care about that.

[chapeau-noir]

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@vanpatrick2005 wrote:

My point is  is that the transaction was strange- you can't deny the feedback is basically incoherent! By the way, if you sell on eBay, you should shop on eBay- why give your money to Amazon? Shop on here and spend some $$$, chapeau!! We eBay sellers are starving on here, don't you know!?

---

Another assumption. How do you know I shop on Amazon? And are you aware that what you can find on eBay you cannot find on Amazon?

[vanpatrick2005]

Whatever, if you sell on here, buy on here. Period.

[vanpatrick2005]

MY LISTINGS ARE CLEAR, THERE IS NO PAPERBACK WORKBOOK. THIS IS A HARDCOVER EDITION. THERE WERE NO SHIPPING ADDRESSES TO ANY PRISON. AS A SECOND-SALE BOOKSELLER, SENDING  (EVEN SOFTCOVER ) BOOKS TO A PRISON IS FORBIDDEN (CONTRABAND) SO NOW I HAVE TO PUT IN MY LISTINGS: I do not ship to PENAL institutions! I did everything 100% by -the-book! No wonder eBay sellers are getting sick of this forum, I ask for cogent advice and other than mam98031, I get nothing but negativity and 'It's your fault, Van Patrick'... I will have do things my way, and I will probably suffer this dumbass unfair, untruthful feedback and sales will go in the toilet again. Since this FB was left, nothing has sold and sales were going better up to Friday. Thank you all for your input, even though most of it just irritated me further.