Damanding a never offered feature and punishig the seller if not obaying is OK with eBay.

[marantz_lamps]

A buyer demanded from me a feature I never offered AFTER he purchased my item. My answer was that I would send him upgraded items if I had the extra parts needed in stock, but I don't have them, so I'm sending him the item as it is described in the listing. After nearly 60 days he left me with a negative feedback for not sending him the upgraded parts as I "promised"!? Of course I reported the buyer to eBay and requested removing the obviously unfair negative feedback and here is the answer I received: "...Our decision doesn't mean we think you deserve the Feedback or that it's fair. It just doesn't meet our guidelines for removal..." 

I'm in shock! How it is even possible? I'm guilty for not obeying the buyers request for something I never offered or promised. I would refund the buyer with no questions asked if It was requested...

[pburn]

People hear what they want to hear, or interpret it in the best possible fashion that's to their benefit.

If this happens again, tell the buyer you will create a listing for the item(s) (if you have it in stock), and they can purchase it at their leisure. Don't tell buyers you'll send them something you don't even know whether you have in stock.

[marantz_lamps]

"...Don't tell buyers you'll send them something you don't even know whether you have in stock..."

I never told to no one that I will send him something I don't have in stock... 

The buyer requested something that is NOT in my listing and I don't have in stock AFTER he purchased the item. And left me with a negative feedback for that. And it appears to be a normal behaviour on eBay.

[ohnojoey]

It's too bad you got a negative.

If the buyer was demanding something not included, that's the time to work it out or cancel the sale. If they were "demanding" then they were unreasonable.

As said above, people hear what they want to hear, and the buyer may have heard, "I will send the parts when I check my stock" when you actually said "if" I have them.

In retrospect, it would be good to just say- sorry no extra parts, rather than promise extra parts "if" you find them.

It sounds like you were trying to be nice and would have sent the extra parts if you had them, but I have learned that demanding people are bullies and so best just to say no thanks, and walk away.

[marantz_lamps]

I was ready to refund or resend the item as it is described in the listing if I was requested to do that. And of course I would send the upgraded version if I had the extra parts needed (they are not included in the listing at all). The thing is that eBay took the buyers side even if they admitted that I'm right and it's not my fault.

[tunicaslot]

We have a new low feedback buyer who asks for something other than what was in the listing after the sale. The feedback is inappropriate - but OP - your answer speaks more highly of you than the buyer. You gave a professional response so future buyers will see that - not the negative. 

It's sad that in the past - buyers and sellers could talk - send extras ect without all the **bleep**. I might have thrown those perfume samples away - but it was a kind thought from a seller. I've had buyers thrilled that I included extras at no cost. I've made similar statements to buyers and if I indeed do have the item to send will include it - if not no harm because they received what was listed in the ad and paid for.

Too bad so many are of the me me mentality lately.

[luckythewinner]

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@marantz_lamps wrote:

 My answer was that I would send him upgraded items if I had the extra parts needed in stock, but I don't have them, so I'm sending him the item as it is described in the listing.

---

IMHO your original mistake was adding unnecessary information to your original answer. Telling the buyer what you WOULD have done for him IF you were able to do it BUT you couldn't was entirely unnecessary and of no benefit to either you or the buyer. In fact, it seems to have confused the buyer.

IMHO your answer should have been: "Sorry This item does not have the upgraded items that you requested. Would you like to cancel the order?"

[mam98031]

I would try calling again.  This time when you talk with someone, make sure you have them review the emails between you and the buyer.  The original ruling really wasn't wrong.  If you just look at the FB they left for you, nothing breaches the rules for leaving FB.  So they may have ruled by the strict sense of the rules and didn't consider the emails, which can be considered.

So I really would try calling again.  Remain polite and professional and keep your feelings and emotions out of it.  Make that CSR WANT to work for you.  Stick to the facts and plead your case.  

Good Luck!

[jeannicho22]

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@marantz_lamps wrote:

A buyer demanded from me a feature I never offered AFTER he purchased my item. My answer was that I would send him upgraded items if I had the extra parts needed in stock, but I don't have them, so I'm sending him the item as it is described in the listing. After nearly 60 days he left me with a negative feedback for not sending him the upgraded parts as I "promised"!? Of course I reported the buyer to eBay and requested removing the obviously unfair negative feedback and here is the answer I received: "...Our decision doesn't mean we think you deserve the Feedback or that it's fair. It just doesn't meet our guidelines for removal..." 

I'm in shock! How it is even possible? I'm guilty for not obeying the buyers request for something I never offered or promised. I would refund the buyer with no questions asked if It was requested...

---

The feedback you received SHOULD be removeable.  Call CS again and ask them to look into it.  The buyer cannot leave FB for things not included in the listing.  Was the part they wanted included in the listing?  NO?  It absolutely meets the criteria for removal provided things happened as you say they did.

[ed8108]

Best to reargue your position and speak with a different cs rep who may not apply the same strict scrutiny standard, the result may be worth the effort. 

Wishing you good luck & success

[city*satins]

I recommend that you call again and try to get a Customer Service rep who understands what you are saying.  Don't use words like "fair" - that's a trigger word that customer service reps use to decide that the seller is actually guilty and the buyer is in the right.   Don't use words like "misunderstood" or anything similar because that's another trigger word that signifies that the seller is to blame for miscommunicating with the buyer.

Also don't leave a reply in feedback until everything has been resolved.  Your use of the word "obeying" does not really communicate correctly what you meant to say.  The buyer didn't give you a command so you couldn't very well obey it.  The buyer simply was mistaken.  

English is not your first language, is that true?  Although your English is quite good, conflict between a seller and a buyer, and between a seller and a customer service representative can become confusing because people tend to use strong words, often exaggerate, and are apt to be emotional.  That always puts the non-native-speaker at a disadvantage, and when it's the seller, it puts the seller in a weak position.

To protect yourself, keep it super simple.  Short sentences.  Very specific. Even if you have to give the impression to the buyer (or later to the customer service representative) that you're not very smart.    Don't be afraid of looking dumb - I do it a lot when there is a misunderstanding, and the dumber I sound and the more I'm repetitive on a very limited set of statements, the more successful I am at ending conflict.

*****

Having said that, in future, never tell a buyer that you'd do something if you could.  It might seem like good customer service but it's easy to be misunderstood, as in this instance.

Buyer are inclined to see what they want to see, and can easily misunderstand you and think you're promising to do something WHEN YOU CAN. Then get mad when you never can and therefore don't.  Suddenly they're accusing you of breaking a promise. Even though you never made one!

Contrary to any prior notions you might have had that it's good to use a sale to build a relationship with a buyer who might make future purchases, it's a safer strategy to handle your sale as if it is the one and only time you're ever going to deal with that buyer.

With that in mind, avoid saying stuff like:

I would send you X if I had it in stock

I will notify you when I get Y back in stock

Only tell buyers what you are going to do. Not what you wish you could do or might do some time in the future.  Just what you're going to do right now.

[jason_incognito]

So just call over and over again until you get someone that will give you what you want?

Every time this comes up we get a chorus of "I didn't tell them to keep calling" but the last few posts all say the same thing. Call until you get what you want.

[city*satins]

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@jason_incognito wrote:

So just call over and over again until you get someone that will give you what you want?

Every time this comes up we get a chorus of "I didn't tell them to keep calling" but the last few posts all say the same thing. Call until you get what you want.

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Are you finding fault with my advice?

If you phone a customer service department (anywhere, not just eBay) and believe that you have not been understood  or that the information or advice you were given was incorrect, would you just shrug and say Oh well, I tried! That's it then.

Or might you think that the agent your spoke to was not listening fully, not understanding you, was not properly trained, or was having a bad day and try again with a different agent?

[mam98031]

So just call over and over again until you get someone that will give you what you want?

To offer advice that they should call again to make sure that all aspects of the transaction was reviewed properly, specifically emails, is very good advice.  But for some reason there is a handful of posters that interpret that advice to be as you just said above.  The two statements are not the same.

And if the emails prove what the OP said, then the FB the buyer left does breach the rules.  What they said in the FB does NOT meet the burden but coupled with emails expressing what the OP stated, it would.

[jeannicho22]

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@jason_incognito wrote:

So just call over and over again until you get someone that will give you what you want?

Every time this comes up we get a chorus of "I didn't tell them to keep calling" but the last few posts all say the same thing. Call until you get what you want.

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I would never tell someone to call until you get someone that will give you what you want, but I would tell someone to keep calling until you get someone who understands the policy.  Anyone who has been on eBay for any length of time knows that if you call eBay's CS 10 times, you are liable to get 10 different answers.  Chances are that if the OP calls again, they will increase the likelihood of getting the right CSR that actually knows what they are talking about.