FAMILY EMERGENCY INCREASED MY SELLER DEFECT RATE

[amyo48]

If a seller has a family emergency:

How to handle sales when not home to ship paid items?

What is the best procedure to follow?

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I have a one-day ship policy and faithfully ship next day.

I was away before Christmas and planned to be home on Christmas so that I could have my paid items ready to mail on Tuesday to comply with the 0ne day ship policy.

But a family emergency kept me from returning home, so instead of having late shipped items:

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I canceled the transactions and reimbursed my buyers – explaining that I would relist for them when I got back home.

After I got back home and sent messages to my buyers there were only two buyers that sent messages that they had moved on.

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The worst of this is that when you go to cancel there are only three options:

Buyer asked to cancel

Buyer address is wrong

Out of stock or damaged item

I choose the last one and that is what got me into trouble.

Choosing the first two did not seem right though.

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When I canceled I received a message from eBay thanking me for reimbursing my buyer and that my final value fee would be reimbursed:

You canceled an order from xxxxxxxxxx, and we already notified them. You already refunded the buyer for this order, so you're all set. Thanks for canceling this order for the buyer.

You'll get a final value fee credit in your account that you can apply toward listing more items to sell on eBay. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours to post the Final Value Fee credit to your account.

With this encouraging message I thought I was doing this correctly and proceeded to cancel all my sales.

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Because I canceled my paid sales eBay listed these as defects against my Top Rating.

Reason for counting the transaction

Transactions you canceled for being out of stock                 Cases closed without seller resolution

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So is there a way to handle this situation without adding to my  defect rate?

Maybe eBay could add ‘Family Emergency’

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Good news is that my shipping on time is still at 100%.

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If you have been in the same situation, please let me know how you handled it.

Thank you, Amy

[sharingtheland]

Oh dear, how many did you cancel?  Those out of stock defects are far, far worse situations for you than late shipping.

[partial*eclipse]

As soon as you knew that you wouldn't be able to ship on time, you should have revised the handling time on your remaining active listings, or put the store on vacation and used the 'Hide" option so you didn't have any more sales.

In eBay seller evaluations, a defect for a transation cancellation is much more serious than late shipping.  Even an "Item not received" claim is less harmful, if you issue the refund before the buyer escalates the claim.

[missjen831 · Accepted solution]

Family emergency isn’t a valid reason to cancel without consequence. And if eBay did add that, so you really think they would waive a defect? I sympathize with you but it’s highly unlikely eBay will make any changes in the sellers favor with regards to the cancellation policy, seeing as how the current system is widely abused. If anything they are tightening down on it. You should have shipped late rather than cancel. The consequences aren’t as bad.

[stuff4divas]

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@amyo48 wrote:

If a seller has a family emergency:

How to handle sales when not home to ship paid items?

What is the best procedure to follow?

So is there a way to handle this situation without adding to my  defect rate?

Maybe eBay could add ‘Family Emergency’

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You can pick vacation mode next time. Whenever you are away from your inventory, especially with a 1 day handling time, this is the most secure way to protect yourself. Sorry this happened to you 😞

[swenson8781]

At that point, your selling account probably would have been better off taking the 'late shipping' hit, vs multiple OOS (Out Of Stock) defects.  But hindsight is always 20/20.

That aside, I don't know if the handling time can be changed once an item is purchased, but like Partial*Eclipse said, if you are going to be away from home and still want sales be sure to extend your handling time.  And if you are going to be away for awhile, and have a store, you can 'hide' all of your listings so buyers cannot purchase at all.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@amyo48 wrote:

If a seller has a family emergency:

How to handle sales when not home to ship paid items?

What is the best procedure to follow?

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Thank you for posting your story so that others can benefit, and hopefully prevent someone from doing the same. My family all know that if something happens to me, that my ebay business needs attention. I have left written instructions to my husband so there is no confusion about what to do. That info includes my user names and passwords. 

I hope your emergency situation resolves quickly and safely.

[partial*eclipse]

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@swenson8781 wrote:

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 ... I don't know if the handling time can be changed once an item is purchased, but like Partial*Eclipse said, if you are going to be away from home and still want sales be sure to extend your handling time. ....

Handling time can't be changed after the item is Sold, or after an auction has received a bid.  

[luckythewinner]

eBay is never going to provide an option that would give any unscrupulous seller a convenient excuse to avoid defects afte failing to perform as promised. 

IMHO the fundamental issue is that you optimistically chose to offer 1-day shipping without bothering to establish a backup plan to cover yourself in case of emergency.

My wife, my son, and my brother all have access to my account and know how to end all my listings in the event of an emergency.

[bigchief2472000]

You could try contacting the buyers to let them know their package will be shipped out later than expected and advise them that you would gladly refund their money if they decide to cancel the order.  If any of them do decide to cancel, that would keep you from getting an out of stock defect or a late shipment ding.  Not much else you can do in that situation without having a friend or family member take up your slack while you're away.

[castlemagicmemories]

So sorry this happened to you, OP.

Out of stock is a very bad defect to get.  The other one is case closed without seller resolution.

As has been said, late shipping would have been better than OOS.

[vintagecraze50]

Yes, in these situations better to contact your buyers explain the emergency, kindly ask them if they can wait for a bit for the item. If the buyer replies they do not mind the wait and are understanding just delay the shipment. If they no longer want the item , kindly say you will cancel based on buyer wants to cancel.

[chipper01work]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Yes, in these situations better to contact your buyers explain the emergency, kindly ask them if they can wait for a bit for the item. If the buyer replies they do not mind the wait and are understanding just delay the shipment. If they no longer want the item , kindly say you will cancel based on buyer wants to cancel.

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Oh no, hunker down, get your helmet and cup on.

[vintagecraze50]

Adding to this that most people would probably understand this situation and will be helpful to you. Some may not want to cancel and you will have to cancel them yourself.  The worst of this situation is when a buyer gets a message that you have cancelled their order without communicating to them the reason for the cancel. This is why Ebay has this rule because people get flaming mad when they see a cancelled order and especially with NO EXPLANATION of why this happened.

[vintagecraze50]

Yeah, some will want to throw the baseball at your head , but some will understand. The world of buyers out there are not all heartless and some will be sympathetic and kind.