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

[chipper01work]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

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.

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You are correct but I'm actually referring to those here that are likely going to tell you that a seller changing terms after the sale can never lead to a legitimate "buyer wanted to cancel" pass on the defect. Unless us talking about it first makes them rethink being the first to post it. Rest assured many are thinking it right now.

[*eponymous*]

Implement a contingency plan for future emergencies.

[bigchief2472000]

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@chipper01work wrote:

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

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.

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You are correct but I'm actually referring to those here that are likely going to tell you that a seller changing terms after the sale can never lead to a legitimate "buyer wanted to cancel" pass on the defect. Unless us talking about it first makes them rethink being the first to post it. Rest assured many are thinking it right now.

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I was pretty sure someone would chime in with such a remark, but surprisingly no one did.  Out of the 3 choices given for a cancellation, none of them accurately described the reason the seller needed to cancel, so presumably that would mean the seller can't cancel the transaction.  I think it would be better to give the buyer the option to cancel the order than to just force them to accept a late shipment.

[amyo48]

Thanks,

I did end all listings so that nothing else would happen while I was gone.

[amyo48]

I had planned on being home Christmas day.

I have always planned around vacations - but this was not planned.

Everything turned out okay and that is most important.

Wished I had know that late shipping was the bettter option!

Thanks, Amy

[amyo48]

You are very lucky - I have no one that could finish the transactions for me.

[fern*wood]

How many did you cancel?  If you ever have something like this come up, and are unsure of the best way to handle, please drop in here and normally you'll get some pretty quick (and usually accurate) answers or suggestions.

[bubbleman2010]

To figure out how much damage has been done you'll need to review your sellers dashboard to see where your at as far as defects go. If you canceled 5 items that should put you right on the edge...

[mg152]

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@chipper01work wrote:

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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.

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Why? Most buyers are human & understand emergencies. Yes, some don’t have any compassion but most do.

[mg152]

I was just going to say I hope everything’s ok but you posted that indeed everything turned out all right. That’s the most important thing in this whole situation. Now you are better prepared. Good luck! I mean that.

[cbstotts]

What do you do in a situation like this when you can’t get a response from the buyer even after multiple attempts?

[creoleorchid]

I am sorry this happened and I hope you can recover from it.

This won’t help you now but I have such of fear of something similar happening to me that my strategy is to end all my listings before I leave. 

[randomstore]

It would be helpful if eBay placed a warning  right next to where you click to cancel a transaction for OOS. Something like,” Canceling this transaction will impact your defect rate, which may impact your ability to sell on eBay. Are you sure you want to do that?”.

[baantiques]

When dad went into hospice late last year I put my store on vacation and dropped off the last packages I had to ship on my way out of town.  I still let people buy things, so a number of them ended up being late.  Beyond that while handling his estate I wouldbe out of town for a week at a time and just let things ride.  I ended up with late shipments over that but not enough to drop me down from top rated.  I didn't cancel any sales.

[keziak]

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@baantiques wrote:

When dad went into hospice late last year I put my store on vacation and dropped off the last packages I had to ship on my way out of town.  I still let people buy things, so a number of them ended up being late.  Beyond that while handling his estate I wouldbe out of town for a week at a time and just let things ride.  I ended up with late shipments over that but not enough to drop me down from top rated.  I didn't cancel any sales.

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why didn't you extend your handling time?  Just wondering. When I go away I put the store on vacation, listings visible, and handling time out beyond when I get back.