Feedback is flawed

[gentlejax]

I sold 2 items recently but cancelled both because buyer was located in Puerto Rico.  The cost to send was more than 3x the listed cost to ship as the add was flat rate shipping in the USA.  
i did immediately contact the buyer when i cancelled and i also refunded him out of my pocket as funds were processing.  

when he responded the items were already listed.  He offered to still buy 1 item and pay shipping.  I didnt proceed with it because there were bids by the time i realized it so i just left it at that.  

next thing you know he gives negative feedback and ebay wont do anything even though he lied in the feedback.  

he left spiteful feedback only because he could.    he got his money back  so he shouldnt have done anything, he know the extenuating circumstances.  

23 yrs on ebay and the guy gets to leave feedback when it wasnt a legit purchase.  

im pretty angry my perfect score drops 3% instantly over this guy acting like a child. 

[slippinjimmy]

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@gentlejax wrote:

I sold 2 items recently but cancelled both because buyer was located in Puerto Rico.  The cost to send was more than 3x the listed cost to ship as the add was flat rate shipping in the USA.  
i did immediately contact the buyer when i cancelled and i also refunded him out of my pocket as funds were processing.  

when he responded the items were already listed.  He offered to still buy 1 item and pay shipping.  I didnt proceed with it because there were bids by the time i realized it so i just left it at that.  

next thing you know he gives negative feedback and ebay wont do anything even though he lied in the feedback.  

he left spiteful feedback only because he could.    he got his money back  so he shouldnt have done anything, he know the extenuating circumstances.  

23 yrs on ebay and the guy gets to leave feedback when it wasnt a legit purchase.  

im pretty angry my perfect score drops 3% instantly over this guy acting like a child. 

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For you shipping to Puerto Rico via USPS is Zone 8, same as Oregon, Washington and just slightly more than California, Nevada, Utah, etc.

You had no valid reason to cancel the order.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@dryophelia wrote:... . PR is serviced by USPS the same way as shipping to California, Maine, or  Colorado. ...

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But in this case the only shipping option offered was free shipping via UPS. If that's what the seller wants to offer, then he should block the non-contiguous parts of the US. Not only territories (PR, Guam, etc.) but also Alaska and Hawaii.

[anjofak]

We ship to PR pretty frequently from Alaska pretty much the same cost as shipping to WA when flat rate Priority is involved..

[maxine*j]

You received two legitimate negs, from a United States citizen residing in a United States Territory, served by the United States Postal Service. 

You left two vile responses to those negs.

And people wonder why eBay is losing buyers.

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[12345jamesstamps]

Still, a sale is a sale and these sales should be observed.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@anjofak wrote:

We ship to PR pretty frequently from Alaska pretty much the same cost as shipping to WA when flat rate Priority is involved..

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Well, using the flat rate box, the cost will be exactly the same.

[frankenhobbit]

Just read the OP’s response to the negative feedbacks. Wow. That’s going to be tough to come back from.

[wastingtime101]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

The two most recent negative feedbacks show shipping costs to Puerto Rico in the listing. PR is serviced by USPS the same way as shipping to California, Maine, or  Colorado. 

@dryophelia 

@12345jamesstamps 

There is a slight problem with eBay and P.Rico depending on how the BUYER signs up/or presents their shipping address.  If they sign up and  list Puerto Rico as a country instead of Puerto Rico US, eBay treats it as an international destination sale and displays shipping information not reflective of US prices as one would ship to "California, Maine, or any other US state. 

This has been a problem since Adyen took over the processing for Managed Payments. 

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Do you have examples of this @ittybitnot ? What you're saying is not accurate to my experience. There are definite issues that can arise when a buyer enters a territory/protectorate in the country field (especially with eBay Standard Envelope being blocked when seller goes to purchase a label), however I have never seen the ship costs changed as you're describing.

[dryophelia]

Hi @ittybitnot 

I do recall this situation where users can be registered in PR, and it shows on their feedback/about information as Puerto Rico and not United States. 
I think it’s important that you brought that up here. 

Because the buyer was able to pay for these items, it made me think that wasn’t the issue here. 

[gentlejax]

the listing had flat rate few based on shipping in the USA  NOT TO P.R.  so I had no choice but to cancel it and relist.  Didnt know other way to handle it correctly other than to relist.    I had contacted the seller and refunded him.   After I relisted it was bid on.  

The buyer than I cancelled agreed to buy only 1 item but gave me negative on both.  

it was not cheaper to ship to California than to P.R.  ...those are incorrect assumptions. 

I told the buyer I was going to look into it but once I Had bids on both items I just let it run its course.  I didnt think it would have been fair to cancel their bids in order to make a exception to ship to a place I never ship to anymore.  as I said, I dont ship outside the continental USA .

The buyers feedback was just out of spite. 

[gentlejax]

Puerto Rico is a colony of the US but its not part of the continental USA . I dont need any lessons, ive been there. My father was born there and lives there now. 

[gone.c-33]

Nowhere on your listing did it mention you only shipped to the continental US. Your buyer had a legitimate reason to leave a negative and your response to it reflects poorer on you than them.

[aproudparent2010]

I'm with the buyer here.

Those feed backs were well deserved for you not setting up your listing correctly

[rosszonebricks]

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@gentlejax wrote:

Puerto Rico is a colony of the US but its not part of the continental USA . 

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So you cancel orders to Hawaii and Alaska too? 

[ittybitnot]

Do you have examples of this @ittybitnot 

@wastingtime101 

I don't have a link at the moment.  However, after I posted here about the issue today, I was reviewing something in the Authenticity Guarantee policies. It was specifically mentioned that items could not be sent to PR if the buyer had registered Puerto Rico as a country.  

The rest is just from "memory" from reading the forums here or in one of the other ecommerce groups that I belong.  For some reason, I have an awful time trying to research old threads here.  I truly suck at it. 

Old one from 2019...nobody responded: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Issues-with-Puerto-Rico-shipping-addresses/m-p/30457052

What I read today (ineligible items):  

7. Items purchased using an offline payment method
8. Listings that offer local pickup
9. Items shipped to or from unincorporated territories (incl. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands)
10. Items shipped to Puerto Rico as a country

Reference:

https://www.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee/streetwear/