How would you handle this? Do I give up on my principles?

[iamalwaysright]

First off, I never issue partial refunds. By never I mean like 98% of the time, haha. Because honestly no rule is absolute and I have been known to offer a partial when I feel the buyer is legit and the issue is caused by seller fault.

So I sold a shirt to someone who absolutely needed it to wear on Tuesday. After I shipped it he was already complaining about the ETA changing, claiming I didn't ship it yet and threatening to return it saying he doesn't need it if it arrived after that day. I explained to him how ebay generated ETA operates as well as USPS, and that his shirt was shipped out as promised in 1 day. 

Lo and behold he received the shirt on Saturday. Now he's complaining about the thickness of the shirt. The listing doesn't mention anything at all about thickness or weight. And it has a simple photo similar to this

His message was "Hi there I received my shirt. I know you offer free returns. I'd keep it if you'd consider at least a $5.00 credit? I'm sad with the material. The shirt looks thicker in the pictures and what I got was pretty thin. I rather doubt it will hold up after a few washes. I wanted it to wear on Tuesday, so this is why I'm asking if you'd consider a credit?"

Key points in his message that I think need analysis/consideration.

1) He knows I have free returns

2) He's asking for a credit straight out

3) He's sad with the material (100% cotton) that was clearly stated in the listing

4) He's claiming that the photo displays some sort of thickness to the shirt

5) He's claiming to know the durability of the shirt (then again, I can't control how people wash their clothes)

6) He seems to only intend to wear this shirt one time (Tuesday)

Given this situation, how would you handle it? I think this one is trickier than my usual issues because of a few factors. Any thoughts, tips, advice, insults, etc are welcome. Thanks

[iamalwaysright]

The verbiage of the comment itself does not.

[gurlcat]

To this day I don't know how long "auto-scrubbing" takes, if this was the kind of situation where this buyer's would be.  But I strongly suspect that asking for an AI-judicial removal would be a waste of time, and you should just go straight to social media on this one.   

EDIT: Don't just talk about how the return was closed but also the partial refund request and that you reported it. 

[iamalwaysright]

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@gurlcat wrote:

To this day I don't know how long "auto-scrubbing" takes, if this was the kind of situation where this buyer's would be.  But I strongly suspect that asking for an AI-judicial removal would be a waste of time, and you should just go straight to social media on this one.   

EDIT: Don't just talk about how the return was closed but also the partial refund request and that you reported it. 

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Oh like as in asking for something that wasn't part of the transaction? I don't think that's a feedback violation or reason to remove it is it? I know it's classified as abusing the returns process though, but that's a different beast.

[gurlcat]

No it's about the fact that he negged you as retaliation for not giving into his partial refund request.  An overseas phone rep might say the request didn't come with an explicit "if/then" threat so it doesn't warrant a removal, but the social media reps tend to be more willing to acknowledge the obvious and act accordingly.  

[jonathanbrightlight]

@iamalwaysright 

I would agree with @gurlcat here about just going ahead and asking the social media reps to remove it (or I have had good success with the standard chat support on the eBay site, but I know some people have reported different experiences). 

[gurlcat]

I'm kinda surprised this guy bothered with the neg considering he got a refund and doesn't have to ship the item back.  In fact now I kinda wonder if that actually happened.  @iamalwaysright did the rep you spoke with actually say they would give him a courtesy refund, or that they were just closing the return?  -I've had that happen once, although my buyer had attempted a worse scam than partial refund fishing.  

[tortuga_trading]

Pretty easy one.  Give him the $5, avoid the neg, and go on with your day.

[mam98031]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

The verbiage of the comment itself does not.

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Then why do you think Ebay would remove it?  There use to be a few reasons that Ebay auto removes feedback, but they stopped doing that last month, I think it was last month.  Could have been this month.

[mam98031]

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@tortuga_trading wrote:

Pretty easy one.  Give him the $5, avoid the neg, and go on with your day.

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@tortuga_trading 

Except the buyer filed a request for return and has returned the item to the OP.

[mam98031]

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@jonathanbrightlight wrote:

@iamalwaysright 

I would agree with @gurlcat here about just going ahead and asking the social media reps to remove it (or I have had good success with the standard chat support on the eBay site, but I know some people have reported different experiences). 

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Without a reason to have the feedback removed per the Feedback policy, Ebay isn't going to remove the feedback.  And starting this month, they don't just auto remove negative or neutral feedback unless the entire statement by the buyer violates policy.  Now if only part of what was said violates policy, Ebay sends the buyer a request to revise what they wrote.  If the buyer doesn't change it to something that is within policy, Ebay will then remove the entire feedback.

This link explains things well for the changes in the last couple of months, which were significant.

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/removing-ebay-feedback-just-got-harder/

[iamalwaysright]

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@gurlcat wrote:

I'm kinda surprised this guy bothered with the neg considering he got a refund and doesn't have to ship the item back.  In fact now I kinda wonder if that actually happened.  @iamalwaysright did the rep you spoke with actually say they would give him a courtesy refund, or that they were just closing the return?  -I've had that happen once, although my buyer had attempted a worse scam than partial refund fishing.  

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I know, it surprised me too. And yes the buyer has the shirt and a full refund.

"Hi XXX,

We've reviewed your case and have decided to issue the buyer a refund of $19.99 without any impact to you.

This case is now closed. You are not required to reimburse the buyer or eBay, and this case will not be counted in your seller performance evaluation."

[iamalwaysright]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

The verbiage of the comment itself does not.

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Then why do you think Ebay would remove it?  There use to be a few reasons that Ebay auto removes feedback, but they stopped doing that last month, I think it was last month.  Could have been this month.

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As a reminder, I asked if it could be removed under the specific reason I stated. 

I wrote:

"Can I get this auto scrubbed if I do the seller help thing for removal under the reason “involved in a case that was closed in my favor”?"

[iamalwaysright]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@tortuga_trading wrote:

Pretty easy one.  Give him the $5, avoid the neg, and go on with your day.

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@tortuga_trading 

Except the buyer filed a request for return and has returned the item to the OP.

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The buyer has not returned the item to me. They have it and I don't know if they even ever intended to return it. We never got that far in the return since CS issued a courtesy refund.

[iamalwaysright]

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@tortuga_trading wrote:

Pretty easy one.  Give him the $5, avoid the neg, and go on with your day.

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Doing this won't necessarily avoid the neg. The buyer got back their full $21.34 (not just $5 they wanted) and still gave the neg. Not as easy as you think.

[mam98031]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

The verbiage of the comment itself does not.

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Then why do you think Ebay would remove it?  There use to be a few reasons that Ebay auto removes feedback, but they stopped doing that last month, I think it was last month.  Could have been this month.

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As a reminder, I asked if it could be removed under the specific reason I stated. 

I wrote:

"Can I get this auto scrubbed if I do the seller help thing for removal under the reason “involved in a case that was closed in my favor”?"

---

You can try, but since you are telling use the feedback doesn't break any of the feedback policy points, it is highly unlikely it would be approved.  This by the way is not called "auto scrubbed".  That is completely different.  Auto scrub would mean that Ebay removed it without you even asking.  

Give it a try.  The worse they can say is No.

https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp/feedback?id=5566

Feedback policies have gone through a lot of changes in the last 60 days or so.  This link is a good recap of that.

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/removing-ebay-feedback-just-got-harder/