How would you reply to this?

[loose_goose_garage]

Just received this message from a buyer. Order was placed Thursday 4/10, and Shipped Friday 4/11 within my 1 Day Handling time.

Shipment is to Florida, tracking last shows it in Georgia on Tuesday 4/15 so seems to be right on track.

Curious how I should go about responding to this buyer? Obviously their claim of 2 weeks is comical as it has not even been 1 week since order was placed.

[deltilogical]

Are we being used to test out some kind of AI buying bot?  I've experienced something like this recently. 

[inhawaii]

I would simply respond with something like...\

"Hello Karen, Thanks for your purchase. You purchased it on April 10th. It was sent out the very next day on April 11th.   Sorry if the USPS is a little slow getting it to you.  I will keep an eye on the tracking. If there is any problem with the order, please let me know. I will make it right.   Aloha, James"

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I write what @wastingtime101  said, you bought x date, I shipped next day, pkg is currently in XYZ, please be patient with the USPS as it's only been 4 days.  Best Regards

[iamalwaysright]

On the contrary to what many have said here, although it’s possible, I don’t believe that this buyer mistook the seller for someone else. From experience with impatient buyers sending “not so happy” messages wondering where their package is, I often found that these types of buyers always exaggerate the amount of time that has past since they paid. They don’t just do this with time durations, many also do it with exaggerating my stated prices. My $20.95 shipping price sometimes is referred to as $25 from these guys followed by their outrage. I believe they usually do this to help validate their outbursts within the message, regardless if it’s conscious or not.

This tends to happen to me with impatient buyers, and thus far every time we established that they did message the correct seller (me). They just added days to the waiting time. Some of them ended up calming down after a few back and forth messages, some didn’t. It is what it is.

[wastingtime101]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

On the contrary to what many have said here, although it’s possible, I don’t believe that this buyer mistook the seller for someone else. From experience with impatient buyers sending “not so happy” messages wondering where their package is, I often found that these types of buyers always exaggerate the amount of time that has past since they paid.

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I fully agree @iamalwaysright , but when the buyer exaggerates by more than doubling the time, suggesting they may be asking about a different purchase gives them an "out" to acting irrationally when something's only been in transit a few days. 😉

I usually keep my replies pretty simple and short whenever possible. Something like - hey, your order shipped next day and looks like it's actively moving and will be delivered within eBay's original estimate, in the next day or two. I'll keep an eye on tracking.

Frequently I post longer suggested replies here because it gives the original poster a lot more to work with and pick out the bits and pieces they find helpful and relevant; tailor it to their own situation. Plus there's enough to pull from in case a second follow up is needed - like if the buyer in a second message still insisted it was 2 weeks (when it was less than a week) maybe that's a good time to suggest they're mixing it up with a different order. haha

[wastingtime101]

Your buyer's package is out for delivery today @loose_goose_garage , which falls within eBay's original estimate.

[hermerchantship]

Just my two cents, but if I got a message like this I would brace myself.  In my own experience, this kind of comment is usually a foreshadowing of buyer behavior.   They probably need one or two screws for some project but could only find this lot of 50, they don't need or want that many, so if any are "missing" as they note, they will return it.  So I'd expect an INAD stating it was missing a few and that's what you'll get back, 48 or so and you'll have paid round trip shipping for this person.  I know it sounds pessimistic, and I hope that isn't how it turns out, but that is what I would mentally prepare for.

[stephenmorgan]

Deliveries do sometimes take near two weeks.

This one is not bad, the entire transaction, purchase to delivery, only took a week.  

[shopposh45]

😂😂Hilarious!