Issue is my "Defect Transactions Rate": and COVID

[dukehalestorm]

Hello hope you guys/gals are doing good.

Issue is my "Defect Transactions Rate":

-  I had Extenuating circumstances around January 10-20th where eBay lists under "your seller level" that i had multiple transaction defects "7 out of 315".

  - Situation: I had already pulled, packed and handled all the items for all orders. The Next day I started to feel terrible! Then next day  I took a COVID Test and tested positive for COVID 19.

-  I was very ill and couldn't get out of bed. When I got enough strength I contacted all my customers and informed them that I had handle their items before I knew I had COVID. An for everyone's safety I disposed/threw away all the products and packing material I had handled while possible contagious with COVID. At this point I could barely function clearly enough to write item updates to customers of the situation . I don't remember a lot of what I did while I was sick. However I refunded my customers ASAP , stopped the shipping and put everything I touched in the garbage. I then waited until I was COVID Negative and then waited a while later  to begin selling items again.

-  I truly believe I made the correct choice of protecting the Health and Safety of buyers by my actions. Even though I wasn't able to figure out the correct way to refund my customer in the "moment". Now my account is negatively  affected by "defect transactions" saying that I "Ran out of stock" when I didn't actually run out.

-  I'm sure if any of you  have had COVID before but I was worried about the  gravity of sending potential bio-hazardous material to customers. 

- This being said the negatively reflects my "seller level"."  This Trans Defect Is keeping me from being rated a top seller.

I have put in work and extremely long hours learning/breathing and eating eBay for as long as i can all day. while selling on this platform and providing the best experience for my customer (100% positive feedback); As well as a SAFE experience.

It sucks being eBay is penalizing me for these mitigating factors. I saw the customers health first and choose the best course of action as I could with Covid brain.

Anybody else have simular issues? Does listen to these types of circumstances?

Thanks

Transaction defect rate

47 of 315 transactions    Sellers that haven't sold as many items can still meet this requirement based on quantity instead of the percentage.

Defect Quantity %Transactions you canceled for being out of stockCases closed without seller resolution

7	2.22%
0	0.00%

Transaction period: Apr 01, 2023 - Mar 31, 2024

The transaction defect rate is the percentage of your total transactions that had any 1 of 2 defects. Note that these defects often measure how satisfied your buyers were with a transaction. We don't count more than 1 defect per transaction.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@dukehalestorm wrote: ... I contacted all my customers and informed them that I had handle their items before I knew I had COVID. An for everyone's safety I disposed/throw away all the products and packing material I had handled while possible contagious with COVID....

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Yikes, I thought this was going to be a post about late shipping!  Discarding your buyers' items was completely unnecessary.  The Covid germs can't live on those surfaces for more than a day or two; by the time your buyers received the items there would have been zero risk of contagion. If you didn't have replacement items to send out when you were felling better, then "Out of stock" was the appropriate choice.

[powell-memorabilia]

Wow - those scare tactics from 2020-2021 have held well.  Nice of you to think about the health of the buyers, but completely unnecessary.  

yes, those defects were earned.  No, eBay shouldn’t take your good intentions into consideration.  

[dukehalestorm]

It was paracord 550, I still had 100k ft of paracord after I threw away products.

[dukehalestorm]

Only handling 500+Ft and thats what i trashed.

Don't really understand how I earned it? @powell-memorabilia @nobody*s_perfect 

Also my customer thanked me for taking there health into consideration.

[luckythewinner]

eBay does not care WHY you canceled the orders; they only care THAT you canceled the orders. 

There is no exception written into the seller evaluation metrics that gives exceptions to a seller who claims to be sick. You need to learn from this situation and set up a backup plan for the future. 

"and put everything I touched in the garbage"

That seems like an over-reaction. 

[luckythewinner]

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Don't really understand how I earned it?

All you have to do is read the policy, because it explains EXACTLY how you earned it. 

Also my customer thanked me for taking there health into consideration.

There is nothing in eBay's policy that exempts sellers from being rated just because a buyer thanked them. 

[dukehalestorm]

what would be an appropriate "Back Up Plan"?  @luckythewinner 

[luckythewinner]

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@dukehalestorm wrote:

what would be an appropriate "Back Up Plan"?  @luckythewinner 

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Make sure that a trusted family member had the information necessary to end your listings and fulfill your order in the event you are incapacitated.

There was no need to throw out the item that you packed; they could have been mailed. Research shows that the virus only lives for about 30 minutes on porous surfaces like cardboard or cloth.

And even if you wanted to be extra safe, waiting a few days and mailing late is preferable to cancelling transactions. Another options would have been to have your backup person pack new items and ship them, if it was indeed a commodity like paracord.

[dukehalestorm]

@luckythewinner That is a really good idea! With out going into detail,  I literally don't have that option available to me.

[fern*wood · Accepted solution]

I'm glad you didn't sell a bunch of coins during that time!  Hopefully you are feeling much better now.  I imagine the most help your account will see is when those defects age off in a year. 

My husband and I had covid last October and it was certainly rough.  Thankfully we were able to get all orders out on time between us, but if I was a big seller I definitely would have put my account on time away until we felt better.  When covid first appeared it wasn't well known how it spread, so many precautions turned out to not be helpful or necessary.  It was determined to be an airborne virus.

[dukehalestorm]

Yeah HAHA Throwing out silver HAHAHA 😂😂😂😂. Oh I have paracord up to my ears so I could care less, Coins i would using rubbing  alcohol haha.

Honestly I haven't educated myself properly with "updated research" on covid just assumed it was risky because I felt like death (I guess that why the respones you get here are kinda harsh , LOL. Like" yeah, you made that bed you "*#&$*#", now lay in it Dum$*@&#@") . LOL

FYI :there is a Automatic Request Default Removal if you go to the below link for anybody who has defects. *Note* there 2 buttons "Shipments" and "Transactions" , it took me forever to realize "Transactions" button was clickable HAHA.

https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp/defect

[gloryglorygifts]

Yikes! Wrong decision but I hope that you are fully healed with no lingering effects. May the rest of the year be healthy and profitable for you.