Negative Feedback Given Due to Buyer Misunderstanding USPS Signature Confirmation

[matchgrip23]

I had a recent sale for a $60 watch, noticed the address was apartments so I added a signature confirmation, to help secure the package for the buyer. Messaged the buyer a couple days after shipping to let him know the watch was at his local post office because tracking said "delivery attempted". No response from buyer. Kept an eye on tracking and it never showed the item was picked up. Received a negative FB from him (my first ever!) today in Spanish, (I used Google to translate) and he thinks the item was stolen and has left me a negative feedback. Have messaged buyer to let him know the situation, asking if he would please remove the negative FB, but what is my next step if he doesn't respond, to try to get the negative FB removed?  

Thanks!

[nobody*s_perfect]

Check the tracking. Most Post Offices will only hold packages about 2 weeks and then return to sender. If there's no indication that it's on its way back, you should send the buyer another message using short simple sentences. Explain again that his package is not stolen. It is at his Post Office.

In future listings, you should explain in advance that you will sometimes use Signature Confirmation on your packages. Some potential buyers might find it difficult or impossible to pick up packages at their PO due to their working hours, transportation limits, etc.

The only way for a buyer to revise a negative or neutral feedback rating is through a formal "Feedback revision request" sent by the seller. He can't just go in and edit it.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Before you focus on the negative feedback, you need to help your buyer. First, always check with a buyer before sending something with Signature Confirmation. While i understand you did it for his benefit, some find it difficult to make a pick-up and it can throw a monkey wrench into the transaction. Ebay only requires SC for packages worth $750 or more, so most customers won’t expect it. Like the other poster said, the information should also appear in your listing that you use SC for certain shipments. 

Technically, once an attempted delivery is made, your job is done, but you have a situation part of your own making that needs resolved. Use Google Translate to send a message in Spanish to your buyer, as simply as possible, that his package is at the post office. Say nothing about the negative. He has no reason to revise it until he understands the situation.

Go the extra mile to do whatever you can to link the package with the owner. Once you have tried to make it right, at a later date, then you can attempt the feedback revision. The link below gives instructions on how to do that. Good luck.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/leaving-feedback-buyers/disputing-feedback-received?id=4102

[nuclearomen]

na, you need the buyer to do anything, just call ebay, the tracking will be used and will show that the item was not delivered for "delievery attempted" and that the post office is holding the item, for 15 days usually they will hold the item, if no one comes to pick it up it will be returned to sender (and the tracking will show that). 

[yuzuha]

I mean... to be fair, if you did not inform the buyer before they purchased that you were going to be using Signature Confirmation, the buyer has every right to be upset. Having to sign for a package when they weren't expecting it can be a major inconvenience for some people-- it would be for me, for instance, because the post office that gets my packages is in the opposite direction of work and I work during the hours it is open, so I would not be able to pick up my package until my day off. That would not make me happy in the slightest if I hadn't been planning on it.

[aldente28]

The joy of international shipping.

I would try everything, in this order:  contact buyer via messenger, fb revision request, contact ebay to request fb removal. Hopefully one will work.

I think working it out with the buyer is your best bet, but then again, if he doesn't speak english, maybe not. All you can do is give your best effort to resolve the situation. Worst case scenario, buyer never picks up package, it is returned to you, and you reply to the negative feedback with something like "your order is available for pickup at your local post office".

[adigr96]

I'd be mad too. My P.O. has limited hours and I I'd lose more than $60 to take off work and get my package

[matchgrip23]

Thank for all of your responses. I never got the package back so it wasn't returned to sender and I assume he finally received it (no response from him to messages I sent). Contacted eBay and they removed the negative feedback. I have decided to trust in the postage delivery system for lower value sales, and only do signature confirmation when the value is several hundred dollars, and will alert buyers in the future that I am shipping that way. 

[luckythewinner]

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@matchgrip23 wrote:

I had a recent sale for a $60 watch, noticed the address was apartments so I added a signature confirmation, to help secure the package for the buyer.

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Adding signature confirmation without clearing it with the buyer first is terrrible customer service. 

Instead of "helping secure the package for the buyer" you may have severely inconvenienced a buyer who cannot get to the post office during business hours. 

[variety_nook]

"I had a recent sale for a $60 watch, noticed the address was apartments so I added a signature confirmation, to help secure the package for the buyer"

Many apartment buildings have mail lockers that the mail carrier will place your package in. The mail carrier will then place a key for that specific locker in the Addressee's personal mailbox.

[nobody*s_perfect]

"I have decided to trust in the postage delivery system for lower value sales, and only do signature confirmation when the value is several hundred dollars, and will alert buyers in the future that I am shipping that way. "

Be sure to "alert buyers" in your listing description, not after the fact.