Negative Feedback on a Declined Cancellation

[silvercrown90]

eBay's policy on Cancellation Requests clearly states that the Seller can accept or decline a Cancellation.  I received a Cancellation Request from a Buyer an hour after he ordered something on a Saturday.  He apparently didn't read the description or the title on the item for sale.  I have a warehouse that packs and ships all of my inventory.  The warehouse is 4 hours driving distance from my office.  The shipping staff work weekends, but they do not take phone calls and they are not on e-mail.  We use an order system that they can pull down orders once submitted that generate a FedEx label and they pull the item, pack and ship.

When a Cancellation Request comes in over the weekend or after hours, I currently have no method to stop the order.  It gets packed and sent over to FedEx over the weekend.  This particular order was for a mere $108 and shipping was included for an 11-pound package, and unfortunately it was from a Buyer in Alaska.  So even though I didn't want to take this order, I bit the bullet and submitted the order to the Shipping Department.   

Then comes the Cancellation Request about an hour later.  I declined it because I had no way to stop it.  I wrote a nice response to the Buyer (on Saturday) telling him that I could not stop the shipment and had to decline the cancellation.

So the Buyer writes negative feedback because I declined the order.  I submitted it to eBay for review, and they are siding with the buyer and won't remove the negative feedback.  eBay policy clearly states that the Seller can Decline or Accept a Cancellation Request.  What eBay policy doesn't warn you is that the Buyer is free to trash your reputation because you followed eBay policy.  Why is eBay allowing these Cancellation Requests?  I can see sending a Cancellation Request within 5 or 10 minutes max, but not longer.  I cannot tie up inventory that can be sold on a different sales channel waiting for a potential Cancellation Request.  I cannot hold up shipping of orders over the weekend and have the shipping department sit on their hands waiting for potential Cancellation Requests.  What if I have a Buyer that wants a helmet that was already sold on eBay.  Do I tell him "I don't know if it is available yet, as I have to wait another hour or more to see if my Buyer on eBay is going to cancel"?  eBay, let me let you in on a little secret that other sales channels already understand:  A Sale is a Sale.  I accept refunds for any reason, including buyer remorse, but I cannot hold items hostage while Buyers figure out whether or not they really want to buy something.  

Accepting or declining your cancellation request

The seller can either accept or decline your cancellation request.

In the meantime as I sort through this, I have now changed my eBay business policy to exclude shipping to AK, HI and PR.  I have everything set as "free shipping", but I usually cringe when I get orders from AK or HI for over-sized items.  Most of what I sell is large.  I will no longer respond to eBay messages, Cancellation Requests or Return Requests after hours or on weekends.  I responded to this particular Buyer's Cancellation Request on Saturday as a courtesy, but it burned me in the end since he thought I could wiggle my nose and magically stop this shipment that was already in process.  The Managed Payments process at eBay is a nightmare as they hold onto money way too long.  Selling goods on Friday won't hit your bank account until some time the following Wednesday.  I did a Refund on a Friday afternoon after I received a return, and eBay took it from my bank account immediately on Friday, even though they had payouts of mine that I didn't get until Wednesday.  Funny how that works.  It takes 4-5 days for them to send you your own money, but an hour for them to take your money.

Sorry for the book.  This is very frustrating.  I have been slowly ending listings on eBay after I was forced into Managed Payments.  I don't see an end in sight for eBay to realize that they don't have a business without Sellers.

[whattheactualfox]

Following up with my post, you may have lost lots of potential buyers. I get you were not happy, but there are times where we need to wear a mask with the customer and make the best solution of the issue.

I hope you have learned your lesson.

[101dolphns]

I stopped trying to be super quick on shipping, for this very reason.  It can and DOES bite you back.  Now, I take my time and get it out in 2 days.

One order yesterday, the buyer messaged me and asked to swap parts(change the order). It would have been too late if I was quick with my shipping like I use to do.

[forward-motion]

It sounds like you have a good thing going on, Awesome!! But, in this case it looks like you can see you have a flawed system. Honesty, I don't see how you don't run into this more. Somehow you need to find a way to be able to cancel after hours and weekends, it is that simple. It's not the buyers fault here. I thing anyone would not be happy. 

[arisdisc]

Boy,. if you really really want to succeed at this, you should be open 7 days (at least for communication).
You can slouch on Sunday for 'shipping' maybe, but it's not that difficult to keep dialogues going with buyers any day they decide to write, especially when you're carrying a phone around all day.

It's up to you, but frankly, your 'response' to that feedback isn't all that believable/credible to me. 

[inhawaii]

The part about you can't cancel a order that is one hour old is just so ridiculous that i don't even believe it.  No business owner is that stupid.  "I lock my employees in a dungeon for the weekend and take away their cell phones so we can't cancel an order."  I just don't believe it. 

The part about not wanting to cancel the transaction.  Would you rather cancel a transaction or end up doing a return?  That's a no-brainer.

The part about the negative feedback. Buyer wanted to cancel the transaction. Seller refused. Buyer is unhappy.  Buyer has every right to leave positive feedback. 

[varebelrose]

Denying a buyer's request to cancel will never work out well for a seller. Ever.

[varebelrose]

" I have no way to reach them until Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. E.S.T. They turn off phones and don't check e-mail during the weekend. "

You have employees (or contractors) that handle your merchandise and shipping, and you have no cell phone number or ANY way to contact them...? Or are you drop-shipping... that would explain this scenario.

[fern*wood]

I know I've posted this many times, but I still feel it applies.  It's usually far easier to change what I'm doing to avoid issues, than to get ebay or buyers to change theirs.   Possibly change your handling to 2 days, if this is a common problem, or have one weekend employee have their phone turned on.  I bet if you checked, they all have phones and they all are actually turned on in case their families call them.   Since ebay allows cancellation requests, I would try to accommodate this by changing my methods to avoid this financial hit.

[gjs_16]

It is quite clear to me why your buyer left you the negative.

[lonebuck-books]

I'm having a hard time believing that there was absolutely no way to contact your shipping department to have an order cancelled.  What happens if there is some sort of an emergency where you absolutely have to contact them on a weekend?  What if a buyer made a huge mistake and ordered a thousand items from you when they actually only wanted 10?  Do you really want them shipping out a large quantity only to have to pay to have them returned to you just because your shipper won't allow you to contact them when they are working for you?

eBay allows you to decline a cancellation, that's true but you also run the risk of negative feedback and a return if you do take that option. The negative feedback you got is only the beginning of your problem.  Your buyer could (and probably will) request a return claiming the item was damaged and eBay will accept the return, charge you the shipping label and then refund the buyer.  If the buyer is really ticked off, they might also damage the item before returning it to you.

If your shipping operation truly cannot be contacted over a weekend for these kinds of issues, you might want to re-think who you use as a shipper.  An emergency way to contact them is an absolute must have.  If they can't be contacted at any time they are shipping your items, that would be a deal breaker in my book.

[native_plant_shop]

Drop shipping eh? 

[jakni_5]

Just eat the feedback and write an explanation. Buyers mostly are not reading item titles and your seller profile is buried. Buyers aren't reading feedback and the ones that do will see your explanation.

99.9% feedback is great.

If you set up a booth somewhere and gave away free lemonade and cookies you wouldn't have a 99% feedback rating. 

[gotta-have-it-collectables]

Its called an EMPLOYEE!

[glasser]

Your feedback is 99.5. One neg not the end of the world. Cancellations are the cost of doing business. Happens all the times for myriad of reasons. The buyer actually did you a favor canceling within an hour that was fast.

Not buyers fault that your shipping works they way it does. That's a business decision you made to run you business. Seems like it has worked 99.9% of the time. That's not a bad track record.

In the case with your shipping dept circumstances, the cost of shipping, and the overall cost of the item ($108?), I would have told the buyer sorry the order has been shipped. I am returning your money and you can keep or sell the item whatever. Guarantee you would have gotten a positive feedback and the loss is deductible.

You can limit sales wherever you want. Just note your limiting customers as well.

[wesk_36]

"They turn off phones and don't check e-mail during the weekend."

Do you work for your shipping department employees or do your shipping department employees work for you?

Tell them to leave their phones on so you can call if there is a problem I don't understand why you would not designate at least one phone number, perhaps a managers phone, to be able to contact your employees at any time?

Who is running your company anyway?