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.

[shado-x]

"You wrote to us on a weekend, and was lucky enough our Customer Service responds to questions after hours"

Ah yeah.....you should have just cancelled the order, submit an override to your "shipping department", and just stopped it from going out on Monday morning.  I can see blocking AK buyers for large items, but HI and PR are pretty good.  I don't see how Managed Payments is interfering with your business at all, just create a surplus reserve, invest in assets, and cushion yourself.

[theteamsetguy]

You can contact Fedex and have them return the package.

[whattheactualfox]

Tbh all I can say is that the feedback isn't just for the purchase itself, its for the experience of buying from the seller. Kind of like how you review a restaurant for the food and service (just an example)

What eBay policy doesn't warn you is that the Buyer is free to trash your reputation because you followed eBay policy. 

You did follow ebay policy yes, but the buyer is obligated to review you. They did not trash you and were honest about the service. I would have told the buyer you had to deny the request due to the package being shipped and tell them that they could refund it for their money back. Besides the only time ebay will remove feedback is if the buyer violated ebay's feedback policy. Taking a look they did not.

It's better to be honest and have a solution or two at hand then accuse the buyer. I also did not like the response you told them. You could have said this:

"Hello Buyer! I do apologize but the item was shipped out when the item cancelation was received. I am more then welcome to refund you in full and apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused."

But at that point, you may have lost a buyer, and keep in mind that your responses are public. I hope my answer helps for the future.

[silvercrown90]

Except that won't remove the negative feedback.  The Cancellation Request was already declined on Saturday, and the Buyer provided negative feedback immediately.  I wrote a nice message to him when I had to decline it on Saturday.  Note that I should never, ever have responded to his request as he holds it against me responding so quickly.  Here is part of his feedback: 

"My fault for ordering the wrong item, but not happy with the seller’s decision to refuse to take action to cancel the order so soon after being placed."

He placed the order on Saturday and tried to cancel it an hour later.  I should have never responded to him on Saturday.  I try to be helpful to customers, but sometimes it burns you in the end.  

[silvercrown90]

This is the message I sent to him on Saturday, BEFORE he left the negative feedback.  When I got the negative feedback after declining the Cancellation Request and sending him this nice message explaining why it couldn't be cancelled, needless to say I wasn't a happy camper, especially knowing I would have preferred that he never ordered it so that I wouldn't have to ship to Alaska and lose money.  

Hello,

I am sorry we were not able to accept your cancellation request. Unfortunately your order has already been submitted to our Shipping Department and is already being packaged. 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. Sorry! This can be returned once it has been received. Just contact me for a Return Number after it has been received. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Thanks,

[silvercrown90]

So I had a solution and offered him a solution.  All he needs to do is return it.  There was absolutely NO way I could cancel it on Saturday an hour after the order was already in process.  But eBay is okay with letting Buyers order the wrong thing, then blame the Seller because they can't cancel the order, but yet have their written policy state that a Seller can Decline a Cancellation Request.  

[popblox]

For some reason, I can't seem to comprehend the business strategy behind employing a paid shipping crew and granting them the freedom to ruggage about inside an unsupervised warehouse with direct access to thousands of dollars of merchandise, but without access to any form of communication.

[silvercrown90]

This was an item that sold for $108 and the shipping via FedEx was over $70.  I don't want or need Buyers that can't read descriptions.  LOL.  Lost a buyer?  He is already blocked, along with every other potential Buyer outside of the continental US.  We will continue to offer free shipping to AK and HI on our own website, but not through marketplaces.  I have already changed the eBay business policies to exclude all buyers outside of the continental US.  

As I said before, I would have been ecstatic to cancel this order shipping to Alaska if I could have.  My bad for not setting up the Business Policies in advance of this debacle.  This "free shipping" policy that eBay pushes on Sellers ends up screwing buyers who live closer.  If I hadn't offered "free shipping", it is doubtful that I would have ever had orders from HI or AK if they had to pay actual shipping costs.

[gjs_16]

It's not the buyer's fault that a seller does not have full control over their inventory.  However, a buyer still has the option to return the item and that means you'll pay shipping ...

[silvercrown90]

I don't have an "override" button once an order is submitted to Shipping.  If I did, I would have GLADLY cancelled it.   I have accepted a lot of Cancellation Requests, but those were during business hours when I could speak to someone in Shipping to pull the order from the conveyor belt before it was shipped.  This order was placed on Saturday and the cancellation request came about an hour later.  I was getting ready to head out for the weekend, and try to get orders sent over to Shipping so they aren't sitting there with nothing to do.  We are known for fast shipping, and we run overnight shifts, especially on weekends, as it helps us with the Monday rush.

I just checked Google Maps.  This package is traveling 3,652 miles from Michigan to the buyer's home address in Alaska.  The package weighs 11.1 pounds and the dimensions are 68 x 12 x 11 inches.  Any Seller in their right mind would be happy to cancel this order if they could.  The Buyer paid $108 with shipping included.  Again, I should have set up my Business Policies to exclude shipping to AK and HI when I offer "free" shipping (sic).  Up until yesterday, I offered "free" shipping on everything, regardless of destination.  

[downunder-61]

Sorry this happened and that the buyer left a neg.

Just a bit of 'friendly' advice for future dealings and with contacting your shipping hub.

I also have a warehouse that is away from my actual office (home), but the manager has a mobile phone and is ALWAY's contactable - he does not have to take outside calls, but would never not take a call from me or office staff. 

It doesn't make sense to have a warehouse operating (even out of business hours) that is completely uncontactable by the owner of the company.

[redmodelt]

Sorry, but if you are running a business and a warehouse is packing and shipping after hours and weekends, why are you NOT in contact with them? Is this your inventory you are selling or? I sure would have a way to contact someone if the need came up, such as this case.

[tajenn-2263]

If you actually, physically own your merchandise, then you need to fire your shipping department for (or yourself) for being unable to communicate 7 days a week.

Also, your "nice" message to your buyer was a tad condescending, because your listing isn't super clear that it's not a full bed liner, but a bed liner accessory.

Never try to "school" a buyer, it's going to end badly.

[luckythewinner]

@silvercrown90 wrote:

eBay policy clearly states that the Seller can Decline or Accept a Cancellation Request. 

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I do not recall seeing anything in eBay that says a seller must violate eBay policy in order to receive a negative feedback.