eBay

talulansuri · ‎09-27-2017

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to give me some advice.

I don't often sell, I usually do more purchasing. I've had 100% Positive feedback until a recent sale. So this is the issue:

I recently sold an item. Prior to the Auction Ending date, my Grandmother passed away unexpectedly & I was called out of town for a week. At that point, I didn't even remember I had listed items as don't often sell anything.

6 days after the sale ended, I returned home (5 days from receiving payment on a FREE SHIPPING item). I received a message from buyer "I made payment & have not received any shipping infomaiton".

I responded to buyer with apology & explained 'I was out of town with an unexpected family emergency, before the ending of the auction and that I just returned the evening before and I would be able to send her item out in a few days & would upgrade the 'Free Shipping' to FREE Priority shipping for her.

The buyer had responded she was disappointed because she had "run out of her moisturizer 5 days earlier and if "(she) had known, she would have continued bidding on another auction".

SIDE NOTE: Aparently she was bidding on 2 of the same item from different sellers...when I checked, the only other sale within a week of same product was $12 over my ending auction price).

I again apologized, asking her "please forgive me, if you see my feedback, I have never disappointed a buyer, I appreciated her purchase" and I said I would send out her product and also include some 'extras' for her inconvenience & it would be able to get it shipped in 2 days.

Two days later, I received a notice from eBay that the seller had opened a case against me, requesting a refund. The buyer had NOT contacted me directly to request refund or question shipping status of product. At that point, the buyer had also left negative feedback before I was able to respond to her opening a case against me.

I immediately refunded the sale to the seller, very surprised by this. This plummeted my 100% feedback to 83.3%!!!!! I responded to the negative feedback but your are only allowed 80 characters to explain! Also, when I tried to leave feedback for this buyer, I was unable to leave any feedback for her?!?!

This was so not worth the $34.50 sale (actual cost of item is $70.00 PLUS shipping cost).

Anyone have any advice on how I'm able to try and get this resolved and get my rating back. I reached out to the buyer but no response from her (didn't expect any response). Thank you!

Best,

Denise

mismarymarpl0 · ‎09-27-2017

This is not an undeserved neg.

While I feel for your situation, the buyer had every right to expect her item in a timely manner. Im sure you have a cell phone, you could have logged in at any time and sent the buyer a note about your situation, and asked if she was OK with the delay or would like to cancel

You keep harping on free shipping...that doesnt matter. The buyer wanted her item sent in a timely manner.

You delayed shipping by 5 days and then you tell the buyer you will ship it in 2 more days? Um, no. Just no. Not cool. The buyer had every right to open a case for a refund. The buyer had every right to leave negative negative feedback, this wasnt a good experience for her

phanoto · ‎09-27-2017

The only way to get the negative removed is for the buyer to have eBay remove it.

If you have given the buyer something extra, that will probably help to get the buyer to remove the negative feedback.

It would have been better if you had tried to get the buyer to remove the negative before you responded to the feedback. Also, do not do a follow-up on the feedback you left unless the buyer has eBay to remove the negative, or until it is too late to remove it. . The reason is that the buyer may dislike your comments in the response or the follow-up.

Also, it is best that you give a buyer positive feedback before trying to email the buyer about a problem. The reason is that the buyer may be aggravated that you did not leave feedback, and that would cause the buyer to be more likely to leave negative feedback for something else that the buyer disliked.

pf9000 · ‎09-27-2017

Ebay makes it difficult for us to leave town. I wish they would implement a system, where you could freeze the auction temporarily until you return.

mismarymarpl0 · ‎09-27-2017

Just cancel the listing and relist when you get home. Its not rocket science

jonathankirkland · ‎09-27-2017

I'm sorry OP, I understand you are under duress in your current situation, but you must understand when you sell on ebay you are expected to operate professionally like a business.

This means if you are selling something, you are expected to ship it in a timely manner upon receipt of payment. To let something go for 5 days after receiving payment and then tell the customer you need an additional 2 days ti ship it is completely unacceptable.

The negative and the refund request are all warranted. You will not be able to get the negative removed. Also if you do decide to leave a positive feebdack the buyer and write negative words, the buyer can contact ebay and report that and have it removed since it is a violation, and it will go against you for violating policy.

Consider this a hard lesson learned.

The only way to improve your feedback rating now is to buy and sell more items with positive feedback.

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-27-2017

I am so sorry this happened to you and I hope you are ok.

While I understand that buyers often get weary of things like this, it is not the end of the world that the buyer ran out of moisturizer. Sometimes if a buyer has heard this before, they are then less inclined to believe an honest seller with an issue.

I'm not saying buyer has no right to expect things in a timely matter, but it would have been nice if there was some understanding here.

You might explain to the buyer that you understand and are so sorry she was inconvenienced. It is a very traumatic experience to have a loved one in the hospital and you hope she can find it in her heart to forgive you. It would mean the world to you. While I understand it is your right to post feedback, I would like to ask you, if you would, to please revise your feedback to me. Being a small seller, that one negative has taken me down to 83%. Please let me know if you will be so kind as to agree to this and I will send you a feedback revision.

Thank you again for your help with this matter.

Your Seller

dakotasmoke · ‎09-27-2017

@talulansuri wrote:
Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to give me some advice.
I don't often sell, I usually do more purchasing. I've had 100% Positive feedback until a recent sale. So this is the issue:

I recently sold an item. Prior to the Auction Ending date, my Grandmother passed away unexpectedly & I was called out of town for a week. At that point, I didn't even remember I had listed items as don't often sell anything.
6 days after the sale ended, I returned home (5 days from receiving payment on a FREE SHIPPING item). I received a message from buyer "I made payment & have not received any shipping infomaiton".

I responded to buyer with apology & explained 'I was out of town with an unexpected family emergency, before the ending of the auction and that I just returned the evening before and I would be able to send her item out in a few days & would upgrade the 'Free Shipping' to FREE Priority shipping for her.

The buyer had responded she was disappointed because she had "run out of her moisturizer 5 days earlier and if "(she) had known, she would have continued bidding on another auction".
SIDE NOTE: Aparently she was bidding on 2 of the same item from different sellers...when I checked, the only other sale within a week of same product was $12 over my ending auction price).

I again apologized, asking her "please forgive me, if you see my feedback, I have never disappointed a buyer, I appreciated her purchase" and I said I would send out her product and also include some 'extras' for her inconvenience & it would be able to get it shipped in 2 days.

Two days later, I received a notice from eBay that the seller had opened a case against me, requesting a refund. The buyer had NOT contacted me directly to request refund or question shipping status of product. At that point, the buyer had also left negative feedback before I was able to respond to her opening a case against me.
I immediately refunded the sale to the seller, very surprised by this. This plummeted my 100% feedback to 83.3%!!!!! I responded to the negative feedback but your are only allowed 80 characters to explain! Also, when I tried to leave feedback for this buyer, I was unable to leave any feedback for her?!?!

This was so not worth the $34.50 sale (actual cost of item is $70.00 PLUS shipping cost).
Anyone have any advice on how I'm able to try and get this resolved and get my rating back. I reached out to the buyer but no response from her (didn't expect any response). Thank you!
Best,
Denise

You cant get that feedback removed. The buyer was right to be upset, you waited 5 days to ship, then said you'd wait another 2 days to ship. What you should have done was send the buyer an appology, bumped her to priority mail, put the extra goodies in and put it in the mail that day.

By waiting the extra 2 days, you told that buyer "you dont matter to me, I'll get around to shipping when I feel like it". I cant blame her for filing for a refund. I would have too

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-27-2017

@dakotasmoke wrote:
@talulansuri wrote:
Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to give me some advice.
I don't often sell, I usually do more purchasing. I've had 100% Positive feedback until a recent sale. So this is the issue:

I recently sold an item. Prior to the Auction Ending date, my Grandmother passed away unexpectedly & I was called out of town for a week. At that point, I didn't even remember I had listed items as don't often sell anything.
6 days after the sale ended, I returned home (5 days from receiving payment on a FREE SHIPPING item). I received a message from buyer "I made payment & have not received any shipping infomaiton".

I responded to buyer with apology & explained 'I was out of town with an unexpected family emergency, before the ending of the auction and that I just returned the evening before and I would be able to send her item out in a few days & would upgrade the 'Free Shipping' to FREE Priority shipping for her.

The buyer had responded she was disappointed because she had "run out of her moisturizer 5 days earlier and if "(she) had known, she would have continued bidding on another auction".
SIDE NOTE: Aparently she was bidding on 2 of the same item from different sellers...when I checked, the only other sale within a week of same product was $12 over my ending auction price).

I again apologized, asking her "please forgive me, if you see my feedback, I have never disappointed a buyer, I appreciated her purchase" and I said I would send out her product and also include some 'extras' for her inconvenience & it would be able to get it shipped in 2 days.

Two days later, I received a notice from eBay that the seller had opened a case against me, requesting a refund. The buyer had NOT contacted me directly to request refund or question shipping status of product. At that point, the buyer had also left negative feedback before I was able to respond to her opening a case against me.
I immediately refunded the sale to the seller, very surprised by this. This plummeted my 100% feedback to 83.3%!!!!! I responded to the negative feedback but your are only allowed 80 characters to explain! Also, when I tried to leave feedback for this buyer, I was unable to leave any feedback for her?!?!

This was so not worth the $34.50 sale (actual cost of item is $70.00 PLUS shipping cost).
Anyone have any advice on how I'm able to try and get this resolved and get my rating back. I reached out to the buyer but no response from her (didn't expect any response). Thank you!
Best,
Denise

You cant get that feedback removed. The buyer was right to be upset, you waited 5 days to ship, then said you'd wait another 2 days to ship. What you should have done was send the buyer an appology, bumped her to priority mail, put the extra goodies in and put it in the mail that day.

By waiting the extra 2 days, you told that buyer "you dont matter to me, I'll get around to shipping when I feel like it". I cant blame her for filing for a refund. I would have too

While I see your point, I guess I am just more understanding and forgiving than that. Two more days would not have been the end of the world to me, and I would have waited a bit more before pulling the trigger, and being that this was an infrequent seller, would not have pulled the trigger on a neg. I'm more the do unto others as you would have others do unto you type.

But that is just me. To each his own.

pingpong517 · ‎09-27-2017

wow you really used up the number of spaces for that reply...

well you didn't mnake the buyer happy , so they can leave a neg feedback...and after you did offer and send...you could have asked for a revision...maybe she'd be willing once her hands were soft and supple again... but that's just a maybe...

oh, and your reply trying to state your case, really isn't going to help anyone understand... it had to decyfer for one, and most will simple think you are making up something to show why...and the fact that most all buyer look for is ...did it get there on time and safe....and that is where you got stuck... it happens , so sell more and boost up your rating by good fast service....

jonathankirkland · ‎09-27-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
While I see your point, I guess I am just more understanding and forgiving than that. Two more days would not have been the end of the world to me, and I would have waited a bit more before pulling the trigger, and being that this was an infrequent seller, would not have pulled the trigger on a neg. I'm more the do unto others as you would have others do unto you type.

But that is just me. To each his own.

Castle I do not think the OP informed the buyer that she was going through a death in the family but rather explained it as a "family emergency".

At any rate, as cold as it sounds, a buyer in general is not going to be concerned with the reason why they are not receiving shipping information for 5 days after paying for it. This is just one of those things that is indefensible.

And to me, it sounds like the additional 2 days after the original 5 days waited was the last straw for the buyer. I'm sorry but I don't think I would have even waited 5 days before losing my patience...

I agree though that it is worth a shot for OP to kindly request a feedback revision from the buyer as it really cannot hurt.

*madison · ‎09-27-2017

and I said I would send out her product and also include some 'extras'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I noticed a seller did that for you when shipping was delayed, sent you some extras, so you left positive feedback.

It worked for you, so you thought it might work for your buyer.

Some buyers are not interested in extras though, or family emergencies, they don't care and are not interested, they just want what they paid for in a timely manner.

You earned the neg fair and square.

fern*wood · ‎09-27-2017

Sometimes we earn bad feedback for really bad and unfortunate reasons---sorry about your Grandmother.

sandmansales · ‎09-27-2017

This is one of the most deserved negative feedbacks I've encountered in a long time.

~Why be a second rate version of someone else when you can be a first rate version of yourself~

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-30-2017

@pingpong517 wrote:
wow you really used up the number of spaces for that reply...

well you didn't mnake the buyer happy , so they can leave a neg feedback...and after you did offer and send...you could have asked for a revision...maybe she'd be willing once her hands were soft and supple again... but that's just a maybe...

oh, and your reply trying to state your case, really isn't going to help anyone understand... it had to decyfer for one, and most will simple think you are making up something to show why...and the fact that most all buyer look for is ...did it get there on time and safe....and that is where you got stuck... it happens , so sell more and boost up your rating by good fast service....

Love that, pingpong, once her hands are soft and supple again!