eBay

iminbus_18 · ‎03-05-2024

I sold an item to a customer, before I could send it, it was damaged. We had a lot of rain and flooding in California lately and this package was a victim of this. I told my customer that I no longer had the item. This was after he paid for it.

Then he sends this:

I attempt to send him $29.70 and I can't?

When I enter the amount, the only amount this page will accept is the total paid, minus the tax which is $27.44?

I sent this screen shot to him and told him I don't know why this is happening? I asked him if I can Cash App or Zelle the $2.26 tax?

Then:

I send $27.44

I said; OK, I just don't want any problems with people.

This is the feedback he left me!!

I need people to see this for what it is. If anything, it's nothing like what occurred. I tried to make sure he got every penny because he should have.. and I have never had anyone talk this way about me in my whole life!

toomuchstuffagain35 · ‎03-06-2024

You MIGHT be able to mitigate the harsher aspects of the FB by leaving a follow up explaining that your goods were affected by the floods in Cali and that as a newer seller you misunderstood how to do refunds in such cases and didn't understand ebay remitted the sales tax portion which was the only reason you suggested remitting that part by a cash app.

But if you do that - choose your words carefully before you hit submit.

"If a product doesn't sell, raise the price" - Reese Palley
"If it sold FAST, it was priced too low" - also Reese Palley

gloryglorygifts · ‎03-06-2024

Oh wow! I'm so sorry about the flooding and hope that you are recovering from it.

Silver lining, the customer left a neutral, so it isn't going to affect your score.

As others have said, you should have marked it as out of stock/damaged when you cancelled the order. To put it on the buyer is not cool and they know that you blamed them. That would have also taken care of the full amount that the customer was going to be refunded. Always use the tools available from ebay and try and stay away from messaging back and forth. Lesson learned as a newbie. If you feel you must respond keep it short and simple and say something like "the item was damaged in the CA flooding, customer issued a full refund," and leave it at that.

I looked at your other feedback, the neg, and I'm sorry for your health problems. I have a myriad of them myself, but that's not a good idea to reply to negs and provide them with your health history. You're actually leaving the response for your future buyers who may look at your feedback to see if they can trust you. Leave personal stuff off and keep it professional.

Just let it go and good luck to you with the recovery and your health.

mam98031 · ‎03-06-2024

@iminbus_18 wrote:
Thank you everyone for your input. I fully understand what everyone is saying, I understand everything I have done that should have been done differently. At this point I can't change any of it, all I can do is become a better seller and I will which is a good thing. Never the less, Am I someone to "Stay away from?" I wasn't at fault for an item that was damaged. Yes, my customer asked twice for the refund. It didn't have to be this way, but, it was in the name of trying to make sure he received all of his payment. I didn't realize Ebay would automatically add the tax. There is a box a box where I'm supposed to enter the amount of the refund. If I can't enter the true amount, it's reasonable to suspect (I now know Ebay adds the tax) that the complete amount won't be sent. OK, I asked if I could send the rest using other methods and caring about my customer he says it's Fraud? Really? Then he says that after he got mad I sent the whole amount? Really? I remember trying to send him the whole amount long before this! As I said' I fully understand where I went wrong, but, I feel that I have been wrongly accused and misjudged. Am I really someone to stay away from? Am I a bad person?

I don't think anyone has said you are a "bad person". You appear to be taking this personally when you shouldn't. All transactions on Ebay are business transactions, NOT personal. You need to step back and look at this as a business, not personal.

Speaking for myself only, I said what I said because as a new seller you assumed a lot of things that were inaccurate and feed into making this a bigger issue than it needed to be. With a little research you would have been able to discover the correct way to deal with this. Ebay has a policy on just about everything, but we must actually seek out the information so we can learn from it. As a new seller, assuming stuff should just never happen. You aren't experienced enough and therefore it is very dangerous for you to do that as you have found out.

No one is "judging" you. We are trying to help you to realize there was better ways of handling this situation you found yourself in. It is something that is now in the past and now you need to move forward, learning from this situation and never letting it happen again.

You need to strive to meet your commitments to your buyers. And hopefully not get any more hits to your feedback. Steer clear of getting so personal in your response to a feedback. Again this isn't personal, it is business and your responses should be polite, professional and factual.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

fern*wood · ‎03-06-2024

Of course making a mistake doesn't make you a bad person. My biggest tip for you is to ask here before doing something with a transaction you are not familiar with. Avoid getting into a back and forth with a buyer, especially when neither party knows just how it was supposed to work.

I sure wish I knew about this board when I first started out. I made some really stupid mistakes. I still mess up, but I always know someone here can help me out.