eBay

bigdeals.etc · ‎09-18-2019

Wondering if I could've done anything different to save myself. Buyer sends me a message giving me a heads up about the item they will purchase tomorrow morning. The next morning they purchase the clothing. 20 minutes later they message me to please ship out their order. This is followed by 4 more messages all within 10 minutes of the first message asking if I can ship it out.

I didn't see these messages until 30 minutes later. Her multiple messages weren't just copy/paste. They all had different verbiage telling me to please ship out the clothing. This raises a flag with me labeling the buyer as impatient... but it usually isn't enough for me to cancel or block. I respond that normally I send items out on the next day but will help the buyer this time and send it out same day. They thank me.

Apparently the item arrives to her in 1 day after they purchased it. Buyer messages me vaguely "Can I ask you a question? Does this look like royal blue?" I wasn't sure what she was referring to since there was no photo or listing linked to the message. So I asked her to specify what item was she talking about. She immediately files a SNAD return and messages "Does this look like royal blue to you or does this look like what u advertise? No it's doesn't. I will be leaving negative feedback." Apparently she's implying she received a different color than the Royal Blue advertised, and apparently her questions were all rhetorical.

I tell her to just return the item for a refund, apologized for any possible mistake and asked what color did she actually receive. Her response "I don't have any time for this you knew what color u sent me your advertisement is a lie I will send u back the [item] and I'm also going to be leaving a negative feedback on this"

So she refuses to tell me what color because she doesn't have the time?

rustybarb · ‎09-18-2019

Don't accept a negative without contacting ebay. You have your communication on record that shows a buyer who won't send the item back for a refund and won't even tell you what she received. Ebay will take the negative off.

bigdeals.etc · ‎09-18-2019

Here come the F-bombs people... I'm obviously going to paraphrase what the buyer replied so I don't get dinged in this board for language.

Finally some light is shed on this subject. In her colorful response she says the item was a gift for someone... it was sent to her in NJ while the buyer lives in NY. She says it's impossible for her to send the item back to me. She states that I advertise Royal Blue, but the item received was Baby Blue. It's an outrage, I can't own up/fix my mistakes, I'm getting a negative, she's going to make sure no one buys from me.

I understand that many people call different colors/shades by different names. I once had a buyer complain they didn't receive turquoise, but got blue-green instead. I think Baby Blue is pretty far from Royal Blue. Baby Blue is a pastel shade (think Easter or baby shower shades of blue). I don't carry that color in my clothing, so it's safe to say the buyer's definition of colors aren't the same as mine.

Heck, we don't even know if she actually even saw the color of the item since she's in a different state. She could've just been told by the gift receiver that it's baby blue or maybe was sent a photo with bad lighting. In the past, I've gotten problems with buyers who complained about items they never saw in person (gifts) only to get cleared up later and buyer apologizes. Bottom line is that this buyer never saw the item face to face. Not much to merit an "end of the world" reaction.

Silver lining is that I know I'll get any negative removed since the buyer never intended to return the item and filed a SNAD return. Quite possibly a scare tactic to get me to move. Consider this case closed. As mentioned before, there's no need to communicate with the buyer anymore... especially after getting F-bombed.

hollysfinds · ‎09-18-2019

Oh my, what a loon!

Sorry you have to deal with this.

thevault316 · ‎09-18-2019

@bigdeals.etc wrote:
...was sent to her in NJ while the buyer lives in NY...

There's your trouble. I'd kill for the ability to block states: no NY, no NJ and no DE.

7606dennis · ‎09-18-2019

Basically all that you can do is to advise her to request a return for the not as described reason so that you can send her a return label and get the process going.

There was a time when eBay did not accept variations in color as valid reasons for SNAD disputes. Alas! I don't know if that is the case with today's eBay. While Royal Blue is a specific shade of blue, I'm not sure how different monitors display it.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

7606dennis · ‎09-18-2019

Upon reviewing the negs you received, it appears that they are mostly complaints about the quality of the product and really are product reviews instead of true feedback about the transactions. Of course, owing to the amount of business that you do, it isn't unusual to have some customers that aren't happy. How's that Ricky Nelson song go? "You can't please everyone, so just please yourself."

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

2015mhfashions · ‎09-18-2019

Always follow your gut instinct, i would have cancelled the minute the first flurry of messages started asking for something not advertised. If express shipping is needed time to ask is Before you purchase. To much time & money wasted with self entitled lunatics.

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎09-18-2019

Misery likes company, as the old adage goes. She can't help herself, certainly though this problem is not gender specific, misery is spread around pretty evenly.

Hurting people hurt other people. You can't make logic of it, she's mad at the world for whatever reason. It's not personal, it's not even personal against your garment. She's angry, and somebody has got to suffer for that. Today it was you. Luckily you aren't married to this person! 😉

bigdeals.etc · ‎09-18-2019

@hawkwind5454 wrote:
Were there any red flags in her buyer feedback responses/replies? In my whole tenure of ebay, I have never been advised of a buyers future intentions of purchasing. With maybe the exception of payment related. What's the point of it? That, for ME would have been a flag, of some color... I realize it takes all kinds of people, but it has also been my experience, that if it walks like a duck....etc... Sadly, though...Unless you were to react on a knee-jerk, gut feeling, there was likely nothing you could have done to protect yourself from this nightmare. I'd be interested to know what (if) they return to you.

In hindsight yes, I see a number of bad feedbacks left with comment "slow shipping". I'm sure majority of items are slow if you expect same day shipping. One negative comment caught my eye... she says the seller lowered the price of the listing after she bought the item. I don't believe that deserves a negative.

And you're right here too. I don't recall ever getting a pre-sale buyer message for the sole purpose of letting me know they are going to buy the item. I thought that was weird too when I received it. But it was easily dismissed. For instance, I don't go around calling grocery stores to tell them that I will be stopping by tomorrow to buy groceries.

bigdeals.etc · ‎09-18-2019

@7606dennis wrote:
Basically all that you can do is to advise her to request a return for the not as described reason so that you can send her a return label and get the process going.

There was a time when eBay did not accept variations in color as valid reasons for SNAD disputes. Alas! I don't know if that is the case with today's eBay. While Royal Blue is a specific shade of blue, I'm not sure how different monitors display it.

I specifically remember this too. Though I never seen it written anywhere, all CS agents would tell me or agree to this "policy". I can only assume it is still in effect. But as to what protection it offers, who knows. Because SNAD defects currently cannot be removed.

sandytexas1961 · ‎09-19-2019

Well, I may be in a minority, but I've gotten plenty of messages that I'm about to buy (and some actually do!). Mostly this is in relation to combined shipping -- if they buy 4 widgets will I give them combined shipping etc. I explain my policy, they buy, easy peasy.

I have on the buyer side actually messaged a seller awhile back because the picture that they had of the item (a purse) showed it to be purple shades, but I thought the designer only did it in blues. So I asked if the item was shades or blue or shades of purple. They assured me that the purse was purple as pictured in the picture. So I bought it and it was clearly blue. This is the difference between the baby blue to navy blue on the real purse, as opposed to lavender to royal purple in the picture. It is one of the few times that I filed SNAD (and I offered just to mail it back as a return without filing a case if they would pay postage and they refused). So I filed the case, uploaded our conversation. Their photo and my photo and I got my money back (after sending it back with the prepaid label). But a lot of time and effort could have been saved if they would have just told me that the item was blue not purple!

bigdeals.etc · ‎09-19-2019

@sandytexas1961 wrote:
Well, I may be in a minority, but I've gotten plenty of messages that I'm about to buy (and some actually do!). Mostly this is in relation to combined shipping -- if they buy 4 widgets will I give them combined shipping etc. I explain my policy, they buy, easy peasy.

I have on the buyer side actually messaged a seller awhile back because the picture that they had of the item (a purse) showed it to be purple shades, but I thought the designer only did it in blues. So I asked if the item was shades or blue or shades of purple. They assured me that the purse was purple as pictured in the picture. So I bought it and it was clearly blue. This is the difference between the baby blue to navy blue on the real purse, as opposed to lavender to royal purple in the picture. It is one of the few times that I filed SNAD (and I offered just to mail it back as a return without filing a case if they would pay postage and they refused). So I filed the case, uploaded our conversation. Their photo and my photo and I got my money back (after sending it back with the prepaid label). But a lot of time and effort could have been saved if they would have just told me that the item was blue not purple!

Actually I don't think are the minority. Because your buyer sent you the heads up message in regards to combined shipping discounts. That's fine. I get that from buyers too. But my buyer here just sent me the message truly as a heads up with no other information.

I understand what you are saying about the purse. Perhaps you and your buyer just have different definitions of color and shade. Maybe the seller is colorblind. Can I assume the seller was only selling that one purse and not multiple quantities of it? For my issue here, I've sold hundreds of this item in Royal Blue. And it's the same with my buyer... we disagree with definitions of shades. But when selling high volume, it's impossible to please everyone... the best we can do is cater to the masses. This is the first time someone called this item Baby Blue.

olive*drab · ‎09-19-2019

Sorry to hear of your ordeal, she probably wore it to the dance that night, and now she doesn't need it anymore. Girls do that in stores all the time.