eBay

christworks · ‎11-09-2023

Recently I made a purchase which included multiple items of the same product. A few hours after I paid, the seller called me on the telephone and informed me they did not have all the items to send. The seller stated they had miscounted, and also needed to keep some of the product they did have for themselves. The seller asked if I wanted the order cancelled. Of course, I wanted the order cancelled. Did the seller expect me to say, "No, you just keep my money"?

I told the seller I would not leave negative feedback. That said, when the seller cancelled the order, instead of owning the mistake and taking the hit, they selected that I wanted the order cancelled. I then realized that the reason why the seller called me was to avoid the hit on their account. I found the action sneaky and underhanded.

I used to sell on eBay years ago, and recently returned to selling earlier this year. I completely understand how mistakes happen from time to time. I made a made an error and miscounted how many items I had of a certain product. When the last one sold, I realized I did not have it. I cancelled the order, issued a refund, and apologized to the buyer. My account took a hit, but that was fine because I was in the wrong. It motivated me to do better and ensure I have everything I list in stock.

In my case as the buyer, I kept my word and did not leave negative feedback. I did leave neutral feedback because I did not appreciate the seller's tactics. Afterward, the seller officially asked me to revise the feedback, stating they called eBay and was told it was okay that they called me. I reached out to eBay through chat. They confirmed to me exactly what I recalled from having sold previously: Sellers should only call buyers in very limited circumstances; such as, if the purchase is a local pick-up or in cases where a vehicle is being sold. Ebay advised me to report the seller though my account so they can take action against them. I am hesitant to do that because I feel that is too harsh. The seller has sold well over 5,000 items, so they are not new at this.

Am I being too harsh? Am I not being harsh enough? I feel like the neutral feedback I left is more than fair. Notably, the seller did not leave me feedback. They seem to only be concerned about their own.

fm2000 · ‎11-10-2023

When he called, you should have insisted he contact you via the eBay message system instead and quickly ended the call. You always want communication done on eBay's message system so they have a copy of the conversation and can make any rulings or enforcement actions with all the information available. Never have conversations about a transaction outside of the eBay system, this helps protect both buyers and sellers.

Outside of contacting a buyer to set up a local pickup or a delivery or such, a seller should never call a buyer.

ed8108 · ‎11-10-2023

@christworks wrote:
... the seller called me on the telephone and informed me they did not have all the items to send. The seller stated they had miscounted, and also

needed to keep some of the product they did have for themselves.

I then realized that the reason why the seller called me was to avoid the hit on their account. I found the action sneaky and underhanded.

They seem to only be concerned about their own.

How manny sellers would consider it as appropriate receiving a telephone call from their buyer on a noncritical issue ?

A buyer telephoning & requesting their seller to agree to a cancellation for example ?

Does this buying experience incentivise you to purchase from this seller or to purchase on ebay in the future ?

Did the seller fail to provide you with a persuasive reason why they didn't deserve neutral feedback ?

You state ebay has advised you to Report this seller

inhawaii · ‎11-10-2023

I ran out of the 2024 Ferrari you purchased.

I do have a 1979 Ford Pinto. Runs good buy has a oil leak.

Would you like the Ford Pinto or should I cancel the sale?

The buyer asked to cancel the sale.

Sea Of Love - The Honeydrippers

slippinjimmy · ‎11-10-2023

@lakefor94 wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
And that is exactly how bad actors, whether buyers or sellers continue to get away with their bad behavior IMHO. No one holds them accountable.
I would not lump that seller in with the "bad actors". The seller had the guts to contact the buyer, explain the situation, ask for forgiveness, yada yada. So, he skipped out on shooting himself in the foot. He took care of the buyer the best he could. Most just cancel with "buyer asked to cancel" without even a message to the buyer. That is what we see continually in feedback. Calling shows concern for the customer whether the seller used it to his advantage or not.

Bad actor is a term I reserve for scammers, theives and the like. Personal preference in terms I would suppose....

I call customers now and then. Yesterday as matter in fact. Shipping via RL Carriers. Freight. Have to make sure there is someone at their office to receive shipment and access needs for delivery since Streetview showed no dock. Delivered today 5:29pm. Happy customer.

Ridiculous, if you don't think "Bad Actor" is appropriate what would think about "scummy and dishonest" and one of the reasons eBay is losing buyers.

One Out Of Stock cancellation does no harm to a seller, we don't need sellers that are liars, it's bad for business (and that is bad for ALL sellers).

It appears that in this case the seller ONLY called for their own benefit.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

deltilogical · ‎11-10-2023

It is insane I have to go to another platform to actually contact Ebay. It is also a security risk for me, providing more data to another platform.

"Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue..."

4pawsup* · ‎11-10-2023

I had to call a buyer this past week. The buyer sent me a message after he received my message that his item has shipped. His message was to please ship to his Florida home as he is a snowbird and was not in Pennsylvania. His Ebay address and the label i paid and printed was for Pennsylvania. I messaged and said i was sorry but i could not change it and why. 2 messages later i was tired of trying to explain why he just either did not understand or played dumb. He is a Ebay member for some years so i think he knew but i did not want to end up with a disgruntled buyer. So i called him and after talking to him changed his address with the help of the PO to his Florida address. I know i am not protected but after speaking to him i am confident i will not have a problem and i have a customer who is very happy. So sometimes you do need to call a buyer.

lakefor94 · ‎11-10-2023

@slippinjimmy wrote:
@lakefor94 wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
And that is exactly how bad actors, whether buyers or sellers continue to get away with their bad behavior IMHO. No one holds them accountable.
I would not lump that seller in with the "bad actors". The seller had the guts to contact the buyer, explain the situation, ask for forgiveness, yada yada. So, he skipped out on shooting himself in the foot. He took care of the buyer the best he could. Most just cancel with "buyer asked to cancel" without even a message to the buyer. That is what we see continually in feedback. Calling shows concern for the customer whether the seller used it to his advantage or not.

Bad actor is a term I reserve for scammers, theives and the like. Personal preference in terms I would suppose....

I call customers now and then. Yesterday as matter in fact. Shipping via RL Carriers. Freight. Have to make sure there is someone at their office to receive shipment and access needs for delivery since Streetview showed no dock. Delivered today 5:29pm. Happy customer.
Ridiculous, if you don't think "Bad Actor" is appropriate what would think about "scummy and dishonest" and one of the reasons eBay is losing buyers.

One Out Of Stock cancellation does no harm to a seller, we don't need sellers that are liars, it's bad for business (and that is bad for ALL sellers).

It appears that in this case the seller ONLY called for their own benefit.

From what we have all surmised from the thread, did the seller actually lie or did the buyer agree to the cancellation?

"It appears that in this case the seller ONLY called for their own benefit."

appears is the keyword there.

Anyways, back to the OP's original question of "When is it okay for a seller to call a buyer on the phone?"

Depends completely upon the situation. Great customer service can certainly depend on communication.

Are we talking about a matchbox car for $5 or parts that a customer might need to complete an installation or something of that nature? Many situations don't require a phone call and some absolutely do, in my experience.

Most sellers cancel without even an eBay message according to what we continually read in feedback. More than likely the #1 negative feedback.

Here is a feedback screenshot from my AMZ account. This customer seems to never hear from sellers. Probably the norm.

AMZ Feedback.png

Posting ID

albertabrightalberta · ‎11-10-2023

@lakefor94 wrote:
Are we talking about a matchbox car for $5 or parts that a customer might need to complete an installation or something of that nature? Many situations don't require a phone call and some absolutely do, in my experience.

Had you looked at the feedback @christworks left for the seller (which IMO is better than the seller earned), you'd see that it's $60 bubble mailers that not only did the seller not have the quantity they'd listed but now, they wanted to keep some of what was sold!

THAT isn't a good buyer experience and not indicative of a honorable excuse from a seller for their own mistake (if indeed, it's a mistake).

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

lakefor94 · ‎11-10-2023

@albertabrightalberta wrote:
@lakefor94 wrote:
Are we talking about a matchbox car for $5 or parts that a customer might need to complete an installation or something of that nature? Many situations don't require a phone call and some absolutely do, in my experience.
Had you looked at the feedback @christworks left for the seller (which IMO is better than the seller earned), you'd see that it's $60 bubble mailers that not only did the seller not have the quantity they'd listed but now, they wanted to keep some of what was sold!

THAT isn't a good buyer experience and not indicative of a honorable excuse from a seller for their own mistake (if indeed, it's a mistake).

So what does that have to do with whether or not the situation requires a phone call or not?

Posting ID

gurlcat · ‎11-10-2023

Okay I have one more question -exactly where/how does a buyer see the reason the seller chose for the cancellation? It would be great if the OP themselves would answer this, but I haven't seen any engagement from them in the replies so far. So does anyone else know? BTW I don't just mean a simple answer like "In your purchases", I mean do you have to click on the purchase, then where on that page is it shown, etc? I don't expect anyone to provide a screenshot but that would be great if possible.

christworks · ‎11-10-2023

Go to your purchases. Go to the order that was cancelled and refunded. Beside the statement, "The item has been canceled, " there is a "view details" link. Click that link. On the right side of that page there is a heading called, "Summary." Within the list of information given you will find the cancellation reason.

soh.maryl · ‎11-10-2023

Although I don't recall where it's written in eBay rules, all correspondence between a seller and buyer needs to be through eBay only.

eBay sees other contact, even the innocuous kind, to be an effort to take an eBay transaction off eBay and thereby avoid fees.

mam98031 · ‎11-10-2023

@deltilogical wrote:
It is insane I have to go to another platform to actually contact Ebay. It is also a security risk for me, providing more data to another platform.

"Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue..."

Not sure why this would be an issue. You are forced to only use Social Media to contact Ebay, it is an OPTION, not a requirement. Simply use the method that best works for you, that is why there are options.

I personally don't use social media, not for security reasons as you have said, but because I simply don't have enough time in a day to do all this and all that.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.

If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.

If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/home

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

mam98031 · ‎11-10-2023

@gurlcat wrote:
Okay I have one more question -exactly where/how does a buyer see the reason the seller chose for the cancellation? It would be great if the OP themselves would answer this, but I haven't seen any engagement from them in the replies so far. So does anyone else know? BTW I don't just mean a simple answer like "In your purchases", I mean do you have to click on the purchase, then where on that page is it shown, etc? I don't expect anyone to provide a screenshot but that would be great if possible.

When you get an email saying an order has been cancelled, the reason why the cancellation happened is stated in the email. Or it use to be. Things change so quickly around here it is always a gamble to say this is how it is. LOL

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

christworks · ‎11-10-2023

Thank you for the responses and feedback. There seems to be some conflicting opinions, which matches my feelings on the situation.

Was the seller a "bad actor," as has been suggested? Personally, I would reserve that term for someone who was trying to defraud a buyer or deliberately do something that could harm the buyer's account. It does not seem to me that was the intent here. I also do not believe the seller's intent was to deliver exceptional personalized customer service. Instead, there was a deliberate attempt by the seller to avoid any written communication. I believe this supported by the fact they referenced no less than three times on the phone call they were concerned about negative feedback. In fact, the concern was less about their mess-up and more about their risk for negative feedback. This is supported by the subsequent written messages to me from the seller that they "called" eBay and were told there was nothing wrong with what they did and I should remove the neutral feedback I left.

As I have read through the responses here and thought about it some more, the seller could have properly cancelled the order, and still have called and apologized on the phone. My beef is not with the fact they were out of stock. Nor is it my beef that they wanted to keep some of what they did have for themselves. (Some buyers might have a problem with that, but I don't. Though, as a seller, I would not do that. ) My issue is strictly with how they handled it. It was not appropriate to call since eBay provides an acceptable way to resolve OOS issues. Had the seller simply messaged me, apologized, and asked if it was okay if they cancelled the order, there would have been no issue. The seller could have even asked if they could select the cancellation reason as a buyer cancellation request. I probably would not have any issue with that. In such a case, the seller would have shown me some respect and asked. Instead, the behavior is slimy and it speaks to their concern being themselves rather than their customers. I do believe that behavior like this - deliberate or not - hurts all good sellers in the long run.