Sorry, long post.
Recently I received a big red donut. This is not my first.
In 2016 I got one out of the blue for slow shipping. I messaged the buyer, and he told me he was not happy because it took to long to get to Hawaii. We messaged a bit. I assured him that as shown in the tracking that I had shipped the item promptly by USPS 1st Class mail, and that it hung up a bit in California on the way.
He told me that because it had taken so long he thought I cheaped out in some way(free shipping was included) and selected some bargain rate service causing it to not arrive quickly. (East coast continental U.S. to Hawaii)
I asked if he would consider revising the feedback. As he was pleased with the item that was sent, he agreed. Form sent. Feedback revised. Back to 100%
Fast forward to 2018. I get a message (no case, no return request, no request for refund) from a buyer that the item received was "not as described".
Seems that in my rush to select the very best widgets from my stock(have multiples of these items) I inadvertently packed, and shipped two lefts, instead of a left, and a right. They wanted to know how to return the extra "left widget", and get the correct "right widget" that they had ordered.
I messaged them immediately apologize for "my" error. I told them that I would ship the correct "right" widget out the next day, and there would be no need to return my error. Keep it, discard it, do whatever with it.
I printed a label for it. Packed, and shipped the next morning. They were provided with the tracking #.
Wandered by my feedback, and found that the buyer had left me a big red donut before even contacting me. Apparently he thinks that is the way to resolve an issue. I am a "power seller", so it seemed odd that the feedback could have been left the day the item arrived. Thing is, the 7 day wait to leave feedback starts when the purchase is made. I had upgraded, and shipped Priority mail the day it was paid for, but it was caught up in a Texas black hole, and it took 9 days to get delivered. (average eBay item arrival time 2 days my...)
For most people this is not an item that would require professional help or specialized tools. So simple "a cave man(or woman) could do it". Anyone that can turn a screwdriver would be able to install it.
The replacement arrived on the 10th. I have heard nothing from the buyer. Did not really expect to. This is a new buyer with 2 feedbacks. The feedbacks that I left after I shipped the 1st package. Buyer has only left 1 feedback. The "neg" for the incorrect right widget. No feedback left for the correct left widget. I expect that this is the type of buyer that only responds to problems.
Anyway, after waiting what I felt was a reasonable amount of time (10th to 14th) here is what I have done. I have the message shown below.
Do you think it was too long???? Unreasonable request???? Do you think I will get a + response, or another neg for the other item????
I know eBay does not count the neg in its seller metrics, but the less than 100% rating may be less then helpful for selling. (and it makes me feel bad
) If the buyer does not respond in a good way I will respond to the negative accepting my error, and action taken to correct.
The message sent to the buyer:
Again, sorry that your original order was incorrect. I see by the tracking that the correct replacement item has arrived. If you are satisfied with the action that was taken to resolve the problem I would like you to consider revising the negative feedback that was left for this purchase.
This was of course my error, and I do not deny that. I was disappointed to see the negative feedback. That type of feedback is usually reserved for sellers that refuse to admit to,or correct a problem. It is not necessary to immediately leave negative feedback to get resolution. I actually responded to your message, packed the replacement, and printed a shipping label before I saw the feedback.
This feedback hurts me as a seller. My first negative in nearly 17 years of selling. Leaving this feedback before allowing me to correct the problem is like buying something from a store, opening it when getting home only to find that it had a problem, going back to the store, smashing out all the storefront windows, and then going inside to ask what they are going to do to correct the problem.
If you would consider revising this feedback please let me know so that I can send a "feedback revision" request form.
