eBay is begging buyers to have complaints

[so544116]

I'm just a small seller on eBay, and an occasional buyer. I received a message from eBay about a recent purchase that has me alarmed. The subject line was "Need a hand with [my item]?"

The first line in the body of the message was "We’re sorry that things may not have gone as planned and recognize how frustrating this can be." The message ended with two big colored boxes of text — one telling me about eBay's money back guarantee ("Get your item or your money back"), and the other asking me to start a return ("not happy with your purchase? Send it back. Start a return.") See the screenshot below, with my personal info blacked out.

The seller shipped my item promptly, via FedEx with tracking. I received my item in perfect condition, and I had already left positive feedback shortly after receiving it. I've done nothing to give eBay or the seller any reason to think I wasn't happy with my purchase.

Why on earth would eBay assume I had a problem with my purchase and practically beg me to return it? I hope my own customers aren't receiving messages like this.

[a_c_green]

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@coastaltechsolution wrote:

@varebelrose 

Did you get the lift and duration you asked Santa for? 🎅

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We are still talking about camshafts, right?

[coastaltechsolution]

@a_c_green 

Yes 😂🤣😁

[stainlessenginecovers]

@bangordiscount   Well there we have it! Your anecdotal experience must be the rule (not the exception)!

My anecdotal experience is just pertinent information for the OP as well as others to see that it is EXACTLY what I said. It's NOT across the board, doesn't happen to everyone, every time. 

I did NOT say it was a rule or exception, just a helpful post to be able to measure whether it's an 'always' thing to 'everyone' or 'just some'.

[tev4all]

@so544116 

I read you left positive FB, did you leave/mark anything less than 5 stars for any category offered?

[tev4all]

@so544116  

I read you left positive FB, did you leave/mark anything less than 5 stars for any category ?

[so544116]

Nope. I think it was one of those that I could only leave a star rating in one category, and I gave it 5 stars. I know I left 5 stars in every category that I was allowed to leave a star rating. The guy shipped fast, with tracking, and the item arrived in perfect condition and exactly as described. At risk of outing my other ID, the text of my feedback read "Adorable bakeware set, shipped fast, packaged well."

There was absolutely nothing about the transaction that was anything less than 5-star worthy, and there was nothing about it that should have suggested to eBay there was any sort of problem.

[coffeebean832]

velvet@ebay 

tyler@ebay 

I'm catching up here and disappointed to see that this one didn't get a response from eBay. Why is this message being sent to satisfied customers? Is there something mis-programmed with the e-mail settings? What is supposed to trigger the communication displayed in the OP?

[velvet@ebay]

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

velvet@ebay 

tyler@ebay 

I'm catching up here and disappointed to see that this one didn't get a response from eBay. Why is this message being sent to satisfied customers? Is there something mis-programmed with the e-mail settings? What is supposed to trigger the communication displayed in the OP?

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Hi @coffeebean832! It's odd that we'd send an email like this when we weren't made aware of any issues; especially considering the way it's worded. I don't believe this is something new we're doing either, as it's never our goal to proactively put our sellers in a negative light.

Given the type (kitchen) of items @so544116 and @*madison purchased, I'm wondering if there's a theme to some emails having been sent out when they shouldn't have. Thanks for tagging us. We'll pass it on for a closer look. 

[coffeebean832]

velvet@ebay- Thanks for the reply. Since the OP used a posting ID- you might need to e-mail them offline to find out what account/transaction this referred to- and it looks like @downunder-61 has gotten a similar message so it's probably worth getting info from them, too.

Please let us know what you find out about whether this is a glitch, and under what circumstances is the e-mail supposed to be triggered? It helps us as sellers to know what kind of communication buyers will receive under different circumstances.

[partfinds]

It’s getting worse and worse. I thought that pop up windows with MBG during searches are bad but that is disgusting. Whether seller has return it mostly doesn’t affect ebay they still getting fees paid

[iart]

That was hilarious!

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@m60driver wrote:

Another poster noted this a few weeks ago.  It appears to just be a demented idea of marketing by Ebay as their market share of online sales continues to drop.   I can't wait to see 4th quarter results when marketing decided to advertise Ebay motors during the holidays instead of the more general platform. Yea, we all look for car parts to give as gifts.  Hey honey, I got you a new side mirror for Christmas.

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[so544116]

I received your email, Velvet, and I'm glad to know that you're following up on this message.  I've responded with the information you asked for.

[chapeau-noir]

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@varebelrose wrote:

"How about that Camshaft you've always wanted!"

I literally LOL'ed. I have, in fact, asked for and received a camshaft for Christmas in the past....

(its a gearhead thing!)

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My DH once gave me a shock fork for my mountainbike for Christmas and I was over the moon.  Everyone else at our Christmas gathering was like "huh?" 😂

[velvet@ebay]

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@so544116 wrote:

I received your email, Velvet, and I'm glad to know that you're following up on this message.  I've responded with the information you asked for.

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I appreciate you replying to the email @so544116 and I've heard back that the tech team has assigned this to the appropriate team for a closer look. If I'm provided any type of follow-up from here, I'll be sure to come back to fill you in on what happened. Thanks! 

[j.carter855v1]

I just got one for an item I received a while back & gave only the Highest mark's back for (feedback wise). 

  Its really strange as it does seem to be begging for me to make a stink over Absolutely nothing.

 I'd like to see them explain their actions instead of the old "I am a soulless Bot, I'll look into it & get back to you" - Never to be hears from again...