encounter with a bad buyer

[e-cyclers-of-idaho2021]

We sell computer components. A few months ago we sold a few lots of CPUs to someone. Unfortunately I'm not experienced with eBay but someone at work needed to do it. After waiting for about 3 weeks he finally paid. I'm guessing the buyer was European since their freight shipper is in Delaware. They claimed we left 10 CPUs out of the shipment. We did not do that. I told them that and referred them to their freight shipper and they immediately left negative feedback. I'm guessing the buyer was hoping to get some money back from us. Unfortunately we aren't a high volume seller so our approval percentage took a hit. If I call eBay or report the negative review is there any hope for repairing our percentage? Seems messed up if a buyer can just make claims like this and sellers have to capitulate.

[heckofagame]

Using a freight forwarder voids the Money Back Guarantee, so your job was to get the merchandise to the address provided, which you did. There are some freight forwarders out there with less than stellar reputations.

Feedback has no real value and does not affect your metrics.  It will cycle out in 12 months. There are sellers with over a thousand negative feedbacks that still do a brisk business.

 Contact the eBay for Business group on Facebook and explain what has happened. No guarantees, but they do have the power to change things if necessary.

Good luck

[fashunu4eeuh]

“Unfortunately I'm not experienced with eBay but someone at work needed to do it.”

Did you pack and ship the items yourself? What did you mean by someone at work needed to do it—meaning they set up the listing for you?

The listing was for 36 units yet the buyer was expecting 56? Can you clarify? Thanks!

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@e-cyclers-of-idaho2021 

You can appeal the NEG by going here & following the links to appeal FB: 

https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp

I've had great luck with them, but note that it's all electronic & they don't usually get back to you on whether your appeal was accepted or denied.  You'll either see it still there or it will disappear.   

In your case be sure to enter what @heckofagame wrote, that you shipped to a Freight Forwarder, which is admitted in his FB & that it was delivered to the FF.   

IDK if it will be deleted, but it's worth trying.  I would try this before you do anything with Facebook, as it's MUCH quicker & easier & more importantly, you don't have to touch the evil Facebook.   Good luck! 

[tdrake]

Your listing was for 36. He claims he was expecting 56 and that he did get 46.  

Maybe he's got you confused with another listing bought.

[soh.maryl]

Please explain exactly what the "someone at work" did.  And anyone who's selling here needs to make sure they know what they are doing and not rely on someone else.

Plus the buyer's claim is also suspicious.  If ANY buyer receives anything less than was described, he should actually open an item not as described case, not rush to negative FB which does not get him the refund he feels he deserves.  

[e-cyclers-of-idaho2021]

Ok this got attention faster than I expected.

I listed, and packed the items myself. The boss approved the offer the buyer made. I was a bit OCD about listing and packing them too. There were a lot of CPUs so I counted them more than once. I have no doubt they were all in the package. The CPUs in the pictures in the listings were the very same ones I packaged for shipping. I didn't use stock photos.

Basically, the boss told me I'm the eBay guy. I told him I wasn't sure that was a good idea due to my lack of experience but I was all they had available for it. That is what I mean by "someone at work needed to do it."

Sorry about the confusion on the number of CPUs. The buyer paid for 3 lots of CPUs.
Lot of *11* Intel Core i3-2120
Lot of *23* Intel Core i3-3220
Lot of *36* Intel Core i3-3220
Two of the lots were actually the same model of CPU. The buyer said I shorted him 10 of the 36 CPU lot which now I'm realizing still doesn't add up in the negative review.

"If ANY buyer receives anything less than was described, he should actually open an item not as described case, not rush to negative FB which does not get him the refund he feels he deserves."

That's what I was thinking. At the very least the buyer should have gone through eBay's official channels to resolve their issue if they didn't like my response through the messaging system.

[ms.rodriguez*]

That feedback should be removable. It's very possible that someone at the freight forwarder either stole them or did not repack them.   Definitely contact Ebay and ask that they remove it.

[reallynicestamps]

@ms.rodriguez* 

possible that someone at the freight forwarder either stole them

That is the assumption that eBay makes once the seller shows that the shipment was delivered.

Personally, I would disagree.

Not only does it cost the forwarder money to repack shipments, both in labour and in packaging, but any company stealing from its customers (whether a crooked employee or as a policy) is not going to be in business long.

The end customer is the one most likely to be scamming.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...
 
 
Exclusions and special coverage when the buyer doesn't receive an item


Items collected by a third party on behalf of the buyer
Not covered


The buyer arranged their own shipping method, such as a courier pickup
Not covered


The buyer provided an invalid or incorrect address at checkout
Not covered

[simply-the-best-for-you]

You are actually A LOT better off that they did not open an MBG case.  If they'd opened a case, you'd have had to refund & probably never seen your items again & may still have received a neg.    

Instead, all you got was bad FB, which is most likely removable, just follow the very simple instructions I gave you in my prior post.  You can do it all online in seconds!  You don't have to talk to anyone & you don't have to go to horrible Facebook.  Just follow the link I gave you in post 4.  It will take you max 2 minutes. 

[e-cyclers-of-idaho2021]

Request for feedback removal was sent. 

[e-cyclers-of-idaho2021]

simply-the-best-for-you, that worked!

"Feedback Removed

We’re happy to share that we’re removing any comments or ratings left by the buyer since it goes against our seller performance and feedback policy. It may take up to 72 hours for everything to update on your feedback profile page."

Thank you everyone for your guidance!

heckofagame put the issue in perspective but I admit I was feeling terrible for being involved in messing up the business' 100% rating. Blaming myself, I guess, when I didn't need to.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

---

@e-cyclers-of-idaho2021 wrote:

simply-the-best-for-you, that worked!

"Feedback Removed

We’re happy to share that we’re removing any comments or ratings left by the buyer since it goes against our seller performance and feedback policy. It may take up to 72 hours for everything to update on your feedback profile page."

Thank you everyone for your guidance!

heckofagame put the issue in perspective but I admit I was feeling terrible for being involved in messing up the business' 100% rating. Blaming myself, I guess, when I didn't need to.

---

That's great news at @e-cyclers-of-idaho2021  .  I've had great luck with that link, when there's a legit reason to remove.  I understand that since it's not your own ID, you felt guilty, but trust me that an MBG would have been much worse.   

You may want to reconsider sending computers overseas.  They tend to be high scam items.  

[e-cyclers-of-idaho2021]

I was told earlier the business owner tried selling overseas but things went missing in the process so they stopped doing that. I've been restricting my listings to being shipped within the USA. Though apparently at least some of our buyers use freight forwarding to get around that. The trouble is a lot of the stuff we sell is outdated by USA standards, since we are recycling junk that people don't want, but in other countries the stuff might be worth something. I am considering not selling to people who use freight forwarding services but I'm not sure how well I can do that.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Keep in mind that one’s feedback score is not included in eBay’s seller performance metrics. On the other hand, cases opened with the Money Back Guarantee do. So like the other poster said, it is more to your benefit that the buyer did not open a Not As Described case. 

Just an observation: If most items you are selling are obsolete here in the US, doesn't that make international buyers your target market? If you try to restrict sales of buyers who use freight forwarders, then who will buy your out-dated goods?

A possible solution is to restrict your sales by region or country, to avoid more problematic areas where fraud, poor postal systems, or corrupt customs could be encountered less. eBay allows sellers to block potential buyers by location. That can be set up in your Shipping Preferences.

“I am considering not selling to people who use freight forwarding services but I'm not sure how well I can do that.”

Sellers who cancel transactions as a means to manage risk can  open themselves up to possible “defect” penalties in some situations.