negative feedback for Royal Mail delivery 1 day past ebays estimate?!

[mark123kites]

Hi all. 
I’m after some advice please as this seems grossly unfair - I despatched an item I sold within the advertised 2 days - the auction ended on Sunday night at 10pm and was sent via Royal Mail 1st class (as advertised in the auction).

unbeknown to me Ebay put an “estimated delivery date” on for the Wednesday or Thursday of that week.

on the Thursday I was contacted by the buyer with a very rude aggressive email from the buyer stating that he hadn’t received the item any “that he was really disappointed in me!!!!” (Those exclamation marks were all parent in his message). I remained polite and forwarded him the postal receipt and explained I had done exactly as advertised.

the item was then delivered the following day yet the buyer has left me negative feedback for a delayed parcel and stating I was rude, unapologetic and unhelpful- all of which was a blatant lie- I literally could not have done any more so contacted Ebay customer service expecting that they would look at the postage receipt and see I had done exactly as advertised and also see the buyers aggressive emails and just remove the negative feedback but am absolutely astonished that they would not and stated that the parcel was received after (their) estimated delivery date and his comments were subjective and would not be removed?!
how on earth is this fair?!
ive requested a feedback revision from the buyer who declined so now I’m stuck with negative feedback through no fault of my own.

It would seem that buyers are allowed to be aggressive threatening and rude with absolutely no reprise yet I’m penalised for biding 100% by the terms of my listing but the parcel was 1 DAY LAATEndue to Royal Mail?!
the item was a new unworn Ralph Lauren top that cost me £150 but sold for £10.50?!

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH PEOPLE?… and more so Ebay?!
Is there any other options I can explore?
Many thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can offer.

mark

[pburn]

@mark123kites 

Since you are registered in the United Kingdom, you might want to check the UK discussion boards to make sure procedures for ebay.co.uk are the same as they are for ebay.com.

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Discussion-Boards/ct-p/13

[mark123kites]

Thanks very much - hadn’t noticed I’d used Ebay.com 👍🏻

[wesk_36]

"how on earth is this fair?!"

I don't think it is fair.

If you are a vegetarian does that stop a bull from charging?

Not fair.

Born into a war torn country?

Not fair.

It was not your fault, I would hope you could get the feedback removed. The buyers feedback wouldn't deter me from buying from you.

The only advice/opinion is to alter your response to such feedback and don't respond in kind, no matter how bullish or unreasonable they are, because it reflects on you, not them.

I would leave out everything after this "Sent on time using service specified" 

Short, to the point, professional and it effectively negates their statement, imo. 

[mark123kites]

Thanks for your responses. Fair point regarding my response to his feedback - I have just tried to amend but it would appear this is not possible - this was sent immediately after getting of the phone to Ebay “support” so emotions were high.
I did immediately phone support only to be told (by a supervisor after escalating the issue ) that his feedback would not be removed as it was “ a subjective reflection of his experience “?!
I feel for people who use eBay to run a business and for which is their main source of income because putting up with this **bleep** would drive me insane!

[wesk_36]

My bad, 😞 I see now you cannot edit the seller response to feedback. It still wouldn't deter me from buying, for what it's worth.

[mark123kites]

Thanks for the positive comment - appreciate it👍🏻

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, sorry you experienced this. It is hard not to react emotionally when dealing with a difficult buyer. And getting a neg can sting.

That is why it is normally helpful to delay a feedback response until the initial sting has passed. Many sellers rush in to respond, worried how shoppers will view the negative, and the result can be the opposite of what the seller was hoping to achieve with his follow up.

Two points to remember: 1) Negative feedback no longer counts in a seller’s metrics. 2) Savvy buyers are rarely concerned about one neg in a sea of otherwise splendid comments. Some of the most valuable real estate on the feedback page is a seller’s follow-up response to a troubled customer. That is because the audience is the prospective buyer. They will not be phased by the occasional negative, but the seller’s response, that can halt them in their tracks.

Your response was ideal, until the last 4 words. Maintaining one’s professional demeanor under fire is a valuable asset to employ. So it is not helpful to one’s image to point out the buyer’s failings. Shoppers are smart and can read between the lines, therefore it is not necessary to put a label on the difficult buyer. 

As for feedback revision requests, those are best sent once the buyer has been satisfied and has agreed up front to revise. 

There still might be a chance of getting the neg removed. You might try calling eBay back, in hopes you may reach a more amenable rep. Refer to the threatening language used in the messages to you. In addition, you can report the buyer for this, see links below. The last link is to the Abusive Buyer policy where you can report the buyer directly from the policy page. If your buyer is using threats to try to coerce you into providing something not promised in the listing, that is against policy and the negative can be removed for that. It is worth looking over the links to find the most apropos reason for the removal.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/threats-offensive-language-policy?id=425...

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/abusive-buyer-policy?id=4374

"You're not required to agree to any extras or changes from the terms of your listing. If a buyer is making demands that are not a part of your original listing, you will be protected from negative feedback and defects when you either deliver the item purchased by the buyer according to the original terms of your listing, or cancel the transaction..."

Thank you for sharing your experience, although it may not change things for your situation, it will likely help others dealing with the same issues. Good luck and hope this gets resolved in your favor.

[lightlily_arts]

Unfortunately feedback is subjective and eBay doesn't do anything unless it violates feedback policy.  Anyone with a brain can see that the negative feedback was left by a low feedback buyer. All of your other transactions have been good and we can't control postal service delivery dates.  Make sure you block this buyer and dependent upon the language used in the messages report the buyer.

[mark123kites]

Spoiler

Very sound advice and duly noted that it’s not ideal to respond when emotions are running high. It’s just difficult when you bend over backwards for people only to be kicked in the teeth for your efforts. 

perhaps I was nieve in expecting eBay to act with logic?!

thanks though for the advice 

[magbenv0]

It was not your fault, I would hope you could get the feedback removed. The buyers feedback wouldn't deter me from buying from you.

It was only ONE day late,people are silly. I would also have no problem buying from you, don't let it bother you,it's just one persons feedback.🔆

[ifyouloveit]

Logic doesn't seem to apply anymore. I recently had a buyer hit me with this too. He ordered a $15.88 free shipping item. I shipped it out first class in less than 24 hours, on a Monday. USPS sent it on a scenic tour of the United States via Pony Express.

The day it was due to arrive (he was in Arizona, I am in California, should have been there 2 days tops) I receive a rather cryptic message from him that basically said, "Where is my item? This was guaranteed delivery for today and mail has come. I'm contacting you before I contact eBay to give YOU a chance to do something about it."

Uh, do what?

I nicely replied that his widget had indeed gone out ASAP and for some reason it wanted to tour the US before it came to live with him. I made it funny, he didn't write back.

Apparently, buyer gets a $5 credit from eBay if widget doesn't arrive on time or they can send it back to me for a full refund which I think stinks. No idea what he was sniffing around for with his demand I do something about it. He escalated it to eBay and they closed it in my favor. No idea if he got $5 but so far he has not negged me either. He clearly didn't want to send it back.

His widget arrived the next morning BTW 🙂

I would call eBay again and tell them you shipped in the right window, Royal Mail did you wrong 🙂

[gracieallen01]

"I would call eBay again and tell them you shipped in the right window, Royal Mail did you wrong"

Unfortunately, as far as ebay is concerned, it is the sellers responsibility for deciding which 'shipper' to use.  The comments I've heard usually say something to the effect:  'Well, if it didn't get delivered on time, perhaps next time you will want to use a different shipper'.

[jk2641]

wesk_36 wrote

"My bad,  I see now you cannot edit the seller response to feedback. It still wouldn't deter me from buying, for what it's worth."

--------------------------------------------

Hi all

I'm a bidder/buyer (so from a feedback perspective, in eBay's eyes? NEAR bulletproof)  so wouldn't have much need of this feature should it exist, but do you/we not have the option to respond to feedback received, or has eBay fixed that as well?.

We may (as sellers) be blocked from leaving anything other than positive feedback, but if able to reply, would be able to set the record straight, albeit in a professional manner.

Oh, BTW, I'm also based in the UK, but like to get a feel for the issues we all face on eBay, and note the differences that exist in the systems on .com & .co.uk, and as such I'm on this forum by choice, I hope I'm not unwelcome?. 

[magbenv0]

So,what are the differences you see between eBay in USA & UK,if any? Am curious. Cheers🔆