unfair negative feedback

[accentsbyjudy2013]

hi everyone, need some advice on how to proceed with this. I sold duck hatching eggs and in my listing it clearly states that I cannot guarantee hatch rate due to postal service or incubation issues. It also clearly states within my listing that feedback should be based on packaging of the eggs not the hatch rate. This is a standard for hatching eggs.  just had a buyer send me a message saying that his ducks eggs didn't hatch and that he put them in same incubator with chicken eggs and the chicken eggs hatched. Ducks and chicken eggs require very different humidity levels and different hatching times. He never candled them so he can't prove they were not fertile.  so after leaving him a message explaining why I feel they didn't hatch and offering to send him more eggs in the spring when Mallards start laying again (which I'm not obligated to do), I noticed he left me negative feedback. I sent him a feedback revision request. Should I report him or send him feedback saying he didn't follow instructions regarding feedback.  I've never had any negative feedback and I feel this is unfair especially if it affects future buyers from buying from me. thanks so much in advance for reading this and I look forward to your responses.

judy

[sg51]

Should I report him or send him feedback saying he didn't follow instructions regarding feedback. 

I'm trying to grasp the concept here.

Seller gives buyer instructions regarding leaving feedback, and expects ebay to enforce those instructions.  That's what you hope for?

[couldabeenworse]

Should I report him or send him feedback saying he didn't follow instructions regarding feedback.

Actually, sellers' terms aren't allowed to include restrictions on feedback, nor are sellers allowed to leave positive feedback for a buyer that has a negative comment.

I would contact the buyer again, apologize profusely, and hope they agree to the revision.

[swenson8781]

What a unique item to sell!!  Aside from that, I think you've gone above & beyond with accomodating your buyer, and have done the best you could to make amends.  As another poster said, I would be sure to explain to the buyer the difference between hatching duck vs chicken eggs, extend your offer again to send them more at a later date, and politely ask for a feedback revision.

Regarding reporting them or getting eBay involved, my guess, is that eBay will simply tell you the buyer is 'entitled to their opinion', which is what they seem to consider feedback nowadays, an opinion 😞  

If your buyer doesn't revise the fb within 2 weeks, I would post a reply underneath.  Just the facts, stating that 'duck & chicken eggs do not hatch at same temp, offered to resend more eggs'.  At least that will let other buyers know the blame for defect lies with the buyer, NOT  your eggs, and that you went above & beyond to make the buyer happy/fix the situation.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi Judy, sorry about your neg. However, do not be concerned about one poor rating. As a buyer, I am way more interested in the seller's response to a customer's feedback, rather than the negative itself. Most sellers will end up with one eventually and most buyers know not to put much weight behind it. Everybody knows anyone can run into a problematic buyer eventually. It won't affect your dashboard metrics to have one either, as the feedback system has evolved and ebay no longer gives defects for negative/neutral ratings. You have great, solid feedback on the whole and this one downer won't have much impact on your ability to sell in the future, if at all.

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accentsbyjudy2013 wrote: 

"  I sent him a feedback revision request. Should I report him or send him feedback saying he didn't follow instructions regarding feedback."

I was concerned about the timing of your revision request. It is best to have had a conversation with the buyer regarding his intentions prior to sending it. Sellers are only allowed so many and therefore need to know before-hand that the buyer is amenable to changing his rating.  The revision request can be offered after some kind of solution is proferred by the seller that addresses a buyer's dissatisfaction, such as you did by offering new eggs when available. (Did your buyer take you up on this offer?) Also, sellers cannot give negative or neutral feedback to a buyer, just in case that is what you mean by sending him feedback. And for the follow-up statement to the negative, as other posters suggested, a professional response devoid of emotion will give future buyers the reassurance that you are an upstanding ebayer concerned about your customer's buying experience. Consider the follow-up comment as the most important real-estate on your feedback page.

I don't think there is anything to report this buyer for. His feedback expresses his opinion and doesn't violate any policies.

There's no getting around that a negative can sting a bit. But you are so obviously a conscientious seller, there is little chance it will have any detrimental impact on your business. Hang in there and best wishes to you.

[accentsbyjudy2013]

thank you so much for your help and detailed response. very helpful and appreciated. 🙂

[accentsbyjudy2013]

thank you, I won't stress so much about it then, you've been very helpful. I didn't realize that I could post a follow-up comment since this is the first negative rating I have received. To answer your question he didn't respond to my message explaining why I thought they didn't hatch and my offer to send more eggs. I didn't mean I would give him negative feedback, I just want to be able to answer in my professional opinion why the eggs most likely didn't hatch so that other buyers can view. Sounds like that is what the follow-up comment is. I'm very grateful for your help and kind words! thanks so much 🙂

[accentsbyjudy2013]

thank you for your response. I thought it was the way hatching egg sales worked so that's why I asked for help. I know that I have bought hatching eggs before and had bad hatches and as a breeder I assume the risk of elements out of the buyers control (postal and incubation) and wouldn't even think of leaving a negative comment. Thanks again for the clarification on feedback 🙂

[accentsbyjudy2013]

thanks for your response, this is new to me being the first feedback on the hatching rate instead of the packaging of eggs and quality. That's why I asked, I was under the impression that that's how the rating system worked for hatching eggs. I so glad I posted because now I understand 🙂

[campesinoplastic2014]

Can't please everybody

[accentsbyjudy2013]

true, thank you 🙂

[dvdappster]

Hmmm? Well you don't get to dictate what someone leaves as feedback on eBay, even if you say that in your listing. I guess this is a tricky product to assure customer satisfaction, especially as it is continually reported around the forum that many people just don't read listings properly.  However, does your listing give explicit instructions on incubation?  Maybe print an instruction leaflet and send it with the eggs.  You might add common mistakes made in incubation, such as what happened.  You may have a case to appeal the feedback and have it removed if you have messages from the buyer saying they didn't follow the instructions.  

[dakotasmoke]

If it makes you feel any better, Ive bookmarked your page and will try to get chicken eggs from you in the spring!

[campesinoplastic2014]

I feel that a negative is a very last resort. It should be a very rare thing. If the seller is working with the buyer at all, it should not happen. There are so many options, there is a neutral, also a last resort, there is discusiion and working it out. People seem to jump to the negatives pretty quickly. If the Seller just does not responds, or is mean or rips someone off and ignores the buyer, than I could see a buyer having to do that but to jump right on the red donut is pointless and actually reflects poorly on the preson doing it.