posted on September 13, 2000 09:19:48 PM
I read this board a lot, and I'd like your advice on something. This is long but it's complicated.
I won two auctions from a seller. Her terms said "Payment must be received within 7 days." A little harsh, but OK. I paid yesterday, within 7 days.
Her e-mails were friendly though not really what I'd call literate. Everything seemed to be rocking along. UNTIL. I logged on this morning and found a neutral feedback from her. Text: "Make the payment. Thanks."
I have racked up 182 feedbacks without a single blip -- now a neutral that makes it seem as if I have not yet paid! Needless to say I was very upset. I emailed her telling her how upset I was. Her response: "I accidently hit the neutral bottom by mistake
and I try to retrack that, Ebay won't let me. On top
of that. I understand one item I ask for $4.89 for
shipping, because there are a lot of stuff here and
you only pad $4.00 or something. There is no reason
to get upset. I did try to retrack, but I can't do it
now.
Anyway, you are still getting a great deal of bargains
out of this whole thing. Sorry thing didn't work out
they way you want it."
(I only include the info about the shipping so that I may add: Reviewing all her other e-mails, she said nothing about asking for extra shipping. The terms of one auction included free shipping. The terms of the other stated a $4 shipping fee. Her EOA notice stated a $4 shipping fee; in one message, she mentioned upgrading to priority mail was a possibility on the free-shipping item for an extra $4.85, but she never asked me for any more money. Both items, together, cannot have weighed more than the 2 pounds that can be shipped for the base priority rate of $3.20 BUT I never questioned her shipping charges.)
Now here I sit. She indicates she's already shipped the items, AND she's already left feedback for both. (the other was a positive, but the wording was identical.) I could zap her with two big, fat negatives. She's got less than 20 feedback now, all positive though some are very lukewarm.
I say I COULD zap her. But tell me. Do I want to be that person? Talk me out of it - or not.
posted on September 13, 2000 09:25:24 PM
I don't blame you for being angry .. I would be!! My advice? WAIT! Wait until you receive items and until you have time to think about what you really want/need/should say about this transaction.
My opinion is that negs are serious .. to be used for NPB, non-shipping sellers, fraud, etc.
Hope you like the items when they arrive!
Just my opinion!
Edited to add: I would probably email her (after I go my stuff) and explain how important the feedback system is and that she should be more careful and use it appropriately!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a memory like a steel trap .. unfortunately it's rusted shut!
[ edited by tuition44years on Sep 13, 2000 09:28 PM ]
posted on September 13, 2000 09:27:16 PM
Her feedback to you said "make the payment. thanks". Does she mean "made the payment" or at the time she left the feedback did she not realise she had your payment and was asking for it?
Sounds like one very confused seller! Her feedback to you and her e-mails don't make an awful lot of sense. Maybe contact some of the buyers who left her the lukewarm positives and compare notes.
Edited for spelling
[ edited by pharlap on Sep 13, 2000 09:28 PM ]
posted on September 13, 2000 09:30:01 PM
I also think you should wait until the items arrive. What you could do to make yourself feel a little better is to respond to her neutral. I definitely wouldn't leave her positive feedback.
posted on September 13, 2000 09:37:14 PM
There was a thread earlier about someone leaving a negative when they meant to leave a positive & felt REALLY bad.
One solution offered was to have the buyer respond to the feedback saying it was a mistake which allowed the seller to respond, also ackowledging it was a mistake.
Granted, it won't make you feel any better about having a neutral, but if you can get the seller to agree, you can atleast blunt the wording.
posted on September 13, 2000 09:37:17 PM
I recently recieved a feedback from a buyer that I had mentioned on a previous thread(now locked) and I was to say the least...disappointed....
The buyer misread the shipping amount, and paid me $4.50 over the stated amount (on a $4 postcard)...I PayPal'd the $$ back and sent an e-mail explaining the mistake...it took 5 days for the buyer to respond to the e-mail..just said "Thanks for noticing the discrepancy"....feedback was(recieved today)
"Arrived very quickly"......If I had overspent on shipping, and a seller returned the money, you better BELIEVE I would have used all 80 characters in MY response.....yeah, it was a positive, but sometimes ya just gotta wonder why ya try so hard!!!
Keith
I assume full responsibility for my actions, except
the ones that are someone else's fault.
posted on September 13, 2000 09:38:46 PM
You might possibly leave a Neutral for her Neutral, saying shipping charges changed, no notification. And a Positive for the other transaction. JMHO
******************** Shosh http://www.oldandsold.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi?justdisp&Rifkah
posted on September 13, 2000 09:42:07 PM
Bummer Ubie.
I usually find that the buyers you go out of the way for (ie - return excess payment, add something extra in the package etc.) very rarely leave feedback. Don't ask me why this is.
Very discouraging but we have to forge on...
posted on September 13, 2000 09:52:38 PM
Pharlap: I am assuming, based on other available evidence, that she did intend to say "made" instead of "make."
Tuition44years: I did explain to her how important feedback is and how important it is.
I guess I'm really upset about two things.
1) I have been on eBay for 3 years, 3 different IDs, hundreds of feedbacks, most utterly glowing. This is my first neutral. I take feedback very seriously. Now I have a neutral -- not due to an honest dispute, but due to carelessness.
2) She doesn't seem to have a clue about what she's done.
I definitely intend to follow the very good advice to wait and try to calm down. (Count your blessings I couldn't post this afternoon, when her e-mail arrived -- ginger212's sentiments are tame.) Retaliatory negs are so darn easy to spot, and like I said, I don't want to be that person. I may not give her feedback at all.
posted on September 13, 2000 09:57:07 PM
msincognito,
I agree it's probably best not to leave any feedback in this situation. The way this person's going they won't be selling for much longer.
posted on September 13, 2000 09:57:44 PM
Her poor conjugation of verbs indicates to me that this person is still learning the English language.
Be nice. I left no feedback for a new user who left a silly neutral "I need your mailing address" only a few minutes after the auction. Turns out this new user didn't pay me either, but was NARU'ed eventually anyway. Some people make honest mistakes. It's human, and that is exactly what this sounds like, an honest mistake.
I did leave a neutral one time for someone who posted a "positive" which sounded more like a complaint. This complaint wasn't brought to my attention beforehand, so I had no opportunity to correct the situation before feedback was posted. I still gave this person a "B+" in the feedback I left, but also mentioned that no contact was made to resolve problem before comments were posted in the forum.
my 2 cents,
Del
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill
posted on September 13, 2000 10:03:31 PM
Old-time ebaysians used to get neutrals all the time and it wasn't a big thing. Wasn't then, isn't now.
Reasons for neutrals "back then" included: Whenever a person was NARU'd, feedback they left (neg or positive) became neutral. People used to leave neutrals just 'cause you were nice to 'em on a board. And back then, the only way you could respond to an unjust neg was to leave a neutral in your own file.
Took the words right out of my keyboard. In fact, didn't some used to recommend using a neutral when they couldn't contact someone as a way of getting their attention?
msincognito,
Not only can one spot a retaliatory neg, you can spot a retaliatory neutral. If you leave one just because you got one, especially in error, it would probably reflect more on you than on her.
Take the high road...it's painful..but take the high road.
posted on September 13, 2000 10:25:57 PM
eventer: Yep, that was one of the common reasons (in fact, it accounts for one of the 3 neutrals I have: my first was a positive that turned neutral, another was from a seller who was leaving neutrals for deadbeats and forgot to change the setting when she left my obvious positive). On that one, I did get a positive out of her eventually: I bought from her again.
posted on September 14, 2000 06:33:36 AMTook the words right out of my keyboard. In fact, didn't some used to recommend using a neutral when they couldn't contact someone as a way of getting their attention?
Wow. I remember this being suggested too. I never understood it though, since your feedback number doesn't move when a neutral is left. Unless you read your feedback constantly, you might never know someone requested info in a neutral feedback.
As for this situation, did you read the feedback that the seller has left for others? Does the other feedback read "made the payment"?
If I was looking at a feedback file and saw a positive feedback that said, "made the payment" I would immediately think that the buyer 1) took forever to pay, or 2) had to be badgered into paying for their purchase. This buyer paid within 7 days and the seller left a neutral?
posted on September 14, 2000 07:46:18 AMKerryann: Leaving a neutral was to get the person's attention - to alert them that email was bouncing or such - it wasn't the feedback for the transaction. It was the very fact that it didn't change the number that encouraged people to use the feedback file that way. Back then you could leave more than one feedback.
posted on September 14, 2000 07:53:39 AM
I understand that Glenda, I'm an old timer too. What I was saying was that unless you read your feedback file on a constant basis, you'd never know that someone left you a neutral asking a question.
posted on September 14, 2000 09:58:29 AM
You must flame that seller, as contrary to your own sense of fair play as that may be. Feedback is basically unfair, but unfortunately fairness itself is only a concept that thinking humans would like to believe is a law of nature. Feedback is unfair because a positive does not count as heavily as a neutral or a negative, even on , say, a 20-1 scale. If we deal with a person who has 50 positives and one negative we all tend to look up that one negative to see what the complaint was about. The careless and illiterate seller who accidentally, if that, trashed you is guilty of manslaughter of your reputation. Not murder, perhaps, because that signifies intent. We punish manslaughter. We have to do it, as distasteful as it might seem.
posted on September 14, 2000 10:39:59 AM
From the correspondance you posted, the seller isn't the best speller around, plus her email indicated that she had received your payment so my conclusion would be she meant "made" not make...the use of the word "thanks" indicates she was thanking you for the payment...and she left you an identical positive.
This isn't an earth shattering event. If it really bugs you, make a response such as "Seller meant "made" not "make"..was thanking me for payment received"
Save the angst for situations that deserve it, not something as piddling as this
posted on September 14, 2000 10:49:29 AM
After a day to cool off, I was much more able to deal with this. I took the advice of several of you and responded to the fb, then e-mailed her asking if she would respond and agree that it was in error. She did. I am now, for my own good, going to consider this over. I think she's learned something, because her tone was much less combative as well. (She did not answer my question about the post-auction, post-payment jump in shipping cost.)
As long as the merchandise arrives OK, I don't think I need to take any further action here. But I thank you all sincerely for your help!
posted on September 14, 2000 11:21:48 AM
Well its true that she cannot retrack her comments. Maybe it was indeed an honest mistake but yes you have every right to get mad. I really don't know what I would do in this situation. On one hand, you do want to be understanding & on the 2d hand, you are freaking mad.
posted on September 14, 2000 11:41:43 AM
Hi,
I buy from a seller who is czech.
Her auctions say "payment in 7 days."
It took me a lot of emails to verify what I was bidding on (pictures and descript didn't jive). Shipping was vague, but after many emails I bid, even bought some "under the table" items and am splendidly pleased with it!
I have bought from many sellers who do not speak english as a first language! I would give her a break.
It's not all nordstroms out there, but Nordy's doesn't sell the vintage widgets I love so much!
So....save your ire for a real miscreant (sorry new guy, not you!)
