posted on December 5, 2000 05:19:54 PM
I'm a neg-virgin no longer. After 230+ positives and NO negs or neutrals, I've been hit with an unfounded negative.
Right now I'm trembling -- seething, even -- as I recall the bitter words that were bestowed on me tonight: "Complaint: Paid for Item 3 Months ago / Still Never Recieved Item Beware of this Seller"
This $10 auction ended 9/30 (2 1/4 mos. ago). I shipped the item USPS Priority upon receipt of payment on 10/16. This is the first I've heard of a problem! Had the buyer emailed me in the interim to say she didn't get the item, I would have taken her at face value, and refunded the money. Better to err on the side of the customer, I figure.
This seller has 300+ FBs, including five negs. Three of them were in the last month, including two like this:
Complaint: HORRIBLE EBAYER!!! AVOID!! BEWARE OF UNDESERVING NEGATIVES!!
Response: PAYED FOR AUTION 2 MONTHS AGO NEVER RECEIVED ITEM OR RETURN ON EMAILS
I just wrote to her to state in a business-like manner that I would have gladly addressed the issue as described above. She quickly responded that she did email, but I refused to respond, "so I had no choice but to give you a negative."
I am inclined to respond by saying something like: "Unfounded. 1st I've heard of problem. Chk her fdbk!"
Can she "follow-up" to my response? If so, what's my exposure?
I know this "first-neg" business is not a new topic here. But I could use some feedback. If you're so inclined, I'd be forever grateful. I'm having a tough night. Thanks for indulging me.
posted on December 5, 2000 05:58:56 PM
Sorry you lost yur virginity to a mean person! Yes, she/he can respond to your comment...
******************** Gosh Shosh!
posted on December 5, 2000 06:01:35 PM
My only neg (out of over 1,000 positives) was some sort of email disconnect. Maybe the same thing happened here.
Here's what you should do.
Develop good lines of communication with the buyer. Agree to complete the transaction, if possible. If not, refund. Then, reply to the FB in a polite, professional way: "Email disconnect, apparently. I'm resolving this with buyer."
THEN....ask the buyer to reply to your reply (she gets the last word). Have her put something in like: Responsible seller, apparently an email disconnect. Problem resolved."
Those steps will take most of the sting out of the foul up, and no reasonable buyer will think twice about the neg.
posted on December 5, 2000 08:32:10 PM
Hey wait a minute. I thought a person could only leave a neg for up to 60 days from end of auction. After 60 days, it's not valid. That's what I've always understood anyway.
It may be that ebay will remove it under those conditions.
posted on December 5, 2000 08:55:17 PM
Thanks for the thought, Loosecannon! I stand corrected in the auction end date as stated above. It STARTED Sept. 30 and ENDED Oct. 7. That's 60s days ago today.
Still, I think it's a 90-day window for feedback now.
posted on December 5, 2000 09:50:33 PM
The kind of negs which happened here are the biggest positives of all. No one reads positves. Lots of us read negs.
Seller takes the neg, and fixes the problem.
That's the kind of seller I want to do business with.
posted on December 5, 2000 09:58:32 PM
Negs can be left up to 120 days now.
Recently posted on the AB.
* Feedback Enhancement! *
Over the last couple of months, our members
requested us to allow a longer time frame to leave feedback on all complete items. Today, we are pleased to announce that you can easily find ALL transactions on
which you have not left feedback within 90 days from end of listings.
We believe this enhancement will make it easier for you to fully utilize the Feedback system to establish your on-line trading reputation. You may be able to leave Feedback for items up to 120 days, depending
on their availability in our database, by
including the item number through the link at the bottom of the Leave Member Feedback page.
To check out our new enhancement, click on the Site Map, then, Leave Feedback. You can also find it via this URL:
