posted on August 18, 2001 11:49:05 AM
Two recent threads caught my eye.....one was about "Lazy Sellers" who take too long to ship, and one was from sellers asking about clients pestering them with e-mails complaining about "Reasonable Shipping Times".
I quit selling about a year ago. As recently as then, it seems to me it was the norm for a seller to ship within 24 - 48 hours after receiving payment, and to reply to questions politely within 24 hours. If I wasn't going to be around, I would state that in my auctions. Too be honest, that was one reason I got out of selling. I was getting too stressed keeping up the good customer service! So I understand where sellers are coming from.
Now I'm strictly a buyer. But this summer I have noticed an increasing slowdown in receiving packages, and an increasing lack of the personal touch or even response to e-mails.
Most of the recent transactions I made could have been purchased through a mail order catalog company. Those companies have paid customer service reps who can at least tell you the status of your order.
A touch of customer service can go a long way, and I am seeing too many sellers who are trying to run their auctions as a professional money making venture (good) but without the customer skills that are needed to go along with that! (bad!)
Let's call a truce. I don't care when you mail an item, just don't be offended if I ask!
posted on August 18, 2001 01:58:25 PM
I agree! As a seller, (who has taken the summer off)I never feel like any question is "annoying." As a buyer, I would like to know my payment arrived and approximate ship date. And seems a lot of sellers don't bother with feedback, guess it's "I got your money, to heck with you." even though I paid fast, leave feedback within a day or two after I receive item. or, they comment scratch my back with feedback first. Anyway, the good sellers... I bookmark. The others, I just don't go back. There are tons of good sellers on ebay who want customers $$ !! Ebay is still a lot of fun and I have met sooo many great people, if my computer broke down, I would miss Ebay the most. (yea, I'm addicted)
posted on August 18, 2001 02:11:53 PM
As a seller I ship all auctions paid by money order or cashier's check within 2 business days. However, people paying with checks just don't like to wait. They want their items shipped as well. Then, if the check doesn't clear I'm out the item and the money until they decide to cover their mess up. They know up front from my end of auction email that I ship items paid by check in 10 business days from day check is deposited. If they can't wait, then they should not send a check! I send an email when I receive payment (again reminding them of the wait with a check) and another email when I ship the item. I don't know what more I could do to make them happy but some still are not! Guess they are just chronic complainers. Maybe their family has gotten tired of listening to them complain so they do it through emails. Also, there are those who take 2 and 3 weeks to pay for their auction and then want it yesterday. What do you do about those? Any good suggestions??
posted on August 18, 2001 03:40:53 PMThose companies have paid customer service reps who can at least tell you the status of your order.
I think the operative word here is PAID service reps.
If customers want to pay me higher shipping/handling amounts to have a paid staff on hand to answer their questions 24/7, I'll certainly look into providing it.
BUT, they'd best expect their s/h rates to go from as close to actual as possible to something more like those catalog rates, $2-5 higher than I charge now.
I totally agree with you about timely and polite customer service and shipping. But I suspect there are few of us here who can afford, either financially or personally, to provide 24/7 service.
In my case, it wasn't a matter of being "pestered" about timely shipping, it was a matter of being BLASTED about a shipping time that appeared to be in the overall FAST range for shipping.
I DO agree w/communication, communication, communication.
paintpower,
In all honesty, I found holding checks 10 days did little but aggravate customers. The sole bounced check I had came back to me 14 days after it was deposited. I don't know how many you've received but you might want to look at how many have bounced and how long after you deposited it.
I keep "items MAY be held for 10 days pending check clearing" in my TOS but rarely hold for them.
Of course, if you are getting lots of bounced checks, you may find the need to hold them greater than I do.
As to the late payers, I'd consider sending them an email saying, "Your payment was received on X date. Your item is scheduled for shipping on Y date." If they ask why, politely refer them to your hold policy.
posted on August 18, 2001 04:05:22 PM
I hope no one took my comments personally. When I was a seller, I do remember the pain in the neck customers.....most of them I figured were probably nut cases in the real world.
What's triggered my concern is just that the last few auctions I've bid on, the sellers have been the type to load their auctions with TOS (which is cool, I read them) but then act impatient when asked approached about shipping or other questions pertaining to the auction not noted in the TOS.
Again, the reason I stopped selling full time was that I was probably guilty of the same. I wasn't able to treat the customers the way I would like to have been treated.
They say more small business fail because they grow too fast then any other reason. Or at least I read that somewhere.
posted on August 18, 2001 04:58:18 PM
I know that there are people out there that would like things to be "like they were", way back in the good ol days but the on line auction community has changed a lot and you and I are going to have to except this change in attitude and responces. We are not in Kansas anymore.
On line auctions are business now. Even small time operators have to "do business" with people like ebay, yahoo, and the new sites that come and go. They need to have a convient way for people to pay, so in comes PayPal and their business and then there is the business of listing your stuff, so you do business with software companies, and banks, and shipping companies. You have to learn about shipping internationally. You have to learn about packaging and chargeback's, money exchanges. The list is endless.
The days of the on line gargage sale is over. So, you and I can forget about the nice emails, the little Thank You notes, the Happy customer who sends you a "Oh! I just Love it!" email. If you get what you bid on and the seller gets their money. Then the deal is done. It's business!
