posted on January 15, 2007 06:05:43 AM new
Two months ago, got a negative from a buyer who had not communicated with me at all, he sent a PayPal, I acknowledged payment, then before I could process item (it had to be assembled and customized prior to shipment), a family emergency came up that took me out of town, I emailed the delay to all my buyers (and know that this buyer received it since I got a receipt on it), got back in town about 10 days later, and wrote every one I was back home and would start processing shipments, and then sent this buyer a shipment notice with the DC #, and this buyer then negs me, before even receiving item, complaining about prompt shipping and the cost of shipping (which cost was exactly detailed in auction listing - which I even lose money on).
Sorry for the mini rant.
Now my question, should I neg back, or just accept it, as shipment was 12 days after purchase??
posted on January 15, 2007 06:31:45 AM new
My first reaction would be to neg the heck out of him. But, once I calm down, this is what I would do:
First, I would respond to the neg that was received. Keep it factual. Then I would write to the bidder keeping it professional -- not defensive. Sometimes it helps when you open the lines of communication. Perhaps, once you start communicating, you can do a mutual to have it removed and save a customer. I just play it dumb. I would saying something like:
"Dear Bidder,
I'm sorry that you are unhappy with the time it took to ship out your widget. I had a family emergency that took me out of town for 10 days, and unfortuantely, I was unable to ship any itmes out. I did write to all of my customers beforehand explaining the situation. I guess you didn't receive my e-mail. Sometimes the mail can end up on your spam mailbox. I do apologize for the inconvience. As for the shipping cost ... (then explain how you lose money on shipping, etc.)"
I know most won't agree with me on this, but I would rather save a customer if I can even though I know I'm not wrong.
Or, pull the contact information and call him. Personally, I don't call because I have a hearing disability and I really have a hard time on the phone, but if I could, I would rather call.
posted on January 15, 2007 06:43:20 AM new
If your buyer paid promptly, you should not leave him a negative. Sellers always complain about buyers leaving retaliatory negatives. It's not okay for buyers to do it and it's not okay for sellers to either. I think this is a negative you'll have to just suck up. It's not the buyer's fault you were called away and he does have a legitimate reason for being upset about the delivery time, IMO. Personally, I wouldn't have given you a negative. I'm more patient than that. Perhaps this buyer isn't. Respond factually to the negative and move on.
Cheryl
Summer
1995 - 2006
Gone but never forgotten.
posted on January 15, 2007 06:44:48 AM new
Neg and block ~
do you really want this person as a customer?
They lack the most basic communication skills and have poor eBaY etiquette.
There were many opportunities for them to state their dissatisfaction or back out of the auction yet they let you do the work and ship in good faith ~ didn't even get the product and negged you instead of e-mailing you.
Don't know what the product is but 12 calendar days is not that unreasonable for custom work this time of year (lots of holidatys and you didn't mention if it was 12 business days).
Forget them and move on.
*jmho*
go ahead and blast me for it if it pleases you.
posted on January 15, 2007 08:02:22 AM new
I vote for no neg. The buyer bid and won the item expecting timely delivery. Due to the circumstances you were not able to deliver on time. The buyer was a bit hasty in negging, but does have a right to expect merchandise bought in good faith to be delivered promptly.
Suck it up and move on.
posted on January 15, 2007 08:24:13 AM new
Give a polite response to the neg so others can see, don't neg back, move on. If your overall feedback is good an occasional neg won't hurt.
posted on January 15, 2007 09:18:25 AM new
Hi
This person should get a neg for poor communication. Communication is a big part of making the transaction and for him to leave you a neg for slow shipping, to me it's not how business is conducted.
He will continue to do this to other sellers and think its alright. First off, lets say he never did receive your email. Well the right way to handle this was to email you and wait a reasonable time for a reply, he has 90days to leave a neg.....whats the rush?
Also, I would put him on my block list, a customer like him I don't want.
posted on January 15, 2007 09:52:29 AM new
I think the customer was unreasonable as well. There are many small time sellers on ebay working from their homes etc. Stuff happens in everyone's life and if you don't have a crew to fill in on your behalf while you're away - well your work doesn't get done. What else could you have done?
If it were me, I would email the buyer and apologize for the the delay, explain the situation again and ask that they reconsider their negative. Don't leave any feedback for them until you have opened a line of communicate.
Maybe call as Diane suggested if you feel you could communicate better that way. If they turn out to be a real jerk - leave a neutral and reply to their negative professionally. Nothings worst than seeing a reply to FB calling the person a jerk - that makes you look like the jerk.
[ edited by ladyjewels2000 on Jan 15, 2007 01:24 PM ]
posted on January 15, 2007 11:39:15 AM new
I agree with ladyj.. Although I still get upset with negs, especially when I think they are unjustified, always ask professionally, take the high road. Don't go down to the level of some Ebayers that think name calling is good public relations. The buyer was not flexible, but that is life.Vent here, then move on.
posted on January 15, 2007 12:33:07 PM new
I agree with STONE and Cheryl. The buyer did their part. This is unfortunate but SH** happens. If I gave a neg to all of my buyers who don't respond and just pay, that would be 95% of them. As a customer at a retail store, I do not feel it is my duty to be flexible. The negs are NO big deal, if you sell, eventually you will have some. I hate retalitory (sp) feedback, it shows a sign of immaturity.
posted on January 16, 2007 06:02:36 AM new
First, I agree with bizzycrocheting, I think you should write and see if you can talk to the customer. Sometimes I think people on ebay forget basic human compassion. Explain that the family emergency was out of your control and that you did ship as soon as possible. Then explain that with the weight? size? of your item the shipping costs this (actual amount for shipping) but I allow my customers to pay this (charged amount) to stay competitive with other ebay sellers.
Second, I disagree with cblev65252, I don't think it is a lost cause. Also, we are the sellers that leave feedback in accordance to our buyers feedback. That means positive for positive and neg for neg. We do this to save ourselves from exactly this situation. It has worked so far and we have it clearly stated in our auctions in case they do complain. I have only had one customer that was upset with me. I pointed him to the policy in the auction and also to the disclaimer that states "by placing a bid this confirms that the buyer read and understands the entire auction and policies"..he had no grounds to stand on and he knew it. He left a positive and so did we and we were done with it.
I think you should just try to work it out with the customer and then if he won't recant his neg...respond to yours but leave him a neutral..something like "Quick payer but lacks compassion for family emergencies".
posted on January 16, 2007 11:58:05 AM new
As a buyer, if I pay promptly, I expect positive feedback. I also expect my item to be delivered in a timely manner. As a seller, I expect to get a negative if I don't ship in a timely manner no matter what reason I may have had for shipping late. IMO, 12 days is a long time to wait for your package to be shipped to you. It's especially true if you paid promptly.
That means positive for positive and neg for neg. We do this to save ourselves from exactly this situation.
What a bunch of hogwash. It doesn't save you from anything. Take the negative and move on. I don't understand what the huge deal is when it comes to feedback. The only time I've ever left a negative is when the buyer or seller truly deserved it. Not based on what feedback they left me.
Sorry for sounding crabby about it, but geesh. Haven't we lost enough bidders already?
posted on January 16, 2007 11:58:19 AM new
I've been away from ebay for a little over a year now. My last full round of auctions ended just before my mother had a heart attack, she died within a few weeks.
At the time I had a number of packages sitting around waiting for payments. I thought she was going to make a recovery and I would still be selling. I knew I was going to be away for a while and I didn't want to ruin my reputation by not shipping promptly. I figured it wasn't the buyers fault that I was having personal problems, so I took all the packages to the post office and mailed them.
Only one person failed to send payment and with everything that was happening I don't really care. I didn't even bother to neg them. It was my gamble, I sent the package before they paid, I took a risk and lost.
It would have been nice if your buyer had been understanding of your emergency and I would agree that they're a jerk. That doesn't change the fact that you didn't ship promptly.
Unless things have changed (again) or my memory has gotten worse, paypal requires shipment within 7 days of payment to qualify for seller protection. So the buyer could have filed a complaint and ask for their money back and paypal would have given it too them.
The best thing you can do for your own business and reputation is to respond to the neg with the facts. Apologize for the 12 day shipping delay, state that you had a family emergency and notified all buyers there would be a delay and you would have given a full refunded if the buyer had asked.
Send an email to the buyer restating the facts, apologize for the delay and let them know you would have refunded if they would have communicated with you that they were in a hurry.
Trust me, anyone looking at your neg will feel more comfortable knowing that you're willing to own up to problems (even when they're out of your control) and take responsibility. Leave no feedback for the buyer, it will just make you look petty if you leave a neg.
I hope your family problems resolved themselves and everyone is OK.
posted on January 17, 2007 05:53:54 AM new
I do believe in both things I did say. But I also have had situations where I have left glowing feedback only to be burned unfairly by a customer. As I was saying, though, we sell well over 1000 products a week and move them out of here rapidly. I don't think that leaving the feedback in response to a feedback is hurting our business at all! In fact I have seen many buyers doing just that. We have been in business for over 7 years and have always run it this way. We have found, and I can give hundreds of examples, with this policy our buyers communicate with us more, give us more of a chance to correct any errors that may have occurred, before they click on and leave feedback. This allows both us and the buyer to have a positive experience all around. And if you DO NOTHING wrong then you have nothing to worry about. We have had only a few negatives and all were quickly replied to and figured out with a customer. We have had a few recant their negatives when we make ammends. There are things, like family emergencies, that take you away from the ebay world. As for everyone talking about losing bidders it is not feedback extortion that is losing them..it is rising prices, other better auction sites, people charging OUTRAGEOUS shipping rates, and those sellers that purposely scam the customers. Our feedback speaks for itself and customers feel they are getting a great deal...that is all that matters. Not when and how we leave feedback. If a customer raises a stink (and like I said we have only had 1 maybe 2 that did) we gladly leave the positive first and move on. Moving as much product as we do in a week there is no possible way for me to leave individual feedback first for every single customer...it would not only daunting but time consuming since ebay is only one of the million and one responsibilities I have here. Ebay is about a 10th of our business we also run a very large and productive closeout and liquidation company. Our wholesale site takes priority over ebay and our wholesale customers come first...I don't have time to go through and leave feedback. I oversee about 80 employees in 3 warehouses...ticking off a few customers by leaving feedback is not really high on my list of things not to do in a day. We sell on multiple sites and multiple different forums. Therefore it is pretty clear I have no time to mess with feedback. Our feedback is an automated system. We leave the same feedback over and over...it never changes. This frees up A LOT of time I need to do other things...like take care of the business end that brings in thousands of a dollars a deal instead of 10 bucks here and there!
posted on January 17, 2007 08:02:56 AM new
It can't be done in this situation now but I think if I'm ever faced with this problem, this is what I will do:
If you don't have the time to ship before you have to leave, when you get to your destination, email each winner (go to the local library if needed) letting them know what has happened. Give each the option of waiting for the shipment or receiving a full refund. If they decide to wait - great. If not you will take the lost. Either way the bidder shouldn't have any bad feelings about the transaction. If they leave a negative then chances are they would have left it no matter what you did!
