There's been a lot of discussion about feedback and blocked bidders and the buyers from hell lately. I purchased and paid for an item on May 28th. I heard nothing from the seller. Eight days later on Jun 5th, I sent an email asking if it had been mailed yet. I got the "my computer blew up, it's been crazy, I'll ship it today." I wrote back saying no problem, I just wanted to make sure.
ANOTHER eight days go by and I open an Item not received case and email the seller telling her "I just need to protect myself." Finally on June 15th, the item arrives. (18 days after payment was made) The item the seller charged $10.36 for UPS came through the post office for $1.73. I sent the seller a note saying it had arrived but I had a bit of a problem with the shipping costs. She told me to close the dispute so she could refund the difference. I closed the dispute and heard nothing! On June 19th, I sent another email reminding her that I had closed the dispute. And again, zero communication from the seller. On June 23rd, I left her negative feedback. All of a sudden, she can communicate! She sent me a long letter telling me I had no patience and it was my fault for opening a dispute that she got two overdraft charges and couldn't refund the difference and if I had just waited, none of this would have happened. She closed her email with: You seemed so nice and understanding when we were in contact with each other and then this. Well I think you should learn to exercise patience, since you have decided to leave a feedback I feel that this concludes our transaction.
And this is about the fourth seller who has acted this way in the last month. (One of the reasons buying from Dale was such a pleasure) I end up feeling as if I did something wrong when I know I didn't. And patience? Please I was so patient, trusting and sweet, I was starting to irritate myself!
According to what a lot of sellers in this forum have said and what this particular seller might say, I would end up on everybody's BBL THAT, I would have a serious problem with and it would be totally undeserved.
I say look at both sides before blocking someone. I admit, I used to be block happy. My BBL is quite healthy. I'll still trust several people's opinion but I'll research a little before automatically adding to my BBL.
I don't think anyone is saying that negative FB are never appropriate. The problem is when the buyer makes no attempt to contact the seller & resolve the problem first. Sounds like you made resonable efforts to communicate. Unfortuantely there are a few sellers who are not as diligent as we are when it comes to trying to please our customers.
You have nothing to feel bad about. That seller abused your trust, starting with misrepresenting the shipping. You can still report that to ebay, and I would recommend it. Also, there is nothing preventing a seller from issuing a partial refund in paypal while a dispute is in process. The only reason a seller would wait to process a refund is to receive an item being returned. This seller obviously played you - so you should not feel guilty about leaving the neg. It was in this case deserved.
I don't know if that seller shops on ebay, but I bet that her ID would go on several BBLs right now if your FB was not private (but I do respect your right to maintain that privacy). Nobody wants to deal with a person like that, on either side of a transaction. From my perspective, that seller is the type that makes a bad name for ALL sellers on ebay - and her actions lend support to ebay's misguided conception that the majority of sellers are somehow "bad" or abusive of buyers. We certainly don't need that kind of help.
As you might have guessed, I feel very strongly on this subject
You did nothing wrong and have nothing to feel badly about.
Those of you who know me, as a seller, know that I feel that customer service has to be the absolute best to be able to survive on ebay. You have to be kind, and considerate and most of all...communicate with your buyer!
I would feel EXACTLY the same way you feel toinght, If i had been treated that way by a seller.
I purchased a lot from a buyer with lots of good feedback. I paid for it immediately and its now been over 2 weeks with no communications except she left positive fb for me. I figured it was on the way but 5 days later no box so I sent an email - no response I waited a few days more then sent another email and did get an answering stating it was mailed along with others that also were not receivee so going to check with the PO. So far no package or word. Reading her fb I find others are now complaimning about long shippments. I am soooo close to leaving neg fb or very poor DSR
OK, I'm going to take an unpopular stance here and say that perhaps we all should be leaving more negative feedback. Dale is right, customer service should always be number 1. For years, buyers had to deal with sellers who blackmailed buyers into giving positive feedback. But we don't any more, and as a buyer that's a plus.
Now don't get me wrong -- negative feedback should be used very judiciously and sparingly. But I think sometimes as sellers we are overly sympathetic to other sellers on eBay. I think some of the following are very valid reasons to give negs -
Item hasn't arrived in two or more weeks, seller does not answer e-mail, and can't or won't provide tracking.
Stated shipping price is significantly different from what you paid, and seller can't offer an explanation and will not give a refund in a reasonable amount of time. (I once paid $16 shipping for a single piece of jewelry that came first class in an envelope.) Or, if you don't want to give a neg, at least ding the shipping cost DSR.
The item is SNAD and the buyer doesn't respond in a week or more. File a claim with eBay and leave a neg.
I'm sure others can add to that list of reasons. And once again, I'm not suggesting you be quick on the trigger. Be reasonable, be fair and think carefully about what you are doing. But sellers who are getting away with this stuff are taking business away from us by blackening the reputation of all eBay sellers. It seems like the only way to get their attention is to file a neg.
As always, keep all your e-mails to eBay and the seller totally professional. No matter how much the seller foams at the mouth after they receive the neg.
So we need to be a just a little less forgiving and start to think of it as house cleaning. Either those sellers will improve their service, or they will whine their way off eBay. This is good for us in the long run.
Sherry, I think you are right! I always felt I should leave great fb and 5 DSR to fellow sellers but now I am rethinking that! I give great Customer Service, of course not as good a Dale, but I do my best! I hate getting shoddy service in return.
I am dealing with that issue with my former employer, the Phone Co. Now that AT&T has taken over, customer service is in the toilet and since that was my job b4 I retired it galls me to see how they treat customers (me). I even offered to train them!!!! "how may I help you" is now "no, I can't do that for you but let me sell you more stuff"
I have to call them again next week re: my bill and lack of adding my discounted concession (going on 4 months( but I will wait till after the holiday so I can enjoy it before I turn into a screaming frustrated customer.
I didn't really except anyone to agree with me, but thank you. I've always felt I had to give positive feedback to sellers, sort of a solidarity thing. But geeze, what are these people doing for me? Not much as I see it. I'm also not giving five stars automatically any more - I'm being honest.
I was on Amazon earlier today and noticed that the feedback ratings for sellers over there was much lower than we see here. But people regard Amazon sellers more highly than eBay sellers. Something is wrong with that picture.
Sherry - I'm in the process of setting up my store there and I noticed that same thing (I've shopped there for over 10 years). I remember when I first started shopping there, sellers would always follow up and request FB after a transaction. Now, it seems they almost never do so. I also get the impression that while FB is important, Amazon doesn't drive sellers to obsess about it like ebay does.
I purchased a 5ct tanzanite from a seller that said located in florida-united states
I won the item and then got a message about it being shipped by air thailand
I said hold on a minute- and wrote that you said you were located in florida
the person gave me a whole speech that it attracts more customers etc- and that the computer broke 5 yrs ago and that they dont know how to change it
How do they keep posting new things if the computer is broken?
I told him that I will not buy it and just left it at that- no feedbacks to each other and no more communication
I had my share of bad experiences but I feel bad for just leaving it at that but in buissness you have to be honest
P.S. Hcbafal you dont have to feel bad about this you are an awsome customer with great communication- from what I have seen and read in this thread she is the bad guy!
Ahhhhhh thanks Owl, I really appreciate that. For a second there, my old-timer's was thinking how does he know? Then my bottle purchase kicked in. :-) By the way, I let a bottle slip away . Do you usually re-list?
You are not the bad guy. Some people will manipulate you if you are a nice honest seller or buyer. I've had similar experiences and yes, I got all the excuses. That's why I highly recommend a Delivery Confirmation #. I incorporate it into my shipping fee and let the buyer know. I had one seller (no longer on Ebay) finally correspond with me after a month, and after I had sent a non~delivery complaint to PayPal. I went as far as to call the business and got the answering maching. I called twice, waited a week, no answer. After I filed, the guy called me and was really nasty. Something something about how I had no patience and sometimes things went wrong. When I asked him why he did not respond to my e~mails or calls, he went off on me again. I finally hung up on him. They are no longer on Ebay and I can see why. Today, for me, the "customer" in "customer service" is gone. Scratch that, The "Service is gone, too. There are those out there that care about delivering, not just spending the money. Scrap them off and don't let it get you down. Happy Sales To You!
Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
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