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Hi everyone…
Today I received the dreaded negative feedback (100% positive prior). “Inept packaging job. Every corner dented.Totally destroyed the value.”
These were a set of very rare Rolling Stones photography books (sold for $200). Very heavy. They were shipped very carefully to someone who lives about 1.5 miles away.
Why would a buyer leave a message like this without a) contacting me first b) putting in a return request prior to feedback? The guy spent over $200, why wouldn’t he want this resolved, shit happens. I’m happy to take them back, pay for shipping etc…always. How does it benefit a buyer to leave negative FB and not (or before they) contact the seller?
Should I respond to the feedback? Reach out to the buyer (I can’t get him to remove FB, against the rules) or just let it go?
Thanks
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Happens sometimes. I would reach out to the buyer and ask them if there is anything that you can do to make things right with them. Put on your best customer service hat and listen to see if there is something you can do to make it right. If not, let it go.
Sometimes these things happen. Just do your best to make it right, and objectively look at how you could improve, and then execute.
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I had one this week that killed my 100%. Buyer left negative feedback saying that the size medium in this brand is too large (Yes, we have very detailed measurements in our listings and tell buyers not to trust size labels) and that he was charged a 20% restocking fee. He left this feedback BEFORE asking to return the item. He returned the item. I gave full item price refund (no restocking fee charged) but did not give original shipping refund. I asked him to consider changing his feed back. After 2 days he replied that since he was charged the restocking fee his feedback would not change. I replied that the restocking fee was not charged, but that the original shipping was not refunded.
I asked for supervisors at 3 levels of ebay support. Had to wait for call backs. They would not remove the feedback. Since he was not refunded original shipping, they agreed that his negative “buyer experience” had to be honored in the feedback system. I replied to his feedback “Buyer not charged restocking fee. Detailed measurements in item listing.”
So, I sit at 99.7% feedback – life goes on. I sold a coat for $39.95 & a wind shirt for $32.95 after his “negative” experience.
Happy Trails! -
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First of all, I would like to offer – Do Not take any of this personally. This is a part of being in the world of business.
Sometimes, people react first and in doing so feel the need to vocalize their opinions and thoughts without actually looking for a resolve or taking the steps to have themselves heard by the person they need to be heard by . . Do not take any of this personally.
Could there have been something about the packaging that did not work for the shipment method? Possibly. Could this be an area for improvement in the future? possibly? Is this going to be your breaking point in your eBay business? That is your choice. Do not take this personally.
Remember, multimillion dollar highly successful companies have had recalls that costs them millions of dollars and a reputation hit because products they put out were either packaged incorrectly, made with a possible hazard, or even made with what became a damaging defect. How the companies bounced back (or did not bounce back) was based on how they handled the situation and chose to move forward.
I would offer that you try to step back from this and pretend that it is someone else’s situation and then ask yourself – how would you objectively advise them?
Here are some possible resolve choices that come to mind. More experienced sellers may have some other resolve choices.
Have all communications via ebay.
1. O.K. The package showed up damaged.
possible resolve – Contact the buyer via ebay messaging and offer return shipping and full return upon receipt of the item.
2. The customer gave a negative review – do not overreact or take it personally.
possible resolve -post a professional response saying something to the extent ” I am sorry to hear of your experience. Please contact me via ebay messaging regarding your experience. Your 100% satisfaction is our priority.I would not deal with the change of the feedback until the matter is fully resolved.
However you choose to proceed forward, I would offer that you do so when you are in a calm objective state. Remember, this too shall pass. This is just a learning opportunity that has presented itself.
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Great advice above. Every year we get one or two negative or neutral feedback. Almost all are from buyers who never contact us. So weird that they would be that unhappy, yet still keep the item.
We just ignore it. These feedbacks always go away and don’t affect out store. We just make sure we havent made a mistake, and if we did, that we dont repeat it.
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First thing you should do is check the feedback that buyer has left for other sellers. If they are a repeat negative feedback leaver they are probably fishing for a partial refund. If your feedback score is high enough you should be able to absorb one negative though without issue. As long as you keep all the money, do you really care ?
You can also try writing a message in the hopes the buyer will incriminate themselves. For example. what can we do to change your opinion / feedback ?
If they reply refund me xx amount and I will change the feedback that would probably be considered feedback extortion and at that point ebay should remove the negative.
To my knowledge a seller can ask for a negative to be removed in exchange for a full or partial refund, but a buyer CANNOT.
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So Cal Joe is 100% right. Feedback can not be a negotiated point in anyway. Any condition put on the feedback can be considered a form of bribery. The only focus needs to be the issue at hand which was the damaged item.
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That’s not what ebay reps have told me. I suppose it depends on who you ask at ebay. I’ve done it three times already without issue. One person changed their feedback and the other two did not despite offering refunds, so I have one neutral and one negative on my feedback.
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I had my 100% FB ruined this week, too. I sold a purse to someone who didnât contact me or request a return. âitâs yellow and it has stains!â Yes, it WAS a yellow purse, as the photos showed. And I DID describe the stains and photoâd them! Have emailed her and even tried to call her; a man answered and said âshe moved out and I donât know where she is.â (right). So would Ebay remove the FB? No. Of course not. They want âmore info from the buyerâ who of course doesnât respond. I used to get so bent out of shape. Now I just do the best I can, and if that fails, âMeh!â Whatever. Move on.
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I have contacted a couple non-communicating buyers to make it right and then sent them the feedback revision request form (you’re only allowed to send it once) and they have changed their feedback for me. Worth a try. Here are the instructions from ebay’s website.
To request a Feedback revision:
Go to the Account tab on My eBay and click Feedback.
At the top of the Feedback page, click the Go to the Feedback Forum link.
In the Feedback tools section on the right side of the page, click the Request Feedback revision link. You may need to sign in.
Find the Feedback you want to request a revision for.
Select the Give the buyer a reason for the request option, enter the reason for your request, and then click the Send button. -
A follow up, food for thought:
I checked into the buyers FB left for others. Only 2, both negatives, both within the last month: one for me (‘Due to wretched packing, the item was damaged in transit. All corners crushed.’) and a remarkably similar feedback the other seller
I sent the buyer rare books; the other seller sent rare vinyl. He obviously wants to keep all of these items that were ‘ruined’. Still curious, I wrote to the other seller asking if this buyer contacted them first before leaving fb; upon attempt to contact to resolve the issue. The seller immediately replied: No, not at all, nothing.
Sure, there could have been damage in transit, I would have resolved the situation on some level (photos would have helped). But what is in the mindset of a buyer (who has 64 positive FBs from sellers, in total) like this??
The buyer lives a mile away from me… literally. I even have his phone number from a little googling. (don’t worry, I won’t contact him)…
I know this happens, I don’t take it personally. Just putting it out there.
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At this point, the only possibility is to call eBay and try to convince a rep that the buyer has a habit of leaving negative feedback without any communication. But you need to be willing to accept the answer that its just the buyers opinion.
Every minute you let this grumpy buyer rent space in your head, this one transaction gets more and more mentally expensive. Clear out your head by listing 20 items.
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I concur with Jay.
I would add, make an agreement with yourself that first of all this is about a perfect stranger and actions they chose to take, so you only have a limited amount of time and energy to put towards them and their choices. Second, after you do… (fill in the blank) you will move forward because your time, life, business, hapiness are worth more than any one transaction. Third, I am sure you like all of us have faced things that you thought were going to have a strong, negative, long lasting, hard to get over impact because of someone else’s choices. Even if it did have an impact, you picked up and kept going creating good for yourself. So, do that now.
Calmly and professionally call ebay. Havee a discussion and not a one sided accusation monologue. Just present the facts as calmly and clearly as you can. Keep it simple. Then hang up and list 20 items so you are taking care of you. -
That has happened to me before. Buyer was just grumpy and left negative feedback for no apparent reason.
I tried contacting the customer directly via phone, text message and ebay for two weeks. When I called, he answered the phone and just hung up. I was willing to give him full refund. He didn’t want the money. Never communicated whatsoever. Ebay didn’t remove the feedback after I contacted them 3X about it.
Like Jay said to me once, there’s just a small percent of people out there that’s just grumpy.
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