posted on May 23, 2004 09:06:08 AM new
I had to deal with a somewhat difficult customer recently. I put in my TOS items shipped USUALLY within 48 hours of payment. By that I mean that if an auction closes 48 hours before I go to the post office, the item is shipped within 48 hours. I try to make it to the PO every other day, but for personal reasons, this isn't always feasible.
Well, her item closed on a Friday night and I didn't ship it until the following Friday (5 business days). She wrote to me asking why it took so long to ship and I explained the reason. Well, when she gets the item, she complains about it. So, I wrote her back offering her a refund to which she refused. I worked with her on the item to ensure that there weren't any more problems.
Then she bids on and wins another one of my items. Again, it was on a Friday night and again it was shipped the following Friday. And I only ship 1st class so she's getting her items within a few days. I don't hear back from her and assume everything is ok.
She leaves me positive feedback but puts a caveat of slow delivery. Why would she do that? I went into her feedback and holy moly, this woman is something else! As a seller, she negs like crazy! Well, I know I did the wrong thing and I left her two negs for being a difficult customer to deal with and to stay away (I meant from my auctions). I blocked her and waited for the backlash. Of course, she has retaliated and reported me to ebay (for what, I don't know) and went to squaretrade (to which I'm not responding).
After calming down I would have removed the negs, but then she wrote to me a very nasty e-mail. I wrote her back telling her to just leave me alone and stay away from my auctions. She writes me again with all kinds of threats and I just let her have it.
I know I was wrong for leaving the negs, but I was wondering if I should wait a couple of days for the situation to calm down and then write to her again and try to work it out with her?
posted on May 23, 2004 09:34:17 AM new
She sounds unreasonable in many ways, but in her defense I do feel that waiting a week to ship is too long. I usually ship the next day, unless payment comes in on Friday, in which case I ship on Monday. Not everyone can ship quickly, I know, but I have to go to our p.o. every day to get our mail, so it's not an extra trip for me.
Of course, emergency situations can come up for us, but in that case I'd send a quick e-mail explaining the item will be later than usual.
A couple of times last year I e-mailed buyers to tell them I was having trouble finding the right box so their item could be shipped safely. People understood. Communication is probably the key here, just letting them know if there's a glitch.
Just my humble opinion, of course.
___________________________________
"If you keep your life and your house simple, there's more time to do what you like." --Gandhi
posted on May 23, 2004 09:48:07 AM new
I agree with Roadsmith. You should have shipped the following Tuesday at the latest. You said in your TOS you usually ship within 48 hours but what you don't say is business days. What that means to your buyer is that you will ship 48 hours after payment. Now she has to wait until almost two weeks to get her purchase and she pays you immediately. I would be upset also. I will tell you if my buyer paid me on Friday I always mail on Saturday. If I am working my husband does it for me.
If she is a good customer maybe you should offer her free shipping on her next purchase or refund her shipping charge on the last one. If I have a problem I do offer either a full refund including shipping or refund the shipping.
posted on May 23, 2004 09:51:16 AM new
"For men, The Godfather is the I Ching..."
No, bizzy doesn't have to pay to have the negs removed; she can use the Mutual Feedback Withdrawal process. Yes, this means she loses the two positives, but does anyone believe she really deserves two positives for these transactions?
Gotta get the other party to go along with it, though. A sincere apology would probably go a long way towards achieving that end. And since many folks here bought into the "combined alcohol with meds" excuse last time, it might just work with the customer. Who knows?
Bizzy, you are impulsive and quick to anger. That's not a good combination for an eBay seller.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:13:46 AM new
God ... Some of you guys are really tough on this board. If someone admits to a mistake, some of you seem to absolutely love to throw it back into their face.
Libra -- I sold a few items and did ok. I haven't had a chance to list over in the UK recently.
I'll never come to this board again with a problem.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:16:25 AM new
"I went into her feedback and holy moly, this woman is something else! As a seller, she negs like crazy!"
The buyer in question has 3,274 positives. She has 7 negatives including the 2 mentioned here and 2 neutrals.
She has left over 3,700 feedbacks. Out of the past 1,400 left, 12 are negatives. Of the negs, 2 are for items she never received, 2 are in response to negatives she got, 1 is in response to a neutral she got, 7 were left for NPB's, 3 of whom are now NARU. She has left 4 neutrals, all in response to neutrals left her.
Here are her stats:
Feedback Score: 2907
Positive Feedback: 99.8%
Members who left a positive: 2914
Members who left a negative: 7
posted on May 23, 2004 10:19:02 AM new
Bizzy-Just a suggestion...Maybe you should end your auctions on a different day. Does it matter with the items that you sell what day the auctions ends? If you end them on Sunday or Monday nite it might be easier for you to ship within the 48 hour mailing time. You would elimiate the weekend and the problems.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:21:41 AM new
Bizzy, I agree that you waited way too long to ship, given your TOS, and the fact that you didn't communicate with them.
Your problems with this buyer could have been prevented if you'd emailed them and let them know there would be a delay in shipping.
But given that this happened twice with this woman--and probably happens a lot with other customers, given what you said, you should give serious thought to changing your TOS. Leave out the 48 hours reference. And even then, if there is going to be a long delay between receipt of payment & mailing out of item, COMMUNICATE with your buyer. Let them know. I have found that buyers are usually very reasonable about this (as long as it doesn't happen every time they buy from you, that is).
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on May 23, 2004 10:24:01 AM new
No Lucy, check and see what SHE has left for others, which is what I stated in my message.
And for the benefit of Fluffy, it clearly states that I offered her a refund to which she refused. No, I did not "ship late" hence the wording USUALLY. And also, I wasn't looking for "slack". I was looking for how I should handle the situation since it has gotten to this point.
Fluffy, if you have a problem with my posts, please feel free to ignore them, as I have done with yours. As a matter of fact, I would prefer it that way. I will NOT get into a cat fight with you again because quite frankly, my dear, YOU are not worth it!
edited to add: as I have done with yours.
[ edited by bizzycrocheting on May 23, 2004 10:28 AM ]
posted on May 23, 2004 10:27:27 AM new
For the benefit of the others, I did change my TOS after the first time and said that I ship as quickly as possible and no reference to time frame. If this buyer was angry with me for any reason, all she needed to do was to communicate it to me. I am always willing to give a refund to keep the peace. I when I refund, I absorb the shipping both ways. I had no idea that anything was wrong because she bid yet again and then never said another word.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:37:40 AM new
Do you feel that payment on Friday and mailing until the next Friday is not late?
I think she left you good feed back only alerting other buyers that your shipping was slow. She also recommends you. I think you might have turned away a customer. The posters on this board are somewhat critical unlike the round table where they are down right mean and nasty.
I think you started the altercation by giving her two negatives and that is why she is so upset. You could have given her a positive because she paid you immediately. What I do if I think a buyer needs a negative I wait to give feedback for about a week to settle down. Maybe you should have come here first before you did the negatives and we could have made you feel better. There is never a stupid question, it's the answers I worry about.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:39:43 AM newI had to deal with a somewhat difficult customer recently.
Looks like the buyer was being quite reasonable, considering the circumstances and they certainly didn't deserve negative feedback because you lost your temper, Bizzy.
You've been given some good advice here. Communication is a key factor and you've failed. I will give you another piece of advice, when you're having a hissy fit don't leave feedback until you can think rationally and it may save you future problems.
I'll never come to this board again with a problem.
One thing I've always noticed is that when some people come here for advice they don't want to hear good advice, they only want everyone to agree with their actions and when any wrongdoing is gently pointed out to them they get all huffy.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:41:24 AM new
"As a seller, she negs like crazy."
...numbers arent subjective, only those who 'read' them.
-------------------------------
"Then she bids on and wins another one of my items."
...never dawned on you? that you satisfactorily handled the first sale/auction, and bidder trusted you enuff to buy again, FROM YOU?!
------
"After calming down I would have removed the negs, but then she wrote to me a very nasty e-mail. I wrote her back telling her to just leave me alone and stay away from my auctions. She writes me again with all kinds of threats and I just let her have it.
...there, you said it: "after calming down."
--------------
"I put in my TOS items shipped USUALLY within 48 hours of payment."
...there's nothing subjective about this. your not meeting your own TOS means lowered expectations; certainly creating a liability for yourself.
------------------------
biz, i thought i was thru, then i read this;
"God ... Some of you guys are really tough on this board. If someone admits to a mistake, some of you seem to absolutely love to throw it back into their face."
...i have said it before; in fact i said it years ago..."this aint no place for the faint of heart."
...i may be way off beam on this; but i wonder if you posted the problem, already realizing that your passion had gone unchecked; that you had overreacted...and came to the board knowing you "would get flogged," and in this, have your conscience soothed?
finally, just for the H--- of it, post the verbally abusive emails she sent you.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:44:19 AM new
please don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you expect the buyer to do all the communicating.
It's good that you changed your TOS, but saying that you ship "as quickly as possible" is very nebulous. To you it means one thing, but to a buyer it may mean "next day"--not a week.
I, too, ship as quickly as possible upon recipt of payment (usually the next day). However, I make no mention of this in my TOS, which simply gives shipping costs & payment types accepted. If I find that I can't ship as quickly as I'd like for whatever reason, I communicate with the buyer and let them know. They are appreciative of this. I have 100% positive feedback (690 unique, and 812 total), and I believe that good communication with my buyers plays a big part in this.
edited to change a "c" to an "s"
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
[ edited by bunnicula on May 23, 2004 10:47 AM ]
posted on May 23, 2004 10:47:51 AM newThe posters on this board are somewhat critical unlike the round table where they are down right mean and nasty.
Libra, that may be your perception but it's not mine. Most that post there are just like the ones that post here except that disagreements on politics may make it seem nastier. Once again it all comes down to who agrees with who and some people get all bent out of shape when others don't share their views.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:48:02 AM new
Bizzy – I cannot believe you! I’ve been on eBay since 1997 and was a full-time seller for two years in the glory days. I’m now just a buyer as I occasionally purchase inventory for my store cheaper on eBay than I can from my wholesaler. As such, I believe I can see both sides of the picture.
As a buyer, let me tell you that I am getting tired of the crap I have to put up with. Sellers who take their sweet time in shipping, sellers who don’t have a clue how to package, sellers who “forget” part of the set, sellers who send the item used and filthy when it was advertised as new and unused. And on and on.
If you advertised you “USUALLY” ship 48 hours within payment, then a REASONABLE person would assume you USUALLY ship within 48 hours. However this time you wait SEVEN DAYS! And unbelievably your buyer gives you positive feedback!
You should be ashamed of yourself for negging her! How arrogant!
I’ve been reading this board for YEARS including your recent posts. Why would you even come here relating this incident when it’s obvious what you shouldn’t have done? Why do you need everyone’s advice?
And BTW, I remember your eBay name and went back and checked out the feedback this buyer has left for others. What was it you said? “I went into her feedback and holy moly, this woman is something else! As a seller, she negs like crazy!”
That’s a bunch of crap! The last neg she left was on 10/24/03. She’s been on eBay since 1999, has 2907 feedback and appears the feedbacks she’s left deals with either nonreceipt of items (when she buys) or nonpayers (when she sells). Several of the buyers for whom she’s left negs currently have 0, -1, -2 feedback. One even has –5. Amazingly, she has only incurred 7 negative feedbacks over the years. I just emailed her in regard to this thread.
posted on May 23, 2004 10:51:19 AM new
So Friday to Friday is 5 business days?? What happened to Saturday? My TOS states that I will ship within 24 hours of receipt of payment & I do(except for Sunday). I have numerous positve comments about how fast they have received their purchase, If you advertise "usually in 48 hrs" then Friday to Friday is unacceptable to me. Maybe you better change your TOS to read "wihin a week"
posted on May 23, 2004 10:51:44 AM new
Oldtoy -- No, I'm not looking to get flogged. I already feel bad enough. I was looking at how I should handle the situation at this point. But it seems that the posters just wish to point out what I did wrong and beat me with it than to help (and I stress the word "help" ) figure out how to make it right again instead of pointing out everything that I did wrong. However, posting to this board, once again, has proven to be a mistake. I don't need any more bad feelings. My conscious is bothering me enough and I will attempt to rectify the situation on my own.
[ edited by bizzycrocheting on May 23, 2004 10:54 AM ]
posted on May 23, 2004 10:56:33 AM newI was looking at how I should handle the situation at this point.
Well, the situation has pretty much deteriorated for you and this buyer, through no fault of hers.
Believe me, I am saying this kindly: about the only thing left for you is to email her and apologize, then let it rest.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on May 23, 2004 11:05:44 AM new
bizzycrocheting
Your actions with this buyer are the work of a loon. You are at fault here and no one else. Hope to h#ll I never have to deal with a mental midget of your caliber.
As a seller you suck! Get on your knees and apologize to the buyer and grovel for forgiveness.
posted on May 23, 2004 11:08:39 AM new
I did give you a suggestion. Refund her postage and if she doesn't agree with that then refund her purchase.
I recently had a buyer buy a piece of jewelry that I thought and what I thought read Weiss. Well it wasn't. She wrote me and said the mark was lisner what I did was write her back. I gave her two options.
This is what I said: What would you like me to do Refund your postage or you can send the item back and I will refund your purchase including postage. She opted for the refund of postage. I asked her what she wanted me to do not what I wanted to do. I hope it hasn't been to long to resolve your problems with your buyer but I would try. Maybe you can remove the negs for her.
Kiara- It is not only me that thinks that there is another one in their also that thinks the same way. It's a very clicky group down there. I am sorry but that is what I think. My opinion....
[ edited by Libra63 on May 23, 2004 11:10 AM ]
