posted on August 12, 2001 10:45:34 AM
....and boy am I feeling dumb. I came across an auction that really grabbed me. One of those "I realllly have to have that" kind. I read and re-read it several times and did not find the payment options.
I know from these threads that many sellers firmly believe most buyers don't read. However, I do read the ads!
It's apparently my comprehension that need a bit of improvement!
Anyway, I emailed the seller to ask what types of payment they accepted, and which they preferred (thinking I'm doing a good thing).
I received a one sentence response:
"If you bothered to read the auction you would know."
I went back and re-read twice more before my brain actually "clicked". I felt quite stupid....then, being only human, I felt insulted and belittled by this seller. Not a good thing. Perhaps not a wise one either!
Needless to say I have decided I really do not have to have this item. In fact, I don't think I will ever need anything this seller has to offer!!!!
If this seller had just been "gracious" enough to answer my question and not feel the need to point out my stupidity, they may very well have had a very loyal customer.
Just wanted to pass that along, 'cause nobody likes to be made to feel stupid-- especially if it's true!
posted on August 12, 2001 10:57:31 AM
Well I can't speak for all Sellers BUT I wouldn't Reply to any questio on one of my auctions this way.
No matter if the term was in the llisting or not the buyer could be double checking the facts, After all it shouldn't happen but offten does there are sellers who state one thing in a fixed auction template not thinking some of the terms cant work for this item they are selling.
but I think that buyers and sellers have spent so much time on these boards most funning one another about some issues some serious but some have been insulted over this and are getting Deffensive and sensitive about some things ... http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
posted on August 12, 2001 10:58:58 AMI went back and re-read twice more before my brain actually "clicked". I felt quite stupid....then, being only human, I felt insulted and belittled by this seller. Not a good thing
I agree, it's not a good thing to insult a potential customer. I try not to do it. If I had gotten your email, I would have checked my auction to make sure I hadn't "blown it", then I would have cursed the monitor... and wrote you a polite email.
Maybe this seller had one too many "stupid questions" today. List a couple of hundred auctions a week, you get way more of these kind of emails than you might think.
posted on August 12, 2001 11:07:13 AM
the seller needs to gind a different line of work. buyers ask stupid questions all the time online or in brick/mortar stores. it is the sellers responsibility to tolerate that type of thing........i would not bid and i might even have to go back and use a flase ID, win the auction, not pay and drop a neg for being hard to deal with...but i would only do that on a bad day
posted on August 12, 2001 02:00:34 PM
This clwon is most likly sitting at home wondering why he gets no repeat business. Sellers like this make the rest of us look good.
posted on August 12, 2001 02:16:03 PM
i think i'm the nicest seller alive in this world! i answer anything and EVERYTHING all the buyer asks! It does get frustrated sometimes, but the NICE ME answer them POLITELY AND PROFESSIONALLY everytime.
I don't know whether it's good or bad. But I feel guilty if I replied rudely.
posted on August 12, 2001 03:05:22 PM
Hey! You are the second nicest seller in the world!
This buyer sounds very intelligent and articulate. I am sure this guy didn't make things clear in his ad. Customers are not something to take for granted.
posted on August 12, 2001 03:13:41 PM
I have had three recent buyers who thought postage of payment to UK was the same as postage to US. I have treated them with respect as they are learning that there is a World outside USA.
posted on August 12, 2001 03:24:13 PM
Well, after I posted this as more of a "cool down", I sent this seller an email and apologized for having bothered them. I also mentioned that in the length of time it took to send me the email, they could have just answered my question and perhaps earned a new customer.
I will give this seller credit for quick response to "inquires"...they emailed back that they are a large company and everyone has a different job to do. They could not answer my question because they did not know the answer but knew it was in the auction so that's why they had said to read the auction. They apologized because they had not meant it the way I had taken it.
I am tempted to copy & paste the portion of the auction that states the payment terms and send it to them so they will know the answer should anyone else be dumb enough to ask. I probably won't, because that would make me petty wouldn't it? I don't want to be known as dumbandpetty!!!!!
I checked their other auction and they are running less than 100.
posted on August 12, 2001 03:25:19 PM
I AM THE NICEST! I have buyer testimony to prove it!
sometimes, I think there should be an award for the BEST SELLER IN WORLD. Which of course, would go to me, and there would be this million dollar award to this, and of course, it would go to me, and maybe I will selected to be the president of US!
posted on August 12, 2001 03:47:08 PM
I get more "stupid questions" than you might believe. Is the item new, what color is it, what does it say on it, do you take paypal, will you ship to Norway, etc, etc.... all of which is said very plainly and succinctly in the auction and pix.
My strategy here is to resist the tempation and issue a very brief response. For instance: "Yes, I will ship worldwide." It takes all of 10 seconds to send such an email. The buyer gets what they needed and the seller may make the sale. As opposed to making a smartaleck comment and definitely not making the sale.
posted on August 12, 2001 03:51:36 PM
greetingfromUK
all this time i thought you were a univ of kentucky wildcat... next thing we know you'll be telling us the worl is not flat
posted on August 12, 2001 04:48:09 PM
I recommend that if you wish to buy anything expensive from someone, you send them some sort of email query in advance. A response like this one would be a genuine tipoff as would a none response or a "I was told the thing works" answer.
There is no such thing as a dumb question. But there are very dumb sellers who never learned that.
posted on August 12, 2001 05:13:32 PM
The best thing about answering stupid questions with a sarcastic answer is that the bidder can never hear the tone of your voice.
Therefore, I can answer a question like yours by saying "Yes, I take Paypal, Billpoint, Mastercard and Visa, checks and money orders, and Smarties". And the bidder never sees my eyes rolling, hears my voice dripping with sarcasm, or notices any other things I my be mumbling while I answer them.
I think it's far easier to give good customer service by e-mail than it is by phone or in person (and I've done them all).
posted on August 12, 2001 06:04:13 PM
I state the amount of shipping in my auctions... but every once in a while someone will eMail me with a question that IS answered within the body of the description. Regardless, this is the type of response they will recieve from me:
Hi (name if they included it),
Thank you for your eMail and interest in (the item's title). The shipping is (whatever I stated) as stated in the auction. Please feel free to eMail with any more questions.
Again, thank you for your interest and good luck at the auctions!
- Dottie
the point is... I answer their question RESPECTFULLY - even if it was already included in the description.
posted on August 12, 2001 06:29:05 PMI think it's far easier to give good customer service by e-mail than it is by phone or in person (and I've done them all).
I know it is. You can't be "put on the spot", so to speak. You can always take ten minutes to think about how you want to answer a question.
posted on August 12, 2001 07:18:46 PM
Boy, is this timely!
I try to type with "happy hands" even on questions where the answer is obvious but I just got another one where the question is:
"I just did a BIN on your auction. What is the total amount?"
The BIN is $X (I assume they KNOW what they paid), the shipping is $Y (and is listed in the auction as "shipping is $Y), so it really can't take a PHD in differential calculus to add $X and $Y and know what the total amount is, can it?
But, right after I finish beating my head on the computer table, I'll cheerfully respond w/a congratulations and the total amount.
Some days I do have to wonder when you get the question:
what color is the item (gosh, guess "hunter green widget" COULD be misleading) or
what size is this item (guess LARGE and the dimensions weren't enough) or
how much is shipping ("$3.50 priority shipping" must not be clear enough)
And I wonder if anyone does bother to read the description and TOS that I work so hard to make clear!
I must admit, I really nearly lost it w/one lady. First email..how much is shipping on this item? Tempted to say, $3.50 priority like stated in the TOS but didn't. Second email, how much is shipping to California? Hmmm, $3.50 priority? Third email, how much is shipping to Los Angeles, California? Fourth email, Is the $3.50 for priority shipping? And after all this, guess who never did even bid on the item? Guess $3.50 priority wasn't the right answer.
posted on August 12, 2001 07:34:11 PM
Well, some questions I get are "funny"
But if I want the sale and the buyer has a
Question, then I will answer it
(and like most of you said, dont try to include the words "just like in my tos" )
But I must say I had a good one on my last auction
(true is it was kinda my fault)
In my item description it said $20.00
For S& H includes insurance, but my auto insertion for my lingerie auctions states shipping is $7.00 (I forgot to change It )
So my buyer emails me that she will
Only pay the $7.00,
So after a long
Explanation we agreed that since she cannt find a way how to
Ship 19.5 pounds for $7.00
That she would pay the $20.00
But I say, no matter what the question,
Answer, the buyer has a choice, and I want them to choose me
posted on August 12, 2001 10:39:21 PM
Do you tell someone their zipper is down knowing they may feel stupid or let them wonder around with it down letting them look even more stupid in front of every passerbyer? I can answer easily myself, let them know of their stupid mistake and let them feel lucky they are only a fool under one person's eyes. They will feel gracious it wasn't worse.
posted on August 12, 2001 11:12:59 PM
I suspect some bidders intentionally ask stupid questions in order to find out whether/how quickly the seller responds to e-mail and how pleasant they are to deal with. While the reply that the original poster received may or may not have answered his/her question, it did answer another one: "Do I really want to do business with this person?"
OTOH, I recently received an e-mail asking how much shipping to Egypt would be. (I have a link to an international rate chart.) The next day I got a spam for a dating service for persons of Egyptian descent (I'm not). Coincidence?
posted on August 13, 2001 01:00:39 AM
"I just did a BIN on your auction. What is the total amount?" The BIN is $X (I assume they KNOW what they paid), the shipping is $Y (and is listed in the auction as "shipping is $Y), so it really can't take a PHD in differential calculus to add $X and $Y and know what the total amount is, can it?
But, right after I finish beating my head on the computer table, I'll cheerfully respond w/a congratulations and the total amount."
I had a similar experience to the one above that Eventer listed. The person won an auction so I'm assuming she would have access to the amount she won it for, or am I wrong here? Regardless of that, I have the AuctionWatch system automatically send out my WBNs so she had the amount she won it for there. Oh yeah, and eBay sends out a winning bidder notification too. So, there would be 3 places this amount was listed. Anyway, she responds via email stating she is from Canada and provides her address. I send an email back telling her the shipping amount. She writes back and says please let me know the total. I am assuming she deleted both emails and couldn't access eBay? So, I write an email telling her the amount she won the auction for. She writes again and pleads PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE TOTAL OF THE ITEM AND SHIPPING TOGETHER. I wanted so badly to write back and ask if she did not know how to add or use a calculator. But, I grit my teeth and wrote a very nice email of course apologizing for inconveniencing her for having to write again and listing the item amount, the shipping amount and the total for her. This was one of my first auctions so I learned from that experience to always just give them all the info up front.
amwell68
[ edited by amwell68 on Aug 13, 2001 01:01 AM ]
[ edited by amwell68 on Aug 13, 2001 01:02 AM ]
posted on August 13, 2001 01:42:37 AM
I try not to but this incident came to mind:
My item closed normally with a sale.
About 10 minutes after auction ended, I got an email. Person wanted to know why I closed the auction early. They had tried to bid with about 2 hours to go and found that the auction had already close.
I pulled up the item on ebay and check the start and end time. Clearly shows item ended at scheduled time. So I emailed back and informed the individual I did not close auction early. I ask the individual if they check their computer clock and see if it is working properly.
Immediately email came back indicating that the person can tell time and there is nothing wrong with their clocks. Ask again why I closed auction early.
So, back I went to the ebay screen and this time I pull up the bid history. There was only one bid and it was placed within the last 5 minutes of the auction. I emailed the individual again to check the bid history on the item and see time that the winning bid was placed. Also informed them that I cannot manipulate the ebay bid history screen. Thus, there was no way I could have ended auction two hours early.
Never heard back from them again. Something tells me they were too embarass to email me back what really happen.
posted on August 13, 2001 07:07:14 AM
This reminded me of the way a Norton customer rep just treated me. I called to say I was having a problem updating my subscription. His first question was, "Are you online?"
I paused a moment, then said, "I know you must get a lot of stupid questions, so I'm not going to take that personally." I could almost feel him blushing through the phone.
Diplomacy is learned by walking in the other guy's mocassins occasionally.
