posted on February 21, 2003 05:50:57 AM new
got an email today from a buyer asking about the status of his order... I got a few of these before so no biggy. Normally I look up the name of the buyer and check the record, send off an email telling them that delivery confirmation has confirmed that the item has been delivered, and they should check around the house to see if anyone has accepted the package.
this time I checked my mailing records and I can't find the guy's delivery confirmation # at all... after awhile I got confused because I wasn't sure if the order was from ebay or my website, since he didnt mention. I checked my sales record and his name is on it... so he must have bought it from somewhere. anyhow I eventually found him in paypal's record. after more checking, I realized I didn't even send off his order. DOH!
So I emailed back with my apology and told him I'll send it first thing tomorrow morning. I was thinking about giving him a 50% off but its only been delayed by a week... so I duno if I should. hmm. Normally all my US orders takes 2-3 days... anyhow if he's mad then maybe i'll consider giving some percentage off. But I think he'll accept the apology and mistake.
well, hope this isn't the beginning of some trend.
posted on February 21, 2003 06:04:13 AM new
Odds are he will understand. I find most of the people who bid on eBay to be decent, understanding people. If he doesn't and he negs you, well you will survive and at least you will understand the neg. If he does neg you I wouldn't neg him, howeer. After all it was your mistake.
posted on February 21, 2003 07:39:19 AM new
Hi
Your email to him is good, and I'm sure also that he will understand, but there is always the possibility of him saying its fine, but still leaving you a neg. if its from an ebay purchase.................
I have had that problem a few times also, sometimes it just gets overlooked with so many items to ship, and it was sitting right with all my items, but I didn't realize it until I returned from the PO, naturally!!!!!!!
I did refund to him part of his purchase price, because I felt It was my mistake, and I also mentioned to him in my email that I hope we will be able to exchange Positive feedback when the item does arrive to him. And I thanked him for making this a nice smooth transaction, and again please accept my apology for not shipping on time.
I did get a positive Feedback, but held my breath till then, because I have come across
many buyers that are not understanding, and they think that they are so perfect, but most of them were with under 10 feedback, so in time they will see that nobody is perfect, we all do our best.
posted on February 21, 2003 12:30:38 PM new
Well DUH!! You aren't the first to do something dumb. Aboiut 2 weeks ago I sent a widget to a buyer in PA. Monday, FedEx dropped it off with a note saying find the address. Well, I looked in my file & I had made RD into DR. I resent it on Tuesday & sent an email to the buyer apologizing for my stupid mistake.
posted on February 21, 2003 01:23:25 PM new
Any time I make a mistake (and I've made a few), I always try to do something special for the customer...even when they've shown they're understanding...I'll give them free shipping or a refund...something...makes for good customer relations.
posted on February 21, 2003 08:16:29 PM new
Blueyes29 is right. Some of the most glowing feedback I have and some of my best repeat customers can be traced back to a blunder on my part and the way I went about making it right with the customer. You have a golden opportunity to make this customer think you are the best seller on Ebay. I've had this exact same thing happen to me and I've given them free shipping. Treat them right and they will be back.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on February 21, 2003 09:26:43 PM new
I'm sitting here chuckling, because I really really goofed Sunday evening. I was sitting there at 11:30 p.m. trying to send out end-of-auction notices, drugged to the gills with cold medications, feeling horrible.
So - I misread one buyer's e-mail address by one letter - sent to a Ms. Green instead of Ms. Greer. A while later I noticed I'd goofed in my orig. EOA to her and send an "oops" message. Next morning I noticed the Oops message was garbled and sent out another - and then sent another message. All went through.
Four days later I get a message from the buyer asking what the totals are, etc. I re-e-mail all those messages to the same wrong address, of course (and, by the way, none of them bounced so there is a really addled Ms. Green out there somewhere scratching her head).
Then, oops again, I notice my original error. Send a correction message, which she is gracious enough to accept nicely.
My lesson: Never again when drugged up with medications, late at night, feeling rotten! Yikes
posted on February 21, 2003 10:31:09 PM new
I have had many mistakes but this week took the cake. I forgot and ended my autions on Monday nite and Tuesday was election day and I work at the polls so what I did was send my EOA's in the middle of the night. Well, I cut and paste mine as they all read the same except for the item and price. What I did was send an email for Jewelry with the right heading as I use the email address from the EOA notice, the right price with shipping, but what I forgot to do was erase tie from the lower part and insert Jewelry. She was rather upset so I sent her a little extra something for my mistake. Not much, but a beautiful scarf. Some days it pays to go to bed and not worry about those WBN.
posted on February 22, 2003 05:00:27 AM new
I usually offer to pick up the freight when I screw up but more important is that communication back to the buyer that you've dropped the ball.
If you strive for the best customer service you can muster, most folks will empty their wallet on your counter because they will know you genuinely care.
