Seller Defects - Very Unfair - Is there anything a seller can do ?

[sunshynecraftsbeads]

I am very concerned about how long I will last on eBay thanks to the defect count rating in place now. eBay has implemented a defect on cancelled transactions BUT eBay policy is that only a seller can cancel a transaction......

In December I had 4 for cancelled transactions alone.

There were 2 international sales even though I do not sell internationally and state this in listing and my store. In order for me to get my fees back you need to cancel the transaction. DEFECT. If you do not cancel the transaction then the buyer will eventually (15 days later) have a unpaid item dispute opened up against him. Now your looking at the buyer giving you negative feedback. DEFECT. How fair is this ?

A customer changed their mind and emailed me to cancel a transaction because they purchased the wrong size. DEFECT because it was a cancelled transaction regardless.

A customer contacted me and said they wanted the transaction cancelled because it was the wrong color. DEFECT.

You could say that the buyers are obligated to buy the item as per eBay policy only to take the chance that you will receive Negative feedback from that buyer because now they are upset with you. Hence another DEFECT.

Then defects on returned items. Again I have several. Why? A buyer received the item and changed their mind, ordered the wrong size, wanted a different color or just didn't meet their needs. Contacts me to return the item. I am more than happy to as I have a return policy in place. But eBay has now made this a DEFECT count as well. How is any of this the sellers fault. If I was at a store say in a mall and wanted to return a item, do I tarnish the store and report them to the Better Business Bureau ?

All of this is tied in to who I am as a seller. It effects my selling power ,seller discounts and reputation. I work hard to keep my customers happy and do as much as I can to assist them and make their experience a great one from me. My only negative feedback received is actual a positive comment ( which eBay will not correct nor will the buyer ). How sad is that.

I have tried contacted ebay but of course I am unimportant to a big corp.

Where is the logic in this ? I can only assume this new sellers dashboard was discussed in great detail but how can the simplest things be over looked? Is eBay's intent to ween out the little sellers and only make room for the big ones? I really don't understand this ? Any other sellers feeling like I do ?

[recped]

Handled properly all those defects would never have happened.

If you don't want to ship International you need to set up the proper blocks not just state it in your listing. Even if an international buyer gets around your block somehow you can cancel withoiut a defect if you pick the correct reason.

Buyers who request a cancellation because they changed their mind doesn't cause a defect either as long as you follow the cancellation procedure and chose the proper reason.

[sunshynecraftsbeads]

Thank you for your comments and information on internationally buyers. I will have to look into that further.

As far as the cancel transaction defect they were all for the reasons I specified and I did use the right reasons provided to me from the eBay list. I had exactly 4 cancelled transaction requests last month and I got 4 defect ratings last month.

I have been a seller for a very long time and did use the proper procedure to cancel the transactions.

Thanks again.

[rose-dee]

There is nothing much you can do about the defects you describe unless they were very recent and you choose to call Customer Service and explain that three of them at least were buyer-requested.  If you can persevere with CS there's a chance they might be removed if they happened in the last week or so and you still have the buyer's messages in your eBay messages inbox. 

Although 'recped' is right that these defects weren't necessary, he really didn't give you details about avoiding cancellation defects.  

The essential thing to remember is that eBay now racks up defects automatically based on whether a cancellation is deemed to be "seller's fault" or not.  The two cancellation reasons that fall under that category are "I ran out of stock" and "I sold the item to another buyer".  Most other reasons are acceptable, but to be safe, when you're presented with the "reasons" pop-up screen, avoid the reason "Other".  So to avoid a defect, you should ensure that:

1)  The buyer makes the request to you through eBay Messages.  If they don't ask on their own, you may want to message them and ask if they've changed their mind or made a mistake and want to cancel - if they reply 'yes please', that's enough.  I occasionally do this if I have a buyer who is really slow in paying and who I think may have mistakenly purchased something and be unable to pay -- they're happy to let off the hook and none have ever bothered to leave FB; 

2)  When you're presented with the cancellation reason screen, the best reason to choose is: "Buyer purchased item by mistake or changed mind".  There is also a selection for "Buyer requested shipment to a country I don't ship to", but I believe, as 'recped' mentioned, that you may have to have your shipping blocks set up properly for this to be acceptable. 

What cancellation reasons did you use for the 3 buyers who made a mistake?  If you used the reason "Buyer made a mistake", especially after the buyer(s) asked for the cancellation then you should not have received a defect.  

The eBay.ca staffers have said that eBay has the ability to cross-reference eBay messages with cancellations to check whether the defect was properly given.  And there certainly seem to have been some reports of errors on eBay's side too, where defects were given erroneously.  If this is your situation, I'd persist on the phone with CS. 

There have also been reports about sellers seeing defects recorded on their dashboards which then vanish at the time of the evaluation -- I don't know if this is accurate or not.  

[rose-dee]

Hi - sorry about all the excess information above.  Obviously from your subsequent post, you understood how to properly cancel those transactions.  

I'd say eBay may have made an error, and it's worth putting up with CS to see if you can get these defects removed. 

[rose-dee]

P.S.  I just checked a couple of your listings, and as an aside, you have exactly what I've been looking for -- a supplier of Swarovski crystal beads located in Canada!  

Are you in Victoria by any chance?  I lived there for many years and probably patronized every bead seller in town at one point or another (I do custom clothing design, mostly historical reproductions).  I'll keep you on my favourites list! 

[sunshynecraftsbeads]

Thank you so much for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

I do keep all my messages for 60 days from customers so I will have to get them all then call CS and see what I can do. Hopefully they will listen and consider helping me. I know they were not willing to help with the error on my neg. feedback 😞

Sorry, I am not in Victoria. I live in Coquitlam - 30 minutes out of Vancouver. Thank you for adding me to your favorites. It is greatlt appreciated.

Have a great night.

[rose-dee]

I recall being told by one of the eBay.ca staffers at a Wed. board meeting that eBay can access the contents of eBay Messages, but I'm not sure how far back that goes, so it is a good idea to have the printouts handy if and when you call. 

By the way, no need to apologize for not being in Victoria -- I'm actually now living in Nova Scotia near Annapolis Royal, so I won't be back to my usual bead store haunts in Victoria anytime soon, hence the hunt for someone selling Swarovski beads online.  Actually my husband is from PoCo, and I lived in Vancouver for 15 years, so I know exactly where that is. 

I'm having a late night here on the east coast trying to keep the wood furnace stoked up until 2:00 a.m. so the house isn't frigid by the time my husband gets up at 7:00 a.m.  I'm a night owl anywhere, so we work shifts when it's really cold like tonight -- about -20 C with the windchill (although I can't complain, we're better off than almost everybody else in the country except the lower mainland and Vancouver Island.  Have a lovely evening!