I've seen a number of newer folks asking questions, and I've posted these in bits and pieces before so I thought it made sense to put them out there altogether.... (the old timers here will have seen these before)
Note that I sell in the stamp category, different categories and types of material may have to be handled differently.
While they won't work for everyone, I've adjusted these over the last 15 years and for me they tend to work reasonably well in most situations.
If you find any of these wordings of use, please feel free to re-use whatever wordings work for you in your situation.
A couple of my general rules:
-My main goal in creating these as form letters was to avoid writing what I want to write back, especially for negatives and neutrals because like anyone, I am "mad", of course the buyer is "wrong" and I would like to swear at them, tell them it is their fault etc just like just about anyone else would. By using the form letter, it brings me back down so I write something professional.
- I try to avoid personalizing responses, by using the word "you" etc. I try to keep feedback in 3rd person (ie "buyer").
-letting the buyer set the refund usually works very well (and it puts the "power" in their hands in terms of making sure they are happy). Most of the time they are reasonable, when they are not, I refund the amount and block them from buying anything else (after they have had a chance to change the feedback if it looks like they will)
Here are my form letter feedback responses to the actual neutral/negative feedback left:
Buyers first contact regarding any issues. Will contact them to try to rectify.
or
Unaware of any issue before receiving this,will contact buyer to try to rectify.
Here are some form letter eBay message responses back to the buyer directly:
Hi BUYERNAME, I see from the negative feedback you left me that you have not received your stamps. I am sorry to hear that they have not reached you, certainly by now they must be lost. You do have options to resolve this, if you want I can try sending another group of the "whatever they bought" to you, or I can refund your money. It is unfortunate that the first news I have of any problems is a negative rating, which is damaging to my reputation, before I've had a chance to know about it or to try to work with you to fix it! I hope that once this is fixed you will consider revising your rating. Let me know if you would like me to try sending another set of stamps, or if you want your money refunded and have a great day!!
another one:
Hi! BUYERNAME I see from the neutral feedback you left me that you were not happy with the "package of stamps they bought". I am sorry to hear that they were disappointing. You do have options to resolve this, if you return them intact you can receive a full refund, or a partial refund is another option as well. If you would prefer to go the partial refund route, I would look for your help to identify the appropriate refund amount given the issues you've identified. It is unfortunate that the first news I have of any problems is a neutral rating, which is damaging to my reputation, before I've had a chance to know about it or to try to work with you to resolve it! I hope that once this is resolved you will consider revising your rating. Let me know how you would like to approach resolving this and have a great weekend!!
