Buyer using veiled threats of bad feedback as unhappy with postage

[orphanitems]

I sold an item that had the wrong postage (the rates went way up since I created the listing). I refunded the buyer, sent an apology and a new invoice. Buyer did not pay for it again.

Buyer emailed me with  veiled threats about being unhappy about shipping and about leaving negative feedback and demanded I mail item PRONTO? (Buyer still has not paid).

I tried to cancel the sale, but buyer refused to cancel.

I called ebay and they said they would remove any negative feedback as this buyer is breaking a rule, advised me to block buyer and they would refund my final fees. They also said I should send in a report - I did this.

My question is - this item is sitting UNPAID for and Is still up in the air, but I want nothing more to do with this nasty buyer. Can I just relist the item?

I have blocked him. What would be the next best step?

[iwtl]

This is why I do not leave feedback as a buyer only - until I have received feedback for my purchase.

The buyer completed the purchase agreement of sale and paid in full - you returned the buyers money and re-billed at a higher price which in my opinion should result in negative feedback for you. The buyer did pay on time - in full as per the sale agreement - you refused it and returned it - your making it sound like the buyer is wrong.  I am appalled that ebay has offered to remove a negative - this would hide from potential buyers information that I deem necessary to make informed purchases. I am not sure how these forums work but I would hope that someone from Ebay steps into this conversation. If it is true that a seller can get their record cleaned in cases like this - then I have lost confidence in Ebays feedback as a source of any legitimate feedback.

[i*m-still-here]

EBay is much more lenient about removing NFB than they used to be.

They will also remove PFB & DSRs if the DSRs have been trashed in situations I never thought possible.

I've had some experiences that completely took me by surprise from both sides of the fence  ............

as buyer seller both that is.

I completely believe that the slightest hint of a threat ........... and there is very fine line between a statement and a threat .......................... will probably result in NFB removal.

[dipmicro]

The seller doesn't deserve anything!  If they don't want to ship,  its their business . why should he loose money?

Look here, interesting:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127993

If you don't want to read entire thread, read just few pages and then to page 115, post #2516

Summary:

Buyer wins Ebay auction

Seller refuses to honor the deal. Laughs at the buyer.

Buyer creates media storm. Millions people get involved.

Seller offers to honor the deal with conditions

Buyer retains the lawyer. Bait&Switch and other fraudulent practices are mentioned.

Some pecking back and forth, libel threats, yada yada

Buyer gets his item at the price purchased.

Conclusion:

Don't advertise the item with no intention of making the sale. It does not matter if it's Ebay or handwritten sign by the road.

[zee-chan]

If you did not catch the postal rate increase - you should have eaten it, not passed it on to a buyer who had already paid.

This. I didn't know about the postage increase that occurred last week so I just absorbed the extra ~$1.30 since the sale was still worth it even if I lose that bit. And I do the self-insure thing too, so a $1.30 loss was not a big deal.

[fernsevern]

Naturally the buyer has not paid...he is being charged more than what he told he would. You should honour the original deal...it is your mistake. As for threats...it does not sound like a threat to me...just fair warning..."live up to your deal or I will use the negative feedback recourse". It would afterall be a well deserved negative.

[altimateoutlet]

The feed back system is nothing but a joke.  Bottom feeding, ignorant, uneducated for the most part buyers have way too much power on this Venue. 

[rose-dee]

I am appalled that ebay has offered to remove a negative - this would hide from potential buyers information that I deem necessary to make informed purchases.

There are two problems:

1) We don't know exactly what the buyer said in his threats - perhaps eBay has become over-careful on this issue and acts too quickly, but it's also conceivable that the buyer did go over the line.  Rather than ranting at the seller, the buyer would likely have got everything he wanted if he'd just reported the seller's infraction to eBay;

2) This seller has an almost perfect record of customer satisfaction, but he made a mistake -- as we all do sooner or later.  Sellers have a lot of rules and policies to constantly keep in mind.  This was a lapse in judgment, or a clumsy error, or maybe just a really bad day, but eBay probably gave the seller some benefit of the doubt for making only 1 mistake out of 1000 transactions. 

EBay is to blame for bringing an otherwise resolvable situation to an impasse and in my view they need to close off the transaction quickly by unilaterally cancelling it.

[bb_cool_stuff]

EBay is to blame for bringing an otherwise resolvable situation to an impasse...

All due respect but what does eBay have to do with this & why should they accept any blame.

The situation could have been easily resolved by the seller.

[almond_t]

I am reminded of the saga brought to the forum a few years ago; a prolific-posting seller would regularly and self-righteously rail against the attitudes/actions of many a customer of hers, and then, upon  buying something herself,  would regularly ( and self-righteously) rail against the same attitudes/actions of HER sellers.  

Her most famous rant was being charged astronomical shipping for a wee little t-shirt that 'she' could have shipped for a mere $XX  ( and keeping in mind, she constantly complained about her buyers complaining about HER shipping costs).  She railed over this discrepancy and the seller's audacity for 200 posts.  

Then suddenly, we heard from the buyer, and got the other side of the story, ( can we say, egg on her face) backed up eventually by the specific item's feedback entry.  Yes,  maybe a wee little t-shirt could have shipped for a mere $XX, but she didnt buy a t-shirt - she bought a heavy hooded sweat-shirt!  And expected the shipping of a t-shirt.  And screamed bloody murder because she had to pay the ( appropriate) price.  ( remember, only 'she' could charge astronical prices, not others charging her)

Anyway, I digress.  THERE ARE ALWAYS 2 sides to the story.  Whether you side with, or against, a poster to these forums, you very seldom have the whole story.

JMPO

[rose-dee]

The situation could have been easily resolved by the seller.

Yes, exactly! 

And that's why I say eBay should have just told the seller she was in the wrong, and sent her back to complete the transaction, rather than punishing the buyer and telling the seller to block him,etc.  Some eBay CSR made a very bad call on this one, and once done, put both parties in a position where completing the transaction was almost impossible.  This is why I feel in this instance eBay should simply cancel the whole transaction. 

I'd like to give the OP some benefit of the doubt that she simply made a mistake.  However I agree, the seller's attitude in the original post doesn't seem very contrite -- perhaps she just never had a buyer complain before about re-billing for increased shipping costs. 

It would be enlightening to hear the whole story, from both sides, but I doubt that will happen.  

[recped]

I doubt eBay ever said this...

"I called ebay and they said they would remove any negative feedback as this buyer is breaking a rule, advised me to block buyer and they would refund my final fees. They also said I should send in a report"

Unless they either didn't understand the question and/or the OP left out some important details.

If you call eBay and say "I have a buyer who is threatening a neg if I don't lower my shipping" you would get the answer above.

If you call eBay and say "I have a buyer who is threatening a neg if I don't lower my shipping charges back to what they were in the listing and what they paid and I refunded" I think the answer would be quite different (IF the rep understood).

[i*m-still-here]

An Average Call to EBay Customer Service:

You call and get put on hold for 15 minutes to an hour.............. average of about 35 minutes.

Someone comes on the phone with a heavy accent and you realize the person has no command of English.

After several false starts where the CSR reads off answers to questions you didn't ask........

(and they get very annoyed when you interrupt them as they are trying so hard to read the paper in front of them with no reading errors.................. )

they finally put on hold for another half an hour.

During that time they are looking at the emails you exchanged on eBay with the buyer.

I'm not sure if they are in an office and talking with someone or at home and calling someone ................. but the other person probably has a somewhat better command of English.

They then come back on the line and give you some kind of response which is usually close to accurate.

In other words:

At some point someone at CS probably read through the actual messages exchanged between buyer and seller and concluded that there was cause for FB removal should NFB be left.

Just Sayin'................... an hour or more (not an exaggerations) after you initiate the phone call you probably have a fairy accurate response from CS, and so if the OP reported what took place accurately, it's probably very close to reality.

[nuvistors]

Hopefully the OP has contacted the buyer , apologized , and  explained that they made a mistake by asking the buyer for more money after the auction ended.

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