Oh, I feel for you! You're right about the first scratch on a new car - especially if it's not your fault. I see your "neg" is a "newb", so he may not have any idea how important FB is to a seller, and think FB is just a forum where he can gripe. You did the best thing in attempting to get him to revise, and as one other poster here said, many new eBayers aren't knowledgeable about using the tools on the site, so you may have to walk him through it.
A couple of suggestions you might consider, depending on whether you get a friendly or not-so-friendly response to your email request to have him change his FB:
a) If his reply seems friendly but not very cooperative about revising his FB, consider telephoning him. Yes, we often forget that as sellers we have access to our buyers through the phone if need be. I once managed to sort out a problem with a buyer in 2 minutes over the phone that was taking days (and a number of complicated emails) to try to solve. It taught me that email isn't always the best way to communicate. We both ended the phone call feeling really good about it. If you have a nice, cheerful phone voice this can work very well. Have your computer in front of you so you can access eBay while you're on the phone, and explain to him about US Customs - many US buyers don't realize there's a border ?:|. If he seems receptive you can also tell him how important FB and your good reputation is to you, what DSRs mean to you as a seller, etc. You might want to email him first to ask if he'd mind if you contacted him, and ask for a convenient time.
b) If his email reply isn't friendly, see if you can get eBay to remove the FB - it's worth a try, especially if you can convince them it was due to Customs delays -- see the 2012 spring seller update re customs disclaimers. I've had to deal with this myself.
What else can we do as sellers, as long as the shipping process is out of our hands??? Best of luck to you!
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