Neg Neutrel with no comnumication

[renfrewite]

Buyers should not be allowed to leave Negative or Neutrel feedback before contating the seller about a problem.  I got a Neutrel and a 1 or 2 dsr star for item description because buyer didn't contact me about a problem.  He said the dvd case I sold was not new as discribed but used because the case was cracked.  It was new when I shipped it so it must have been damaged in shipping.  If he had contacted me about it, I would have sent him a new one.  The buyer is from the USA, and I have shipped these cases to Australia and they never have gotten damaged.  Buyers like this makes us sellers quit, they have all the control and we have non anymore.  I know you will all say, it's only one neutrel, but I work hard to keep my record clean and to have it tarnished because of one idiot buyer is just maddening.  Ebay has got to change things this is just nuts that the buyer has all the control.

Ok vent done, moving on.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

You need to separate business and personal. There is no venting in business.

[pjcdn2005]

There is nothing wrong with venting once in a while.

[ricarmic]

The important part is to vent amongst your peers and never the customer! (No matter how much you would like to!)

[bb_cool_stuff]

Item arrives damaged in transit, it happens, & therefore is not as described.

Buyer leaves you a Neutral, it happens, they were not happy with their purchase.

Should they have let you know there was a problem, probably. I know i would have done that, but i am not everyone.

I would communicate with the buyer, offer to send them a New Case or a partial refund.

See what it reasonably takes to make them happy. Keep in mind we cannot please everyone, but it is worth a shot.

Good luck.

[ricarmic]

As a note, I have some "form letters" I use for situations like this and have successfully turned neutrals and negatives around using this one, adjusted as necessary....you'd of course add something about sending a replacement no charge or whatever else makes sense...the important lines are the last couple starting with..."it is unfortunate..."

Hi! I see from the neutral feedback you left me that you were not happy with the Latin American stamps. 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!!

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Ric, that is great, except for one thing. Your last sentence is insulting. You are smiling, waving, and telling the customer what to do. I worked retail, Fri and Sat nights untril 11:30. Recover Sunday, back to work Monday.

Head office M-F, leave at four, would give us that "have a great weekend" line when we did not have a weekend. We finally ended up complaining to get them to stop.

You mean well, it makes sense in your world, kinda like enclosing religious leaflets. I would subsitute "Thank you".

[pjcdn2005]

ric, I might borrow parts of that mesaage if you don't mind. I probably wouldn't mention a partial refund as I'm not a fan of them except in certain situations but I do like the tone of the letter. As far as it being insulting....I worked almost every weekend and all holidays for years and have never been insulted by those words and until now, hadn't heard anyone say that they were insulting.

It's basically like saying have a nice day.  Plus...if you sent that message to someone on the weekend you are obviously working on the weekend too so if you're not insulted by the saying....... 🙂

My pet peeve used to be when someone would say hi..how are you...then not wait for an answer lol. I got over that and am probably now guilty of doing the same thing mysellf.

[surplusdealdude]

 I got a Neutrel and a 1 or 2 dsr star for item description because buyer didn't contact me about a problem.

No, you got a neutral and low DSR's because the buyer was unhappy.  They have no obligation to contact you to let you have a second try.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Dude is correct. It is the sellers duty to ensure the buyer is happy, ahead of time. The buyer has no obligation to the seller. Yes, it is a one way street. Deal with it.

[ricarmic]

PJCDN or anyone else - you can borrow as much or any part of the message you like, that is why I posted it.... I put it up because it has worked for me and it took a few tries to find a wording that seemed to encourage positive results without making the buyer more irritated! Feel free to make use of any parts you can!

I like the partial refunds route as I have good margins and it engages the buyer in the resolution. Generally they pick a reasonable number (if they get greedy I refund what they asked for and block them) and I still make money at the end of the day on the transaction and avoid all the work of the return, refund, and the bookkeeping around same....

INUK - hmm I've used the "Have a great day" or "Have a great weekend" as the last words on my messages for years now, this is the first time I've had a negative perception from it....or at least the first time anyone has mentioned it to me... I'm assuming you use "Thank you" as your close, I'd be interested to know what others say??  (It is kind of funny I type "Have a great day" so many times every day, my personal friends are nowadays getting emails with "Have a great day" at the end, I'm typing it without noticing/thinking of it!!!!)

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

I'm NOT criticizing!

All I am suggesting, is that, sometimes, an innocuous remark has other meanings. I happen to have a personal dislike for the statements telling me how to handle my time.

Kinda like the open ended "greeting" I would get from total strangers "How are you today?". So, I would answer their open ended question with an answer. They would react with absolute horror of "Don't you dare talk to me!". Well, do not say things you do not mean.

Sometimes, the most professional remark is the balndest where you say nothing and sound genuine. Thank you.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

balndest= blandest

[ricarmic]

Blandest is hard to accomplish, my children have been trying to educate me on the texting rules:

"K" is the short form for "OK" but with attitude

"KK" is the short form for "OK" in a happy way

So apparently one can't even be bland with a one letter!

Unfortunately with the written word one is at risk of how the reader interprets the tone.... "Have a great day" or even "Thank you" could be interpreted with a "negative tone" or other non-positive message, and from my own experience that could even be different with the same person on a different day! Before this thread I'd never conceived that someone would interpret Have a great weekend" in the context of me telling them what to do perspective....so that is instructive.

Anyway, I'd still be interested to hear other ending phrases, I may even convert!

So far we have:

-Have a great day!

-Thank you

[renfrewite]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will try that paragraph to the buyer next time.  I did contact the buyer and basically said what you put in there. I offered to send them a new one, and I got no response.  Now as far as keeping the buyers happy ahead of time, I sure would love to know how you do that.  How am I to know something was damaged in shipping if the buyer doesn't tell me about it?  I pack my products really well, and hardly ever get complaints about shipping damage.  I think I might have gotten 2 in all the years I have been doing this, and both times they buyer contacted me, and we resolved the issue with no hassels, and I got good feedback from them.  It's not my fault if a postal employee is having a bad day, and decides to smash my parcel against a wall.

[kashka]

Ric..that is a good form letter..and I would leave in the "have a good weekend"..it shows you are human.I end all my emails with customers with "have a nice weekend".."have a good week"..or even "have a great summer(season,holiday or whatever is upcoming)"..I would guess about 75% reply back with a "and you,too". As much as Ebay wants us to be faceless non-communicative robots it's amazing how many people appreciate the human touch.

[ricarmic]

Hi! What I use to try to encourage buyers to contact me if anything is wrong is the following wording:

I send a "contact buyer" message to all buyers:

The first time they ever buy from me they get this message:

"THX for your purchase and speedy payment! Your stamps will go out ZZZZZZZ day. Because I stand behind what I sell, and I would like you to purchase from me again, if there are aspects of this transaction that you are unhappy with, please send me an email message to let me know so I can work with you to resolve it! Have a great day!"

Subsequent purchases receive this message:

"Hi! THX for your latest purchase and speedy payment! Your repeat business is very much appreciated! Your stamps will go out ZZZday. Have a great day!!"

Notes:

-in both letters I adjust the wording based on how many items they bought, ie if they bought 3 things it says "THX for your latest 3 purchases

-I say "email message" this is to try to have them avoid using the "ebay case" type messages

-if I am translating to Russian or Chinese or whatever, THX has to be changed to Thank you or it won't translate

-if the buyer is a first time ever buyer on ebay, ie feedback of ZERO, I start the wording with "Hi! Welcome to eBay! THX....."

Inside the actual shipment, first time they deal with me only, I include a coloured piece of paper with this wording:

THX again for your purchase!

Because I stand behind what I sell, and I would like you to purchase from me again, if there are aspects of this transaction that you are unhappy with, please send me an email message to let me know so I can work with you to resolve it!

Have a great day!

RICARMIC

Because I sell bulk lots and generally can't cover everything with the pictures, I put extra effort into trying to get them to engage me if they are unhappy. Doesn't always work of course but it seems to help!

As with any wordings stuff I post anyone can use any portions of this themselves if it would be helpful to you!

[renfrewite]

ric I think that last suggestion to write to the buyer about complete satisfaction ect, about returns, you are just looking for trouble.  I do send out a form letter to buyers after I ship an item, asking them to let me know when they recieve the item etc. 

I just noticed now that this buyer is also a seller, and should know better.  She hasn't sold anything in a while, but that should make no difference.

[ricarmic]

Hi!

Yes I agree that sending that form of note out does invite a response, and I have received notes starting with "you told me to let you know if I wasn't happy and I'm not happy because ......" so it does encourage responses sometimes. However, generally more than half of my sales each month are to repeat customers, and those are the people I want to find. If the buyers let me know when there are troubles it allows me to try to fix them, if not for that particular person, then for the other buyers that buy a similar item from the same "product line" later on. As my wife likes to remind me, I haven't yet quite achieved the state of perfection, so sometimes when there are problems, I'm happy to fix them if the buyer will let me work with them. I also use this process because I prefer to have folks let me work through issue resolution outside the "case" process if at all possible which sometimes can restrict the actions I can take to resolve. 

I originally started using this form of communication when the DSRs came out and it had a positive impact, so I've stuck with it since then.

I have been surprised at the number of positive responses I get from the same note, people thanking me for "caring" type responses, so it does have a benefit that way too - as in the happier the customer, the better chance they become one of my regulars.....

One problem I do have is with overseas folks. Whatever translators they use sometimes confuse them about what messages I'm trying to convey. That has calmed down in the last few weeks, if it reawakens, I'll have to adjust the wording to translate better into Russian and Chinese. 

As things change over time, I'll have to continue to adapt it I'm sure. Certainly if others have other wordings etc that they use, and care to share, I'd be interested to know, I adjust all my stuff as I learn more or when I see other examples that I think will work better than what I'm currently using.....