eBay

camrynscloset · ‎08-25-2005

7 days ago today, a relatively new buyer buys something from my store. Immediately emails me asking for shipping price (in the listing, but OK, the listing was wrong and I saved her a couple $) I email her back, then go send her an invoice. Send a 2nd invoice on day 4 or 5.

7 days later, nothing. I send an "Unpaid Item Reminder" to which she responds, 3 times in 5 minutes, VERY rudely, accusing me of ignoring her, trying to ruin her record, etc.

I go into my sent items folder, and "forward" the 2 emails to her that I sent a week ago. No response as of yet.

Is it common that emails go awry? She does not have a hotmail or AOL address, could my emails be in cyberspace? This is frustrating for me, and I am not sure what to do. I was very nice to her in my email, explained that I had sent her the emails, and did not want to offend her, etc. She was not a "Use the yellow button" person, either---email addy in all emails.

Short of requesting every buyer to look in thier spam folder, is there anything I can do?

sean_5775 · ‎08-26-2005

Yes there is a website www.readnotify.com it is a service that will tell you if the recipient has actually opened the email and how long they looked at it for etc.
Thats the only way I know for you to know for sure the buyer got the email.

recped · ‎08-26-2005

Yes - emails do just never arrive (didn't use to be this way but it is now)

Yes - some buyers (newbie or not) can go into freakout mode. I've had a number of these, thankfully most of them calm down eventually and apologize.

The key is too just let all such comments slide at least make it appear that way. Never lose your cool in response that will guarantee you don't get paid and perhaps receive a neg.

The worst that can happen if you bite your tongue is that you get paid and that's not really such a bad thing.

Ben

P.S. Sometimes I feel better if I compose a really nasty reply (but I delete rather than send).

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

camrynscloset · ‎08-26-2005

HA HA! She paid today. She has spent alot of money on ebay in the past couple weeks--I would hate to alienate her as a potential repeat buyer! However, I will ship her item today, include an apology and a freebie....and PRAY.

whoscloset · ‎08-26-2005

Great business sense Camryn. Whenever I get a nasty e-mail from a customer I send an extra sweet one back. Nothing diffuses them faster than a kind reply. 😉

Monique

Monique

camrynscloset · ‎09-03-2005

Well...my praying did not pay off!
Check out my latest feedback:
no communication when I sent emails regarding invoice. slow shipping.

Now, I sent this buyer 3 emails! One 10 MINUTES after she emailed me the first time, I sent an invoice, I sent a payment reminder...I also sent her a "Your item has shipped" email.

She did not respond until I opened the UID.

I mailed her item THE SAME DAY she paid, which was Aug 26...she has it already...FROM CANADA...and THAT is slow?!?

I am so pissed at her...I just want to NEG her! Give me some ideas on follow up and what I should leave for her...Gawd...I am so MAD!

I also sent her an email that she would not be getting "nice" feedback from me, either...her reply was "Well, I only left neutral, so what are you complaining about?"

This has not been a good month for me, I swear, ever since I turned on the PS logo, I am getting treated terribly by my customers!

I have copies of all emails sent to her, showing communication. She uses hotmail but states nothing is in her junk mail.

Should I respond to her FB? What should I leave for her? I tried really hard with this buyer, and did all I could. I was sugar sweet, included a free gift...upgraded her to air shipping for free...

And btw...ALL shipping info is in the listing!!!!!!!!

zarzuella · ‎09-04-2005

Neg her. It will make you feel better and hopefully make her think twice about playing games next time.

imagi.nation · ‎09-04-2005

I don't know if your buyer is playing games but it's obvious something is up with the e-mail system and if she's using Hotmail it's likely on her end. Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL seem to be the worst for having problems communicating with buyers. Looking at her feedback, she doesn't seem to have a history of problems so there may be something going on other than e-mails simply being ignored.

Some sellers, such as myself, see Neutrals as what they are, Neutrals. I don't like them, but to me they are not a Neg so I don't reply with a Neg unless the buyer did not pay or performed in such a manner that required a warning be left for others in their feedback.

That being said, I know people's threshold for leaving a neg varies greatly so if you do leave a neg make it factual and unemotional. Your comments say more about you than any neg left by any buyer.

Just an example:

"E-mails sent to her xx/xx, xx/xx and xx/xx. Delayed payment resulted in delayed shipping."

Of course, you would replace the "xx/xx" with the month/day that e-mails were sent.

You could then ask the buyer if she would like to participate in mutual feedback removal. The comments will still remain which is why it's important to keep it calm and rational.

Cheers,
Ernie.

zarzuella · ‎09-04-2005

She does not have a hotmail or AOL address

>>Now, I sent this buyer 3 emails! One 10 MINUTES after she emailed me the first time, I sent an invoice, I sent a payment reminder...I also sent her a "Your item has shipped" email.

She did not respond until I opened the UID.

I mailed her item THE SAME DAY she paid, which was Aug 26...she has it already...FROM CANADA...and THAT is slow?!?

I still think this buyer is playing games.

camrynscloset · ‎09-04-2005

Sorry about my first post, I want to clarify: the orignal email addy was for an "@netscope.net" (emails through ebay)email addy. Paypal email is a Verizon email.
When I said "She uses hotmail but states nothing is in her junk mail" I was confusing her with another buyer. My bad. She does have just those two email addys, so I am not sure how she did not get my emails.

I DO want to leave a neg, however, I do not want to look like a big baby, retaliating. This just annoys me, since recent emails from buyers have included "If you do not write me back ASAP, I will not bid" and things like that. Shhheeeeeesh.

Thank you all for trying to help and letting me vent. Even my replies to her rudeness during the UID were sugar sweet and nice, and I even apologized for the dispute.

I have emailed her a response to her "it's only neutral" comment, but she did not respond. Oh well. I do not want to harass her, even tho I am sure she must not be getting my messages! 😉

imagi.nation · ‎09-04-2005

I use MSGTAG Free to find out if a recipient is opening their e-mails. It works very well and I have been able to deal with people knowing if they've read e-mails and it has taken much of the guesswork out of communications with buyers.

msgtag dot com

There was another similar service mentioned in another post recently and I can't find it right now but it probably will also work pretty well.

Cheers,
Ernie.

camrynscloset · ‎09-09-2005

OMG. I got an email from this buyer today, threatening me with a PP chargeback, asking where her item is, demanding a tracking number?!?

This lack of tracking for US shipments is driving me crazy. I can't charge expedited rates...and I even upped this woman to airmail. Package was mailed on the 26th of August.

Even after a reminder that the item was coming from Canada...blah blah....she still sent me an email demanding tracking. I am afraid if I write her back and tell her this is NO tracking, she will file with PP right away!

I just don't get it. All her other FB is for fast payment, great emails, etc. Why is she being a crazy PITA for me?

zarzuella · ‎09-10-2005

I'm sure she has already received it and knows there was no DC. She wants it for nothing. You are going to pay for having dared to file an UPI dispute.

camrynscloset · ‎09-10-2005

She filed with Paypal.

What do I do?

Mention all the usual mail fraud stuff?

Ugh.

camrynscloset · ‎09-10-2005

I am in the middle of composing an email. PLEASE help me with it!

I am so mad, I think I will end of writing something that will get me in trouble!

here is what I have so far:

"Dear XXXX,

I have been informed of a paypal claim filed against me for item 6780518687, Gymboree Giraffe Club shoes size 2. I have already told you that shipping from Canada does take longer, I informed you that I mailed your item the day of payment (Aug 26) and upgraded your shipping to Air, instead of Ground, which is what you paid for. I did this because of the misunderstanding of the unpaid item dispute. Yet you have remained a very difficult person to deal with. The unpaid item dispute was closed as soon as you paid, and resulted in no strike to your account. However, should you persue this Paypal claim, I will mark the item unpaid, file an unpaid item dispute, and have a strike placed on your account.

You have left feedback already, stating my slow response times and slow shipping. This indicates to me that you already received your item. I will contact Canada Post and File an "Item not received" complaint for your package, as all packages sent this way have insurance. Should thier investigation prove that the item did indeed arrive at your residence, you could face postal fraud charges."

I know I am mostly talking out of my ass....Should I send it? I don't know what to say...I haven't had one of these in a long time. The transaction is for almost $30 USD. I can't afford to be out that much! Plus, I am so furious with this PITA, and am pretty sure I can't file another UID on her anyway.

Please help.

imagi.nation · ‎09-10-2005

Hi:

Try to calm yourself. Not only is the buyer getting to you by trying to take your money, she is taking a great deal of your emotional well-being with it. At this point she appears to own you. Do you really want to give her this much power?

You have to realize that in almost every business there is an element of risk which goes under the heading "cost of doing business". If you see red every time you lose money from an irrational and/or fraudulent buyer you are not going to want to be in business very long. This would be a shame because you appear to be an excellent seller. You have done everything right in this situation so far.

I don't think there is anything in your proposed e-mail that will get you in trouble. In fact, I would add that you will file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in 48 hours

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

If she doesn't respond, or responds with anything other than a cancellation of the PayPal chargeback, actually do file the report. If she has done this before and has been reported or does so again in the future it will raise red flags. Unlike Canada Post, the USPS does take mail fraud seriously.

Good luck
Ernie.

camrynscloset · ‎09-10-2005

You are right Ernie. I am so angry with this. The simple matter is that she has been a real PITA since day one, I went above and beyond with her, and now this. What bothers me most is that her FB is good, and I can't mention the PP chargeback, or my future neg to her could be removed.

I do understand the risk. I had a bad feeling about her. She has already changed her ID once, so I do think she is not necessarily some newbie who knows nothing.

Thank you for the compliment. I do feel that I am an excellent seller. I DO get angry, I do get frustrated...but I still try to do everything I can for my buyers. As you all know, being a Cdn seller can have it's challenges, competition with shipping prices, not to mention our general costs are higher on the products we sell.

I am going to add the part about the USPS fraud charge, and I WILL file the claim if necessary. It is not necessarily the amount of money ($30) it is the fact that I have done so much extra with this buyer and it resulted in this. She did not even wait for me to reply to her tracking number email before she filed. She filed less than 3 hours after that email request.

I have had a couple other chargebacks. Both were for item not received. One buyer won the claim, then paid again about 3 days later, saying she was sorry and she got the item. The other cancelled the claim mid way.
I have had pretty good luck with my buyers, I guess I was due.

You can be sure a big red NEG is going into her FB as soon as this is all over. I would also advise other Cdns to block her as a bidder. I certainly have!

I do think this somehow has to do with a off ebay Forum I used to belong to...and was evicted from. I think she is a member there.

recped · ‎09-10-2005

I think you have 10 days to respond to the claim, why not wait and see if the package shows up. You know it's unlikely to be lost, just not enough time has passed for normal delivery.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

zarzuella · ‎09-11-2005

I agree with everything Ernie said. Airmail sent August 26th should have reached a US detination by now, but you may as well wait a few days before responding to Paypal as they will close in the buyers favour if you cannot provide DC. Your email to the buyer looks good to me too- keep us informed!

camrynscloset · ‎09-11-2005

I have sent the email, with a read receipt request...altho those are easy to avoid!

I will see if she even responds. I think I will wait most the week for the PP claim, there is nothing I can do to provide a DC #, obviously, so what is the point in responding?

Thanks for all your help, guys. I will let you know if anything happens.