What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

I recently sold a watch on Ebay and the buyer received the item, left me positive feedback and the 4 days later files a "not as described" claim. The buyer states the watch runs for a couple of days then stops. I tried to explain that the watch is mechanical and needs to be wound up. Then the buyer states the watch does not run at all, Buyer demanded refund, I offered a partial refund which the buyer refused, basically 50% off. The buyer stated he would escalate if I did not offer full refund, which because it was a lower amount I gave in. Buyer received refund and I thought that would end it. However the buyer took issue with the feedback I left him in which I stated my concerns. Since then the buyer has sent me 5 emails stating he would ruin my rep, warning me "what goes around comes around". I have reported all the emails to Ebay but as of today still am receiving emails from the buyer. I have blocked him. Can anyone tell me what else I can do???

Message 1 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

You should not have done what you did in FB. That is the exact reason eBay eliminated the ability for sellers to leave negs, retaliation. It is also an eBay policy violation.

Um? This is over a $10 (ten) watch?

This is why I leave FB immediately. Done with and i "think" it helps influence buyers to a happier conclusion.

What you did is a policy violation, change the FB.
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Message 2 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Buyer received refund and I thought that would end it.

 

Did you get the watch back before you refunded? Usually the request for return before refund will end the problem. An honest buyer will return the watch (and if the problem is as stated, you as the seller should also refund his return postage, painful though it may be. It's your responsibility) and a scammer will refuse.

EBay /Paypal normally will not process a Not As Described refund unless the unhappy buyer can prove delivery to the seller.

 

However the buyer took issue with the feedback I left him in which I stated my concerns.

Well, that was a mistake. Sellers can leave only positive or no feedback. Leaving a false positive like yours means he can have it removed.

 

I have blocked him. Can anyone tell me what else I can do???

The Reports and the Block are about as far as you can go.

You can also block his emails to your email account and don't bother opening them. They will only irritate you.

If they get 'strange" you can also report him to his email supplier. Or if really strange, to the police in his municipality.

 

The worst he can do for your reputation is leave negative feedback which doesn't seem to have occured to him (Woman Very Happy) and trash your DSRs. I'd ignore him and hope he hasn't figured this out.

Message 3 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

By the way, you will get more buyers at higher prices if you drop all of this from your listings.

None of it encourages purchases.

 

 

 

 

lso please be assured I do not try to make money off of shipping, if my quote is too high from what you paid, I will refund the difference. Also as I am disabled and suffer with chronic pain, it takes me extra time to get to the Post Office. If you feel that this is unreasonable please in fairness to both of us do not bid or deduct my 5 stars regarding shipping time, I will always endeavour to ship as fast as I can.

NUMBERS 6:24 May The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SELL THE ITEM EARLY TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER, PLEASE BID EARLY AND PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING.
And now for the housekeeping.
NO SHIPPING KNIVES TO THE UK OR IRELAND, SORRY BUT YOUR PRESS AND GOVERNMENT MESSED THIS UP.
Payment must be received within 72 hrs of auctions end. All items are shipped from Canada via Canada Post and after I have sent it I have zero control over how quickly it gets to you as the item is then in the control of Canada Post, USPS and/or Customs. Insurance up to $100 CDN dollars is included on items shipped within North America, and when your item is sent Small Packets there is no tracking number available. If you wish tracking the cost will be extra. Please ask any questions you may have before the auction ends. I will refund the item only if I have grossly misrepresented it. Should you have any concerns contact me before leaving feedback. Please remember I have no control over how fast or slow an items takes to deliver after it has left my hands.

 I am committed to making an honest sale to you and endeavour to make your Ebay experience with me, a pleasant one. If you feel unsatisfied with something please contact me. Thanks for your interest in my auction and we appreciate your support.

Due to recent Non paying buyers with low feedback, any buyer with 5 or less positive feedback must contact me before bidding. Failure to do so will force me to cancel your bid. Also please remember these items are being shipped from Canada, accordingly items are shipped via Canada Post NOT USPS, shipping rates are very different. Thank You
Message 4 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Femme, buyer already left a pos.

With the high FB score the buyer has, one would think they would be more savvy than they are and would petition eBay to remove the false pos and sanction the seller.

Since the advent of no negs for buyers, I rely on my "canned" FB remarks. I leave it and forget it. I do not get involved in the **bleep** for tat. Negs? I give them a vanilla smooth response. I do what I can to protect my reputation.
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Message 5 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Truly all I meant to do was to keep people informed regarding the feedback, however in retrospective I do see how this could be construed as **bleep** for tat. I will try to amend the feedback. As I was writing this I received another taunting email from this buyer, I will ignore it. In regards to my description regarding my illness, I want to be transparent, I don't want to have a buyer each time that there may be some delay. I will stick with honest transparency, even if it costs me buyers.





 

Message 6 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Oh good heavens, get rid of all of that. That is antagonistic, insulting, guaranteed to cause trouble.

Everything that Femme copied and pasted? This is my version:

Refund: Money back.

Yup, that is mt terms of sale. Every word of it. It has served me very well.
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Message 7 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

I have taken the advice here and offered a apology and more appropriate feedback.

Message 8 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

I can understand that some times buyers will get overly emotional and respond with treats as Im sure sellers are capable of the same emotions.

 

If I was you, just refund your buyer. Have him or her return the item for a full refund. It will help your credibility in the long run. Dont argue with your buyer, just agree and be done with it. And yes please get rid of all that stuff you have in your listing.

 

Sorry about your chronic pain. I have a wife who also suffers, so I know what you go through. Good Luck

Message 9 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed


@jerseywithstats wrote:

I can understand that some times buyers will get overly emotional and respond with treats as Im sure sellers are capable of the same emotions.

 

If I was you, just refund your buyer. Have him or her return the item for a full refund. It will help your credibility in the long run. Dont argue with your buyer, just agree and be done with it. And yes please get rid of all that stuff you have in your listing.

 

Sorry about your chronic pain. I have a wife who also suffers, so I know what you go through. Good Luck


Exactly.

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Message 10 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

I had already left the buyer a full refund, days ago, long before the trouble began.

Message 11 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Although I understand wanting to add extra text to try to explain your situation and justify your policies, I agree with the other posters that you should eliminate everything in your listings that doesn't describe your item -- all the text that 'femmefan' posted above. 

 

Honestly, eBay's policies have developed to the point where they now deal virtually automatically with almost all of the issues you mention that have to do with selling an item.  In other cases, there isn't much you can do anyway, and stating these positions out loud will just lose you buyers or bring you buyers who expect you to be trouble for them.  

 

Use all that space instead to write up an interesting, informative description that will generate some excitement about your item. 

 

As an aside, your comment about the buyer not knowing that the watch stopped because it had to be wound brought a wry smile to my face.  I recall a few years ago that a young student was hired for the summer in an office where I worked to do "gopher" jobs and keep the place tidy.  She was asked one day by the office manager to defrost the (rather old) refrigerator, and stood there looking at him totally perplexed -- "How do I do that?"  "Uhhh -- you unplug it."  "Huh?"  "You unplug it and let the frost melt, then clear out the water."  "Ohhhhhh, wow, that's strange!!"

 

Yes, I suppose wind-up watches are now old school too.

Message 12 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Kids today. Not their fault. They were never taught, as, why teach something that is archaic for today and tomorrow's world. Technology is a dangerous thing. Kids live with it. Us "older" folks are baffled by it "Back in my day, junior".

How many times have we been stumped by something and then wished there was a 10 yr old near-by? Reminds me of the story about the fellow that couldn't get his computer to work. Went next door to get little Jimmy, you know, the kid with bedroom that looks like NASA Mission Control in Houston.

Anyway the kid pushes a few buttons and gets it working. Fellow said "What was wrong"?. Kid replies, and you may need to write this out, "It had an ID TEN T error".

I have many "ID TEN T" errors.
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Message 13 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed


@rose-dee wrote:

I recall a few years ago that a young student was hired for the summer in an office where I worked to do "gopher" jobs and keep the place tidy.  She was asked one day by the office manager to defrost the (rather old) refrigerator, and stood there looking at him totally perplexed -- "How do I do that?"  "Uhhh -- you unplug it."  "Huh?"  "You unplug it and let the frost melt, then clear out the water."  "Ohhhhhh, wow, that's strange!!"

 


Off-topic but... Ohhhhhhhhhh so that's how you do it. I have never seen frost in my freezers at home. (Though I have seen them elsewhere, like the fridge at work./school..) And defrosting a fridge definitely is not part of my job description... Smiley LOL I have never unplugged a fridge before in my life either. Smiley LOLSmiley LOLSmiley LOL

 

And I have never used a mechanical watch either even though my mom has one she really likes. 

Message 14 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

More to think about -----

 

Rotary telephone

 

78's on a record player.... 33's  and 45's 

 

Edison Record player.... that uses cylinders.

 

A dictaphone

 

Gestetner

 

Walky-Talky

 

Player piano

 

Reel-to-reel tape recorder

 

Polaroid camera

 

Kodachrome film

 

Stereoscope and Stereoviews

 

Fumed oak furniture

 

8-track record player

 

 

Message 15 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Woman Very Happy  And not to forget... rabbit ears and tail fins!  

 

(To anybody under 40 -- these actually have nothing to do with animals)

Message 16 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

It was about 12 years ago that I was playing records,  33's, on an old record player....  

 

My daughter walked by and said...

 

What is that?

 

 

 

You do not have to be under 40  to not know..........

 

What is an IBM XT?

 

But then from over 100 years ago...

 

How many people know  what a Dayton  Computing Scale  is supposed to do?

 

and then how many  know know that  it was a company bought by IBM... and this put IBM onto a track that took IBM to what it became...

Message 17 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

We are selling on eBay,,,, and like everyone that sells on the internet,  we do not have visual contact with the buyer. 

 

We must then convey our thought through words...

 

There are many ways to say the same thing.... and it all starts with what we put in a listing..

 

Negativity in a listing is asking for trouble...  

 

Large letters in RED is a big flag....

 

Capital letters add to the YELLING...

 

The worse thing one can say is... eBay told me to do it. 

 

There are the basics of selling on eBay  and that is what we should all do. 

 

Many sellers have a minimum for a description....  and then 50 plus lines for a Terms of sale....   It should be the reverse

 

Put the MOST IMPORTANT things in a listing....

 

**bleep**ing, pleading arguing  just does not work....

 

The key to a description... 

 

(1) The more  the better  and all in relation to what is being sold

 

(2) No capitals  except where appropriate for a sentence. 

 

(3) Short paragraphs.... 

 

(4) Minimum on terms of sale....  

 

(5) very easy to read...

 

 

  But then sometimes we have the following --- We are selling on eBay,,,, and like everyone that sells on the internet,  we do not have visual contact with the buyer. We must then convey our thought through words...There are many ways to say the same thing.... and it all starts with what we put in a listing..Negativity in a listing is asking for trouble...  Large letters in RED is a big flag....Capital letters add to the YELLING...The worse thing one can say is... eBay told me to do it. There are the basics of selling on eBay  and that is what we should all do. Many sellers have a minimum for a description....  and then 50 plus lines for a Terms of sale....   It should be the reverse.  Put the MOST IMPORTANT things in a listing....**bleep**ing, pleading arguing  just does not work....The key to a description... (1) The more  the better  and all in relation to what is being sold (2) No capitals  except where appropriate for a sentence. (3) Short paragraphs.... (4) Minimum on terms of sale....  

 

 

This second view was NOT easy to read.....

 

Read the description out loud  and listen as if you are the potential buyer.....

 

The description, or lack there of,  and more specifically the terms of sale is where problems can start.....

 

 

 

 

Message 18 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

Worse, is, blame the customer. The old adage of pointing with one finger forward, you are pointing three back.

Every single customer that bought the wrong thing, I can see why. Did I describe poorly? Perhaps in a misleading way? Nope, they were reading in a different manner. Ya just gotta deal with it.
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Message 19 of 25
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What to do when a buyer becomes belligerent after the sale has been completed

It is amazing how much more difficult that second view is to read.

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