My first negative

kw5 wrote: »

I had my first negative yesterday, and have replied on feedback.

Situation buyer purchased an advent calendar 28th November selected 1st class post instead of standard 2nd class £1.11 extra.
My listing states expected delivery date via 1st class is 3 to 4 working days. Item was delivered 5th December, so one day after the expected date.

Buyer is now complaining to ebay and wanting a refund. Any advice would be appreciated.

Firstly what basis are they asking for the refund? The only two options are INR (item not received) or SNAD (significantly not as described) and neither of those seems to fit. They can't just have a refund because something is late.

However if you are a business seller then you are obliged to accept a change of mind return, but buyer needs to pay their own return costs. A private seller doesn't have to accept change of mind returns unless you ticked the box for returns when you listed.

Unfortunately the 1 day late already gives you a late defect but sometimes even shipping on time sellers can't avoid a delay in Royal Mail handling post, so you are likely stuck with that defect.

Time sensitive things are a nightmare and it might be an idea in future not to sell so close to the deadline unless you know you can ship instantly .

pinkshoes wrote: »

When did you dispatch it?

E.g. If i was selling an advent calendar so close to 1st December, I would have made sure it was dispatched same day or next morning.

OP states it was delivered 1 day past estimate, so that suggests it went as per the time frame seller gave- with the usual 1 day slip as ebay imagine everything arrives magically the next day. Sellers add a dispatch time for a reason and buyers can't assume that just because they choose a faster postage option it is going to go quicker. Perhaps seller was slightly naive in selling so close to the deadline, but they may well have had a reason not to ship instantly. For instance I had a contract last week that kept me out of the house and which meant I couldn't post on one particular day, so I changed my dispatch time from 1 day to 3 days to cover it- regardless of what service buyer had chosen I couldn't have sent things if I wasn't at home to do so.

ballisticbrian wrote: »

A lot of negatives in the run up to xmas. Anyone would think it was just a retail event and not a religious one. (I don't know where they get they idea from )
I had one lady wait 2 days for a 99p item (bear in mind the xmas rush in the mail system) and said "if I don't get it by tomorrow I'm leaving you bad feedback", and then did exactly that.

Ebay don't help either with their unrealistic delivery estimates. Also, whilst I would not want to argue with a fellow regular member here, I fear Pinkshoes response shows what we are up against if buyers expect us to automatically be posting quicker than we state- I have noticed this quite a bit and there was another thread about it. Buyers routinely ignoring despatch times and just expecting everyone, whether business or private to post straight away regardless of their circumstances.

Dox wrote: »

There does seem to be an assumption that if someone chooses first class post, they not only opt for speedier Royal Mail action (optimistic or what!) but also 'ensure' that the seller posts immediately, rather than in line with stated dispatch times.

I got so fed up with this that I now never offer 1st class as an option but put a note in the listing to invite buyers to contact me for an invoice if they wish to upgrade, and also add the caveat that I cannot necessarily post off more quickly. So far it's worked, but I'm sure the next non-reader of listings will be along very soon...

Special delivery is even worse. Even if I have three day despatch on (which I do from time to time if I am working a strange hours contract) people expect their item next day- even when they buy at say 5pm in the afternoon. It is not unknown for someone to buy and then contact me to say that there is something wrong as the next day is the 5th of the month and yet ebay say the item isn't due until the 8th. I got so fed up with this that I now have a stupid special delivery price, far outwith the actual cost - as I need to offer it for my TRS discount (obviously I only get the discount though when I go back to 1 day despatch).