Customers who contact you out of ebay

ppc_guy

Whats wrong is if i reply saying yes the ite will be shipped 2nd class or for an extra £2 first class.. You dont pay extra i send 2nd class and u post on ebay to say i never sent 1st class and ask for partial refund becuase i cant prove otherwise

soolin

ppc_guy wrote: »

Whats wrong is if i reply saying yes the ite will be shipped 2nd class or for an extra £2 first class.. You dont pay extra i send 2nd class and u post on ebay to say i never sent 1st class and ask for partial refund becuase i cant prove otherwise

The flaw with your argument is that there is no mechanism on ebay to force you to refund if 'wrong' service is used for postage. So buyers asks for refund, you say no. You run the risk of a neg whether or not they asked via the ebay system or outside it.

Ebay have never ever asked me to prove what service I have used for a particular item.

To be honest I think you are worrying about things that really don't need worrying about. save the stress for the big things.

marleyboy

sequence wrote: »

What's wrong with email ? I'd be annoyed if you responded saying "re send your message again through ebay messages " .

You'd be getting lower communication stars for that.

Just answer the question and move on!

Standard email is not recommended (Even Ebay will specifically mention this), for security reasons, a standard email could be from anyone, including a seller posing as the buyer and vice versa.

Replying via the Ebay account, can be easily backed up and related to the Ebay sale. I would not reply any other way than via Ebay, regardless of how many stars I risk losing over it - better a loss of stars than a loss of money.

http://ebay.about.com/od/usingthewebsit1/a/wt_contact.htm

Sooner or later every eBay member will find themselves wanting to contact and converse with another eBay member. There can be any number of reasons for the need:

• A transaction may have gone wrong leaving one or the other party unsatisfied
• A buyer may want to ask a seller about a listing before buying
• A buyer may have questions about an item they have received
• A seller may want to ask a buyer about nonpayment
• A seller may want to inform a buyer about shipment status or other transaction details

This list isn't by any means exhaustive, but it covers a lot of the most common causes. Every eBay member knows that eBay collects personal information, including phone number, email address, and mailing address, when you join. It's only natural, therefore, to assume that you can use one or more of these methods to contact trading partners or potential trading partners.
And indeed you can, though there are some limits and caveats that you should carefully study before deciding to make contact with other eBay members.
Limits to Contact

The steps you can take to contact other eBay members will be outlined in a moment, but first, here are the things to be aware of before you try.

• Trading partners are different from other eBay members. Only if you have done business with someone—that is to say, if you have bought from them or sold to them—will eBay provide their real contact information upon request, including phone number and email address. This information is to be used for communication related to the transaction only. Other uses of this information violate eBay rules.
• For general contact, use the forwarding system. For general communication between members eBay employs mail forwarding system. Members ask eBay to forward messages to other members' email boxes on their behalf. Replies to these messages, too, are routed through eBay. This way, members can communicate without eBay having to release their contact information to strangers.
• Buying or selling off eBay is not allowed. Contacting another eBay member with a request to buy or sell an item outside of eBay's auction structure is a violation of eBay rules, and by attempting to buy or sell this way you will likely find your trading privileges reduced or restricted. Keep in mind, too, that mail sent through the forwarding system passes through eBay before it is seen by the other party.
• Inappropriate contact is not allowed. Though this comes as a surprise to many users, inappropriate contact is not limited only to threatening or unwanted contact. Inappropriate contact also includes nearly any contact unrelated to eBay auctions. eBay members expect to be contacted by other eBay members only in regard to a transaction or potential transaction. Other types of contact can run dangerously close to SPAM, unsolicited email, or unwated contact, even if the message seems innocuous to the sender.

sequence

I suppose all internet businesses should stop using email "because it could be from anyone" .

marleyboy

It might be difficult for an internet business NOT to have or use an Email account. As well as being a little too EXTREME, no different to the idea of a Phone Company not using a phone for the same reasons.

sequence

Exactly... Every other online business manages just fine using email(including my own). So asking someone to resend an email through ebay is just pointless and over the top, in my opinion.

ppc_guy

Your assuming the OP is a business user. Maybe he/she is a personal user and wants to cover their own back.

Myyrrddyn

ppc_guy wrote: »

Your assuming the OP is a business user. Maybe he/she is a personal user and wants to cover their own back.

I only ask them to contact me within ebay if there is no name, id, number or anything else pertaining to the item that they have bought.

ie -
Hy mate can you tell me when I am gonna get my guds thanks

Where the hell do you start with ones like this, it is impossible unless that contact you through ebay.

marleyboy

sequence wrote: »

Exactly... Every other online business manages just fine using email(including my own). So asking someone to resend an email through ebay is just pointless and over the top, in my opinion.

If you have an issue with the way Ebay works, I suggest you take your ridiculous ideas up with them. I would not trust my bank emailing me via a Yahoo account for the same reasons I would not put my bank details up on an open forum to someone with an anonymous ID.

The general (normal) situation for an ebay member, is they have what is commonly known in the real World as an Ebay Account, which includes a members Ebay Email account, I can guarantee that should Ebay wish to contact a member, they will do it via their Ebay email. This is evidence enough for any customer to know that they are indeed who they say they are. This is not given out as some bonus for being a member, regardless what you think about it, or how weak your argument is against it.

Most businesses will use an email account that is specifically linked to their company, I have never traded with any business that uses a hotmail account. Even BT use a BT email account and the list is endless.....

Tesco Online customer service email - [EMAIL="customer.service@Tesco.co.uk"]customer.service@Tesco.co.uk[/EMAIL]; Waitrose email address [EMAIL="customer_service@waitrose.co.uk"]customer_service@waitrose.co.uk[/EMAIL]-Can you see the obvious pattern here?

The system has and does work perfectly fine, you are not forced to use it, there is always Cash Generator for those not happy with using Ebay.

Virgin Media know who I am via my Virgin Email account, be that they issued me with this account after gaining my bank details to secure an account. I would not email them with my Yahoo account, as much as they would not email me with a Hotmail account.

Call it over the top if you want, that is just the way the system works and why its worked so effectively all these Years.

sequence

I don't have a problem with ebay or any other company having a dedicated customer service email account (I have one !), and I didn't say I did. I would never ask somebody to resend their email through ebay. If they don't give me enough information to identify themselves and the item they're talking about, I'll reply ask them to supply that.