First neutral, gutted

chickaroonee

I knew it was too soon to get excited about the possibility of getting TRS at next evaluation

Have had a neutral overnight saying item was damaged and packaging poor. Bit surprised as item was boxed and it isn't delicate at all, however no reason to doubt buyer so probably is. Item was sent by courier so entirely possible they damaged in transit.

I have emailed the buyer to ask what happened and apologised. I deleted my first email asking them why they didn't contact me first (!) and sent a very nice one, just wish they had contacted me. I have very nice t&cs, message in item etc, but no just the feedback. I bet my DSRs are bad too

I don't want to annoy buyer more, but thinking of offering partial refund if they send pic of item, does that sound reasonable? Or if it's completely ruined I'll refund in full of course.

Any suggestions welcome, has anyone had any luck calling buyers in this situation? Don't want to go overboard but I'm upset.

Dave101t

be prepared for the nutters who will leave negatives for....fun!

RainbowDrops

I had a neutral recently because I had mistakenly put the wrong size of the item on my listing.
I had sent an email on dispatch (before I realized the mistake) saying if there were any probs, get in touch.
But the buyer left me neutral (eplaining why) without getting in touch.
So I sent them a message:

I've just seen your feed back, I'm really sorry about the mix up.
And I'm sorry that you didn't get in touch first as I would have been willing to sort something out, like I said you could in my earlier message. If you would be willing to remove the feeback & return the item, I would be happy to refund you.

They said actually the size was ok for them, and thanked me for the offer of a refund, but they would keep it & alter their feedback.

Worth a go

chickaroonee

Dave101t wrote: »

be prepared for the nutters who will leave negatives for....fun!

Hoping I avoid them for a bit, I've noticed a couple of competitors have had them recently, very unlucky. Unfortunately I don't sell that much so it'll put my stars on a knife edge I think.

In fairness, I think they probably have a valid complaint, but wish they'd contact me first, surely that is just polite.

Soubrette

Can you leave a response on the neutral saying something like 'Sorry to hear your problem, have now emailed you to try and sort it out' as this lets others buyers know that a) the buyer did not contact you first and b) you will do something about it.

Leaving aside ebays stupid stat system, I'm always suspicious of high sellers who have never had a neg or neutral - I'd rather see one where it looks like it was dealt with well than 3000 positives as there are always idiots or people with impossibly high standards, or being human we simply make mistakes (or royal mail does!!)

As to contacting them, you did so now the ball is in their court. As a buyer I'd be surprised if someone rang me after I'd left a neutral, I don't think I'd be annoyed though although I think I'm a bit more laid back than other buyers - postage costs don't annoy me because I look at the whole price and I don't expect my package the next day

Good luck

soolin

Dave101t wrote: »

be prepared for the nutters who will leave negatives for....fun!

They are the easiest ones to get rid of though if ebay see it is malicious.

lovinituk

Don't worry about a neutral, its really not that bad. The neutral rating itself will not affect your chances of TRS or your feedback percentage however any low stars they may have left could have an affect on the TRS status.

Just make sure you give a calm, professional follow-up to the feedback so if any other potential buyers look at it they will see you handled it well.

I wouldn't even bother wasting a feedback revision request on it if you don't sell much as you only get 5 revision requests per 1000 feedback received. Save them for any negatives!

I have no issue with buying from sellers who have a few neutrals, particulalrly if the follow-up comments are good.

chickaroonee

Yeah I know it's the stars I'm worried about! I've left a calm follow up and emailed the buyer - just had a reply to say the box had been opened and a couple of items damaged. Buyer seems to think it is the courier at fault, which it sounds like - god knows how they opened it as it was taped up very well. I've emailed and offered replacements/refund so we will see.

Just seems a shame to not contact me first, it's really clear in my listings I want to help if they're any problems.

Fingers crossed for the stars...

chickaroonee

Just had email straight back saying they would like a replacement and have offered themselves to change the feedback. Glad it was sorted so easily, sounds silly but I really try hard as a seller and was upset to have this one go wrong. Have had a few bad sales years ago, but been a while since I've had an upset customer.

charlies_mum

lovinituk wrote: »

I wouldn't even bother wasting a feedback revision request on it if you don't sell much as you only get 5 revision requests per 1000 feedback received. Save them for any negatives!

.

Oh great, I've just wasted one request on a buyer who left a negative without contacting me first, and has completely ignored my withdrawl request despite being given a full refund

lovinituk

chickaroonee wrote: »

Just had email straight back saying they would like a replacement and have offered themselves to change the feedback. Glad it was sorted so easily, sounds silly but I really try hard as a seller and was upset to have this one go wrong. Have had a few bad sales years ago, but been a while since I've had an upset customer.

Good news it is sorted. I was the same when I received my first neutral on an otherwise spotless account - now I have 10 neutrals (4000+ feedbacks) but they don't bother me anymore - particularly as most of them say things like 'Good'!! Why the neutral then?!?!

charlies_mum wrote: »

Oh great, I've just wasted one request on a buyer who left a negative without contacting me first, and has completely ignored my withdrawl request despite being given a full refund

Its always best to ensure you have the agreement from the buyer first before using up a request - this is what ebay recommend too. Unfortunately you probably have just wasted one.