Damaged item

mishkanorman

Arrgghh stressful night, need some support !!

Basic story goes bought (not brought ) two books from one seller on Ebay , didnt ask for combined shipping as felt I had got them at a reasonable price , The books arrived wrapped in 1 layer of brown paper with a bit of brown parcel tape around them. When i say 'wrapped' i do actually mean held together by elastic bands my postie had added as the paper was literally shreded from the books. Was more than a bit disappointed so emailed the seller telling her what had happened. Waited a week and heard nothing so left a neutral feedback stating "Books arrived poorly packaged , with minor signs of damage, No response from seller to contact. would not recommend "

I then tonight received a message ,

Hi, i am dissapointed to hear your comment on the packaging as your books were 2 of 7 that were sent out, and the others arrived safely. you must aprreciate that the books go through the postal system and damage may occur. I didnt realise i was to reply to your message as it was a comment and not a Question. Due to you leaving neutral feedback i will do the same.

Ive just responded quite harshly as this got me fuming :mad:
If she had bothered to reply i would have left a positive but noted what had occured, but to then say I had to take into account the postal system when she clearly didnt when she packaged them just narked me

Should have asked for advice before hand but is it worth following up the neutral she is threatening me with or shall i just let it speak for itself ??

I received another book that day which also had damage so its clear it was the post office that caused it, but that seller offered a refund and apologised so i felt the matter was dealt with properly.

TIA

MIshka

rose_sparky

It would have been good manners to have replied to your email whether she thought it was a comment or a question.

Don't you just hate this tit for tat feedback system.

apprentice_tycoon

mishka, I can't believe that a seller of anything would shirk the responsibility of not wrapping an item properly and then blame the PO for the state it arrived in - I think that I'd have done exactly the same as you

funkyfunkymonkey

Hi Mishka

I think you did everything right, you gave the buyer a chance before leaving feedback. No decent seller would have left a comment (or question) unanswered if they wanted to provide a good service. At least you only left a neutral.

The seller may have believed that a single layer of paper was sufficient, I don't think it is until you receive alot of items through the post that you appreciate the treatment they need to withstand.

I recently received an audio book which was not 'new and unused', I asked the seller if they had sent the wrong one and they admitted cutting and pasting from another description - they offered a small refund, I was happy, left a positive. If I had not got a reply I would have left a neutral or negative.

I agree with Rose that the tit for tat feedback system is a pain, and I have now got separate buying and selling accounts so that I can be honest in my feedback on my purchases without it affecting my own sales.

It's possible that the seller may not leave you any feedback, she may reflect on the fact that she didn't reply and just leave it.

Anyway, have a virtual hug :grouphug:

FFM

appleblossom

If she leaves you a neutral, I would do a follow up to it and quote her last sentence (making it clear it is a quote from her), so ppl know why she left a neutral - something along the lines of 'retalitory FB - seller sent this in email "Due to you leaving neutral feedback i will do the same"' - pity you can't say the silly cow said this but there you go!! Takes me back to when I was speaking to someone before and they didn't reply, I repeated it and was told I heard you first time, when I asked why they didn't reply, they said it wasn't a question it was a comment - I always acknowledge anything someone takes the trouble and time to send me. You did exactly what I would have done.

soolin

I completely agree, communication is everything.

A while ago I had an email from someone saying he was a bit disappointed in that the item he bought had xx when he was expecting yy, but he assured me he would keep the item as he was otherwise pleased with both the item and my delivery time. The email really didn't need a response but nonetheless I replied apologising that he did not have the item he thought he was buying and saying that whilst I thought my auction was completely clear if he could suggest a different wording for my future auctions I would appreciate it. I also offered him a full refund on return of the item.

I got an almost immediate response saying thank you but on reflection my auction had been clear and he had bought on impulse without fully reading the description. He assured me he did not want a refund, and he immediately left me glowing feedback.

Out of interest I checked his feedback, and he seemed to leave rather a lot of neutrals for odd reasons, so I think I had a lucky escape!

robnye

mishkanorman - i wouldnt worry, you have done everything right - i myself as other have mentioned as a seller, they should have responded - even if to just say your comments are noted

mishkanorman

Thank you guys !!!


I shall await my neutral/neg and will wear it with pride

What annoys me more is the time and effort i personally spend when some people think its acceptable to charge the same level of postage , and then do a half !!!!! job !!


mishka

soolin

Poor packaging or poor seller communication reflects badly on all of us. Buying poorly wrapped books might mean the Op decided against buying more, thinking that perhaps it is acceptable to ship in such poor wrapping. If buyers get bad service and stop buying it will make it harder and harder for the rest of us to make sales.

Soo