awkward buyer - please help!

unimaginative_one

I have been selling on Ebay for a couple of years but due to the fact I am being harassed by someone outside of Ebay, who I think is probably a so called friend, I decided to create a new Ebay ID (since all my friends know my old one)

Everything was going fine until one buyer who bought some heated eyelash curlers for £2.20 has been constantly harassing me. First, the auction ended on a Saturday night. The buyer paid by paypal and I was unable to post until the following Friday (within Paypal's terms as far as I know which allows up to 7 days) I emailed to apologise for the delay and said if she had needed them urgently I woud come to some arrangement.

She replied to complain and threatened negative feedback.

She has now received the eyelash curlers a few days ago (according to her email) and claims they don't work. Since they come sealed in a packet with a battery included I don't test them for hygiene reasons. Now again, I'd be happy to offer a relacement or refund but she has sent a very rude email saying she has no choice but to leave me negative feedback and saying 'so you had problems at work - don't we all!'

I think she is preying on the fact that I'm new at Ebay - which I'm not - and is frankly taking the mick! Soooo, do I offer her a refund / replacement on return of the item? I suspect she'll neg me anyway and considering her attitude I can't really be bothered bending over backwards if that's going to be the case.

the other thing is - I've been reading on here about getting negs removed by sticking a url in the reply. Does this honestly work? And if it does can someone explain in more detail. I wouldn't have minded a neg on my old ebay id since I had over 300 positives but I can't afford one on this id.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!

pug_in_a_bed

sorry to hear you're having some problems at the mo

apparently the url business is liable to get you in rather big trouble with ebay so is not advisable (soolin updated me on this t'other night - cheers ears!).

have you asked if she'd like a refund on return?

did you, out of interest, state in your listing that you would not be able to post out the following friday (ie 6 days after listing end?). If not, then i could see she'd be annoyed at a delay BUT not condoning any nastiness - on the other hand, she could have been a bit more understanding of circumstances whatever they may be.
It was rather a long time before posting out, IMO - but if you kept her informed from the beginning then fair enough.

She may have been a bit cynical and just thought she'd never receive her item (its happened to all of us, just read this forum!)

what's her feedback like?

did you send refund offer before she sent nasty emails or are you debating whether to offer it because of this?

if she says they don't work and you don't actually know, then i think maybe you should offer a refund on return of the goods. if she will take a replacement, even better (on return of the faulty ones)

hope you get this sorted out

unimaginative_one

Thanks smam21. I did offer her a refund before she even received the item because of the delay. I'm just peeved that whatever I do - she seems the sort of person who will neg me anyway just to have the upper hand. She has 100% feedback but she's left a few negs in the past for items not arriving quickly enough etc.

How does this sound for a response to her email (can you tell I was biting my tongue when I wrote it?!) Not sent it yet as I have a habit of sounding quite rude even when i don't mean to! Does it sound ok?

Sorry the eyelash curlers didn't work. Since they come sealed with the battery I don't check them for hygiene reasons. I'll be happy to send you a full refund through paypal and another set of the eyelash curlers - If you'd like, I can open them up first to check they work OK.

Again, i'm sorry that you're not happy with the way the transaction has gone. I would like to rectify the problem amicably and hopefully you will not feel the need to resort to negative feeback.

I look forward to your response.

pug_in_a_bed

i think that sounds fine, really - very polite.

hope this makes her happy - by the sounds of it you may just be unlucky though, she sounds like she may neg you whatever happens. wait and see then leave your fb.

its only one neg if she does anyhoo, don't fret over it too much

katiepops_2

And if she does neg you, you can always reply with something like 'I offered a refund or a replacement but still buyer wasn't satisfied - what more could I reasonably do?'

That makes you look very reasonable, and her petty!

Kate

bleugh

if she's negged you unfairly then leave her phone number / address in the feedback you leave her. BOTH feedbacks will then be removed.

OR, if you have excellent feedback, then take the hit on the chin, leave her very bad feedback (use ebay tiawan to get 125 characters instead of 80), bad feedback will affect her more than you.

then walk away, ignore all emails, cease comms, it aint worth your time dealing anymore, you've done everything you can

JPS

smam21 wrote:

apparently the url business is liable to get you in rather big trouble with ebay so is not advisable (soolin updated me on this t'other night - cheers ears!).

Any chance you could tell us bit more bout if this is allowed smam21 or Soo if you are around? Thanks

pug_in_a_bed

this is from soolin t'other night:

"as well as getting the feedback removed this will also get you an official warning on your account, I'm not sure the hassle is worth a formal warning.

As for the original problem. On this board we always advise people to pretend they have trading standards support if they otherwise have no hope, maybe she reads this board or has got the same advice as well! Tell her that you do not offer a refund policy and that the skirts were accurately described and just accept the neg and move on."

and good advice this is too

Tojo_Ralph

JPS wrote:

Any chance you could tell us bit more bout if this is allowed smam21 or Soo if you are around? Thanks

In the "olden days" if you got a neutral or a neg, rather than responding to comments with 80 letters, you simply responded by posting a link in the comments. This link would be to information on your own website, perhaps detailing the sellers shill bidding or abusive emails, in fact anything.

It was a great way to put the facts across because you could publish emails received, pictures of goods etc. EBay have however long since banned the posting of links in feedback.

Cat72

Sorry you are having this problem. As you have said send her your email see how she responds. If still no joy I have a feeling that she might be one of these moany, nutty to be honest, buyers who you can never win with. If she negs you neg back. Personally I cant stand people like this! Tell us her I.D. if you want and we can maybe judge what she is like.;) I think there is something horrid about a buyer who threatens neg so early on when the seller is being reasonable.It indicates that their a buyer bunny boiler - not good !
It might be hard to get a neg but you can either just get on with it or start again. If you manage it before you can do it again.

unimaginative_one

Thanks everyone for your advice. She has replied saying she'd be happy with a refund and doesn't want a replacement. I have just sent the refund through Paypal and await her feedback with baited breath!