eBay Star dinger...kmlahti ...Arwww

[tulagirl]

Honestly, ebay has fixed it to where the only way you will be able to avoid dings on shipping stars is to do free shipping.  That means you have to jack the price up to cover the shipping and many people catch on that you are doing that and bypass your auction if they see a better deal somewhere else. Ugggg

[ponylady]

I hate to be this way but let's make sure to keep this on topic. I have watched several threads over a course of two weeks go astray. If you have an issue with EBay's star system which we all do, then a new thread needs to be started. The issue here is with Pops and her buyer.  Thank you.

[Shenanigans]

Thanks for letting us know, Pops

[Ringlets]

Hmmm I wonder if this Kmlahti with the US addy is the same as the Euro one who is a member here?  didnt she live in Finland or Sweden or somewhere like that - not the US-  sorries my brain so is not working tonight! )   I've bought from her before with no problem, and she was nice. Sometimes its hard to know for sure if its the same person or not. Anyways, thanks for the heads up on the star dinging.

[banditpony]

I am 99% sure it is the same person (as I am in a transaction with her-- which is all well. She is lovely to deal with).

Perhaps because she does not live in the US, then she didn't know what the prices of flat rate shipping is, and went off the judgement of maybe what it costs to ship things first class. *shrug* I hate star dinging too, but it's one of those things that not everyone understands it.

It's a shame you can't revise your feedback/stars.

[kitkatvintage]

Her eBay ID does say Finland as the registered country, so I think it's safe to assume that she has someone (friend or family) in the US to help her receive packages if you sent the package to a registered US address.

Maybe a polite message asking her why she gave you a low star rating would help clear things up? It may have been a mistake. Since the buyer is a longtime member of the community & not some random eBayer just out to cause trouble, it may be worth trying to work things out rather than posting a negative thread.

[Unicorn_pops]

Her eBay ID does say Finland as the registered country, so I think it's safe to assume that she has someone (friend or family) in the US to help her receive packages if you sent the package to a registered US address.

Maybe a polite message asking her why she gave you a low star rating would help clear things up? It may have been a mistake. Since the buyer is a longtime member of the community & not some random eBayer just out to cause trouble, it may be worth trying to work things out rather than posting a negative thread.

I'm not meaning it to be a negative thread but to warn others about a star dinger over shipping. I didn't do anything wrong, I charged actual 100% shipping cost and got punished for doing so. I thought the whole purpose in this forum was to warn others about people like this hurting innocent people's ratings. Plenty of people warn others about ebay star dingers and I don't see that they are being negative. Personally I "thank" them as they go onto my bidder blocked list.  I'm sorry that you think I'm being negative but I felt it should be warned since she was the one who dinged my star for no reason. 
I'm glad that some of you have/are dealing with her have had pleasant transactions and I did too until she left feedback and dinged my star with no communication before hand.

[NoDivision]

Perhaps because she does not live in the US, then she didn't know what the prices of flat rate shipping is, and went off the judgement of maybe what it costs to ship things first class. *shrug* I hate star dinging too, but it's one of those things that not everyone understands it.

This would be my guess too - They may have just looked at the price and thought it seemed high and not have really been aware that that is the actual cost from the post office. My parents get star dinged and complaints for this all the time even though their shipping costs are fair because people don't realize how much it actually costs to ship things.

[kitkatvintage]

Her eBay ID does say Finland as the registered country, so I think it's safe to assume that she has someone (friend or family) in the US to help her receive packages if you sent the package to a registered US address.

Maybe a polite message asking her why she gave you a low star rating would help clear things up? It may have been a mistake. Since the buyer is a longtime member of the community & not some random eBayer just out to cause trouble, it may be worth trying to work things out rather than posting a negative thread.

I'm not meaning it to be a negative thread but to warn others about a star dinger over shipping. I didn't do anything wrong, I charged actual 100% shipping cost and got punished for doing so. I thought the whole purpose in this forum was to warn others about people like this hurting innocent people's ratings. Plenty of people warn others about ebay star dingers and I don't see that they are being negative. Personally I "thank" them as they go onto my bidder blocked list.  I'm sorry that you think I'm being negative but I felt it should be warned since she was the one who dinged my star for no reason. 
I'm glad that some of you have/are dealing with her have had pleasant transactions and I did too until she left feedback and dinged my star with no communication before hand.

I'm sorry you took offense to what I said. What I meant was that maybe the star ding was a mistake based on the buyer's location & possibly not being familiar with the US postal system.

[Unicorn_pops]

Oh, okay...maybe they aren't familiar with the shipping cost. Medium flat rate has recently increased. I just wished she'd communicated before dinging the star

[kitkatvintage]

The good thing about the community & the Trader Support forum is that it can give 2 parties the chance to resolve a problem, if both parties are willing to communicate. Unfortunately eBay makes transactions less personal, and people are less likely to work together to resolve a problem unless its a major one.

[kmlahti]

Just so you know: I gave you full stars, and I did not give low ratings on anything, certainly not the shipping cost which was decent. I have a friend in the 'States who receives packages for me, and I have no idea why your stars were "dinged", but I certainly gave full stars. And my friend (also a highly reputable member here) said the packaging cost was accurate. I don't easily "ding" stars, and I'm used popping a message if I feel shipping cost was exaggerated (I do that when the difference is over $10)- which it wasn't, and which is what my friend also told me. 

The only problem in your packaging we found that the pony was poorly packaged and it came to my friend's place crushed and wrinkled, but nevertheless I gave full stars on everything: description, communication AND shipping cost, since the pony itself was not damaged. Full marks. So I have no idea why your stars were "dinged".

I would have appreciated a PM or an eBay message before a campaign of slander. "Three cheers" for manners here... or lack of thereof. But apparently the culture here required whining behind someone's back and flying off the handle before trying to address the matter directly.

Thank you for everyone who "blocked" me before hearing my side. Duly noted

Addendum: I know the US postal system very well, actually. But I never bother giving neg ratings or dinged stars unless I try to resolve things first: a matter which I always have preferred. Much more frugal way of handing things, compared to whining in public forum Believe me: if I had thought you overcharged me, I would have contacted you.

[ponylady]

Thank you kmlahti for coming on and explaining your side. 

It's always a blow when you sign on and see your name in TS and are unsure why? But it seems to me that somewhere along the lines here that there was a misunderstanding with the stars?

Pops did you run a report as soon as you noticed your star rating went down? And is it possible that someone else left prior feedback from a day or two before you did run that report, that could have been the star dinger? I am just asking because kmlahti seems sincere when she says she left a five star rating?

Also DSR's are based on either a 3 month period or a 12 month period depending upon your sales. It could be that someone in the past left a low rating but you had enough sales with high marks that it didn't make an impact. But as time goes on feedback ratings do fall off, leaving that low rating exposed per say and dropping your star rating down. 

[kmlahti]

^Actually, Ponylady, I was notified of this on FB. I'm a lazy bugger and usually never read anything other than the sales-forum, but my friend (the one who handles the parcels from sellers who only ship inside US) notified me and told me someone was publicly tearing me a new one, with others hysterically joining the bandwagon.

Also, I must confess, I'm a bit too LAZY to consider whether or not to rate the transaction as "1" or "3" or "5". It's easier just to click away those full stars all in a row. I figure if the flaw isn't bad enough for me to try and settle it with the seller straight up, then it isn't worth the time to think about lower ratings either.

I do wonder though if I clicked on a lower rating by accident, or could there have been a mishap in the eBay feedback system? I do usually leave a lot of feedback at the same time, just click an appropriate comment from memory of comments sent previously and then clickety-click go the stars. Or, as you said, an earlier rating coming up only then, which also sounds quite likely.

[Unicorn_pops]

Pops did you run a report as soon as you noticed your star rating went down? And is it possible that someone else left prior feedback from a day or two before you did run that report, that could have been the star dinger? I am just asking because kmlahti seems sincere when she says she left a five star rating?

Yep ran one right after and didn't have any sells before that for over a month period. Like I stated, I hardly ever sell on ebay.  Maybe it was an accident but it was dinged by you. And for the record, I'm not whining nor have I ever whined. I just get tired of seeing peoples stars get dinged over no reason since now paypal will hold funds on perfectly great sellers if dinged so many times. We as the community post often about star dingers/non payers to Help one another out since ebay is all for it's self. Like I stated earlier, maybe you didn't know shipping cost because I wasn't aware that you were international since the address was in the states. I'm sorry you are upset but reverse the situation and have someone possible hurt your ratings over an accident or not knowing information on cost before hand. I don't want and can't afford to have money held up with paypal and pay out of pocket for shipping, which is what happens over a period with so many star dings. I'm sorry to hear USPS smashed up the package. Was the pony still in MOC condition because there is $50 insurance on that package and I can report to them if the pony was damaged.