First Neg on ebay - because USPS is being slow.

[Kazzellin]

Mailed the package on the 12th, have a receipt showing that's when I dropped it off. It was supposed to get to the buyer by the 15th - and USPS just barely reported the item received in Des Moines.

Customer asked me where he package was the Monday after he was supposed to receive it, I check the PO, they have no further tracking information than I did, and told me I had to wait 2 weeks before I could do anything about it. Customer continues to bug me about it, accuses me of not actually mailing it - I photograph the page the PO gave me and send it to him in a reply.

For some reason, the buyer thinks I should be able to do something about this. Opened a report, I repeated what I had already told him, gave him the tracking information - and given that I purchased the postage through ebay, he should have already had that tracking number (based on what I've seen as a buyer) - and told him, again, that I wasn't happy about it either but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

He just left me nagative feedback, because the PO is being slow. Since I can no longer leave negative or even neutral feedback for him, I elected to report him for giving me a neg for something I have no control over.

I think I won't be selling anything for my brother anymore. He can get his own account. :I

 

[Loa]

Considering you have proof you posted the package, I would contact eBay's help centre and advise them, and see if they can help.

[Kazzellin]

Considering you have proof you posted the package, I would contact eBay's help centre and advise them, and see if they can help.

I'm not sure how to do that these days. Do they even have a number listed or anything?

[bluerose9978]

Considering you have proof you posted the package, I would contact eBay's help centre and advise them, and see if they can help.

I'm not sure how to do that these days. Do they even have a number listed or anything?

On your selling page on the top left/center you should see a link that says "help & contact". Click that and type in call eBay or something like that and some options should pop up. Their number may even be at the bottom.

[ponylady]

I feel your pain 

The unfortunate thing is I am not sure eBay will do anything about it. They most likely will say the buyer is allowed to leave his opinion.  What you can do in the meantime though is a leave a follow-up comment under his negative feedback. I had a similiar situation a year or so ago and eBay basically said to bad. The only way they will remove something like that is if the package shows as delivered and they stated something along the lines of "item never received" in their feedback.

In my personal opnion, Ebay needs a policy on feedback. If the seller ships in his window and the tracking shows,  he should get a top shipping rating and if a neg is left for shipping time it should be removed. It's not fair to be rated on something we have no control over.

[Ringlets]

Ugh how awful!   I know ebay may not do anything , but its still worth a try contacting them since you do have proof  - sometimes they listen.  And definitely do an honest follow up to the neg in the meantime explaining briefly the situation so that other potential  buyers can see what really happened 

[bluerose9978]

What I don't understand is why eBay has this shipping window when they very well know that the mail can take longer due to weather or other circumstances. It is very unfair for the seller to be blamed for circumstances that are beyond their control.

Kazzellin, I wouldn't just point out to your buyer the little link where they can find the tracking info, I would send them a message with a screen shot of it showing the date it was sent. The fact that they wouldn't believe you over something like this and gave you a neg over it is a huge red flag that this buyer probably does this A LOT. I'd like to know their eBay name so I can block them.

[MiRaja]

Ponylady is right.  Ebay likely won't care and won't do a thing about it.  They're too busy counting their money.

THAT said, I would definitely respond to the negative feedback and briefly outline that the buyer has been unreasonable and that it was an issue of the post. 

I also find that most reasonable buyers won't not deal with a seller just because they have one single bad feedback.  If anything, it may weed out a few unreasonable buyers who see it, and are uber picky and a pain to deal with, and will take their business anywhere.

Any reasonable buyer needs to understand that there are tons of unreasonable buyers out there, and there's only so much a seller can do with the way the system is rigged by ebay.  Even the very best sellers are going to have a ding here and there.  That's why it's important to actually look at the feedback and see what was left.  If your buyer has 1000 good and positive feedback and one negative feedback from some little troll, then that is NO reason to bypass dealing with the seller.  That said, if the seller has five negative feedback and the negative feedback is ALL for the same thing from ALL different buyers, THAT is a red flag. 

NOT one negative feedback. 

I'd respond to the feedback like this.  "Item was sent on *date here* X days after payment.  Postal delay, so sorry." 

[Kazzellin]

I'm not sure I'll need to do that, Bluerose; we'll see what happens.

Oddly enough, I logged in this evening to find an apology from him in my inbox. O_o Really, dude?

MiRaja, I might quote you on that.

[lunar_scythe]

I'm not sure I'll need to do that, Bluerose; we'll see what happens.

Oddly enough, I logged in this evening to find an apology from him in my inbox. O_o Really, dude?

MiRaja, I might quote you on that.

In that case, you might ask him to retract the negative?

[Ringlets]

Oddly enough, I logged in this evening to find an apology from him in my inbox. O_o Really, dude?

   

In that case, you might ask him to retract the negative?

 

This ^^    if he really is sorry for the neg then perhaps he would be willing to change it. It might even be that he has seen this thread and realized he has been unreasonable and that the postal delay was not your fault (or he could have checked the date on the parcel and then it dawned on him that actually you did send it when you said you would and that its the POs fault not yours if it was late arriving)