Got a Negative Feedback

[jackson64]

I recently got my first negative feedback in well over a year and several hundred sales.

 

Here's the quick story-without leaving out any details and trying not to be one-sided:

 

During the silver spree when it hit $20 I started selling off some of my "scrap" coins...One listing I ran offered 3 rolls of Silver halves-nearly 18 ozs!!!

 

in the description I mentioned that there would be 60 half dollars, 20 VF/XF quality Walkers..a bank roll of BU 1964 Kennedy's and a roll of 40% silver 1967 Kennedy's.

 

After I got payment I sent them away (silver was peaking at around $21 by then) I also included 2 Free 1965's and a 1965 DDR (hub doubling not the Frasier variety)...I often will throw in a stray "bonus" coin just as a kindness...

 

To cut to the chase: about a week later as silver had dropped to around $16 ( meaning the buyer had lost about $90 in bullion value)..I got an email asking to return the coins...his stated reason was " there were 21 Walkers, 19 1964's, 20 1967's and 3 1965's--63 coins!!...I replied telling him that the listing was for only 60 coins and that the other 3 were a gift and that he could keep them ( I did add a "your welcome")

 

I got a negative feedback stating-( spelled exactly as received).Seller won't honer his rerun policy and cant count......

 

Do I leave this goofball a retalitory negative( I hate sellers doing that) or simply rebut his claim underneath his feedback?...it seems to me to clearly be a case of buyer regret and someone playing the silver market and losing...should I send him a single 1964 half ?

 

What would you do?

[MTHead-migration]

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

If the auction said 60 coins you should have sent only 60 coins.

 

If he held up his end of the deal rebut his claim and give a positive.

[MarkFeld]

What was the stated return policy, if any, in the listing?

[MTHead-migration]

What was the stated return policy, if any, in the listing?

 

Excellent question! (thumbs u

[jackson64]

that is why I am in turmoil...my usual policy is one week, but I had amended that in several of the silver bullion type auctions to "no return on gold and silver bullion value items"...but this listing got through without the amendment...

 

On my own behalf , I must say that if his reason for wanting a return were almost anything except "gave him too many coins???" I would have just let him return them--but he never expressed dissatisfaction with the coins-just the number...

[James_OldeTowne]

He definitely deserves to be negged.

[MarkFeld]

that is why I am in turmoil...my usual policy is one week, but I had amended that in several of the silver bullion type auctions to "no return on gold and silver bullion value items"...but this listing got through without the amendment...

 

On my own behalf , I must say that if his reason for wanting a return were almost anything except "gave him too many coins???" I would have just let him return them--but he never expressed dissatisfaction with the coins-just the number...

Then if he wanted to return them within the one week period, he should have been able to. Please don't take that the wrong way or think that I'm unsympathetic, though - his timing and stated reason for wanting a return make him sound like a jerk.

 

All things considered, I'd probably leave neutral feedback and explain that he claimed to be unhappy because he received extra coins.

[gmarguli]

Technically you didn't ship what you sold. If your auction description said "60 half dollars, 20 VF/XF quality Walkers..a bank roll of BU 1964 Kennedy's and a roll of 40% silver 1967 Kennedy's" and you shipped "21 Walkers, 19 1964's, 20 1967's" then you didn't deliver what was advertised. You should have accepted a return.

[supertooth]

jackson 64----- Seems to me that you hit a peak while he hit a temporary valley. But, two weeks from now, the situation could be reversed.

 

Folks can act strange sometimes. Especially over money. It sounds to me as if the guy was grabing at straws---trying to find a reason that justified a return. Then got mad about it---thus the negative. Remember, folks rarely blame themselves for their own mistakes.

 

If a return neg would make you feel better, then that is certainly your right. But, it won't get rid of your neg. Does Ebay still allow for a retraction of the neg feedback? If so, it may pay to tell him that he will indeed get a neg. if he doesn't remove his neg. I know for sure that some negs on Ebay have been removed---not me but another that I know about. Bob [supertooth]

[MarkFeld]

.. it may pay to tell him that he will indeed get a neg. if he doesn't remove his neg.

I believe that you can get in trouble with Ebay for that. There are more subtle ways to get the same point across and avoid problems, though.

[pendragon1998]

If the correct return policy wasn't in writing, then it's your mistake and not the buyer's. I sympathize and I wouldn't have complained had I been the buyer, but I think you should have allowed the return. The time to amend the return policy was while the auction was in process - you should have pulled the auction and revised it if you had bidders at that point.

 

FWIW, the buyer sounds like a tool.

[Houston Investor]

The buyer sounds like a very unreasonable fellow. His reason for wanting to return was due more likely to buyer's remorse more than anything else as silver went down. He probably just wanted to stick his loss back on you. I doubt he would have wanted a return if silver went up.

 

If your auction did not specifically state "non return" then you should have let him return the items. Fortunately, these types are few and far and between (maybe every 100 - 300 buyers), but when it happens you just have to follow thru with your return policy. Of course this wipes out your profit. Having a detailed, consistent return policy is important and this should be in every one of your listings.

 

As far as a neg for the guy, if you feel he misrepresented how you handled the deal or was unfair in his FB, you should neg him. I sympathize with you if you give him a neg, but would his neg have been there if he had been allowed a return?

 

With silver down to $16.74, I bet he is even madder now. I am sure if you neg him he will have some kind of FB reply. I had a similar buyer who did return the merchandise, I promptly refunded and I got negged anyway. I negged him in return and setoff such a volley of FB response that he made his FB private. Since my FB score was based on about 10 x as many transactions as his, my neg did 10x the damage to his FB score - I think this may have been what really riled him.

Every couple of months I would get hateful emails from him.

[bsshog40]

I think I would have just given the return if it was within the time period of your return policy. I agree your response was not retaliatory, but I think I would have just responded with something like, "If you are not happy with the coins, please let me know the reason and I will gladly refund after coins are recieved to verify condition". Sometimes even those who get buyers remorse sometimes decide not to go thru all the hassles. They just want to see what type of a seller you may be. Kindness can sometimes deter remorse.

[harvey8542]

Neg him and file for a mutuall withdrawl. Then block the knobhead

[BankNote1]

Neg him and file for a mutuall withdrawl. Then block the knobhead

You should follow this advice.

 

Although, you should of honored your return policy. This guy would of neged you no matter what you did, imo.

 

[PerryHall]

Don't wimp out. Neg the jerk.

[MarkFeld]

 

 

Don't wimp out. Neg the jerk.

Why would failing to leave a retaliatory negative amount to wimping out? It sounds as if the buyer (jerk though he may have been) had the right to a return and was denied it.

 

 

[World Colonial]

I'm only an occasional eBay seller and do not list a return policy. But I have accepted returns on two occasions anyway and would again in the future if asked under most circumstances.

 

In a similar instance to yours, I probably would have accepted the return but it would not be because I ommitted a return policy but to protect my feedback rating. I have zero negatives and I would accomodate this kind of buyer because it just would not be worth it.

 

At the same time, I do not have a problem with what you did as I do not believe you were obligated to give the refund and if you did, you certainly would not be obligated to refund full value because of the change in the market price of the bullion. I would be very surprised if a retail coin shop would provide a full refund on bullion items in this instance though I would expect that this would be included in any return policy (for legal reasons).

[ant]

if the buyer paid and did his part then he deserves a posotive. dont retaliate! just give him his feedback and start to get it removed by ebay. if the crooks can do it so can the good folks . your good deeds WILL be returned some day

[ant]

also im not too scared of a negative! it is a number! a number very small compaired to the good

 

i always read what a neg is givin for and so do most people .so even if you have 20/600 and those 20 are from just people like this guy u delt with, it wouldnt stop me from buying.

[EZ_E]

Once you leave a positive feedback then your leverage is gone. That is why I usually will not leave feedback as a seller until the buyer does so first. The way I view it is that the transaction is not a done deal until buyer responds and states or infers by leaving feedback that the item is either acceptable or unacceptable.

 

Sure, in theory, I agree with leaving feedback once payment is receive but in a real world of buttheads then leverage is needed to keep the jerks in line.

[ant]

i dont leave feedback to seller that do that! im not nocking u personaly i figure if they can do without 1 feedback so can i. if i would leave feedback to sellers holding out i would be in the 800 range

 

why would you need leverage? you are the seller. he is buyer. if he does his end by paying then he should get a posotive feedback.

 

how i see that is im BUYING a posotive. or choking down a bad item for the single feedback it would give

 

on another note:

 

ebay only gives a week as top choice. if the person had the item(s) for that long or more it would automaticly be a done deal anyway dont give feedback just get ebay to take the one away from yours then

[EZ_E]

If I've been in contact with the buyer and know they have the item and all is cool then I have no problem with leaving feedback first.

 

I have a guy now who won a large cent off of me 3 weeks ago. I sent the coin priority mail so I know he has it but I have not heard a peep out of him nor does he respond to any email so, yeah, I'll leave that weirdo hanging on feedback.

 

Besides, I don't collect the number of feedbacks. Once one establishes a decent track record then who cares?

 

I liked hearing your point of view though, Ant. Thanks. (thumbs u

[ant]

i feel your side there i have a list of 13 that havnt left feedback. but every so often i just send a reminder. they will get sick of it soon i guess it works both ways

 

thanks ez

[Oldtrader3]

I would nuke the glown if he is not mature enough to play metals speculator, that is not your problem. Fry him and negogiate later! I am trying to get a negative retaliatory feedback removed now and ebay won't do it because it is retaliatory and they can't find the stupid jerk that I got it from for mutual withdrawl. They won't give me his email so I can file with Square Trade so I am in this circular merry-go-round, similar to the Mad Hater tea party!

 

My neger has been inactive for over a year (suspended hopefully?). Anyhow I have been writing to ebay and they keep sending messages to the wrong Ebayer who is now mad at me because ebay is dislexic and can not read the sellers name and spell it right. So goes the sad tale of ebay incompetence and idiocy, call it another day dealing with Ebay. How do they stay in business?

[World Colonial]

Exactly, the transaction is over once the buyer has received the coin and not when they paid.

[EZ_E]

Exactly, the transaction is over once the buyer has received the coin and not when they paid.

 

Thank you.

[DC Dawg]

I also vote to neg. him and make sure you fit exactly what happened in 80 characters:

 

Wanted to return after silver prices fell even after given extra coins!

 

Scott

[RGT]

Exactly, the transaction is over once the buyer has received the coin and not when they paid.

 

Thank you.

 

At the risk of agreeing with Victor again I have to say that the deal is over when the buyer says it's over. Some buyers want it both ways. They want the seller to declare the deal over and post feedback after they get paid, but they still want to be able to whine, complain, post negative feedback and return the coin later.

 

The deal is over when it is over for both sides, and when I sell on eBay that's when I leave feedback. The buyer doesn't have to leave feedback first, but he does have to let me know that he received the coin and is happy with it.

 

For the record, I have never had whinning, complaining buyers. I have had two returns (one raw and one NGC coin) and both returns went well with positive feedback on both ends.