Buyer aggression

[vintagelot888]

I have operated on ebay for over 18 years. Up until three days ago I had 100% positive feedback and then bang bang two in a row. If they werent different names you would almost think it is the same person bothing leaving feedback in bold. Yes I had a disaster. We had a weather event and without realising two of my items were damaged unknown to me. I prepared the postage label which I can get no refund for but then when I got them out realised there was small damage. I contacted the buyers explained and apologised. There was a space of two days for one and the other I offered a further discount but heard nothing. So, I fully refunded and sent these through again with an apology. I heard nothing, until three weeks later and as I say one following the other left negative feedback. I emailed them and I sent through a request for a review hoping they would communicate with me. One said no to review and did not contact further. However, the second said that they had sent many emails and I did not answer them. I didnt receive their emails. I only blocked this seller after I had fully refunded them and received no communication. The buyer is saying I now have to sell the item to them at the reduced price and not to do so is a breach of contract.  They also said that unless I sell them the item now at a reduced price they will not remove the feedback but if I do they will remove it. I have contacted ebay and no concern for them re the bribery and threat of breach of contract. even though Ebay have advised and I quote ' I see the massages and be assured you have not breached the contract here. It seems that the buyer faced some temporary issue while sending you emails and there is no issue from your end.' I have explained to both buyers that I am 70 and have health issues and dont need this type of communication. I have also gone out of my way over the years to help buyers and often myself have experienced cancellations. It seems there is little empathy any more or even reasonable behaviour. I am still at a loss what to do. I have now blocked both buyers as I dont want to have to deal with them anymore but this has been a really bad experience and one which makes me want to leave ebay altogether.

[twyngwyn]

You need to develop a thick skin, have a good night's sleep, and move past this.

You are lucky you have never had red dots before.....they will eventually disappear....it won't affect your sales.

Your responses to f/b sound ok....

Take the 'emotion' out of it; tomorrow is a new day 🙂

[brickworksmarket]

If you have a message saying buyer will remove negative feedback if you do what they say you should be able to get it removed as feedback extortion but will need to speak to someone at ebay to do this. Postage if not used can sometimes be refunded depending on who you used as well.

[davewil1964]

Save the paragraph.

I can't add to what you've already been told, but punctuation, as you well know, is a dying art. Help revive it.

[sugar249]

A.  you can get a refund for your postage,  just need to apply in time.  So if you realised while packing, you should have cancelled the labels immediately.

B. All negative feedback is in bold, so this is not buyer aggression

C.  Doesnt matter what age you are,  buyers can leave negative feedback if you do the wrong thing by them.

D. Leaving negative feedback is not attacking someone to stop sales,  it is a method for letting other buyers know they have had issues,  and yes it may stop sales, but the lesson is be more careful.

E.  I note you yourself have left negative feedback on several occasions, for sellers,  does this mean you did it to attack those sellers.  

Whats that old saying goose and gander.

Davewill is this better.  LOL

[westcoastreuse]

I hear you! I too have been on eBay for over 18 years and now I just leave a very detailed reply (this never used to be an option) explaining how I did everything I could to help and refund etc... and then leave it up to the buyers looking at your feedback to read both sides and realize that you did nothing wrong. This way the negative feedback, when viewed, can be seen for what it is. The only effect it has is on your feedback percentage which if it is 99% or more then I would not consider that an issue at all.

Hope this helps!

[springyzone]

I have read your two negs.

I don't feel they were aggressive at all. Quite the opposite.  The top one just says he has no idea what is going on, seems to be bad comms and even adds best wishes.

I suspect that buyer is telling the truth and there was some glitch in the system. You say you blocked them but I thought all messages about a past sale could still get through, so no idea what happened there.

The neg under that, I think the buyer has been confused because you generated a postage label, which may have shown to the buyer as item posted or on its way and the buyer has assumed this meant lodged at the post office. He then concluded you lied as otherwise how could you cancel etc

Okay, you have had a bad run. It is over though. You've refunded, you have no more to do. It is unpleasant when you feel you have been knocked unfairly but try to see the point of view of at least the 348 feedback buyer. They sent many messages, with no reply. You'd probably feel peeved too.

And reading between the lines with the other buyer, he has had a few bad buying experiences lately. Either cancellations or items not as described. He's a bit fed up with it too. And that's fair enough.

Just move on, put it behind you, If you are feeling sick of ebay, maybe take a break or cut back on the number of listings till you get your mojo back.