Contacting buyers who leave negative feedback

[easywaylamps2005]

Hi All,

Looking for some advice...just when I thought I had made it out of the Ebay game without any negatives...it happens...

My main question: Is there any point in contacting a buyer who has left a negative? And my second question: What do I say?

Do I offer my assistance and wait for them to ask for a refund? Do I offer a refund straight up (with the appropriate condolences) and hope they'll be kind when I send them a feedback revision after it's sorted?

In regards to the negative, I'm not 100% sure it's deserved. The buyer has complained of one item being longer than the other and accused me of altering it to be that way but they ordered 2 different styles which were different lengths.

I don't mind refunding but I'm still offloading the last of my stuff so would like to do so without a negative. Thanks in advance!

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

This may be easier for me to do / say, but I don't contact anyone who leaves negs or neuts for an issue without any contact from them for resolution. I just leave a calm and factual reply, which includes mentioning there's options available if not happy etc, and leave it at that. 

My reasoning is - if a buyer wants to tell me something, and acheive a solution to a problem, they need to contact me. Feedback is for telling the rest of the eBay community something.

Others may be a little more tolerant than me of buyer error / misunderstanding like this, but I really can't bring myself to contact someone who thinks it's OK to do something like that, and try to amicably reach a resolution for them.

[easywaylamps2005]

Thanks DG. Ultimately I think you're right. When I wrote my post, I was panicking about receiving my first neg and how to sort it out.

It doesn't matter that much to me in this case but it's a bit unfortunate that it comes down to sellers to be the better person and contact a buyer if they want to remove a negative feedback. Appreciate your reply! 🙂

[springyzone]

Did you get the neg under a different account name, as I can't see any.

Regardless, I would be like DG and reply to the neg and state the facts that way.

I certainly would not be giving a refund etc unless ebay/paypal forced it on me.

My reasoning is if they are illogical or unreasonable with their comments then they aren't likely to change their feedback anyway.

In the circumstances, I think you would be quite okay to send a polite message to explain that you are sorry they were disappointed but they bought two different styles which were different lengths and you can assure them you did not alter either one.

But don't offer a refund, just the bald explanation.

If they give an argumentative reply, I would not get into any further discussion, just leave it.

Honestly, a neg isn't the end of the world as far as other buyers go. Most are able to see if a buyer is unreasonable, especially if there is a clear explanation by a seller.

[jensmanchester-australia · Accepted solution]

I always contact buyers if they leave non positive feedback.

There can be number of reasons why they leave non positive feedback without contacting a seller first and one common reason is that they have had a bad experience with a previous seller who wasn't willing to try and resolve an issue so therefore the buyer considers it a waste of time to try and contact the sellers.

Over the years I have had a number of buyers more than happy to revise the feedback they have left once they realise I am willing to try and sort out any problem they might have.

[chameleon54]

I havnt got the patience to argue with someone who has left a neg. I just leave a factual response such as. " Buyer purchased two different items. They where different sizes. Always happy to sort problems out when contacted "

I dont think one Neg. makes nmuch difference, but I wouldnt want to start a collection of them. 

[easywaylamps2005]

Thanks for all the responses guys!

Yes, it was under another account which I'm finishing up with.

I left a feedback reply advising that if they were unhappy/item was faulty/had any issues, they were welcome to contact me.

I think you also give good advice jensmanchester-australia and I will consider it. As well as the polite explantory message springzone suggested. I'm just worried about a negative response since the buyer already accused me of altering the item myself...so I see your viewpoint too chameleon54.

On a positive note, I've made a few sales since the negative so hopefully it won't cause too many issues even if it has to remain 🙂

[go-tazz]

I received a positive feedback with Thank you very much,but I found sound does not work.

So I checked their feedback and they posted the same comment for the item that they bought before mine

from another seller,(it's a similar DVD to the one they bought from me).

So I sent them a message asking if they had checked their speakers as the problem might be with their

sound,(I also ran them through trouble shooting sound problems).

I've received no reply from them and I wont be contacting them again,(at least it's positive but the words sound

negative).