Please HELP!! out of stock item sold & marked posted!

[stylesilver]

I sold a necklace that I no longer have in stock. Somehow I must have relisted it. THEN TO MAKE MATTERS worse,I marked it posted before I packed order. I had 3 orders to send from weekend (who hoo, had a couple of sales!). Then as I was packing them off & checking addresses I thought "Yup! sending those 3 today" so marked them posted. Went to pack them realized 1 was out of stock. Sooo it's marked sent but I dont have it. So of course I've contacted customer & offered another item (or their choice) to a higher value instead, plus a free gift. Didnt hear back. So now Ive offered the,their money back & I'll still send a gift foir their trouble!! Havent heard back yet . SOOOO.... what can I do to make sure I dont get Negative Feedback. Can I give them their money back & then they cant leave me feedback? Or because I stupidly ticked SENT before double checking I had item - they can still do it.OR can I go into Paypal & cancel order (after I've marked sent?) Cant see anywhere to cancel a sent item on Ebay! At this point just trying to avoid Neg Feedback! As cant afford that with these already slooowww sales?

[trustykeiley23]

That is what I would do also.good advice X

[curraone]

Just do the refund NOW.

[digital*ghost]

If it ever happens again and the item is available elsewhere, you could always purchase it and have it sent directly to your buyer.

If I'm offering a time-sensitive choice to a buyer like this, I say I can do X or Y, but need to advise that if I'm not able to confirm their preference by X date, I'll do [path of least resistance, which is usually full refund). 

[stylesilver]

Yes I have done the refund! No probs there!

[stylesilver]

Yes Digi - that was the sort of thing I was trying to do still. I was looking to see if I could find her a smiilar one. But there wasnt one with the same symbol anywhere in Oz - only in USA. So couldnt help her. And to everyone - I was trying to look thru my stock as I had seen one with this symbol incorporated into it- & then find out if she'd like this instead....that was why I didnt refund straight away. But I wasnt getting an answer from her & at 1st I didnt know she needed urgently - she didnt say soooo... I assumed it was a Xmas present & thought she'd be more annoyed if I just cancelled it & she had to start looking again. Anyway thanks everyone for your help!!  

[stylesilver]

Actually I wrote the wrong days on my post- she bought it Monday - I realized I didnt have it Tuesday (yesterday), started contacting her then, but still hadnt heard from her by today & panicked when I realized she would be expecting it as I marked it posted. So thanks again everyone - WILL NEVER MARK POSTED  till it is!

[davewil1964]

I would be more concerned about a defect for out of stack than a negative.

You get very few of those (2%) before you are below standard, whereas negs no longer affect your selling ability.

0.5% OOS or unresolved disputes will lose you your TRS (if you have it).

[collect247]

Like davewil1964 said defects are far worse than negative feedback lol,I should know because defects are what got me kicked off ebay.

So all sellers should know the difference between a negative feedback or a defect,too many of the latter ebay will say to you (see ya latter).

[lane-ends]

TBH they did not get what they expected so by definition it was a negative buying experience, it was not a positive buying experience, all you are doing is your best damage control.

One thing I do is acknowledge they are peaved and I leave them a pos fb saying prompt payment  BEFORE they leave FB, eg "unfortunately due to accidental relist I had to cancel; sorry." This MAY satisfy their need to have it noted, appreciate youir honesty and prevent them leaving you a neg.

Sometimes in cases like this I ask buyer if they would like an alternative or prefer I cancel the sale and give refund. Then if they want to refund I select buyer request cancellation rather than out of stock. Technically this is incorrect but most of the time buyer doesn'tr care what you select and they have asked to cancel and so it avoids a defect. Its only if you refund without an agreement/communication with buyer you cant avoid a defect.

Lots of sincere apologies for any disapointment or inconvieniece caused etc.

[stylesilver]

MMMM... a bit lateral thinking  (plus a bit of; you say tomartoes, I say tomate toes) Thats a good one, particually if the persons too busy to correct it AND then they CANTgive you any feedback at all?? Is that right? Cos they "requested" the cancelletion- which they did, in a way, because you gave them other replacement choices. Ties it all up neatly if it works?? (I did totally apologise- right from the start!! & I was VERY sorry) but I find it sooo time consuming checking all stock levels & doing spot checks to see that something hasnt accidently been relisted.