What feedback is appropriate for this transaction?

[wozbond]

Purchased two items on the same day.

First a pair of LED Festoon globes from Sydney, so I could start on a project quickly. I was willing to pay a modest premium of $3.50 for swifter local delivery. (351467663853)

Secondly, another pair of LED Festoon globes from China to use as spares. $0.82 which were delivered 18 days later. (371615812913)

Chinese item posted immediately. Sydney item posted after three business days. One of the two local globes was defective, and rather than going through eBay money back guarantee, I gave the seller the opportunity to resolve more out of curiosity than anything.

Seller requested extra money for the one working globe and he would resend pair. I replied I didn't want a pair, but just the single replacement. Seller argued that the pair couldn't be split, and I countered that the minimum I expect is a single replacement, but a smart operator would send a pair to negate the possibility of the replacement also being defective. I made sure I didn't use the word 'feedback', because I certainly didn't want to be accused of feedback extortion. Seller countered with replacement is ready to post, but first, would I like to buy anything else at a discount. The attempted upsale took the number of days wasted in communication to five. In the end, my replacement pair arrived - five days after the working Chinese pair arrived.

What feedback is appropriate, and if a similar thing was to happen again, should I just use the eBay money back guarantee?

[digital*ghost]

Feeback is an assessment from your point of view, so I'm personally loath to suggest anything specific in these kinds of circumstances. I will say, though, it's probably best to simply assess the transaction on its own merit, not in comparison to any others.

It sounds like the problem was ultimately resolved, so overall a successful transaction, but with some notable drawbacks, so what you really need to decide is if the positive outcome outweighs the drawbacks, cancel each other out, or the drawbacks outweigh the positive outcome.

(Here, I will just speak as a seller - if an item is faulty, I personally send a replacement for that item. I do not send extras to "hedge my bets", but I will test things where appropriate to ensure the replacements are not going to cause any issues. I may send extras to compensate if the buyer has been greatly inconvenienced by the fault, but that's usually if I actually made a mistake with the order, not just if the product itself was unknowingly faulty, so I don't exactly agree that an extra should have been expected, if it was. I would not ever attempt to get the buyer to buy other items either, but sometimes they do, and in those cases I provide free postage because I would have been paying for postage to send replacements anyway). 

[springyzone]

I'd cut the local operator some slack

 I think it depends on how a transaction is handled.

To me, there would be no harm in him offering you alternatives. He could have said he would send a spare replacement but would you instead be interested in paying a (discounted extra amount for one globe) and he would send a pair so that you had a spare.

Probably these globes do come in pairs, so what he was trying to do was get you to pay for having a third one.

What was a bit wrong was his approach.

But let's look at it as a whole.

1. Posting time. What does his ad say? Normally, I would think a seller who leaves it till day 3 is slightly slack but still within acceptable limits. It's not 5 star service though, fairly average.

2. Dealing with issues. Didn't get off to a great start but did enter discussion & did resolve the issue and did send a replacement.

For me personally, I would give them positive feedback but mark down the stars on a couple of the areas & in the comment you could say it took a while to resolve.

I had a somewhat similar transaction a few weeks back, over a minor purchase from a local seller, where I wasn't sure what to do with FB either. The item took a week or two to arrive and when it did it was twisted, defective. I was just going to put up with it but thought-no one else seems to. So I took photos & sent a polite message to the seller to let them know the problem. They were very good with their replies, I must say, and promised to send a replacement. It took over 2 weeks to arrive though and missed the occasion i had bought it for. What is more, I had to pick it up from the post office and pay $2.50 postage because the $1 stamp they put on the pack didn't cover it.

I suppose I was lucky the first had arrived without excess postage charges!

I gave them positive FB, mainly as I got my items & they tried to fix the probolem.

But it is up to you, go with how you feel about the overall transaction.

[padi*0409]

Looks like a neut already left springy...........

[wozbond]

I am an advocate of giving people the benefit of the doubt, but I'm still astonished you gave your seller positive feedback.

As already pointed out by another poster, I've opted to leave neutral feedback. Starting to seriously question why I should purchase anything locally if sellers don't post for three business days. I might as well buy everything overseas for a fifth of the price and wait one extra week. That Supercheap Auto wanted $15 for a globe that costs 41 cents from China with free delivery was a real eye-opener.

Thanks all posters for your input.

[springyzone · Accepted solution]

I did mull over what was appropriate, wozband and I agree with you that my seller probably deserved a neutral, given that postage was slow and I had to cough up $2.50 in excess postage costs to collect the item.

I think overall it was a disappointing transaction but the fact they did send a replacement & were pleasant is what swayed me, given the whole item including postage was only $9.95 in the first place, from memory. I just decided to cut them some slack.

But don't let it turn you off buying from locals, on the whole I have had some great deals from Australian sellers at very cheap prices and wonderful service. The quick service is what i particularly love, no waiting for weeks and weeks.

[*tippy*toes*]

---

@wozbond wrote:

I am an advocate of giving people the benefit of the doubt, but I'm still astonished you gave your seller positive feedback.

As already pointed out by another poster, I've opted to leave neutral feedback. Starting to seriously question why I should purchase anything locally if sellers don't post for three business days. I might as well buy everything overseas for a fifth of the price and wait one extra week. That Supercheap Auto wanted $15 for a globe that costs 41 cents from China with free delivery was a real eye-opener.

Thanks all posters for your input.

---

Because not all eBay sellers are full time eBay sellers. Some have regular jobs and can't always post every day. I have a 5 day handling time to cover those instances. Most of the time I can post within 24 hours, but there have been a few times where I have worked 7am -6pm 3 days in a row, meaning I can't get to the PO on those days. I always send the buyer a message if that's the case, even though my handling time allows me 5 days and it's clearly stated in my listings.

I guess you won't be buying anything from me then. That's not such a bad thing. I prefer buyers that contact me if there's a problem rather than just go for the grey or red button.

[digital*ghost]

I have been cursed with a blank "post" trigger finger  

Anyway...

---

@wozbond wrote:

Starting to seriously question why I should purchase anything locally if sellers don't post for three business days. I might as well buy everything overseas for a fifth of the price and wait one extra week.

---

Depends on your priorities. 3 business days for order processing is actually pretty decent in the grand scheme of things, and really not an extraordinarily long time. There are some very high volume businesses (all over the world) that take significantly longer than that. 

[wozbond]

You're absolutely right that it's not appropriate to just go the grey or red button. That's why I sent the seller half a dozen emails to try to resolve the situation.

At the moment, with Australia Post stretching out its delivery times to five days once they get their hands on the parcel, I'm finding local items are arriving after six business days, whereas items from overseas are arriving after about 13 business days.

If I'm wanting to start a project quickly, and I'm not prepared to pay an 800 per cent markup from a bricks and mortar shop, it's become a choice between waiting over a week, or waiting twice as long for less for half the price. Given both options now have a significant wait involved, the local option has become far less appealing than it was two or three years ago.

Again, thanks to all posters for their input.

[*tippy*toes*]

If you need something urgently to start a project, have you asked the local sellers if they could post express for you? Obviously you would let them know you're happy to pay the extra cost. Most sellers don't mind sending express if asked and it's not listed as an option in the postage section. You just need to wait for them to send an invoice with the higher postage cost.