Argument with a buyer

[ozstockman]

I have a buyer who bought a wooden sign from me and then she went into an argument with me that my sign is "wood like laminate" and my item description is misleading because it is not a wooden sign,

I had explained her the whole process how  it was made from MDF with nothing laminated in it.  I provided her proof that MDF is a wooden material  and thus I can call a sign made from MDF a wooden sign. She wasted a lot of my time and was absolutely unreasonable. I offered her a refund from the beginning but reminded her terms and conditions and she would need to post the sign back to me at her own expense($1.20 for postage cost). I even pointed out that I do not do refunds according to my terms and conditions and only provide a store credit but I would make an exemption in her case and I would refund the item cost to her.

She refused to return the item and mentioned many times that she would leave either neutral or negative feedback during her argument about how I must describe my items.  I told her politely that she can leave any feedback she wants So she finally has left a negative one.

I have sold 100s of these signs in 3 years and everybody but her has been very happy with them. I even have some buyers coming back and buying more. 

I have blocked her from buying anything else from my store. I would recommend others to be very careful with  this person. I won't mention her id here but you can see who I am talking about in my feedback.

[digital*ghost]

I would be asking eBay to remove both the neg and neutral you received recently - the neg is a bit iffy because the listing doesn't say MDF (and I'm not arguing about whether it can be described as wooden, just that in my [limited] experience, eBay do tend to look for any reason NOT to remove a neg), but the neut stands a good chance because the measurements are noted in the description. 

[ozstockman]

I will try it but I do not think ebay will remove them.
"MDF" came up when I was trying to explain her that it is not "wood like laminate" I told her how it is made from MDF, painted and printed directly on MDF with a special flatbed printer. I also gave her links from Wiki and Bunnings that both describe MDF as a wooden material. I told her it is not misleading to say it is wooden if it is made from wooden material. She just did not listen and kept saying the description is wrong. The reason I do not want to add to the description it is made from MDF because from my experience a lot of people who is looking for finished products do not know what MDF is. Where I mention MDF in the item description some of buyers are asking me what MDF is. I believe some of them may not buy it if they do not know what it is. And going into details how MDF is made and what it s in the item description.. Lets say it is a lot of information to describe a small wooden sign that no manufacturer ever provides with their products.

[digital*ghost]

A few years back, they probably wouldn't have removed either, but it's worth a shot as they are a lot more inclined to remove bad feedback when the info is in the listing, especially comments like "not as big as I thought" etc and there were measurements. 

I understand your point about the description, as I'd never heard of MDF until your post, and I did look it up on Wikipedia - pretty sure now that I know what it is I once had a little name puzzle made from it, and I wouldn't have described it to someone as anything other than wooden (before or after knowing what MDF is). 

[thecatspjs]

Mmmm, I think that a natural wood product and MDF(significantly processed wood fibre) product are not really comparable, and have quite different qualities, monetary values, and "desirability.

I think the best descriptions are crystal clear about the product being sold, no ifs or buts. If there is confusion about what MDF is then put a few more explantory words in your description.

[ambridgebuckskins]

Hello Ozstockman (tis me, the dollhouse bits person who orders custom made stuff from you).

A lot of doll house kits are made from MDF. They are usually described as MDF Craft Wood if that helps any.

It's sort of wood but a man made thingy from wood.

You could get that neut removed by ringing eBay because the size is in your listing. I know a neut isn't meant to hurt but it does when the stars get dinged as well. Once the neut is gone, so are the star ratings.

You could try for the neg removal but that one might be on the whim of whoever you talk to. You'd have to make it clear that MDF is considered a wood in general terms and l don't fancy your chances of making that clear because technically it is a wood fibre board. Nothing lost by trying.

Don't let it get you down. You have terrific customer service and a great service.

[springyzone]

Three out of four of those neutral feedbacks should have been positives.

Whoever said to describe it as craft wood, or a type of wooden material, that might be the way to go.

[ozstockman]

Thank you guys.

As you can see I do not say it is made of natural wood. When it is made of natural wood I mention what type of wood it is. In case of MDF signs I simply do not know what kind of wood species have been used to make it.

I will consider mentioning MDF in my item descriptions for all wall/door signs I make. Although it is quite time consuming to do it for all my mdf signs and most important it will for sure scare away some potential buyers who have never heard of MDF. So far there have been no problems with hundreds of  signs like this one purchased by my customers. This is just a first one.

I have sent two feedback revisions but it seems that I have not done it in a right way. They have been sent to  the actual buyers and the one with the negative feedback has refused it already. What a surprise!  

I have found another form to submit a revision to ebay and sent them a request for the negative feedback. Now I am waiting for ebay to take an action. Hope they will do the right thing. And may be the buyer with the neutral feedback will consider to revise her/his feedback as well.

These things do not usually let me down but they take a lot of time to deal with. That's the most disapointing thing in all this.

[thecatspjs]

I think it is always better to ring ebay to request feedback removal - they will review on the spot and give you an answer there and then.

Haven't heard of a seller having success via email, that being said, it might be that they just haven't come to the boards to brag about it lol.

[digital*ghost]

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@thecatspjs wrote:

Haven't heard of a seller having success via email, that being said, it might be that they just haven't come to the boards to brag about it lol.

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That's how I got my neg removed (took 24 hours, or there abouts). I'd say it's the exception to the rule, and I emailed because it required the least amount of effort, so nothing to brag about...