Seller Ratings and Feedback

[mitsfix]

2 Topics here

First Topic, Seller Ratings

Buyers now and again do not receive an item because they are not home when Aust Post arrives, they claim did not see the card or what ever and then all of a sudden they send a request "where is my item, not recevied"  Often when this happens a quick phone call to the buyer sorts it out and then they close the case.

So then why does E-Bay call this a defect which then affects the seller rating.  Especially when we put the tracking details into the item on the day it is sent which for us is often the same day or always by the following day.

Looking through our 19 defects which have taken us from top rated back to above standard, 5 of these 19 were items claimed not to have been recevied when all were sent and 4 of these were still waiting at the post office for the buyer to collect and 1 had been returned to us because the buyer thought we should drive from Vic to Qld and hand deliver it (yes unfortunately I am deadly serious)

This moves me onto the next topic...Feedback
I have had 2 Negative in the last few months, one I have absolutely no idea why, was left nearly 2 months after item received and no response to messages.  Second item again buyer made claims and refused to return messages or calls to try and resolve.  There is nothing we can do about either of these apparently because the "buyer said so"

2 Nutrals, 1 was our fault, we messed up but did resolve, unfortunately buyer thought neutral was appropiate and can not argue even though we let him keep the wrong part for no cost and sent replacement.  Second Neutral however buyer purchased incorrect item (were tyres), never paid and never turned up.  Claimes we had wrong hours showing which was not the case.  E-Bay state that buyer has to remove or resolve and tuff luck for us if he does not

All this makes it very hard sometimes to do business on e-bay, has anyone found solutions to these issues.  Is not always the sellers fault.  I notice PayPal now hold funds immediately if a buyer claims an issue has happened, have 1 at the moment where buyer brought incorrect item, refuses to return it but PayPal have held funds.  Not fair on the seller at all

[joethenuts]

it would be nice if aus post rang the doorbell ,thats why we have one.mmmm  it was quiet late and if i did not see him  it would still be out there now until the morning .for anybody to take

[lyndal1838]

So put in a complaint to the delivery service.  Was it AP?

[joethenuts]

yes aus post.  whoes going to listen , I got my package , no good complaining to them on what could of happened.

[lyndal1838]

But if you put in a complaint that the driver did not even ring the bell he will get a warning.  Too many warnings and he gets the sack.

Personally I am very happy to have parcels left...I have had a safe drop authorisation in place for many years and my parcels are always left in a waterproof bin out of sight of the street.

[springyzone]

Lyndall said:

So put in a complaint to the delivery service.  Was it AP?

Joe replied:

yes aus post.  whoes going to listen , I got my package , no good complaining to them on what could of happened.

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You're probably right there, Joe, but I did have to have a bit of a smile when i read it because earlier you advised people:

 everybody is now complaining about ebay delivery dates , as someone has said they come from aust post, but nobody complains to aus post , why dont all of you complain to them , 

Fingers crossed it stays this way but I don't usually have any problems with aust post. Years ago I did have some complaints about slow delivery & I made the complaint online, it's as easy as. They followed it up too.

Just be sure if you are complaining, that you jot down the dates etc & exactly what happened.Even keep envelopes with date stamps etc as evidence. You can then say look it was posted on such and such a date & didn't arrive for x number of days.

They do listen.

[harley_babes_hoard]

Joe for people like myself who live only 10 minutes out of nearest town but still far enough away that couriers like fastways, toll, startrack, DHL will not delivery to my house. These all get delivery to my local courier who then once a week will delivery to my area. If I miss that day then I have to wait a full week unless I drive into town myself and get it.

The nearest office works is 50 mins away the nearest pack and send is 25 mins away, that's one way. with the cost of petrol for a for at least a 50 min round trip it is not viable. So as you can see for some of us Australia Post is the only option.

[joethenuts]

all i am saying harley is , its no good people complaing that aust post takes 7 days just to get to the same state ,   either stay with the same service or try and get a better service .  sorry if you can call that service .

[wendshees-rocks]

I had a buyer send me a message about 4 weeks ago to say his item hadn't arrived. It should have taken 3 days at the most, and this was nearly 3 weeks later. I was so relived that he sent a message rather than open a dispute. A few days ago he left positive feedback, which I only noticed today, saying that the item didn't arrive and a full refund was issued. Ripper!

Then I noticed my defect rate had increased. I checked, and sure enough he trashed my stars for item description. It got the better of me, because how can someone rate an item they didn't get? I decided to send eBay a message. I didn't ring as it was nearly time to leave for work.

I pointed out that the item hadn't arrived, I issued a no questions asked refund and wondered how someone could rate an item not described for something they'd not laid eyes on. I was expecting them to say they couldn't remove the defect, but I got home from work tonight and lo and behold, they accepted my request and are removing the defect!

Most people in this forum will advise to ring eBay when there's an issue, but that's 3 times in as many weeks that they have removed an unfair defect via email (I would still advise to ring in most cases though).

I would try calling them (or use the callback option to get them to ring you) and stating your case (in a civil manner). If you don't have any luck, ask to speak to a supervisor. If you feel the defects have been left unfairly, you might be lucky enough to have them removed.

[5kazam]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

Officeworks uses Fastway, which are arguably the most complained about courier company in Australia.

I would rather send something by Aust Post than use Fastway.  The biggest misnomer for a company name ever.  

Had a recent booking for a pickup on a Thursday.  Rang at 3.45pm to find out if it was still being collected.  'Driver has had a breakdown, will be first collection in the morning'.  (Pigs in formation).  Rang 10.00am Friday to advise still sitting at my front door.  Was assured that 'no matter what time it was collected during the day, the line-hauls don't leave till 8.00pm, so will be delivered on Monday to recipient.'  Collected at 12.00pm.  Delivery happened on Tuesday.   

This was a private sale, but I still felt I had egg on face due to a courier company being so inefficient.

Whether it is private sale, FB, or eBay, I always check whether AP or courier is the cheapest, and give the buyer the choice on which option to take.  (And 99% of what I send cannot go in satchels.  eg. the above Fastway pick up was a 50x40x40cm box).

Had a request for post cost today from Melbourne to WA postcode 6751 - Tom Price area.  Aust Post definitely cheaper than courier (but still expensive).

IMO there are pros and cons for using either AP or courier service.  Some relating to cost, but also, and more importantly, recipient location.

[digital*ghost]

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@wendshee wrote:

Then I noticed my defect rate had increased. I checked, and sure enough he trashed my stars for item description. It got the better of me, because how can someone rate an item they didn't get? I decided to send eBay a message. I didn't ring as it was nearly time to leave for work.

I pointed out that the item hadn't arrived, I issued a no questions asked refund and wondered how someone could rate an item not described for something they'd not laid eyes on. I was expecting them to say they couldn't remove the defect, but I got home from work tonight and lo and behold, they accepted my request and are removing the defect!

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Glad to hear they removed it - as well they should - but I think they are partly responsible for causing it in the first place. At least, someone seemed to think not receiving an item was reasonable justification for deciding the description was inaccurate. This only pops up if you click on a low star, but the first option to select basically affirms the idea that it's ok to do so: