November 18, 2015

Resolving a Negative Feedback on eBay

About once a year, I get dinged with a negative feedback on eBay. Fate swooped in on my 34th birthday and dispensed me one just yesterday and I figured that I should post about how I resolved it.

Math up front. On average I sell 15-20 items per week and though I leave feedback for all my buyers, I usually receive a 10% return feedback as a seller and am luckily still running at a 100% positive. I offer free shipping (which I bundle into the Buy it Now price) and 14 day returns on all my items which gets me into Top Rated/Powerseller status and that fly final value fee discount. My average checkout price is close to 17.00, not high ticket so this formula works for me.

What Happened This Time? I sold a battery charger roughly 40 days ago, it powered up fine and seemed to charge the one battery I had just fine. The item sold just over 20.00 Buy it Now and shipped in a priority mail padded envelope (5.20 via eBay). The buyer contacted me directly at my Paypal email address, not within the eBay messages system about 37 days after the purchase letting me know the item was defective/didn’t charge batteries to 100%. I missed it, flat out and 3 days after bam, negative feedback.

What now? Be honest. A little customer service hustle is coming your way but start by protecting your back. First thing I did was call eBay. You can get a call in number from the help tab in the top right, just roll through the guide letting them know you’re a seller and you’re having a problem with a return. You will be presented with an 800 number and a code identifying your account. This step is always #1 for me, as the CS rep at eBay will pull up the item and begin to file case notes on the issue. I let them know the buyer contacted me outside of the eBay messaging system after the return period and that I’m willing to work with the buyer to get them refunded. eBay loves this and with my price point on many items, eating the loss is more digestible than having that red mark next to my name (this can differ based on your inventory & business model!)

Contact the Customer: I always use eBay messages for buyer communication. This is the breadcrumb trail that will save you as long as you’re an honest seller looking to deliver kick ass customer service. In past situations more difficult than the one I’m writing about today eBay reps looked into my communication thread with the buyer and resolved a dispute in my favor, so this is key. I contacted the customer letting them know I was sorry for the item not operating anticipated and that I wanted to do it right by them:

“I just saw the feedback and am terribly sorry! I checked my ebay messages and didn’t see any inbound communication from you regarding the faulty charger. I just checked my paypal email inbox and did see a message that was filtered into a folder for some reason or another. I am dreadfully sorry for missing it, I do all of my buyer communication here on eBay and not through my paypal email address.

None of that is your fault however. I’d love to give you a 100% refund on the item as I guarantee that on all items I sell when something is at fault. Let me know if we can work this out and discuss the feedback. Ebay and customer service are vital to my wife and I.”

The Reply: This worked out in my favor, the customer was willing to accept a full refund AND revise their feedback. That is really where I stress the full refund/bend over backward customer service as simply asking a disenfranchised buyer to do ANYTHING for you requires the best bridge you can build with the tools you have. In case you don’t have it handy, here is a link to the eBay Feedback Forum where you can request a buyer revise their negative or neutral feedback after working the case in their favor. Contrarily, if a buyer isn’t willing to work with you on feedback revision, you can at least respond to a negative feedback. If it comes down to that, I strongly recommend finger pointing and highlighting any and all areas where you attempted to remedy the problem. This is your only chance to redeem your reputation to a massive audience.

The Result: I’m out a faulty battery charger, 5 or so bucks to the USPS and the profit on the charger. I’m not happy that the cash departed my Paypal account but what I am happy with is the revised feedback that will keep my reputation where it was and my weekly average sales volume trending up. One thing Ive noticed in my 10+ years on eBay both with my own account and managing other retail accounts is that once you get that one negative feedback, other buyers who may have not been inclined to leave feedback at all jump on the negative feedback train. Generating a single positive feedback requires a LOT of work and though I hate to say it, saying unkind things on the internet comes naturally to many (thanks YouTube…)

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Thanks as always for reading, share your thoughts!

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