Defunkd

[maxvintage]

Well, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone left bad feedback for me due to a clearly described flaw with a shirt, and it's now happened.

I sent them a note as well as replied to their feedback. Also asked for a feedback revision request and filed a report for feedback manipulation.

Did I miss anything? I'm guessing that's about all I can do, but wanted to check in with the community to see if anyone else had any advice.

Here's a link to my feedback where you can see what I'm talking about: http://tinyurl.com/cnazyf7

My guess is that the buyer simply didn't read the description or look at the pictures. In any event........

[jimmyj]

[waxandthreads]

Ouch. Never fun. We have a method we use that has worked nicely for us so far. 1st, we try to remove all emotion and ego from the situation. Think strictly from a business standpoint and not let it feel personal. Then we try to take the blame and put it on ourselves (no matter what) and apologize. Since the internet is so impersonal, it's easy for the buyer to act like a jerk to some unknown person, so we try to actually use their first name and ours as well (humanizes the situation). Then the most important part is sending the feedback revision request. We never send it until we can tell the anger is gone and we have a chance at getting it revised. If they deny the request because they're still mad, you're screwed. You only get one shot so we never send it until we know it's safe. Haha I'm sure we went a little overboard thinking this out, but we still have 100% so we're sticking to it.
*if the buyer purchased shirt on Ebay mobile, they might not have seen the pics of flaws since they're embedded into the listing (even though they were mentioned).

[maxvintage]

Wax & Threads -

Thanks for the kind words of advice. I pretty much did exactly as you had mentioned.

Sent the buyer several very kind, well-though out notes (none of which I've heard back from) & even called the buyer as another vintage seller advised.

On the phone, the buyer didn't really seem to want to work anything out. I offered a full refund and said they could keep the shirt. They admitted to not looking at all the photos and said they didn't read the full description. The response to that was something to the effect "well, maybe I'll go look at the original listing."

Believe me, it took all I had to be nice and sincere because the buyer clearly was negligent.

Seems like this is a pretty big hole in ebay's feedback system. I mean, in all honesty I could buy a tee and then leave bad feedback because it's not a sweatshirt or something. Seems like buyers need to be held to some kind of accountability, especially when it's something as easy as looking at pictures and reading the description.

[waxandthreads]

Damn. That sucks. Hopefully you can get that worked out with him. Funny how much a neg feedback can change your mood. I have revenge fantasies whenever we get one haha. Luckily you've got amazing shirts in your inventory and I seriously doubt that blemish would deter any serious buyer from making a confident purchase.
*I can send him an envelope full of boogers if you want. He'll never suspect anything with a Tennessee return address*

[maxvintage]

It sucks indeed.

I spent about a hour on the phone today with 3 different folks at ebay. There's not much they can do now because she still has 2 days before the feedback revision request expires.

The folks at ebay seemed sympathetic and sincere, but they reiterated that there isn't much they can do. They confirmed many of my analogies though. Said I could buy wine glasses and then leave bad feedback b/c they aren't shot glasses and that there would be nothing that could be done. Ha!

I guess since the buyer is relatively new to ebay and this is the only feedback she's ever left, there might be a case for manipulation though. The ole' wait and see now.

[hermosavtg]

Any happy resolution to this case?

I've received a few negatives like this. I'll contact the buyer and offer a refund, but I've never gotten a response back from one.

[maxvintage]

Hey Hermosa,

Thanks for the concern. Unfortunately, nothing good to report yet. She never replied to the feedback revision request and has been pretty unresponsive this whole time. I doubt much happens though.