Frustrating feedback...

[teap0t42]

Just got a negative for 'slow delivery'.

What makes this frustrating is it actually arrived with the buyer *before* the despatch window ended, never mind the delivery window.

I was pretty sure it was coming as he emailed two days after paying accusing me of being lazy for not bothering to post his order. I have despatch set at 5 days and use 2nd class, the only way he'd have got his order by then was if I'd posted it immediately after payment!

As it happens, I had actually posted it already when he emailed - I wish I hadn't as I could have cancelled the order. He did ask for a refund because I'd not posted it - presumably via email as the automated system wouldn't allow a refund request that early?

I've tried appealing the feedback as he's blatantly asking for something not offered in the listing (rapid despatch) but I suspect eBay will just say it's the buyers opinion.

Why does it always seem to happen that just when your last lot of undeserved negs are about to drop off, another couple come along which eBay refuse to address?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Well to be fair, 5 day dispatch is a very long time.

And as most customers don't even bother to read the description of a listing, it really isn't that surprising, that they don't see the estimated delivery.

If you can, your far better off dispatching much more quickly.

If not, then I would suggest that you add something to the listing, to make it very clear to customers of the delivery time.

But I wouldn't be too bothered about the odd neg.  No matter what you do, you will always get the odd customer that will post negative, no matter how good the experience!

[teap0t42]

It's a part time business which I fit in alongside my day job. Offering any shorter a despatch time means I'd be at risk of missing it when things get busy.

Edit: I should add, I'm not selling commodity items. They are all designed and manufactured by myself. That means I need to allow extra time for that part of the business and, quite frankly, there is value to my customers in my being that closely involved in the product. I can offer advice that a pure retailer can't as I understand the product. Customers not appreciating that and leaving negs because I don't ship immediately just make me want to give up on the whole thing.

I used to offer 3 day but when delivery estimates came in and were persistently incorrect I got too much negative feedback. Also, Royal Mail's poor performance and eBay's inability to differentiate between delivery and despatch meant I was getting poor DSRs for despatch.

It isn't actually having a neg that bothers me so much, it's the fact that when you get two in a fairly short space of time it really punishes your visibility. This is normally the peak time of year for me, but due to these two negs I'm selling about half what I was a couple of weeks ago.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

That's fair enough.  But I would suggest that you at least add something in to your listing description, that tells customers what to expect.

And unless you are falling below standard, a couple of negs have no effect on your visibility.

[the-nutwood-collection]

Add the buyer to your BBL (if you haven't already done it).

Respond to the neg with a factual explanation that the item arrived before the despatch window closed and before the latest EDD.

You could ring CS in Ireland and ask to have the neg removed because it was unwarranted.  However, you've probably got better things to do with your time.  eBay's feedback system is the pits.

My first neg was in a December.  The buyer was trying to get a refund, and then collect from the PO, but I thwarted her.  Having been deprived of a freebie, she left a neg.

The following December, the neg dropped off to be replaced by another that said that the colour of the fibre didn't match the colour on his monitor.  Could have requested a return, but didn't.  His feedback showed that he was a serial neg leaver.

Like so many aspects of eBay, the feedback system is just not fit for purpose.  It was valid ten or twenty years ago, but now it should be scrapped - like the tired and out of date design of the interface.

[fashionista27]

Do not hesitate to contact ebay about removing that negative feedback. If you posted the item within the timeframe specified in your listing from my experience ebay will remove that feedback. You are not at fault. 

[forestfeline62]

My partner has had that ,he always posts out immediately even before  ebays timeline for dispatch ,his items arrive  well  before expected but ebay have marked him down as items dispatched late ,because they haven't updated their own tracking system ,my partner has been with ebay from the time it started and he is very  annoyed that ebay keep saying he has dispatched late .

[vintagechinashop]

The eBay feedback system is very unfair. I’ve learnt on my time here (20 Years) on several accounts that you could hand deliver the item on the same day and some buyers would still give you bad feedback. In fact I actually did do this   I drove 30 miles as I quite fancied a trip to the seaside. I handed the buyer the item and received a grunt instead of a thank you.  Then days later they opened a return request stating that the item was damaged and bad feedback   
however I would definitely try and get it removed nothing ventured. 
I have also learnt that people rarely check feedback before buying unless your percentage is very low.  
I used to get very upset by bad feedback and it’s frustrating when you have to live with it for 12 months but you realise that sometimes you are just unlucky to meet one of those buyers who use feedback as a means of communicating rather than just actually communicating. I think that eBay should remove any negative feedback where the buyer has not made any attempt to contact your prior to leaving feedback to address their concerns so that at least you as a seller have fair chance to resolve their concerns 

[teap0t42]

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@therenewalworkshopltd wrote:

That's fair enough.  But I would suggest that you at least add something in to your listing description, that tells customers what to expect.

And unless you are falling below standard, a couple of negs have no effect on your visibility.

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There is actually a note on my listings about how I despatch, however like most things eBay have hidden it away so most customers likely won't see it. As this customer failed to see the delivery estimate that eBay clearly shows I suspect it wouldn't make much difference.

I can't believe this is coincidence, but every time I get a neg I see sales stop for a day or two. I've had a steady stream of sales for the last few months (summer is always quiet). Some days I only get one sale, but that's often with busy days before and after, so never more than 24 hours without a sale. As soon as a neg drops it's 48 hours before the next sale. I'm clean in other regards, no defects and only 2 (0.19%) returns.