Buyers strange cancer excuses.

Well it never fails to happen I get a complaint this week.  It say the item they have is cracked and not usable. It was Bamboo incense burner.  Very lightweight and intricate in design a beautiful piece.

The buyer first tells me its cracked so Im thinking manufacture defect right.  I ask for photos to verify, have them return it and Ill contact the vendor. Days go by and no photo in my inbox.  So I email again.  He claims to have been busy but adds if I dont refund him by Monday he will open a case. He also says again how beautiful the piece is and he put the incense stick in it when it cracked. Now it sounds like he broke it. No? Then he says I have to put $11 into his paypal account to return it!

Now I was livid because yea its just business, but now you state you broke it and you want money to return it? What the heck!

I told the buyer since it looks like he broke it you cant expect a refund and ebay states it is the responsibility of the buyer to return the item.

Surprised by the reply he says I do not go to the USPS as I have cancer! Argh now I am disgusted.  He would only ship if back UPS cause he cant stand in the post office. Then he gives me a story that has nothing to do with this issue.  Then the kicker - I dont want to be the 7th person to leave you feedback! Really?  Oh and I didnt inform him it was a fragile item!   Which I believe falls under Feedback extortion so I reported it.

When are people going to take responsibility for their actions?

Is this buyer lying? I dunno, Im not going to assume anything but am I supposed to feel sorry because you may or may no have this disease? Now I have to reply delicately but get my point across.

Do you go into a store, buy something and break it then tell the store they cant have it back and if they do they have to pay for it then demand they have to refund your money?  No? Im sure there are many dishonest people that break things and return them for the money.  But how often with online sales do people expect to keep the product and get a refund! All of them! It annoys me to no end. We will see if I will blog about this guy in the next few days with the correspondence.

If I mess up I will try and fix it.  I have paid for return shipping. I have gone above and beyond for my buyers but when you do something like that I am not helping you!

Low DSR scores on eBay

I dont get.  I check my ratings and feedback frequently. I used to get really upset when I found anything but a 'green' dot!  I still do actually, but not as bad as before.

And now Im freaking out when I see low DSR scores!

I mean for each category it varies but generally there is no reason I should get low scores. I ship all items the same day or next day. All the descriptions are written very well with images of the items etc.  I answer everyones emails so this is one that really baffles me.  Low communication scores is so messed up! My shipping costs are always within $2 of the actual cost so when that comes in as low I think to my self, why buy it if you didnt like the cost of shipping? Shipping time I have no control over so why are sellers liable for that one is beyond me!

What makes me more crazy is that I have no idea who is giving low scores because its anonymous. I get those leaving a negative will leave low scores but how do you leave a positive and low scores? Its just does not make sense.  If I dunno whats wrong with the description how can I fix it?

There are also people out there that believe 3 is a good score! These people are perfectionist and expect you to bend to them. Doesnt matter what you do no one gets 5 stars which would be perfect.

Things are supposed to be changing in June. Some categories will automatically receive 5 stars so review the updates and keep on top of it.

A company accused me of being in violation of US Trademark law?

Yesterday I got a certified letter from a company Id never heard of before.  Upon opening the letter I read how the president of this company owns the trademark rights for a saying I have been using on my website and listings.

She explained who she was and why she was writing and it simply said:

 'It is a violation of US trademark law to use a similar or identical mark on similar goods.  I appreciate your cooperation in this matter.'

Ok so normally I would freak out when these things happen but I didnt.  I didnt create these products I only sell them and used the same phrases that the vendor had provided me as a description of their products, how could I be a fault? Maybe I could plead ignorance?

So I called this company and spoke with the president.  She knew exactly who I was since she sent the letter.  I simply asked what is expected of me since I do not have knowledge of this and am unsure what she was expecting me to do.

She started to explain how it works. She said that since she owns that particular wording I am not allowed to use it at all. Especially since its in the same category. She also said that if I purchased the items from an international vendor I am responsible for correcting or changing the listings.  Turns out the company I purchased these items from were right here in the US and their products were made in the USA so no international issues here. So now I am in the clear!  I gave her the vendors information and she said I dont have to do anything for now, its between them and the vendor I purchased from and they have to tell me what to do depending on the outcome.

So be careful of violating trademark law.

I had a listing pulled from my eBay store accusing me of the same thing. The accused me of violating trademark by the owner. I said these are authentic and I have the invoice to prove as I purchased them from the owner!   eBay said I needed something in writing. I contacted my sales rep who contacted the owner and they apologized about the error.  But they didnt want their products sold on eBay. No one told me that! They were supposed to inform eBay of their error. Its been a few months and the violation has not been lifted from my account.  Guess I can pursue it more but its not worth it. The violations 'fall off' within a a few months so as long as I am 'good' Im fine.  I try to remember to ask vendors about this rule. Many vendors are starting to write it on their purchase orders and catalogs.  Ive seen notes about how their products are not allowed to be sold on eBay or on Amazon. How do they stop people?  They take down listings.  Funny thing is I can find many more listings from others selling the same product.  Why did they pick my listings? I kinda think they knew I was a vendor and instead of 'telling me' they punish me using Vero on eBay. Kinda messed up.

Promoting other business in the area.

We are a small town. There are two traffic lights.  There is one high school building that hosts the middle school.  They kind of operate separately but together at the same time. There is the elementary school that starts at kindergarten and goes to 5th grade. Population is just about 3000.  Would you believe there are over a dozen places to in the area that offer food! There are almost 10 places that offer some type of beauty service!

There is a Dollar store and Hardware store that come close to selling what I sell.  I have the only gift store in this tiny town thats loaded with places to eat! Do I promote other business in the area?  I do. It makes me crazy when someone asks me if I carry this item and I tell them to check the Dollar store or the hardware store. Do the do the same for me? I doubt it. Both are franchise chain stores so could they care about the little guy? Then again do I want to carry hand soap? Or pop rocks?  No Im not a candy store here, nor do I wish to carry housewares.

How would I get them to send customers my way? I dont think its possible. But if someone asks me about getting their hair done I would send them to one of the many salons that I go to!  If you ask me for hand soap Ill send you to the hardware store. Ask me about a gift for a mom and Ive got something for you!  Ask me about something for a 4 year old and Ive got something for you! Ask me for a gift for a teen and I have something for you!  Want something unique? I have something for you.

I feel victorious! Even with a new negative mark! Part Two

Well its been a few days and my 'Victorious' feeling is fading away.

I see the DSR ratings finally.  It takes time to post because its supposed to be 'anonymous' but when you consistently receive positive feedback its easy to spot who is leaving you low ratings.

Yes I knew it was going to happen but it still bothers me to actually see it. This buyer gave me a score of 1 for three out of four categories.  One is automatically entered by eBay since the item arrive in ONE day!  So in item description, shipping charges and communication I received a score of 1 from the buyer.

Ebay needs to modify this way of scoring since most people that dont get their way will automatically give you low scores even if you did everything correctly.

I wrote to eBay and reported this buyer. Im praying the will remove it especially since everything is documented within eBay they can see this buyer was never over charged shipping fees, the difference is well under 50 cents! They can see I 'communicated' with a reply to every email the buyer sent and quickly too! They can also see the letter from the manufacture backing me up about the item image, which I added to ebays messaging system, they can see I am 100% in the right.  

I know they are making 'changes' but its not fast enough. This DSR rating is hurting sellers and giving buyers all the power.

Once a reply is sent to the buyer the communication category should be automatic 5 stars even if the buyer does not like the replies. They see how much we pay for shipping and if the margin is with in a certain amount (say $2)  it should automatically give 5 stars as well!  Sometimes it will charge the buyer less then what I pay and the buyer can give me a lower score? What the hell!

Shipping time is still something that a seller nor buyer can control. Last time I check the postal service was owned by the government and all other shipping companies have their own rules. How is it our responsibility to control a third party?

Old Friends trying to come back into my life.

I have posted in the past about my former friends. How they all turned their backs on my when things went south.  How they claimed to be my friend but when I asked why dont they call me I got 'I dont do that kinda thing'.   Ive proven to myself that I was not the main cause of the end of that friendship, they were.   Ive gone out of my way to keep things intact but their lack of calls, emails and contact without my calling first showed me I was not as important to them as I thought I was.

Every time I saw them at the post office, which was not that often, I would be ignored.  They have to pass my store almost daily and never once do they come in. I invited them to my grand opening party and they did come over only to make promises to my daughter of calling her next week and its been over 6 months since I heard from her. Should I have reached out to her? After every thing Ive been accused of? I dont think so.

Just over a month ago a mutual friend we have cut them off too.  Nothing I said or did, they just caused heartache for the mutual friend and she decided she was done with them.  A few weeks later I get an email wishing me a happy birthday and how she missed us. Again she has not spoken to me in over 6 months. Not only that she bad mouthed me to the mutual friend when they had a fight! I didnt know what to say so I replied simply ' Thanks for the birthday wishes, you know how to find me'... I wanted to go into a tangent about how I have not moved, my numbers have not changed and you know where I work but I didnt.   Then like an ass i waited for her reply which I never got.

Then one day at the post office they were there of course ( I saw their car)  and Im dreading walking inside so I waited a while but they didnt come out, so I walk in. Im ready to just ignore them just like they have done to me and to my amazement they said 'hi' to my back as they were leaving!  Im like what?

A month later she walks into my store! Catch me off guard and I was like oh man!

Well we chatted like friends do but I honestly did not volunteer too much information.  But I am sure she was fishing, then she started to bash the mutual friend!  I wish I didnt keep my mouth shut, like I didnt know what she said and did!?!  Why did I back down.  Once again she promised to call next week and come by to see how things are.  And I should have known by previous acts that she was not going to do that, its been well over a week and nothing.

The worst thing is my daughter. They have been in our lives for a very long time, Ive known them since the 7th grade so well over 20 years.  They have known my daughter for her whole life!  Everyone once in a while she asks about them and all I can say is Im sorry.  Im afraid she will show up unannounced again while my daughter is here.  What do I say to her?

I feel victorious! Even with a new negative mark!

Ask me why?

Well I sold an item to someone, it was a Myachi hand sack.  Whats that? Let just say its fun for boys. I dont have to many 'boy' related items in my store so its a big seller. If you know how to use a hacky sack the Maychi  is similar but 'NO HANDS ALLOWED"!

They have various patterns available and for what ever reason some patterns sell more than others.

The item I sold is called Gr8ful Shred in Red.  The buyer right here in NY gets the item in ONE DAY! No mention of that. I get this email:


Dear **,

THE MYCHI YOU SENT ME IS NOT THE ONE I ORDED I ORDED THE GRATEFUL
THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS YOUR PICTURE IF I WANTED THIS ONE I COULD OF BOUGHT FOR $5 DOLLARS WITH NO TAX AND NO SHIPPING.

Remember I do not modify emails, I copy and paste and sometimes use ITALIC.

Im unsure whats going on so my reply was:

Sorry I'm not understanding what your trying to tell me. What did you receive? Can you send an image?



Now Im at an event in south jersey so Im doing this on my mobile phone.  I dont like keeping questions waiting but I needed to verify what was being asked of me.

This was the reply in this size font, remember copy and paste:

YOU SENT A DIFFERENT MYACHI THEN YOUR PICTURE

OK not only was it still not telling me what was received it was large and bold, like yelling right?

So I provide my email address to send an image and ask:

What pattern did u receive? The patterns are on the back of package.

So here is the stock image (1st) along side the one the buyer sent (2nd):

I can see how it can be confusing its not an exact but sometimes fabric is like that.

And my reply:


This image you sent is the pattern indicated in the listing. We have dozens of these and the patterns in the images never match exactly inside the packaged ones.
If your not happy with it please return it.


Then this guy has the nerve to say:

JUST RETURN MY SHIPPING MONEY THAT I PAID AND ADMIT IT IS A DIFFENT MYACHI THEN YOUR PICTURE.


And I simply said:

Please return for refund

I dont think I was mean or nasty at all but the final reply was, in that size font:

DIFFERENT MYACHI THEN YOUR PICTURE END OF STORY.

The buyer also sent this message to the email I gave them to send me the image. So I got it via ebay messaging and on regular email.

Usually after a buyer becomes irate I stop replying and block them from my store.  Then the next thing to do was to wait for them to leave me a negative mark.  I kinda knew it was coming as this guy was sure he was right.

About 6 days go by and well there he goes and leave me a negative mark.  Of course Im pissed because the minute he did that I was leaving positive feedback for my other buyers and accidentally left positive feedback for him! Usually when someone leaves a negative I dont leave any feedback I replied to what I left but nothing I could do now.

Just after that I called Myachi headquarters, maybe I should have called earlier but I didnt think this was going to be an issue and effect me.  I also didnt think this guy would wait almost a week before leaving a negative, I expected it the same day.

I explained what had happened at they understood exactly what I was talking about.  I was close to saying men dont know a thing about fabric! But I didnt have to go there, lol. They said the buyer can call them directly, but I asked them to email instead so there is a trail.  I forwarded them the image I was sent and waited.  Again I should have done this on Monday morning but I didnt.

They were quick to email the buyer and CC myself with this message:

This is **** from Myachi, writing in reference to a purchase you made at The Sell All in Florida, NY.  I understand the myachi you received looked slightly different than the picture you saw.  This is simply a matter of a large pattern within a large piece of fabric being sewn into many smaller rectangles.  Therefore, each small rectangular bag of the same name will look slightly different from the next because it was cut from a slightly different part of the larger pattern within the fabric type.  I looked at the photo I was forwarded, showing the Gr8ful Shred Red myachi in question, and I can assure you, as an expert on myachi collections, that you received the correct item.  The myachi in the picture is most certainly a Gr8ful Shred Red.  Sorry for any confusion caused by the lack of perfect uniformity within each sack name. 

Best,

****

VICTORY!  Sorta! lol.    I feel better since I was right but I doubt this guy will adjust feedback left, some people are just stubborn. This is why I blog about it lol.

***So I had to add this:

I wanted to make sure the buyer got the email so I attached it with this message:

Please find attached a copy of the email received from the Myachi rep. I forwarded your image to them for verification. They emailed you directly from the Myachi company as I requested but just in case I am sending it to you too. And imagine that, they say the same thing I said to you over the weekend. If you want to call them directly I can provide you with the number.


Inserted email from Myachi:


For the record, I do not have a penis.




LOL - OK I was annoyed and had to say that last line! I mean why is it assumed Im a man?  Cause I dont take crap from buyers?  I dunno.

The last email he sent last night was:

STOP WITH YOUR EMAILS YOU SHOULD HAVE MAILED ME THE ONE IN THE PICTURE. INSTEAD YOU SAID I WAS WRONG AND YOU WERE CORRECT.




And I am! No?

I replied again with you can still return it! I mean really people if you dont like it just send it back!