Monday, March 25, 2013

Why negative feedback means nothing

Of all the years we have been selling and buying on Amazon and eBay we have had our share of negatives and neutrals. What makes it worse is how little positive we receive. Maybe no news is good news?

This is why negatives and neutrals means nothing.. at least to me.


When I receive a negative or neutral I can remember each case. Its causes a scar in my memory and sticks there.  With the details I receive I try to fix things so it does not happen again in the future.  There are times when someone will leaving a negative or neutral for no reason at all.  There area also some people out there that you just cant please no matter what you do! 


Ill give examples:


The newest neutral we got says: When they went to use them they tore and didnt work... etc.  What are they talking about? We sell tattoo stencils. They are one time use items and made for professional artist. Not only that these are NOT cheap ones from china, these are made in the USA of top grade materials and it takes a lot of strength to tear them.  If they dont work for the buyer its because they dont know how to use them. Its like those commercials where you see the doctor trying to be a construction worker. It takes a lot of patiences and practice to use these. 


When your not familiar with how to use the product how is it the sellers fault that you dont know how to use them? 


A recent neutral on Amazon (score of 3 out of 5) says: Item could have been described better. I had expected something more colorful and a higher gloss to the finish. At this point I'm undecided as whether to keep or send back. 


I was going to ask Amazon to remove this since its a product description but as it turns out when a buyer checks 'no' under the items as described it means Amazon will not remove it.  The problem I have with this is that since I am not the only seller of this item  Amazon groups the information into one listing, its not totally bad 'but' if one of the sellers 'write' or uses the 'wrong image' then its 'wrong' for everyone! I have a current listing of a frog item and the image shows an owl because the 'buy box' belongs to someone with the same title but the wrong image. So it screws the rest of the sellers up. I did contact this person and offered a refund if they didnt want the item and it turns out they want to keep it and are pleased with it?!? So Im confused but now Im stuck with this feedback. Yes I could ask them to revise it but is it worth the trouble? 


The other day I got a score of 4, ok its not bad but they complained about the post office being slow. The item was delivered within the eta provided by Amazon, can you image how crazy its going to get when they stop delivering on saturday? Why dont I use UPS or FedEx? Cause 99% of my items are under a pound and its just not worth it to me. 


Newest negative... this is my favorite:  I had gotten an email from a buyer asking where their items are. So in my investigation the description provided by USPS days 'Available for pickup' . I admit its something I had never seen before so I just copied and pasted it and emailed it to the buyer telling them they may have to pick it up and they should contact the local post office as they have it. Immediately I got a reply saying:


why do I need to pick it up when it suppose to deliver to my home address? it is seller's responsibility to ensure delivery. The tracking number didn't state that usps has attempt any delivery. is it because of insufficient postage? im not happy



So I replied trying to sooth the buyer: 


Sorry you're not happy, please understand I dont represent the post office, its in their possession and at last scan it says Awaiting Pickup. This could mean anything, it could be on the truck on route to your house, it could be awaiting the carrier to 'pick it up' and deliver it, it could be at your house right now. Their system does not update until after the carriers return from delivering the mail. So it may not update till later or tomorrow. I would suggest you contact your local post office directly. They would be able to help you better then I can from all the way over here.


I think I replied well. I didnt get a reply back after that and the next day I replied again in the AM as the USPS now shows it was delivered the day before! Strangely enough delivered just before I got the first email asking where the item was.


Then I noticed they left negative feedback saying:


Package missing and no help from seller. No sense of responsibility.Disappointed


To my surprise of course... as I thought I was helping. I replied:


Here I thought I was being nice by letting you know the package was delivered yesterday as I said it would be and I am sure you know it was delivered as you received it. Even eBay is telling me you received it yesterday. Surprised I just saw that you decided to leave negative feedback claiming the package is missing and I was not helping you?

Was I not trying to help?


And of course I didnt hear back.


Here is my thinking of the whole situation.


If you purchased an item, doesnt matter where, what wesite, what buyer... if the item you purchased does not show up what do you do? Ive had items marked delivered (yes I have) and not received so I contact the seller and of course tell them I didnt get it, send another. But if that didnt work I dont know about you I would file a complaint with my credit card company or with the company I purchased the item from. Off ALL the negatives I have ever received buyers have NEVER filed a case against me. NEVER asked for a refund. Ive NEVER given a refund. Dont say you dont want to offend a seller, dont say you want to do the right thing, ... call me crazy, if your item NEVER arrived why would you allow yourself to LOSE MONEY?


A buyer can file a case and no one would really know if a case was filed against the seller but I KNOW! All the negative leavers are just grouchy people looking to ruin the reputations of genuine sellers.


If your in a situation where you item has not arrived contact the seller, dont get mad, they dont own the delivery company. They provide a service and call me crazy but they should not be held responsible for what a delivery company does!  The USPS, FedEx and UPS ALL LOSE items!  Thats their fault! Dont lie just to get a second one! Thats not fair to anyone and lies catch up with you.  Just be honest and give people chances. 

And thats why negatives mean nothing... To me...



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