Amazon marketplace purchase - WWYD

[ellone]

Need some input on what to do about some feedback I left on an Amazon.com 3rd party purchase. Here's the information on it.

So I purchased a paperback from a 3rd party seller on Amazon a couple weeks ago. Seller had 98% positive. Book was supposed to be in 'very good' condition. It arrived a couple of days ago and it had a lot of wear on the edges and some creasing on the front & back covers. Looked like 'good' to me.

So I left the seller a '3' (neutral) on Amazon and mentioned the condition.

Today I get an e-mail that the seller is refunding my payment. "We sincerely apologize for the condition of your book. I can assure you, sending out sub-par books is not the norm for our company. We have several checkpoints in place to help ensure that the books we send out are of the very best quality possible. Unfortunately, once in a while a bad book will slip through the cracks."

And also in the e-mail is "If you are so inclined, I would be very happy if you chose to remove your feedback. Negative and neutral feedback comments hurt my standing on Amazon and can reduce sales."

What would you do? Now I know why the seller is so highly rating - he buys off bad feedback.

 

[Tistal]

I would say that's unethical business practices. I, like you and many others, rely on the feedback provided. You didn't ask to have your payment refunded; he did that on his own. You left honest feedback reflecting the product you were sent, and now he is asking you to be dishonest and lie about the product you were sent by removing your feedback.

 

[prncess674]

I think your feedback was overly critical. It is a paperback book not some rare 18th century book.

For those curious about the ratings of books.

Books

• New: Just like it sounds. A brand-new, unused, unread copy in perfect condition.
• Like New: An apparently unread copy in perfect condition. Dust cover is intact, with no nicks or tears. Spine has no signs of creasing. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. Book may contain a remainder mark on an outside edge but this should be noted in listing comments.
• Very Good: A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.
• Good: A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dust cover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels.
• Acceptable: A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes--in pen or highlighter--but the notes cannot obscure the text.
• Unacceptable: Moldy, badly stained, or unclean copies are not acceptable, nor are copies with missing pages or obscured text. Books that are distributed for promotional use only are prohibited. This includes advance reading copies (ARCs) and uncorrected proof copies.

 

[sissy_ib]

Need some input on what to do about some feedback I left on an Amazon.com 3rd party purchase. Here's the information on it.

So I purchased a paperback from a 3rd party seller on Amazon a couple weeks ago. Seller had 98% positive. Book was supposed to be in 'very good' condition. It arrived a couple of days ago and it had a lot of wear on the edges and some creasing on the front & back covers. Looked like 'good' to me.

So I left the seller a '3' (neutral) on Amazon and mentioned the condition.

Today I get an e-mail that the seller is refunding my payment. "We sincerely apologize for the condition of your book. I can assure you, sending out sub-par books is not the norm for our company. We have several checkpoints in place to help ensure that the books we send out are of the very best quality possible. Unfortunately, once in a while a bad book will slip through the cracks."

And also in the e-mail is "If you are so inclined, I would be very happy if you chose to remove your feedback. Negative and neutral feedback comments hurt my standing on Amazon and can reduce sales."

What would you do? Now I know why the seller is so highly rating - he buys off bad feedback.

I had someone try to do this with me on Ebay. They promised me a credit and asked if I would change my feedback. Well I did not want a credit and the products were poor quality. No way I would I change my feed back that I feel was honest. JMHO.

Add-the people I dealt with also had a high feed back. 98% or so.

 

[chris31997]

I would tell Amazon. In your opinion the book was in good condition, and you did not ask for a refund. You think it is unethical for the seller to ask you to remove your comment. I would also tell the seller that you are not going to remove your comment it is your opinion.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

If you did not contact the seller before leaving feedback, I would alter the feedback you left. I would change it to something like "book in worse condition than expected, seller gave refund." That way, your concern about the book condition stays listed, but you can still give 5 star seller ratings. Once they found out you weren't happy, they gave your money back and let you keep the item. What more do you want?

If you did contact them (and received no response) before leaving feedback, I would leave the feedback you already left.

There is a difference between correcting the problem when they find about it and ignoring it until you left less than stellar feedback for them.

 

[disneyfreakk]

If you did not contact the seller before leaving feedback, I would alter the feedback you left. I would change it to something like "book in worse condition than expected, seller gave refund." That way, your concern about the book condition stays listed, but you can still give 5 star seller ratings. Once they found out you weren't happy, they gave your money back and let you keep the item. What more do you want?

If you did contact them (and received no response) before leaving feedback, I would leave the feedback you already left.

There is a difference between correcting the problem when they find about it and ignoring it until you left less than stellar feedback for them.

I agree. I highly doubt they send out sub par books and give full refunds for neg feedback. If this happens all the time like others think, then where is the money in that? I just don't see how them trying to make it right is a bad thing.

 

[scrapquitler]

Need some input on what to do about some feedback I left on an Amazon.com 3rd party purchase. Here's the information on it.

So I purchased a paperback from a 3rd party seller on Amazon a couple weeks ago. Seller had 98% positive. Book was supposed to be in 'very good' condition. It arrived a couple of days ago and it had a lot of wear on the edges and some creasing on the front & back covers. Looked like 'good' to me.

So I left the seller a '3' (neutral) on Amazon and mentioned the condition.

Today I get an e-mail that the seller is refunding my payment. "We sincerely apologize for the condition of your book. I can assure you, sending out sub-par books is not the norm for our company. We have several checkpoints in place to help ensure that the books we send out are of the very best quality possible. Unfortunately, once in a while a bad book will slip through the cracks."

And also in the e-mail is "If you are so inclined, I would be very happy if you chose to remove your feedback. Negative and neutral feedback comments hurt my standing on Amazon and can reduce sales."

What would you do? Now I know why the seller is so highly rating - he buys off bad feedback.

I have not yet read other replies because I wanted to give you my own feedback without any outside influence.

You complained, the seller apologized and refunded your money because you were unhappy that the covers of the paperback book were bent and the edges somewhat worn.

Personally, I'd retract the feedback or change it to something like "despite my initial disappointment with the product based on the sellers rating of it's condition, I am satisfied with the customer service provided by the seller".

It's a paper back book. If it is used I would expect the cover to be creased at least a bit and I would expect the edges to be a bit worn. It's not like the spine was broken, pages were missing or ripped and it was falling apart. Bent covers aren't going to hamper your ability to read it.

If the seller had claimed "Like New" or "excellent", then I might think differently.

 

[dawnball]

Y'know, things happen. Particularly if you're handling a lot of paperbacks. They get squished by nearby books, or you grab the "good" instead of the "very good" or someone came into the physical store and bought a copy, so you only have one... whatever.

They sent you a product that you weren't happy with. When you complained, they agreed that they wouldn't have been happy with it either, and made you whole (more than whole, really, since you kept the book). I think that withdrawing the feedback completely is reasonable.

 

[bumbershoot]

It is 100% against Amazon's rules for that seller to request a change. 100%. They could have their store closed for this.


It was very nice of them to refund you, but absolutely wrong to request the change.


But...if that book-condition rating chart is from amazon, it's worth reading in the future, as it seems the book you got WAS "very good".

 

[dawnball]

It is 100% against Amazon's rules for that seller to request a change. 100%. They could have their store closed for this.

No. It isn't. In fact, Amazon ENCOURAGES them to make that request. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161284&#respond

"2. Ask the buyer to remove the feedback: If you want to respond to negative feedback, the best option is to work with the buyer to improve the situation that led to the negative feedback. Then, ask the buyer to remove the feedback. To do this, contact the buyer with concern over the problem, and remedy it if possible. If you develop a positive relationship, ask the buyer to remove the feedback. Instructions on how to remove feedback can be found on our buyer Help page, Leaving Feedback. When contacting a buyer, always keep in mind that pressuring a buyer is unacceptable and a violation of our policies."

I'd hardly call the contact that was quoted "pressuring."

 

[Leajess99]

Wow, I would be happy to remove the neutral feedback since the Seller refunded the money.

I don't get the big deal because the seller is trying to make sure you, the buyer, is happy with the product. So in the end you got a free book with some mild issues. What is the big deal with changing the feedback?? What do you get out of not changing the feedback?

The seller assumed you were not happy based off of your feedback so he did the best thing he could to make you happy and yet you still want to punish him. Put yourself in his shoes and how would you feel then??

 

[bumbershoot]

No. It isn't. In fact, Amazon ENCOURAGES them to make that request. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161284&#respond

"2. Ask the buyer to remove the feedback: If you want to respond to negative feedback, the best option is to work with the buyer to improve the situation that led to the negative feedback. Then, ask the buyer to remove the feedback. To do this, contact the buyer with concern over the problem, and remedy it if possible. If you develop a positive relationship, ask the buyer to remove the feedback. Instructions on how to remove feedback can be found on our buyer Help page, Leaving Feedback. When contacting a buyer, always keep in mind that pressuring a buyer is unacceptable and a violation of our policies."

I'd hardly call the contact that was quoted "pressuring."

Woo boy have they changed things since DH worked in that department! Wow! More changes than moving the dept out of Seattle, I guess.

It used to be a serious offense.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

Wow, I would be happy to remove the neutral feedback since the Seller refunded the money.

I don't get the big deal because the seller is trying to make sure you, the buyer, is happy with the product. So in the end you got a free book with some mild issues. What is the big deal with changing the feedback?? What do you get out of not changing the feedback?

The seller assumed you were not happy based off of your feedback so he did the best thing he could to make you happy and yet you still want to punish him. Put yourself in his shoes and how would you feel then??

Yeah, I don't get the issue either. They made it right, they gave the money back. If you are not happy with a free book in that condition you are free to go buy another one, better condition, from another seller. You are not out anything. I know if I were selling something I'd feel the same as this seller. Don't see how it's "buying good feedback"... they did you right, they deserve good feedback.

 

[annsteere]

Nobody is "pressuring" you. A seller is making the effort to be sure that you are happy with your purchase.

Sounds like a great seller to me.

This happened to me once. I got a book that was described as like new and it had underlining and definite wear. As amazon suggests, I contacted the seller before leaving any feedback. She refunded the purchase price. I left positive feedback.

 

[dhardawa]

Based on your description, I think you were overly critical to begin with. Your description fits the definition of "very good" condition like the seller stated. I would happily change the feedback. The seller did his best to make things right and that is the sign of a good seller.

 

[cm8]

I would go and update my feedback with what the seller did and the reason I changed it.

 

[WeLuvTink!]

Instead of retracting your first comment, can you add another one to acknowledge the good customer service they offered after the issue was brought to their attention? That way people are aware of your entire buying situation and then make a judgement based off of that.