Ebay venting session. Am I wrong, or are some people just impossible to please?

[innoculation]

I hope this hits home with some of you other ebayers out there.

I am very customer service minded, and I will do just about anything to make one of my ebay customers happy. After 2 years of searcing, I have found the ultimate problem customer.

I should have known from the beginning when less than 5 minutes from the end of my auction for an LCD projector, I was filling out my invoice to send and my phone rang. It was the guy who won my auction. He wanted to know if I could ship it out immediately the next day.

I told him "sure" and shipped it out. He called again the next day checking to see if I had shipped it even though I emailed him the tracking number. Later that afternoon he got the item and checked it out and wasn't pleased with the brightness of the projector.
I offered a second identical projector which I had just gotten back from the factory (being cleaned). He accepted and I shipped. He called immediately after receiving the tracking number and said that UPS "wasn't very reliable" and asked if I would cancel it and ship via FEDEX. So I did.

Upon reeiving the 2nd projector (which was top notch and factory cleaned) he emailed and wasn't happy with it either. He is now shipping them both back and wants a refund. Which I will refund his money, However, he wants me to refund his shipping cost.

Am I being petty by refusing to refund his shipping cost? I have already lost $30+ in shipping of my own, and have literally bent over backwards for this guy.

Now I have less than 2 weeks to get these projectors sold and shipped before our trip to WDW, and still don't have the projectors to list yet.

I was just wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences. Everyone else I have dealt with on ebay were great. I have perfect feedback, but I am sure this guy is gonna ruin that for me too. I hope no one else has to deal with customers like that.

 

[JKanownik]

Unfortunately it looks like you have to choose between the shipping costs and a negative feedback. Some people are just jerks like that no matter where they are purchasing their stuff from. Personally, now that Ebay allows you to respond to feedback, I would not refund the shipping charges and just respond to the negative feedback if he places any. If there is nothing wrong with the projectors and the brightness is related to that specific model, you are definitely in the right.

-DH

 

[innoculation]

I appreciate the advice. I am still not sure what I am going to do. The really bad part about it is all the time effort and money I already have inn this transaction. I just can't believe how picky this guy is. I hope everyone else has better luck.

 

[DemonLlama]

I feel your pain. When I first began buying on eBay (eons ago, in 1998!) I used to wonder why sellers had all those details in the fine print -- surely it couldn't be that hard??

Then I became a seller and learned quickly how important it is to lay down the law on what is an acceptable reason for a return, and what will be refunded.

There are buyers out there who will push and push and push. Set your foot down. No one refunds shipping for a matter like this. (Most wouldn't have refunded anything after the second exchange.)

If you get one negative, so be it. I know when I read a negative comments on a seller's feedback, I click on the person's feedback who wrote it. If the complainer has multiple negatives and neutrals because of being impossible to please, I understand that the poor seller just got one of those awful buyers and doesn't affect my decision to buy from them.

 

[StephMK]

I think you were extremely nice to ship the second one before getting the first one back so no, I wouldn't refund his shipping.

As DemonLlama, I always research feedback & think you can tell when it's one bad buyer giving a seller a negative. I wouldn't let the possibility of one neg in that case make me spend more shipping on a lost cause. Good luck!

 

[Jaklackus]

I'd take the hit on feedback....and update your terms of service to cover returns and return shipping terms for future buyers. Is this a problem that could be rectified with a different projector bulb? Or does he just like the drama involved in shipping and returning and the e-mails back and forth..he might just like the attention.
I once worked with a man who would take these first class vacations...as soon as he returned home he would start letter writing campaigns to every business he spent money with in order to get refunds or credits towards future vacations...imagined or trifle complaints made into huge traumatic events......he was banned from Hilton hotels within 6 months. He complained to Ralph Lauren about a white jacket for picking up dirt too easily ...some people will find fault in everything..no matter what you do. He did this for 2 reasons..he was cheap and secondly cause he loved the attention..he got to complain to the companies and to anyone else who would listen to him.

 

[DianeV]

I am an ebay seller and you went above and beyond for this guy! Ebay is not set up to be an approval upon shipment type thing. You ask questions, you check things out and make sure its the item you want when you bid.

Now if there is really something wrong with the items that is different but it sounds like this guy just wants to be able to test/check out these things before he agrees to keep them and that is just not how it works.

I wouldnt refund any of the shipping as you did nothing wrong and you did use the shipping money for special shipping services which HE requested which is more then I would have done!

 

[BrianMonk]

Is he going to hold your 2 projectors hostage until he gets the shipping charges back?

I'm assuming he only paid for 1 projector but now has 2 in his possession?

 

[summerrluvv]

I wouldn't refund anything until you get the projectors back into your hands. Buyers have know to pull switcheroo's and give you a broken piece of equipment etc.

I know you are trying to be accomodating, but in the future, if I were you, I wouldn't ship out replacement items until the first item comes back. Also, if the person isn't happy with the item they should pay for the shipping back to you and you should not refund the original shipping costs either. I could see if there was a defect and the item wasn't as you described it, but if a person just doesn't "like" the item they should pay for the shipping. JMO

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by innoculation
I hope this hits home with some of you other ebayers out there.

I am very customer service minded, and I will do just about anything to make one of my ebay customers happy. After 2 years of searcing, I have found the ultimate problem customer.

I should have known from the beginning when less than 5 minutes from the end of my auction for an LCD projector, I was filling out my invoice to send and my phone rang. It was the guy who won my auction. He wanted to know if I could ship it out immediately the next day.

I told him "sure" and shipped it out. He called again the next day checking to see if I had shipped it even though I emailed him the tracking number. Later that afternoon he got the item and checked it out and wasn't pleased with the brightness of the projector.
I offered a second identical projector which I had just gotten back from the factory (being cleaned). He accepted and I shipped. He called immediately after receiving the tracking number and said that UPS "wasn't very reliable" and asked if I would cancel it and ship via FEDEX. So I did.

Upon reeiving the 2nd projector (which was top notch and factory cleaned) he emailed and wasn't happy with it either. He is now shipping them both back and wants a refund. Which I will refund his money, However, he wants me to refund his shipping cost.

Am I being petty by refusing to refund his shipping cost? I have already lost $30+ in shipping of my own, and have literally bent over backwards for this guy.

Now I have less than 2 weeks to get these projectors sold and shipped before our trip to WDW, and still don't have the projectors to list yet.

I was just wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences. Everyone else I have dealt with on ebay were great. I have perfect feedback, but I am sure this guy is gonna ruin that for me too. I hope no one else has to deal with customers like that.

I would take the neg. feedback and write a rebuttal to it. This guy sounds like a total a**.

 

[4greatboys]

I would also take the negative feedback--just leave a response that you tried to accomadate the buyer and do NOT send him any refund til you get your stuff back.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I agree with all of the above.
And if you want to talk about negative feedback - have you looked at Disney's? Doesn't seem to hurt them.
As a buyer, I look at feedback. But also figure out of dozens or hundreds of sales there is bound to be someone unhappy, no matter what the seller does. Just as I am sure some of the positive feedback is undeserving.
If the negative feedback was consistent, then that would be an issue.

 

[floridagirrl2]

Ouch! I think I would tell the guy you need to have the projectors returned in original condition before you can decide how much of the shipping price should be refunded (purposely vague). He does sound like somebody who might try to switch out broken projectors for the working ones you sent him.

If he tries to hold on to both projectors (having only paid for one), I would tell him you are going to file mail fraud charges and then DO IT. He has probably pulled this on other sellers in the past--people are so afraid of retaliatory negs that they often don't leave negatives for buyers/sellers who really deserve it. So unfortunately you can't always assume someone with no negs is an honorable person.

In this case, I would definitely accept a neg rather than placate the guy by refunding shipping (what nerve he has!).

Link to the mail fraud form:
https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

 

[innoculation]

Thank you all for the advice. I sent him an email saying that the shipping costs were for a service that was provided and was not refundable.

If I get bad feedback, I will reply to it with some of the details.


Just a few weeks, and I can quit worrying about this stuff and enjoy my vacation. Thank you all!!!!!!

 

[normr]

This has to be the same scam, Yes, I too recently learned a huge lesson about always putting as-is in my ad, I sold a label printer to someone for $10 plus $8 shipping, when he received it, he claimed that pins on the ac adapter were bent and it was ruined, now I know the last time I saw it, it was fine, plus I packed it well, so he now wanted a refund and do I want him to send it back to me, well I'm glad it was only $10, but I think he knew he could pull this scam, tell me it was damaged, so I gave him his $10 back and told him to keep it, but I didn't refund the shipping he paid, so he probably got an item for free and paid only shipping, it must be a popular scam.

Now I will always put in any ad, no refunds and as-is.

What do these people think they are buying from an auction, not a damn department store.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by normr

Now I will always put in any ad, no refunds and as-is.

------------------------------------

I am a buyer and a seller and if I saw the above in an auction I would most certainly hit the back button immediately.. To me it indicates that someone is trying to pass off "junk" as decent, useable merchandise.. Sets a bad tone right from the get go..

I also would never ship a second item without getting the first one back - in the original packing - first.. If I felt the complaint was justified, I would refund all costs involved.. If not, I would refund only the original cost (including S&H)..