What is the Best way to Deal with an Impenitent Buyer

[Kefegu]

Hi All

I have this buyer who paid me $689.72 for two computers I played the order with my Suppler and the Suppler was not in on the weekend, with the buyer paid. Monday i paid for the buyers computers and the supplier did not yet post a tracking # for me..... so i can not post it to the buyer. i told the buyer that the supplier takes 5 to 10 days to ship the item because the computers are custom build and if the buyer wanted a refund then i woulds refund them less restocking fee which i will end up having to pay. the buyer then left me negative feedback because i told the buyer that i will need to pass the restocking fee along to the buyer Which is $103.46 and i feel i should not have to pay to list the item on eBid and then have to cancel the order and lose the final value fees along with the Credit card processing fees i am Charged. the buyer has opened a Paypal claim stating that i refuse to give him/her a Tracking Number. now Payapl has placed a hold on the funds. I Know with the new Paypal Rules the always side with the buyer and the seller always loses out. i would like to know the best way to handle this further?

Thank you
Howard
Quark

[JanetB]

I looked at your listing and this is my opinion. This is a drop ship item.

Your listing states 2 days dispatch time

You informed your customer that items will be shipped in 5 to 10 days

You say computers are custom built but your listing says refurbished - to me this means a used computer and not a new one as you have stated in your options area.

You offered your customer a refund LESS restocking fee - WHY??

The customer should be made whole and given their entire purchase price back - they did not receive any item from you whatsoever.

When a customer pays in good faith and does not receive anything at all, they should be made whole, meaning, they should be returned their FULL amount that they paid you - it is NOT their fault that you have a problem with your supplier and credit card company.

You gave your customer a negative feedback even though it is not their fault. Now you have to deal with Paypal.

I am sorry that I could not be more positive about this, but good luck in sorting this out.

[HaleysComics]

I have to agree with Jewel, your listing states 2 day dispatch time. Nowhere on your listing does it state the order will be filled & shipped by another company & could take 5 to 10 days. Also nowhere on your listing does it state you charge a restocking fee.
It is your listing & you are responsible for the shipping time even if you are using a drop shipper, so you may want to start adding a longer dispatch time on your listings.
You may even look at finding another suppler if they can't fulfill your orders in the time you promise your customers.

You as a business are responsible for all aspects of the items you sell, quality, shipping, quantity & packaging even if using a drop shipper.

[deanosaur1972]

I looked at your listing and this is my opinion. This is a drop ship item.

Your listing states 2 days dispatch time

You informed your customer that items will be shipped in 5 to 10 days

You say computers are custom built but your listing says refurbished - to me this means a used computer and not a new one as you have stated in your options area.

You offered your customer a refund LESS restocking fee - WHY??

The customer should be made whole and given their entire purchase price back - they did not receive any item from you whatsoever.

When a customer pays in good faith and does not receive anything at all, they should be made whole, meaning, they should be returned their FULL amount that they paid you - it is NOT their fault that you have a problem with your supplier and credit card company.

You gave your customer a negative feedback even though it is not their fault.

Agree entirely.

An absolute shambles topped off by misusing the feedback system to neg the buyer when the fault is entirely down to the seller.

[EmpHolisticGifts]

Forgive me I have not read everything... however one of the MANY things we have learnt is to add in time for postage/delivery!

On TOS we had to increase our despatch time to 10 days even for items we would have out in a few days due to people being unreasonable.

People ordered PERSONALISED items at eg 10pm on a Wednesday, paying for 2nd class (and we don't care what the post office website says it can easily take 5 - 7 WORKING days to arrive!!) and then leave negative on the Friday (they may not be able to open a case as its too early but they can leave negative!) as it has not arrived!

As others have said if YOU cannot send out an item in the 2 days you have given - don't put it on.
If your supplier can take up to 10 days (and yes I understand many computers are custom MADE and it can take SEVERAL attempts to put on the software which should go on with no problems) add on another 2 - 5 days.

Due to the way TOS (and not yet enough experience with ebid) and paypal work you need to cover yourself as much as possible!
Add in more days, I see you are over the pond, so have no idea of your postal system but over here it is just logical to add in more days due to royal mail NOT doing their job properly and UNREASONABLE expectations or the buyers.

(Over here as the post office do not consider an item lost until 15 days after it was due we do not feel it is reasonable to refund buyers until after that date but TOS and paypal have other ideas!)

We have just had a neutral as the buyer claims the post office has only JUST delivered an item that we have proof of postage (sent to the buyer) for of 4th June!! (15 working days)
99%+ of buyers do not have the guts to whinge at the post office especially as the seller is an easy target etc etc...

A few weeks ago I needed an item and the buyer said 10 days for delivery. I wrote a polite note asking (as I confess I was on the last minute) if it did take that long or as we did, did they add in extra days. I said I needed it for Saturday would it be worth a chance and if it did not arrive NO problem as my fault, I was on the last minute. Even if it had not arrived I would not have left neutral or negative as it was my fault for last minute.

My suggestion go though your listings and be realistic with times and anything else. Explain when it is another supplier and made to order etc etc You may have less sales but you will have less hassle and less of your time wasted which has to be a good thing :-)

People may not like our listings but we do not have time to waste on people who have too much time on their hands and want to play games when we know others need our help more :-)

[johnwash1]

Sorry to say I have no sympathy either. Partly because I feel it would be a good thing if drop shipping were banned on auction sites.

Perhaps with high volume items there's a case for it, but in that case the seller needs to be getting a serious discount to cover their costs of doing business, which include being prepared to take flak from the buyer even when the drop shipper is the one at fault. So you need a lot of trust in your drop shipper to run a successful business. And if you're smart enough to be able to handle that, you're probably smart enough to run some other business that doesn't involve drop shippers.

[suesjools]

Sorry to say I have no sympathy either. Partly because I feel it would be a good thing if drop shipping were banned on auction sites.

Perhaps with high volume items there's a case for it, but in that case the seller needs to be getting a serious discount to cover their costs of doing business, which include being prepared to take flak from the buyer even when the drop shipper is the one at fault. So you need a lot of trust in your drop shipper to run a successful business. And if you're smart enough to be able to handle that, you're probably smart enough to run some other business that doesn't involve drop shippers.

Agree 110%. I'm not a fan of drop shipping either, as the seller often doesn't have the items on hand to ship when sold and frequently can't control things from the supply end.

That said, negging the buyer wasn't a good idea and I agree that the payment should be refunded in full. Oh and the TOS should be changed to reflect the shipping situation; if it takes 5-10 days to ship the item, let buyers know in advance, some may be OK with this, some may not, but either way it avoids misunderstandings.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[Kefegu]

Thank you all for your Replies i just gave the buyer their money back and i am working on increasing the dispatch time also in my returns for that supplier it dose state that we have a 15% restocking fee. when i upload my items in the returns i just add my default return policy which is # 27 yes i am at fault i should have never given the guy a neg but as i said once before i tend to open my mouth and insert my foot every time.

[suesjools]

Thank you all for your Replies i just gave the buyer their money back and i am working on increasing the dispatch time also in my returns for that supplier it dose state that we have a 15% restocking fee. when i upload my items in the returns i just add my default return policy which is # 27 yes i am at fault i should have never given the guy a neg but as i said once before i tend to open my mouth and insert my foot every time.

Don't feel too badly, I've been known to eat a foot sandwich from time to time (OK, day to day) as well.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[emmily121]

Thank you all for your Replies i just gave the buyer their money back and i am working on increasing the dispatch time also in my returns for that supplier it dose state that we have a 15% restocking fee. when i upload my items in the returns i just add my default return policy which is # 27 yes i am at fault i should have never given the guy a neg but as i said once before i tend to open my mouth and insert my foot every time.

You may state it in your listings, but is it legal?
I know that if I pay for an item via Paypal and have good reason to claim a refund, I will get a full refund of all money I paid, regardless of what seller states in their listing.