Punitive Etsy Feedback

[carebear]

What do you all think of that? I was recently perusing the web site of a "mold maker" who might be familiar to some here and saw that he left "neutral" feedback for a buyer and essentially admits in his comment that it was in respeonse to a "neutral" feedback he received.

Seems to me that if he got his $$ on time, deserved or not, that he is obligated to give feedback based on that - not as punishment for honest feedback from a customer...

Which that the right way to do business?

 

[Deda]

Hmm, I think if Etsy won't take care of the Mold Makers shady doings that his customers will.

Hopefully, they'll read the feedback he's left for others.

Essentially, If you don't like the crappy molds you'll suffer negative feedback!
What a bargain!

 

[Hazel]

Re: Punative Etsy Feedback

What do you all think of that? I was recently perusing the web site of a "mold maker" who might be familiar to some here and saw that he left "neutral" feedback for a buyer and essentially admits in his comment that it was in respeonse to a "neutral" feedback he received.

Seems to me that if he got his $$ on time, deserved or not, that he is obligated to give feedback based on that - not as punishment for honest feedback from a customer...

Which that the right way to do business?

I agree. If a customer pays promptly, he should have left feedback first. I've noticed this problem on eBay. The sellers don't leave feedback until after the buyer leaves feedback (and sometimes not even then!). My understanding about the rating system on eBay is if you pay promptly, then the seller should give you feedback within a reasonable period of time after payment. Sellers like this have destroyed the original concept of the feedback system. Sounds like this problem is now happening on Etsy, too.

 

[Tabitha]

I most often wait until after I have received feedback to leave feedback, but then again I have shipped thousands of orders and run across quite a few folks with loose screws.

I have had people email me & try all kinds of blackmail.

I had a man (on ebay) received a high dollar items & love it, but his wife found out how much money he had paid and demanded he return it or he would leave me negative feedback if I didn't.

I had another man (on ebay) purchase a rare Vespa scooter piece. He destroyed it trying to force it into place with a hammer. After he ruined it he demanded I take the piece back and refund his money or he would have paypal reverse the charges and leave negative feedback.

I have had several ladies who received notes on their door from the post office that their box arrived while they were not home to please go to the post office to pick it up & for whatever reason they don't go pick it up, claim it never arrived & leave negative feedback, etc.

Then there was the lady who bought the 'juniper breeze, bath and body works dupe, deodorant stick' from me who was upset and was going to leave negative feedback because she hated bath and body works fragrances.

I could go on forever.

Making payment is only a small part of the responsibility a buyer has when they enter into a transaction. They are also responsible for not committing fraud after the fact.

 

[Hazel]

I see your point.

But my opinion is based on a customer's view. I think about items before I buy them. I have to decide not only do I want something but do I really need it. Can I live without the item, etc. I buy in good faith expecting a certain professionalism from the sellers (unless they're obviously people who are just getting rid of items). I don't blame the seller if I've made a mistake on a purchase or have buyer's regret.

However, over the past couple of years; I have noticed a decline in professionalism and courtesy on eBay. Some of this may be sellers' reactions to changes in eBay's policies. Some of it may be from people trying to make a quick buck on eBay. It used to be fun in the earlier years and I enjoyed bidding on items. Now I've basically stopped using eBay.

I guess the old cliche is true - a few bad apples spoils the whole bushel.

 

[carebear]

I agree.

At first, etsy was home only to people who loved their craft. Now it's become almost ebay...

 

[Tabitha]

I agree.

At first, etsy was home only to people who loved their craft. Now it's become almost ebay...

I wish they had stuck to handmade and made a seperate site for supplies and vintage like they originaly planned. I understand when things grow, they change, but I hope it does not change too much more.

 

[cmd439]

I think feedback should be left based on your dealings with the customer, not necessarily their feedback for you; BUT, if they pull nonsense you should leave feedback accordingly. I work in retail, trust me I have come across a lot of crazies!

I had another man (on ebay) purchase a rare Vespa scooter piece. He destroyed it trying to force it into place with a hammer. After he ruined it he demanded I take the piece back and refund his money or he would have paypal reverse the charges and leave negative feedback.
quote]

What do you do in this type of situation Tabitha?

 

[Deda]

What do you do in this type of situation Tabitha?

She sends them a free kitten.

 

[agriffin]

What do you do in this type of situation Tabitha?

She sends them a free kitten.

 

[chrisnkelley]

I used to sell quite a bit on ebay. At the beginning, I left feedback immediately when payment was received. Then I ran into a lot of crazies whose goal seemed to be to scam. Some buyers feel they are in a power position when they have purchased something - they think they can change the rules or else. Attitudes like this made me switch to leaving feedback after I received it. I know this is not the ideal situation, but it certainly makes it easier to avoid blackmail from buyers. Plus, I've never had a complaint from a buyer that I didn't leave feedback soon enough.

 

[PrairieCraft]

I agree with chrisnkelley. I do a little selling on ebay and I want to see that the buyer has received the item and is happy with it before leaving feedback. Not because I want to leave the same feedback that they do but to leave myself room to respond if they decide to get nutty. In the case of a nut I will usually just not leave any feedback.
I have decided recently that if someone purchases something and then does not pay, rather than send a request or multiple requests for payment (I'm talking after days have gone by) that I am just going to cancel the transaction because it is always these jerks who have a complaint after they get their item.

 

[Tabitha]

I think feedback should be left based on your dealings with the customer, not necessarily their feedback for you; BUT, if they pull nonsense you should leave feedback accordingly. I work in retail, trust me I have come across a lot of crazies!

I had another man (on ebay) purchase a rare Vespa scooter piece. He destroyed it trying to force it into place with a hammer. After he ruined it he demanded I take the piece back and refund his money or he would have paypal reverse the charges and leave negative feedback.
quote]

What do you do in this type of situation Tabitha?

There is/was nothing that could be done. Paypal refunded him his money. I was not able to prove it arrived in good shape nor was I aable to prove he was lying. Without proof te customer always wins. Out of 2000 payments I have recieved from paypal, I have probably had 5 refunded to the buy who was lying. IN the overall piocture it is tiny. You should build in 3-5% for loss or damage and the paypal reversals come out of that. I would not accept a paypal payment for over $100.00 though, unless I knew the person well. I can't afford a reversal that large. For larger orders I require a money order. You can't reverse one of those :wink: .

 

[Dennis]

I've done a lot of buying and selling on ebay and found a number of whackos as described. I think that the routine customer sees through most of the negative or neutral comments. Whenever I review I look at the positives versus negatives and understand that there is a whacko factor involved and make my buying decision based on that.

 

[Sunny]

I love eBay and Etsy - you just have to be somewhat savvy to use them anymore. People are nuts now. And I'm sad for the direction Etsy is heading. There is way too much obvious big production stuff going on... it's hard to shop there and find real, quality handmade items.

 

[Tabitha]

I've done a lot of buying and selling on ebay and found a number of whackos as described. I think that the routine customer sees through most of the negative or neutral comments. Whenever I review I look at the positives versus negatives and understand that there is a whacko factor involved and make my buying decision based on that.

I like that- the whacko-factor. I ofetn wonder when I see shops with several thousand pieces of feedback and ) neg, 0 neutral, how they do it. They have whackos too!

I had a whacko over the Holidays buy a 60 y/o vintage habdbag which I shipped to the UK. I lowered the price for her & held it for 3 weeks untill she could pay for it. When it arrived she threw a fit because it was 'used'. Yes, it was 60 years old. She bombarded me w/ 12 emails in 24 hours & was steaming mad I only responded to her 4 times w/i the same 24 hour period. She asked for a $10 refund, I said OK. She asked for $15 refund, I said OK. She asked for $27.50 refund, I said OK. She then asked for $35.00 refund & then the full $60 (item + shipping). By this time I had stopped responding to her & alerted etsy and paypal that I was having problems with her. She filed claim through paypal to get her money back & was DENIED! She has not left me feedback yet, unfortunatley I have.... I am just waiting.

 

[Sunny]

Under some circumstances you can get negative feedback removed. (I'm sure you know that.) But maybe something like that will come up where you can ask to have it removed.

That only happened to me once, and it was removed because he called me a dirty word :O (He bought a shirt and it didn't fit and he was upset enough to curse at me in the feedback... hah.)

 

[soapbuddy]

The gall of some people! I'm sorry you had such a whacko buyer Tabitha.

 

[Tabitha]

Under some circumstances you can get negative feedback removed. (I'm sure you know that.) But maybe something like that will come up where you can ask to have it removed.

That only happened to me once, and it was removed because he called me a dirty word :O (He bought a shirt and it didn't fit and he was upset enough to curse at me in the feedback... hah.)

They will only remove it if they use foul language or slander etsy.

I had 4 negatives from a buyer (in December) who said the package never arrived even though delivery confirmation said it did. Etsy would not remove the feedback saying they did not get into feedback issues. I persuaded the buyer to remove the feedback after replacing the items at my expense.

 

[Sayuri]

Sorry bit late in replying here but I've had some real weirdo's on eBay. On my personal and business accounts I have 100% feedback because I'm honest to the point where I know I'll lose some bids but I won't lie to any potential buyers as it's not fair.

I've had a few buyers threaten to ruin my '100% feedback' as they know my reputation is more at risk than say, someone with 99% feedback. Once you have a negative it is pretty gutting especially when you know it's completely unfair. One person chose the cheaper postage and then said he hadn't received the item and he said and I quote "It would be a shame to ruin your 100% feedback over such a small item...", I offered the cost of the item back to him minus the postage and he happily accepted. His story didn't make much sense and I think he knew I couldn't prove anything so asked for a refund. It seems if you have a good reputation there are some buyers who will easily use this to blackmail you into doing what they want and it's disgusting really.

My friend who also makes bath & body products used to sell on eBay (but she's gotten too big for eBay now so has stopped plus the hassle was too much for her due to competitors doing nasty stuff such as the following...) and someone bought 30 items from her and immediately left 30 negatives stating she hadn't sent the items etc. My friend rang eBay and they immediately took the negatives off as they realised it had been done to harm my friends 100% positive feedback.

I'm so wary of selling on eBay but I'm aware that Paypal/eBay are completely for the buyer so it's a lose-lose situation for the seller. Just a shame there are so many scammers around now to ruin what used to be great places to sell.