Hi everyone,

I know I just had another thread about a buyer who wanted to back out- this is not about that buyer. I decided to appease that buyer to save myself headaches/a claim/bad feedback. Unfortunately, I woke up to a negative by a different buyer. It was for a dress, which was brand new. It didn't have a paper tag, but still had a tag with a baggie containing extra studs for the dress. I have NEVER worn this dress. The buyer (who NEVER contacted me) left me feedback stating that the dress smelled and she needed to get it dry cleaned to get the smell out. This is particularly confusing to me as I am very sensitive to smells, I do not smoke, the dress was new, and have never had this issue before with anyone. I just don't understand why this buyer didn't contact me first. I sent a message to her to let her know that I am sorry she was unhappy with her purchase, reiterating that the dress had never been worn, and asking why she didn't contact me about a problem and that I would have definitely worked something out with her- with either a return or a reimbursement of dry cleaning costs (even though, again, this is baffling to me).

Any other words of advise? I'm kind of devastated here. I am mainly a buyer on ebay, but I've had my account for 12 years and I work very hard to maintain my feedback with respect to the stuff I sell, which is just unwanted stuff from my own closet that I sell to fund or make room for more purchases. It particularly stings because this was not a high-end item, but I do sell high end items and I hate the blemish this leaves me with respect to buyer confidence in considering a purchase.

Thanks in advance, everyone.

As disappointing as this is & very unfair that the buyer did not contact you

you can respond to her feedback...and also remember that your feedback does

speak for you & how you have handled other transactions... have you tried to

contact her as to why she didn't let you know there was a issue??

You can also request that she change the feedback.

My feeling is that if a buyer leaves negative feedback before ever contacting you they are typically not the type to communicate with you afterwards. I am sorry you had your first negative. You can leave a comment to feedback received which will appear under the negative feedback. Just state that buyer never contacted you about any problems and that dress was new and unworn as stated in auction and leave it as that. Other buyers and sellers will not be deterred from dealing with you on eBay because some looney left unwarranted negative feedback. In the greater scheme of things it is such a minor detail.

Sorry to hear what happened. Just know you will only have a dent in your feedback for a year. After that year, assuming you have not received anymore negatives, your feedback will re-calculate to be 100% again (eBay re-calculates the last 12 months of feedback every 12 months).

As far as the feedback, just respond in a very short and professional manner. Something like, "Never contacted about this, no chance to address/rectify" or "Dress new/buyer never contacted me/no chance to rectify". Your response will say a lot more about you than the feedback sometimes. Also, most buyers won't be troubled by one negative compared to all the positives. Have you emailed her at all?

Thanks, all.

She responded to my message and I feel better now, but not for the reason you might think. She very plainly said she didn't communicate because she was not interested in a reimbursement or full refund. There was literally nothing I could have done to appease her, so I can only respond to the feedback now and wait for her negative to fall off of my percentage. It will be a long year, but hopefully other feedback will outshine this one.

Wow, okay. Then just respond with something like, "Buyer did not want to return dress or let me rectify". Don't worry, this is soooooo minor. I had a buyer leave me negative feedback once because AFTER the auction she insisted I ship to a different and unconfirmed address not logged in eBay or PayPal. I very politely noted I could not do that and asked her to cancel the auction, but she denied my cancelation (which made me loose the refund of the fees) and she left me negative feedback saying I refused to sell her the item because I was rude! It really bugged me at first but then I got over it and it really DID NOT impact my sales. Sorry again this happened to you!

Originally Posted by bulletproofsoul

Thanks, all. She responded to my message and I feel better now, but not for the reason you might think. She very plainly said she didn't communicate because she was not interested in a reimbursement or full refund. There was literally nothing I could have done to appease her, so I can only respond to the feedback now and wait for her negative to fall off of my percentage. It will be a long year, but hopefully other feedback will outshine this one.

Truthfully, when a buyer doesn't give a seller an opportunity to rectify

a situation that says something about who they are.. so in this case I

would not take it personally & put it in perspective.. respond to her feedback

and know that at the end of the day you have many satisfied buyers and

yes the feedback & the type of seller you are reflects well...this buyer

is not on the same page you are & how very sad for her that her only

alternative was to leave negative feedback without giving you an opportunity

to do something...

^^ I agree with this. Leave a professional reply and sorry you had your first negative :(.

Originally Posted by GlamGirly

Wow, okay. Then just respond with something like, "Buyer did not want to return dress or let me rectify". Don't worry, this is soooooo minor. I had a buyer leave me negative feedback once because AFTER the auction she insisted I ship to a different and unconfirmed address not logged in eBay or PayPal. I very politely noted I could not do that and asked her to cancel the auction, but she denied my cancelation (which made me loose the refund of the fees) and she left me negative feedback saying I refused to sell her the item because I was rude! It really bugged me at first but then I got over it and it really DID NOT impact my sales. Sorry again this happened to you!

As a buyer, I look for how the seller responds to any negatives left.. If I read this reply, I would know the buyer was unreasonable and have no problem buying from you. I hit the back button if a seller leaves angry replies to negative feedback.

Originally Posted by boxermomof2

As a buyer, I look for how the seller responds to any negatives left.. If I read this reply, I would know the buyer was unreasonable and have no problem buying from you. I hit the back button if a seller leaves angry replies to negative feedback.

I agree ^

Wow, unbelieveable how some people are. Buyer simply wanted to be an a**hole.

Originally Posted by Tropigal3

I agree ^ Wow, unbelieveable how some people are. Buyer simply wanted to be an a**hole.

I don't quite understand? Why did she take the time to respond, if she was only going to say she isn't interested in revising? Am I missing something or just slow?! I don't get her.

Originally Posted by saintgermain

I don't quite understand? Why did she take the time to respond, if she was only going to say she isn't interested in revising? Am I missing something or just slow?! I don't get her.

Some people get more satisfaction out of whinging than having their problems resolved. I work in the service industry and I encounter this a lot. Daily in fact. Lots of people get a kick out of getting pissy, they dont really want anything done they just want to express their pissiness. This kind of buyer will find fault in absolutely anything and they are never happy.

Originally Posted by claraflo

Some people get more satisfaction out of whinging than having their problems resolved. I work in the service industry and I encounter this a lot. Daily in fact. Lots of people get a kick out of getting pissy, they dont really want anything done they just want to express their pissiness. This kind of buyer will find fault in absolutely anything and they are never happy.

There are just some people not matter how hard you try you can't

satisfy them... this buyer was a case in point in addition to which she

wasn't even fair about giving the OP a chance to do something..

Buyers like this the world doesn't need but unfortunately are here to stay

Did you check to make sure your Buyer is not a Seller herself. If she is, you can report her for malicious bidding and get the neg removed. In the meantime, block, if you haven't already.

Don't worry about the neg though - people will see for what it is.

BTW: who doesn't have something clean/washed before wearing?