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To Neg Or Not To Neg? - That Is The Question

Started by jeranimal,

To Neg or not to neg  

336 members have voted

  1. 1. To Neg or not to neg

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78 posts in this topic

Dark Prime 0

Dark Prime 0

Posted
Posted
Hi all, this is the seller in question. First off, thanks to whichever good Samaritan took the time to inform me of this thread. Much appreciated.

 

Now, concerning this item: we recovered copies of this comic from deep storage. They were left over from initial orders made waaaay back in the 90s, and lingered in our overstock since. When they were discovered, I inspected each one individually, and when they were photographed and listed each was in virtually identical condition. If a copy had some kind of flaw or imperfection worth mentioning or picturing I would've taken a separate picture of that comic specifically, and the listing would've reflected its condition to the best of my grading abilities.

 

So yes, I admit to being guilty of reusing an image, that I took, of one of the actual copies, which resembled the other copies so closely it didn't seem necessary to repeat photos. And when I say resembled, these comics looked like they had just been unpacked from their initial shipment in 1992. Every single copy was absolutely fit to be listed under that title. And I should add that, with a couple exceptions similar to this (specifically mishandling during shipment, which has already been addressed, and we've reevaluated our packing methods. Oh and those buyers got immediate refunds, and got to keep their copies too), not a single customer had a complaint.

 

With regards to the torn page: yes that one slipped past me. I didn't take the time to flip through every copy (especially given the stock was checked and stored over 20 years ago), and that's on me. But, you know, I did resolve the situation by essentially giving him a free comic. I'm a monster.

 

So let's address the actual situation here, because I'm really confused about how this is unfolding. The buyer purchased the book, was dissatisfied with his purchase, and requested a refund to take action on that dissatisfaction. I didn't get a single message before receiving the refund request, nor any request asking me to correct the mistake I made. Only a refund request. And within a couple hours of that request being issued, I followed through, and opted to let the seller keep the book, something I virtually never do. Had this buyer contacted me before taking action, I would've addressed it immediately, and done the utmost to ensure he was 100% satisfied with the transaction, flaw or no. Had this buyer taken the time to express his concerns, I may have had another copy still in stock to replace the damaged copy with (which I would've sent at no additional cost to him, and even paid return shipping for the damaged copy).

 

However there was absolutely no communication beforehand, and only this lovely message after: http://i.imgur.com/Fmu7py3.png What I get from this message is that the buyer is satisfied with how the problem was resolved, and I took his concerns under advisement for future listings. As 90% of the comics I list are modern (like released within the last 3-6 months modern), problems like this typically don't occur.

 

Now I'm under a different impression of Mr. Buyer "not trying to be difficult" after being directed here from someone watching the thread. Should I interpret "not trying to be difficult" as being crucified, unbeknownst to me, for following the rules and guidelines of selling on eBay, after having performed my due diligence as a seller? What should I think of having neutral or negative feedback loom over my head for following through on a sale, issuing the seller a FULL REFUND, AND ALLOWING HIM TO KEEP THE BOOK? I'm getting real mixed signals here, because I'm out the cost of the comic and shipping, and Mr. Buyer is out exactly $0. Well, I guess he's out the time it took him to put me on blast here too.

 

And what to think about him "understand[ing] issues can arise during shipping", or him complimenting my professionalism? Or that he seems content that the issue was resolved to his satisfaction? Needless to say I'm at a bit of a loss for words, because that message directly contradicts how Mr. Buyer is attempting to portray me. The fact that I'm even taking the time to address this non-issue is absolutely ludicrous.

 

Needless to say Mr. Buyer has been blocked from making any further purchases from my eBay store, and should I have to address a feedback issue I'll be sure to file a complaint with eBay alongside screenshots from this thread. I'm pretty sure eBay's not cool with users deciding on neutral or negative feedback based on popular vote from people who had no involvement in the actual sale.

 

Afterword: Since Mr. Buyer didn't make any attempt to mask my identity, I don't really see any reason to mask his.

 

Here's his message again in case it got lost in the text: http://i.imgur.com/Fmu7py3.png

 

EDIT: So upon further inspection I see that Mr. Buyer created this thread AFTER contacting me. Pay attention to the time stamp in the upper left ( http://imgur.com/UXTHhV3 ), and take a look at the time stamp on his original post. Very interesting.

think your misreading what's happening here honestly.......he isn't really leaveing it up to a poll to decide how to leave feedback to you but was asking advice on how to handel said feedback. then it started to lead into a discussion on when certin feedback is warrented and when it's not

 

the people on these boards are opinionated and argumentitive with each other on their personal PoV about a subject, this isn't the 1st dicussion on this topic and it won't be the last, so don't take it personaly.......it just so happened to start bc of your ebay deal this time (again it's nothing new and will happen again given time) lol think this is the 3rd time i've read/given my PoV on this subject that i can remember (though it could be more)

 

it's also nice to see you learned from your mistakes, and acted porfessionaly to the buyer and other buyers

 

stick around, there is alot of info and fun people on the boards with alot of info no matter your comic collecting lv imo, and you can then also give your input on subjects as well

 

WTTB

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the blob

the blob

Posted
Posted

agreed, i think the buyer wanted to see how this community would approach it.

 

i probably would just leave no feedback. i certainly don't expect a positive when i issue a full refund on an f-up or anything like that even when i give someone a free comic as well (many of my shipments come with a freebie, usually something vintage if the purchase was vintage). i would hope not to get a neg or neutral in that case though.

 

were i a buyer and was out some real cash (if this was an expensive book) I might be a little more annoyed if I was short $1,000 for a week or two while awaiting receipt, etc.

 

 

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Turtle

Turtle

Posted
Posted
If I have to return a book it wasn't a positive experience. I don't care how nice the seller is or how fast they respond. I don't give extra credit for honoring a return policy that they most likely have no choice about in the first place. People seem petrified to even leave a neutral rating. I imagine it is how lots of mediocre sellers maintain good ratings.

 

Have you ever worked a customer service position? The answer might be "yes", but my guess is it's "no" based on this response. You can almost always spin a negative experience into a positive one if you know what to do. I say "almost" because there are some out there who just seem to enjoy being miserable (not you) and will cause a scene at the drop of a hat.

 

If I have to return a steak because it's well-done when I ordered medium rare, it's not automatically a bad experience...especially if they're nice and quick about it and possibly throw in a free appitizer or dessert or something for the trouble. In these cases, I'd generally talk to the manager on my way out to compliment the staff. However, if the waiter has an attitude, the cooks take an eternity to get a replacement, or if my water just stops getting refilled after sending the food back, it is absolutely a bad experience and I'd likely be letting someone know about that as well.

 

I suppose the difference between us is I value accountability after the fact and the willingness of a seller to make something right where as you seem to think that the instant something isn't right, it's a bad experience. Is that right?

 

For the record, I think leaving any feedback other than a positive in this case is absurd.

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kav

kav

Posted
Posted

I just don't understand the mentality that everything should be perfect and if there are any glitches COMPLAIN. Nothing is perfect. Even perfect things are not perfect if you keep looking. You can always find SOMETHING.

Refund and free book I don't care if the book arrived damaged-that guy gets 5 stars from me.

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Aweandlorder

Aweandlorder

Posted
Posted
I just don't understand the mentality that everything should be perfect and if there are any glitches COMPLAIN. Nothing is perfect. Even perfect things are not perfect if you keep looking. You can always find SOMETHING.

Refund and free book I don't care if the book arrived damaged-that guy gets 5 stars from me.

 

XWOuu8G.gif

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the blob

the blob

Posted
Posted

If I have to return a book it wasn't a positive experience. I don't care how nice the seller is or how fast they respond. I don't give extra credit for honoring a return policy that they most likely have no choice about in the first place. People seem petrified to even leave a neutral rating. I imagine it is how lots of mediocre sellers maintain good ratings.

 

---

 

he did not return the book. he was given a full refund and told to keep the book. that has been my practice too as a seller when I missed internal page cut-outs that zap the book into the poor range. full refund and buyer keeps the book. even on an otherwise $150+ book (although at some price point I'd probably pay to get the book shipped back).

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mar-vell

mar-vell

Posted
Posted
Hi all, this is the seller in question. First off, thanks to whichever good Samaritan took the time to inform me of this thread. Much appreciated.

 

Now, concerning this item: we recovered copies of this comic from deep storage. They were left over from initial orders made waaaay back in the 90s, and lingered in our overstock since. When they were discovered, I inspected each one individually, and when they were photographed and listed each was in virtually identical condition. If a copy had some kind of flaw or imperfection worth mentioning or picturing I would've taken a separate picture of that comic specifically, and the listing would've reflected its condition to the best of my grading abilities.

 

So yes, I admit to being guilty of reusing an image, that I took, of one of the actual copies, which resembled the other copies so closely it didn't seem necessary to repeat photos. And when I say resembled, these comics looked like they had just been unpacked from their initial shipment in 1992. Every single copy was absolutely fit to be listed under that title. And I should add that, with a couple exceptions similar to this (specifically mishandling during shipment, which has already been addressed, and we've reevaluated our packing methods. Oh and those buyers got immediate refunds, and got to keep their copies too), not a single customer had a complaint.

 

With regards to the torn page: yes that one slipped past me. I didn't take the time to flip through every copy (especially given the stock was checked and stored over 20 years ago), and that's on me. But, you know, I did resolve the situation by essentially giving him a free comic. I'm a monster.

 

So let's address the actual situation here, because I'm really confused about how this is unfolding. The buyer purchased the book, was dissatisfied with his purchase, and requested a refund to take action on that dissatisfaction. I didn't get a single message before receiving the refund request, nor any request asking me to correct the mistake I made. Only a refund request. And within a couple hours of that request being issued, I followed through, and opted to let the seller keep the book, something I virtually never do. Had this buyer contacted me before taking action, I would've addressed it immediately, and done the utmost to ensure he was 100% satisfied with the transaction, flaw or no. Had this buyer taken the time to express his concerns, I may have had another copy still in stock to replace the damaged copy with (which I would've sent at no additional cost to him, and even paid return shipping for the damaged copy).

 

However there was absolutely no communication beforehand, and only this lovely message after: http://i.imgur.com/Fmu7py3.png What I get from this message is that the buyer is satisfied with how the problem was resolved, and I took his concerns under advisement for future listings. As 90% of the comics I list are modern (like released within the last 3-6 months modern), problems like this typically don't occur.

 

Now I'm under a different impression of Mr. Buyer "not trying to be difficult" after being directed here from someone watching the thread. Should I interpret "not trying to be difficult" as being crucified, unbeknownst to me, for following the rules and guidelines of selling on eBay, after having performed my due diligence as a seller? What should I think of having neutral or negative feedback loom over my head for following through on a sale, issuing the seller a FULL REFUND, AND ALLOWING HIM TO KEEP THE BOOK? I'm getting real mixed signals here, because I'm out the cost of the comic and shipping, and Mr. Buyer is out exactly $0. Well, I guess he's out the time it took him to put me on blast here too.

 

And what to think about him "understand[ing] issues can arise during shipping", or him complimenting my professionalism? Or that he seems content that the issue was resolved to his satisfaction? Needless to say I'm at a bit of a loss for words, because that message directly contradicts how Mr. Buyer is attempting to portray me. The fact that I'm even taking the time to address this non-issue is absolutely ludicrous.

 

Needless to say Mr. Buyer has been blocked from making any further purchases from my eBay store, and should I have to address a feedback issue I'll be sure to file a complaint with eBay alongside screenshots from this thread. I'm pretty sure eBay's not cool with users deciding on neutral or negative feedback based on popular vote from people who had no involvement in the actual sale.

 

Afterword: Since Mr. Buyer didn't make any attempt to mask my identity, I don't really see any reason to mask his.

 

Here's his message again in case it got lost in the text: http://i.imgur.com/Fmu7py3.png

 

EDIT: So upon further inspection I see that Mr. Buyer created this thread AFTER contacting me. Pay attention to the time stamp in the upper left (

), and take a look at the time stamp on his original post. Very interesting.

 

You are dealing with the general public so this is part of the game. At least instead of simply ninja negging you once you turned your back to him after his praise he came here and asked how other collectors felt.

 

Maybe he thought he would get mass approval and turn this into a public lynching or maybe he was genuinely on the fence after considerings all things more thoroughly. In any event the sentiment here was greatly in your favor so it looks like this thread was worth your while as it appears your reputation is very important you. Better luck to you in the future.

 

 

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted

If you receive a refund, and get to keep the item, you've been compensated for your time. Like I said, if that's how my many bad eBay transactions turned out, oh what a difference.

 

Josh Cooper

Ed what's his name (the Oregon guy, overgrader and color toucher extraordinaire)

Dupcak

 

The list is endless....

 

How thrilling it would have been if that was how it always ended.

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