How Much Trust Does An Online Seller Deserve?

Bujutsu,

No offense taken and I agree with you as well.

I would think twice before doing any further business with a seller who was withholding my feedback for ransom.

There is much to be said for the convenience of online commerce, but I don't think it outweighs the value of being able to get a true read of a man or woman's character by dealing with them face-to-face.

Steve

You are correct Steve, I'll be over in a little while...

Daryl, You might want to wait a few hours. Construction on I-95 Southbound at Lorton has traffic backed up for miles!

A nice sidetrack . . .




. There is no reason to be threatening to a buyer or seller.

This is a general rant, not directed towards anyone. Just some thoughts that have been percolating around in my head for a long while.

Some buyers do pick you apart in their feedback, but that is just how they see things. Others praise you way beyond what is really necessary (but please, don't stop! ). It all evens out and gives you a realistic picture of what the seller is really like, good and bad. The seller has a chance to respond to this in a reasonable (or not) way and clear the matter up as best he can.

I hear this is a touchy subject with some people as they have had unfortunate responses from people who respond quickly without thinking of the consequences, or from bullying customers, but as a seller, I want to know when I messed up. It is a great opportunity to address any issues that I have ignored before now.

Otherwise you will have people buy, and then for some reason unknown to the seller, never come back and buy again. Or pass your name on the others. Word of mouth is a great selling boost. Free advertising worth it's weight in gold (or stamps).

Most people will not tell you when you have done wrong in their eyes as they think, reasonably, that the seller will feel he has been attacked without provocation, and the natural thing to do when you are attacked is to attack back.

Picking on my poor brother, who is not here to defend himself, I have seen him react so quickly to an apparent 'attack' by a seller in an unfriendly email that I was kind of shocked. I was sitting across the room telling him just wait a sec and look, he probably didn't mean that you know. No chance. It was just lucky (in my opinion) that the seller was kind enough to respond to his return fire in a nice way.

There are always exceptions, but I do not think the exception should be the rule in all cases. Sometimes you get feedback that is uncomplimentary without the buyer trying to communicate the difficulty he is having and allowing you the chance to resolve the issue to his satisfaction. Some buyers are out to bully you or get you for some imagined slight or some unreasonable expectation they have or they think you have.

But I think that is the rare case and can be avoided by being polite, friendly, business-like, respectful to all involved (including yourself), and delivering on your promises. Sometimes, even all that is not enough to guarantee good feedback if the other party is out of sorts at the time he decides to feedback you.

In those cases, and I think there are more of them than ebay's feedback system allows for, (the human animal being who he is) the seller (or buyer) gets the short end of the stick. Well, gee, that's business. That's life. Not everybody is as nice as you. But that is no reason to attack back.

People respond favorably to a smiling face and well meant intentions. Communication is key. As a seller, how you write your descriptions and your policies (if you do do that) comes across as a smiling face or something else. And how you respond to issues that are upsetting to the buyer or to yourself.

Most of the time people want less than you think they do. Just an acknowledgement that there is a problem from the buyer's perspective and you will do your best to make it better does do a lot towards a good image for the seller. Just be reasonable and follow through on what you promised in your listing and title.

I think the above rant was somehow directed at myself as well as all sellers and buyers. I make mistakes too. But when you do make mistakes, you have the opportunity to learn something a lot faster than if you did everything perfectly.

Steve,

I'm glad you received a quick reply. BS took much faster action in suspending the seller than I had expected, but I think that is good.

I hope you are successful in getting your money back.

To the others, if you ever have suspicions/problems with any seller, do not hesitate to contact BS administration directly. I'm very active in the Stamp Forum over there, so if you want, you can also let me know and I'll make sure the complaint gets into the right hands. The seller was suspended within 1 hour of the complaint being formally filed. Talk about great customer service!

I can tell you that the investigation will continue by the BS administration. I have no reason to doubt Steve's statements. This is to be fair to the seller, to give the seller an opportunity to correct the problems in a reasonable and timely fashion. If the seller is able to resolve the current issues, they might be reinstated. There have been sellers in the past (including a friend of mine) who had sudden illness, got suspended, and then reinstated later.

Steve,

Damn I didn't know you lived in woodbridge.... okay so we need to plan a time to meet. I wanna see your stamps.. lol

I agree with Bujutsu. Sometimes you only find out when you receive the package, as you mentioned. I think it is quite poor to only give feedback to someone who has already paid (timely or not) for what they bid in your shop, thus relieving you of one more item and providing you with a revenue, once they have provided feedback to you.

I've had a similar situation on Delcampe recently with a Spanish seller with a lot of feedback, and a small percentage of negative feedback (less than 1%). They sell items at the highest rate I have seen so far on Delcampe, and their customer relationship is lackluster and poor. They sometimes give you feedback right away, other times provide feedback only when you do, and worst of all, sometimes they don't provide feedback at all.
They rarely respond to emails and messages.
A few months ago I ordered some items, and paid. One of the sets I won was probably sold somewhere else because after I paid, they informed me the item was not available, and they justified this with the explanation that they had had an issue with their database. I was provided a 'credit' on a next purchase (15 euros). When I received the order, one stamp in a 2-stamp set had a piece of cardboard or something glued to the front. I paid 7 euros for the 2 stamps. I informed the seller and they replied that they were sorry and would immediately replace it. At the same time they tried to lure me to use my credit on their own online store (most likely to increase their profit due to the commissions charged on Delcampe).
In late July, I order another batch of items and asked the seller, via email, to apply the credit I was due. They didn't reply to me nor acknowledge the email since I received an invoice with the full amount. I emailed again, and got no reply after 4/5 days. So I contacted Delcampe Support, who promptly contacted the seller based on evidence (emails sent by seller in April). The seller immediately (same day) renewed the invoice with the 15 euro credit. I paid and thanked the seller, while also asking if he'd send me the replacement set.
When I received the package, 3/4 weeks later (Spain to Portugal isn't that far), not only did I not receive the replacement item, but they 'forgot' another set, which cost me 7 euros.
I immediately escalated the issue to Delcampe and have not received a reply since.

This seller has a lot of feedback, so I hope Delcampe's actions are not to protect a big seller. Others have been complaining the same way since July.

The seller is linked to a few Dealer Associations and I am currently pondering emailing these associations to inform them of this behaviour.

On Delcampe, I have never had an issue with any seller except this one, I have 100% feedback, pay promptly or immediately inform the dealer if I need a couple of days. I would expect the same respect as given. Yet not everyone is as responsible and trustworthy as you would hope and expect.
Nonetheless, on Delcampe, I have had contact with many good sellers, 3 of which from the Netherlands, with whom I have had the pleasure of speaking with and learning about Dutch stamps. They have even helped me buy stamps from TNT I would otherwise be unable to or grow grey hairs waiting for.

Kim,

I just received notification that he had issued a refund of the duplicate charge (although he opted to credit the lesser charge that included a reduction for combined shipping of multiple lots).

I could be wrong but I think the bidStart suspension rather than my rebuttal to his Google Checkout mediation response was what prompted him to begin living up to his commercial responsibilities.

I still don't know if the lots I paid for have been shipped or if he still intends to ship them but I have asked for him to provide that clarification through the Google Checkout system.

I'll update all via this post with the final outcome.

Thanks, again, for your assistance. I hope your order arrives as you had anticipated!

Steve

Thank you for the update, Steve!

I just got a surprise call from bidStart to follow up on this problem. I have been instructed to go ahead and file for a refund with Google, and not wait for the shipment even though it is not overdue. I've been assured that no retaliatory feedback will be permitted.

BidStart is very serious about getting this matter resolved. They have always been very good about protecting buyers and kicking out any problem sellers quickly.

Last evening I notified bidStart that the seller had issued a refund and that I would advise them if I received the items that I had paid for.

This morning I received an email via Google Checkout that the seller had written last evening telling me that he had sent my items by priority mail and that I would receive them by Saturday at the latest.

He indicated that he had "sent another surprise for all the trouble."

He also apologized for the delay, attributing it to the 9+ day hospitalization of his child.

At this point, as long as he makes good on all of his obligations, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

UPDATE: Saturday mail delivery has taken place and I have still not received the items.

UPDATE 2: The items I had ordered arrived in Wednesday's mail delivery and all were in good condition and as advertised. At this point, as far as I am concerned, the seller has fulfilled his obligation. Should bidStart choose to reverse his suspension, I would be willing to do further business with him.

I got called out of town again, so I don't know if I got my shipment or not.



I'm willing to give the seller the benefit of the doubt regarding his child in the hospital (things do happen, I know, I have to deal with these emergencies for other families all the time), and I certainly hope his child recovers quickly!

But the problem I have is simple -- if he has all these things going on in his life and is unable to fill orders timely (these things I can understand and sympathize), then why was he still listing NEW auctions (this, I don't understand).

Kim,

I'm in complete agreement.

Steve

I am back in town. Looks like I received my stamp from him yesterday.

Have you gotten yours, Steve?

Kim,

This XF-Sup 371 and XF 534A came on Wednesday, along with that Gem 482 that I posted in the US Classics discussion. I'd like to see bidStart reinstate him, if he makes good on all of his outstanding obligations, because he seemed to have some really nice material.

Steve