What feed back should I give

[hayfield]

I recently bought a 7mm kit built loco off eBay, got it at a decent price and had to pay £15 postage. Not too worried about the postage as its a 7mm scale loco and should be packed sufficiently well to survive posting. There was a bit of a hickup with paying as there was an issue with eBay using an old PayPal account. Still all sorted out. Item was sent reasonably quickly 2nd class recorded.

 

Today a small badly wrapped package arrived which rattled, I carefully unwrapped it and was amazed that not only was there a poor attempt at making a box but the loco was wrapped in a couple of small bits of plastic mat, nothing to protect the ends and certainly not 2" of all round protective material as the Royal Mail prescribes.

 

The damage whilst minor and can be repaired without too much trouble, I sent a polite message to the buyer informing them of the situation, I got a rather lacklustre reply which did not even include an apology 

 

What feedback should I leave ? Certainly at the moment its not possessive with both the packing and the sellers attitude. Happy in one instance to shrug my shoulders as the loco was cheap as it needs a good clean and service. But then I have a duty to other eBayers to leave feedback on my experience. To give honest feedback can I really say its positive ? I could not leave feedback at all but is this being honest. I am more than happy when I receive good service to give the appropriate feedback (in addition I usually send a quick note to the seller thanking them anyway) 

 

With feedback there are 4 areas where we can leave a star rating Items description, Postage costs, Speed of delivery, communication.

In someways the item was better than described but its condition not as good, postage costs definitely a no no, speed of delivery whilst not fast but within the expected time frame, communication was reasonable whilst trying to resolve their payment issues. 

 

Now do I leave negative/neutral/positive in the section and its a pity you can not leave a no star rating, as eBay ignores these  

 

Thoughts please as I would like to be fair whilst being honest

Edited June 7, 2019 by hayfield

[Corbs]

The first thing you should do it contact them directly and let them know you are unhappy with the service. Most eBayers are decent folk and will help resolve a conflict rather than receive negative feedback.

 

As you have already sent one message, I would be bullish and say that's not acceptable, you would like to request a partial refund to cover the damage.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Corbs

[Bucoops]

Agree with Corbs - the price you paid was for the kit to be in the condition advertised. It did not arrive in that condition and will take work to rectify.

 

If they do so then leave positive feedback with text along the lines of damaged in post but came to an agreement.

 

If refuse, I would say neutral as you think you can repair it, with a note about extremely poor packaging with excessive cost for the effort taken and damaged as a result.

[hayfield]

Corbs

 

Thanks, I think polite polite message was enough and perhaps getting a bit of at least neutral feedback might shake them up a bit

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Agree with Corbs - the price you paid was for the kit to be in the condition advertised. It did not arrive in that condition and will take work to rectify.

 

If they do so then leave positive feedback with text along the lines of damaged in post but came to an agreement.

 

If refuse, I would say neutral as you think you can repair it, with a note about extremely poor packaging with excessive cost for the effort taken and damaged as a result.

 

Thanks for the advice, which is along the same lines as I was thinking, but I do not want to be seen to be blackmailing the seller into a discount

 

The item is quite interesting being an older pressed tin/ whitemetal kit with added detail and has a Slaters sprung chassis, let down by a Sagami motor (might be knackered) In one way should have been described as a non runner but after giving the wheels a good clean and oil in now works happily and was described as needing an overhaul (doubt if it had been test run). I think It will need taking apart, all old oil removed, and perhaps springs changed. As I said may even need a new motor. But other than a new safety valve casting being swapped for a new one, its fine if not a good buy for what I paid, just needs a bit of tidying up. However this is an aside especially when paying a premium for postage

[Bucoops]

Don't mention the possibility of neutral feedback if they don't give a partial refund - you are just giving them one last chance to rectify the excessive postage and packing cost.

[Corbs]

43 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Corbs

 

Thanks, I think polite polite message was enough and perhaps getting a bit of at least neutral feedback might shake them up a bit

The problem is that neutral feedback won't give you what you want or compensate you for their shoddy service. 

 

Feedback is the final action, they can't do anything to appease you afterwards, so I would advise trying to get some compensation first and if that doesn't work, escalating the problem. Do you have photographs of the damage and/or the packaging?

[polybear]

In my experience feedback is worthless. I've had issues with people not paying and have had to involve ebay to cancel the sale in order that I don't get charged fees.  Result?  I lose the chance to leave any form of feedback.  So non-paying scrote still has a glowing 100%....

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, Bucoops said:

Don't mention the possibility of neutral feedback if they don't give a partial refund - you are just giving them one last chance to rectify the excessive postage and packing cost.

 

The postage charged is only excessive in my opinion in that the packing was virtually non existent and I think in eBay's eyes for multiple offenders neutral is as bad as negative

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, Corbs said:

The problem is that neutral feedback won't give you what you want or compensate you for their shoddy service. 

 

Feedback is the final action, they can't do anything to appease you afterwards, so I would advise trying to get some compensation first and if that doesn't work, escalating the problem. Do you have photographs of the damage and/or the packaging?

 

One thought you have just given me is to actually complain to eBay over this sellers postage charge verses the service given coupled with the lacklustre reply. I could if I wanted reject the goods and in return hit them with an appropriately packed loco in return. But I am just shooting myself in the foot as I want the loco and spent time cleaning some very dirty and tarnished (thankfully not rusted) wheels.

 

If the person just said sorry and offered a small recompense (which I probably would have just refused) I would not have been so annoyed.

[hayfield]

27 minutes ago, polybear said:

In my experience feedback is worthless. I've had issues with people not paying and have had to involve ebay to cancel the sale in order that I don't get charged fees.  Result?  I lose the chance to leave any form of feedback.  So non-paying scrote still has a glowing 100%....

 

 

On its own I agree and there are some who just complain all the time, and lets face it everyone makes a mistake. In this case its the lack of responsibility or ownership of the issue. 

[brianusa]

Its not worth the hassle.  We've all had instances where we would like to leave feedback, good or bad, but the likelihood of doing business with the individual ever again is remote.  If the cost of the item was substantial there may be good cause but John mentions that he was fairly satisfied with the deal.  Click four stars and forget it!

     Brian.

[polybear]

Easy:

1. If you're really p1ssed about the deal, go for a refund or discount

2. If it was a crap deal but you can't be bothered with (1) above, leave negative feedback

3. If was an ok-ish deal, but not as promised, leave neutral feedback

4. If it was a good deal, leave positive feedback

- and for 1, 2 and 3, set yourself a warning about the seller.

Job done

[hayfield]

14 hours ago, brianusa said:

Its not worth the hassle.  We've all had instances where we would like to leave feedback, good or bad, but the likelihood of doing business with the individual ever again is remote.  If the cost of the item was substantial there may be good cause but John mentions that he was fairly satisfied with the deal.  Click four stars and forget it!

     Brian.

 

Brian

 

Thanks, certainly I will not be clicking 4 stars in all categories, there is a difference i being satisfied with the item and feeling turned over about the service.

 

The item once I tinker with it will be a good buy, that's why we buy things

The description was slightly different to that which was described

The item arrived damaged due to awful packaging, which was very expensive so no reason for it to be so

[hayfield]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Easy:

1. If you're really p1ssed about the deal, go for a refund or discount

2. If it was a crap deal but you can't be bothered with (1) above, leave negative feedback

3. If was an ok-ish deal, but not as promised, leave neutral feedback

4. If it was a good deal, leave positive feedback

- and for 1, 2 and 3, set yourself a warning about the seller.

Job done

 

Polybear

 

Thanks for sound advice, I will leave the star ratings I believe are correct, I will not leave positive feedback mainly due to the attitude in the reply,  probably will leave a neutral rather than negative, just letting the dust settle first.

 

As I said I could return it and hit him in the pocket for postage, I would loose out on a model which was hovering on being a non runner and now runs quite well, just needs some simple repairs to the two damaged items (time and spares box rather than money) 

[hayfield]

Thank you for the advice, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. The damage can easily be rectified and I did get the item at a good price, even taking the £15 postage into consideration. Accidents in the post can happen in this case as I paid well over the top for postage I expected more than 2 bits of rubberised mat with a bad attempt of making a smaller box from a large one, but the worst part was the lacklustre reply without an apology from the seller

 

I took advice from all and left neutral feedback marking down appropriately in each section and an honest description of what occurred. Now if this is a one off it will not affect them, if this happens again regularly eBay will be able to take action

 

The item did arrive and I accepted the postage, I could return it but it would cost me far more to replace it. As it said in the description it had not been used for ages, I gave it a reasonable clean and it had a good outing at the club. 

[Colin_McLeod]

Life's too short.

Leave feedback of whatever, then get on with your life.

Enjoy the model.

[Il Grifone]

Anything less than five stars affects the seller's rating (rather like those surveys in stores - if the unfortunate employee receives anything less than 100%, it reflects badly).

 

I always assess eBay purchases on the total price (item plus postage/packing). Excessive postage charges (£15 seems to come into this category) tend to put me off, but even so, if the total is reasonable, then OK.

 

I always assume "Untested" or similar means "Tested but didn't work". It's then a pleasant surprise if it does. I always expect an item needs cleaning and servicing in any case. (Things might be different for "MIB", but I don't indulge in such things.)

 

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

Anything less than five stars affects the seller's rating (rather like those surveys in stores - if the unfortunate employee receives anything less than 100%, it reflects badly).

 

I always assess eBay purchases on the total price (item plus postage/packing). Excessive postage charges (£15 seems to come into this category) tend to put me off, but even so, if the total is reasonable, then OK.

 

I always assume "Untested" or similar means "Tested but didn't work". It's then a pleasant surprise if it does. I always expect an item needs cleaning and servicing in any case. (Things might be different for "MIB", but I don't indulge in such things.)

 

 

 

I have not an issue with what you are saying and always err on the sellers side. But when something goes wrong should we stay stum or give honest feedback

 

In the example I posted I gave a neutral feedback and down graded the star rating for posting (which in my opinion was very poor and failed to protect the item.

 

I actually bought a second item which had the same postage rate, it was not only packed very well but arrived the next day, appropriate positive feed back was left, then bought a third item, again well packed and quickly sent

 

In all 3 cases I paid £15 postage (0 gauge locos) The price I paid including postage was in my opinion very reasonable (postage costs must have put buyers off) In 2 out of 3 cases the packing was quite good and sent very quickly (which is what I expected for a charge of £15)

 

Many people go by the feedback from others,  I believe we should give feedback that is honest in the best interest of both the seller and prospective buyers, in this case the message I sent and feedback I gave seemed to have done the job Don't forget in this instance part of the issue was the manor the seller dealt with the problem as well as the problem itself

[Il Grifone]

I would be tempted to at least mention the packing and unhelpful response, but I do tend  to let things go.

 

My usual rating is "Excellent!  5 star***** ", adding "Highly Recommended" for someone I have bought from before and received good service (not very exciting I know!). I would probably tone this down for bad service or not leave any at all.

 

It's difficult I know, but there a couple of caveats - I might want to buy something from them in future (unlikely, but for the right item...) and I might get bad feedback in return. I check the odd bad feedback - it usually turns out to be something like this situation*, but I'm sure not everyone does.

 

*I got a negative once for an item I sold as "damaged". The reason given was "item damaged!" . That also considering it was a Lima locomotive and only sold for a few pounds.

[hayfield]

1 minute ago, Il Grifone said:

I would be tempted to at least mention the packing and unhelpful response, but I do tend  to let things go.

 

My usual rating is "Excellent!  5 star***** ", adding "Highly Recommended" for someone I have bought from before and received good service (not very exciting I know!). I would probably tone this down for bad service or not leave any at all.

 

It's difficult I know, but there a couple of caveats - I might want to buy something from them in future (unlikely, but for the right item...) and I might get bad feedback in return. I check the odd bad feedback - it usually turns out to be something like this situation*, but I'm sure not everyone does.

 

*I got a negative once for an item I sold as "damaged". The reason given was "item damaged!" . That also considering it was a Lima locomotive and only sold for a few pounds.

 

David

 

The thing is that firstly I contacted the buyer and gave them the option to respond. Next up was I did not leave negative feedback but neutral !!

 

On the whole it worked in my favour in all 3 occasions, that in each case I won the items at a much lower price than I would have expected to pay. I think in being greedy with the postage it kept potential buyers away, I seemed to be the only person to have an issue with goods from the chap and I must admit not to check feedback unless I am concerned about the item

[Sir TophamHatt]

Feedback isn't that important these days.

If someone has a string of bad feedback or no feedback, obviously I'm going to be weary.

 

In this instance, I'd leave neutral feedback.

 

If the person didn't offer anything in the first instance and didn't even write the word "sorry", which seems to be important and will somehow have made this situation better (?) then neutral it is.

 

Bought an item the other week.

Was described as "used" but the seller wasn't too friendly, accused me of not paying, then queried the amount (he didn't take into account the PayPal fee).  The item took a significant amount more cleaning than what it first seemed.  I left negative.  I didn't bother messaging the seller as I would have thought (based on previous messages about the item), they wouldn't do anything about it anyway.

Seller hasn't messaged me about the feedback, so I assume they understand why.

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

Feedback isn't that important these days.

If someone has a string of bad feedback or no feedback, obviously I'm going to be weary.

 

In this instance, I'd leave neutral feedback.

 

If the person didn't offer anything in the first instance and didn't even write the word "sorry", which seems to be important and will somehow have made this situation better (?) then neutral it is.

 

Bought an item the other week.

Was described as "used" but the seller wasn't too friendly, accused me of not paying, then queried the amount (he didn't take into account the PayPal fee).  The item took a significant amount more cleaning than what it first seemed.  I left negative.  I didn't bother messaging the seller as I would have thought (based on previous messages about the item), they wouldn't do anything about it anyway.

Seller hasn't messaged me about the feedback, so I assume they understand why.

 

Sounds like you did the correct thing, providing you left an accurate account of what occured