AuctionCut

Not so much disgruntled as dissatisfied..

Up until recently, my auctions and sales have gone really well.. Despite one minor hiccup with a "neutral" about late shipping (still GRRRRRs me), I have had happy buyer after happy buyer..

The last week or so, I have had 2 who have been less than thrilled.

First guy, it was a pair of AMD ONLY DIMMs.. I had purchased these to put in my machine, but hadn't realized at the time they were AMD ONLY.. Due to delays and such, I never bothered to ship them back. So, they sat on my shelf for a few months until I dusted them off and put them on EBAY. I stated in the Auction, that they were AMD ONLY and that, I didn't know for absolute positive that they are functional, but that I would refund if they arrived DOA.. Well, the guy I sold them to first complained that after 10 days or so, he still hadn't received them. I tried to email him three times over the next 2-3 days to confirm this. Along about the 5th day, I hear from him and he says they finally arrived but that they are DOA. He asks me to refund his money and then he will ship the DIMMs back.. I respond with a, "Are you sure you put them in an AMD machine".. 2 days later, he responds with a yes... So I respond that I am willing to refund half his money now. Then, when I get the DIMMS back, I will refund the other half... That was 2 days ago and still haven't heard back.. Granted, I know that normal people don't live on their email as I do.. But, com'on.. If you are in the middle of a dispute over a transaction, checking your email more than every other day seems to be the thing to do...

On the other instance, I had a guy who wanted me to end an auction early for a specific BUY IT NOW price on a SATA Hard Drive. I grudgingly agreed and shipped the drive to him in Spain.. I get an email from him this morning, accusing me of substituting the advertised MAXTOR drive for a SAMSUNG drive.. I have NO CLUE what he is talking about, as I shipped him the drive that was in the auction. I emailed him a JPG of the invoice for the drive to show that they drive I had is the drive I shipped.. Now, while I can't honestly say that I remember inspecting the drive, I think I would have noticed if I ordered a MAXTOR and got a SAMSUNG...


OK, now that I got the novel out of the way, let me ask..

How much is too much support?? I don't want any pissed off customers, but I also don't want to get took..

How do ya'all handle dissatisfied customers?? Is it inappropriate of me to ask for the item back BEFORE I refund?? I wouldn't have thought so..

Anyways, yer thoughts on this would be most appreciated..


Michale

I don't feel it's inappropriate to ask for the item to be returned before any refund is issued - in fact I'd expect it to be standard practice for most sellers.

All you can do is reply promptly & professionally and hope your customers offer you the same courtesy.

Is the support your offering to your tiny minority of "awkward" customers worth the cost of avoiding a potential negative feedback comment?