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[Debbie Dunkley]

For those of you who use eBay to sell....

I had ordered some little 1/4" to 3/8" mic adaptors from a company I had never used before on eBay. It was a small $6.07 order with free shipping.

They arrived and the machining was bad on 3 of them (not good odds) so I notified the company. They offered me a $2 refund.
I had been able to get a third adaptor to screw in properly by moving it back and forth by the time they repsonded and I was honest and told them that - so now I have 3 working pieces.
I told them I would accept a refund of $2.43 which was the cost to me of the (now) 2 pieces but that it was no problem to return the full order if this was not acceptable.
I realize we are talking pennies here but it's the principle - 3 of the 5 original pieces were defective - now 2 - and I shouldn't have to pay for something that I cannot use .....

Anyway, I got a response today that states,

" Dear buyer,
Thanks for your message.

We can refund 3USD to you as discount.
Before that, could you pls leave us a 5 star positive feedback?

Waiting for your reply.
Best regards."

I do not believe it is either ethical or within eBay policy to basically blackmail me into leaving a 5 star review BEFORE they will do the right thing and refund my money.

I am writing to the company explaining this and advising them that all these messages go through the eBay portal and they should be aware of this. Also I'm going to tell them to keep the $2.43 and I will go ahead and review accordingly.

Again , I realize we are not talking big bucks here and some of you might think I am splitting hairs but I just like to see companies stand up and do what's right over the small things so I have confidence in spending more money with them.

Ironically, I would have given them a 5 star rating anyway if they had done the right thing .....

[David Allred]

Ironically, I would have given them a 5 star rating anyway if they had done the right thing .....

Same here.   But I would have countered with... "After I get the refund, I will give a 5* with a brief note that there was a problem but was swiftly and professionally corrected". 

[Dave Pluke]

We can refund 3USD to you as discount.
Before that, could you pls leave us a 5 star positive feedback?

Tell them to show you THEIRS first !

Reminds me of an Auto Dealership Service Manager that once told me; "You may be getting a survey request in a couple of days.  If you can't give us all 5's, don't fill it out".  I did fill it out and they did NOT get all 5's as a result.

Dave

[Debbie Dunkley]

I haven't sent my response yet - it is still in draft. They already gave me a positive review ....
Maybe I should pursue this and tell them to send me the refund first and THEN I will review them- the way it SHOULD be done!

[Corey Scogin]

I haven't sent my response yet - it is still in draft. They already gave me a positive review ....
Maybe I should pursue this and tell them to send me the refund first and THEN I will review them- the way it SHOULD be done!

You can always report them to Ebay support as well. Make sure all your messages are within the Ebay messaging system so support has access to them.

[Debbie Dunkley]

You can always report them to Ebay support as well. Make sure all your messages are within the Ebay messaging system so support has access to them.

I just sent them a message indicating that I refuse to review them before the refund has been made and that this is an unethical practice.
I'll see what they say. I will be notifying eBay of this - all messages are through the eBay system.

All this over a couple of dollars..... not enough to risk their reputation. What are these sellers thinking??
Looks like the items are supplied by a company in Singapore BUT are shipped from a warehouse in the US.

[Chris Hindle]

" Dear buyer,
Thanks for your message.

We can refund 3USD to you as discount.
Before that, could you pls leave us a 5 star positive feedback?

Waiting for your reply.

I deal with suppliers in China often.
I believe he is saying "we will give you a discount of US$ 3.00 on your next order"
Chris.

[Bob Stone]

I always figure with ebay orders from China under $10 with free shipping that I get what I get and it might be throwaway. I never use it for anything critical or that I need in a timely manner. My time isn't worth dealing with problems on those orders if it's remotely ok.

Bad threads? I would have just grabbed a bottoming tap and fix the threads.

[Dave Garoutte]

I don't understand how they can even cover the shipping for those prices.

[Bob Stone]

I don't understand how they can even cover the shipping for those prices.

If you can get a shipping container for $1000 and you put 100,000 items in it...although the last mile stuff is where I'd expect the bigger problem than just getting it over here.

[Miguel Dahl]

These "kind" of dealers are scared shitless of bad reviews. I'd just go with getting the refund and giving them some stars...and mention bad product but good customer service, at least that would help "me", I know what I could expect if ordering after reading such a review. It's honest at least.

They can't do anything about a 1 star review either...it's there.

I once got a piece of homebrewing equipment which was not as pictured, If I knew I ordered what I actually got I wouldn't order it. So I wrote to them and said that this isn't correct, they offered me a micro-tiny refund, after saying that the stainless steel tube probably was bent during shipping, although it was perfectly bent and specs was on par, except that it had a bend to it.. I said that this didn't even cover the shipping and I'd leave a bad review, then suddenly I got a 25% ish refund.

[Debbie Dunkley]

Again, I realize that these prices are silly low especially with free shipping - that isn't the point. The point is that the company asked me (if I read it correctly) to review giving 5 starts and THEN they would address the refund issue. That is just plain wrong.
When I first contacted them it was regarding 3 of 5 faulty pieces. At that point if it had been 2 of the 5 I might not have even bothered to contact the seller because the 'majority' of the pieces worked.
By the time i 'worked out' the threads on the 3rd piece, the seller had contacted me with the offer to refund IF I gave 5 stars. I take issue with that alone and nothing else.
As Miguel stated, these guys on eBay rely on good reviews and I like giving good reviews....

[Miguel Dahl]

Again, I realize that these prices are silly low especially with free shipping - that isn't the point. The point is that the company asked me (if I read it correctly) to review giving 5 starts and THEN they would address the refund issue. That is just plain wrong.
When I first contacted them it was regarding 3 of 5 faulty pieces. At that point if it had been 2 of the 5 I might not have even bothered to contact the seller because the 'majority' of the pieces worked.
By the time i 'worked out' the threads on the 3rd piece, the seller had contacted me with the offer to refund IF I gave 5 stars. I take issue with that alone and nothing else.
As Miguel stated, these guys on eBay rely on good reviews and I like giving good reviews....

The shipping isn't "free", it's baked into the price. The price of the item would be lower if they excluded the "free shipping". But not by much though. It's an old trade deal which makes shipping costs is paid by the sender (cost forwarded to the buyer), until the parcel (from the old days it would be the letter) leaves the country. The recipient country pays for the rest. Anyhow that was off topic.

This is just how they deal. It's to be honest nothing shocking, albeit it's "different" to what us from the west are used to.

[Bob Stone]

Again, I realize that these prices are silly low especially with free shipping - that isn't the point. The point is that the company asked me (if I read it correctly) to review giving 5 starts and THEN they would address the refund issue. That is just plain wrong.
When I first contacted them it was regarding 3 of 5 faulty pieces. At that point if it had been 2 of the 5 I might not have even bothered to contact the seller because the 'majority' of the pieces worked.
By the time i 'worked out' the threads on the 3rd piece, the seller had contacted me with the offer to refund IF I gave 5 stars. I take issue with that alone and nothing else.
As Miguel stated, these guys on eBay rely on good reviews and I like giving good reviews....

I think the point here is that you roll the dice with companies like this on ebay and your expectations are too high. It's not worth your time to argue about it with them, give the good feedback or not, take the refund or not, it doesn't terribly matter. The only thing I'd be worried about is protecting my own rating on ebay, that's it, that's all.

[Debbie Dunkley]

I think the point here is that you roll the dice with companies like this on ebay and your expectations are too high. It's not worth your time to argue about it with them, give the good feedback or not, take the refund or not, it doesn't terribly matter. The only thing I'd be worried about is protecting my own rating on ebay, that's it, that's all.

I understand that Bob. Trust me - I'm not losing sleep over this and if it was eating into my life in any way, I wouldn't give it another thought.  I'm certainly not going to argue with them-I have sent my last correspondence. I just find it hard to believe that any company - good, bad, foreign, domestic, big or small - that relies on ebay for its business, would risk a bad rating or worse - a compaint to ebay,  for something so silly. If I were a vendor, I wouldn't.

[Debbie Dunkley]

I read that the US HEAVILY compensates Chinese companies for their shipping to the USA - so in fact we are ALL paying the shipping cost - in our taxes....

[Jeff Lelko]

Sorry to hear about this Debbie - funny story though!  This reminds me of the time a company held my order hostage.  Mind you this was an authorized dealer for the brand I was purchasing from here in the United States.  It was a couple thousand dollars of merchandise and I was told that my order would not be shipped until I removed a negative review from their Google (I think) profile.  The problem was, it wasn’t my review! 

I eventually convinced them of that and got my order, but I’m amazed of the antics some companies will try - both before and after the sale!  It makes me thankful for the wonderful vendors I’ve met here on PSW!

[Debbie Dunkley]

Sorry to hear about this Debbie - funny story though!  This reminds me of the time a company held my order hostage.  Mind you this was an authorized dealer for the brand I was purchasing from here in the United States.  It was a couple thousand dollars of merchandise and I was told that my order would not be shipped until I removed a negative review from their Google (I think) profile.  The problem was, it wasn’t my review! 

I eventually convinced them of that and got my order, but I’m amazed of the antics some companies will try - both before and after the sale!  It makes me thankful for the wonderful vendors I’ve met here on PSW!

WOW - now that is pretty bad...is that legal?

[Jeff Lelko]

WOW - now that is pretty bad...is that legal?

I’m sure it’s in a grey area, much like what you’re going through.  This company was already deserving of the negative reviews - they tried some sketchy practices with me such as quoting me one number and invoicing me something 30% higher, but as a collector of vintage disco/club lighting I can’t always choose my vendors the same way I do when investing in my “modern” rig!

[Bob Stone]

WOW - now that is pretty bad...is that legal?

It would be a civil matter most likely.

Sorry to hear about this Debbie - funny story though!  This reminds me of the time a company held my order hostage.  Mind you this was an authorized dealer for the brand I was purchasing from here in the United States.  It was a couple thousand dollars of merchandise and I was told that my order would not be shipped until I removed a negative review from their Google (I think) profile.  The problem was, it wasn’t my review! 

I eventually convinced them of that and got my order, but I’m amazed of the antics some companies will try - both before and after the sale!  It makes me thankful for the wonderful vendors I’ve met here on PSW!

That's just brutal...what legit company would do such a thing?

[Debbie Dunkley]

Just as an update.. the company sent me a message this morning confirming they will refund $3 to my PayPal account.  Once done, I will go ahead and give a positive rating. This is what should have been done i the first place.

[Dave Pluke]

This is what should have been done i the first place.

Maybe partly a language issue?

In any case, glad you got it resolved.

Dave

[ProSoundWeb Community]