Question
I consider eBay customer service to be unacceptable.
I'm using "eBay customer service" in the most general and broad sense to mean their attitude and approach to all customer relationships and how that plays out, down to the smallest individual contact.
While a thousand examples quickly come to mind I don't think anyone needs someone else's list to understand and agree with my feelings.
I believe it starts at the top and what we actually encounter is directly a result of corporate policy.
When I first started eBay selling I was tremendously impressed with the collective attitude of the people I meet on chatboards.
Providing good customer service was something that I was fortunate to have instilled in me from when I first started working over 50 years ago.
And while I may have failed on many occasions, I knew what was right, what I should do and that long term success required I should always try to improve.
Online sellers understood that this form of selling was challenged by the detachment of using the Internet and that it required notching up customer relationships beyond what most RL contacts need.
We're not the local retailer with a community reputation and easy customer access.
So while online sellers did not introduce me to this concept, they did, by word and act, lead by example and demonstrate what I viewed as a higher level of customer service.
I think eBay also acted in a similar way at that time which was some seven years ago.
eBay's customer service has gone downhill since then, maybe fallen off a precipice would be a more accurate description.
I've wondered if eBay's poor attitude to us, their customers, wouldn't set a standard, if you can call unacceptable a standard, that would be reflected in the seller's attitude to customers and result in the disintegration of good customer service throughtout the site.
I'm sure there are circumstances where this could be shown to have happened.
But the old spirit still exists. eBay may have bent it but it is not broken.
I've done a little shopping recently on eBay. Small purchases from sellers new to me with little contact but for the buy, PayPal, get the items.
I've received two follow-up emails that I would like to share.
**********************************
"Dear reston_ray,
Ray, just to let you know, I mailed you a refund for the shipping as well today. It didn't cost as much as I thought, Thanks again for your purchase.
Thank you,
mph1528
************************************************** *
and
************************************************** **
Dear Ray Walsh,
Kathleen Maybury (bzybyr*yahoo.com) has refunded your payment. Please see
the Refund Details below for the refund amount.
Note from Seller:
Ray, as I was packing I accidently put a tear in the front cover (it's
tape-able) but thought it only fair to refund part of your money, so that's
what this is...hope this will be OK with you, as the book was listed as
used. Otherwise a beautiful book!
**********************************************
Exceptional or exceptional and ordinary in the spirit I first saw and have continued to experience among so many eBay sellers?
You decide for yourself but I know I'm thankful.
Thankful for a few bucks returned, sure.
But also thankful for the sellers that were here when I arrived, thankful that so many that are still here, thankful for the examples they set, thankful for what they teach me every day, thankful that they haven't let the policies of a corporation break them and thankful that I can be a part of this community.
Now I better go do some packing before I become more like the corporation and less like you.
Thanks.
Answer
you might want to edit the last names out (or ask jim to if you exceeded editing time)
Answer
Ray, I have a real issue with giving the customer the best service that I possibly can....I work under the simple rules of "what's right" and "do unto others" and so far it has not let me down...I would agree with your concept that eBay cust service can set a lower standard (heck even the shipping times on their very own merch always amused me...Here we are shipping within hours/couple of days to satisfy our customers and eBay stuff has like a 2 week lead time for shipping! ) BUT, I still believe that there are those who operate based on their own concepts of what's right and IMO it only serves to separate (eg. elevate) those sellers to a different level....
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I have not yet replied to either emails. I will now and include a link to this thread.
I think they both deserve to be recognized individually and as part of an overall attitude of service shown by so many sellers.
If either they and/or Jim feel the names/IDs should be modified or removed I will, of course, comply.
Answer
Hi Reston,
While I was reading your post, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps the lack of eBay customer service has made the “community” stronger as a result. I think that those of you who have survived eBay and made it a business are happy to help those of us starting out.
I can’t say enough about the help I have received on this forum and others. There seems to be a passion about helping each other. A weird one at times ... I wonder why you guys bother? In saying that, I plan to give back when I am experienced enough to offer advice.
I also wanted to mention that buyers can also be gracious. Not meaning to blow my own horn but I always check the postage I am charged to the postage I paid. There have only been a handful of cases where the seller paid more than they charged me and in these cases, I refunded them the amount (through Paypal). I figure it goes both ways right?
I think the parties you mentioned will be really pleased that you gave them the bouquet they deserve.
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Unfortunately, due to the automated nature of eCommerce it has been all too commom for companies to assume that customer service is little more than an annoyance to be minimized, or even better - automated. Just have the 'puters pick out keywords in emails and send out stock replies.
The damn fools think they have a captive audience so they can do whatever they freaking well please.
They dont. And as a result ever greater hordes are being turned off to the idea of online purchasing. Or even selling online. The novelty is wearing off quickly and unless the online marketplace gets a reality check in a hurry we can expect customers to ever more return to more traditional venues. Especially as ever more online vendors are being associated with the terms 'shyster' and 'scammer'.
But an even greater problem lies not with eBay itself, but with its sellers, grown lazy and effectually incompetent by overly relying on 'third party tools' to handle the very crucial operations of interacting with the customer. That alone I believe has done more to turn off customers than anything else.
Whenever I have queried sellers I am lucky if I even get a response in about a quarter of the instances, and of those only about half (1 in 8) actually even attempt to answer the question(s).
Its gotten so bad that there were a few items I had been looking for lately, sufficiently scarce so that I searched the net. Upon coming up empty handed the Other Half inquired if I had searched eBay. Hells Bells, I had TOTALLY *forgotten* to look there.
Imagine that....
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I've had a different experience with some recent purchases - relatively inexpensive collectibles from a fairly broad range of sellers. Almost all used the ebay invoice (I guess I knew it existed but don't think I'd ever seen it before). It has a link to click to pay. Since I have a firm rule against clicking on links in emails and don't believe I"m the only one, that sort of surprised me. No emails before or after payment except from ebay or the paypal system. They don't stand out from the spam at all and they couldn't look more impersonal.
Our emails are automated - I'm not sure how you keep up on ebay otherwise - but they don't look automated thanks to John at Auction Sage. And we send lots of them, at each stage of the transaction, and edit as needed for a particular sale. If you buy from us you'll know we got your payment, you'll know when we expect to ship, you'll know when we did ship, etc.
I've just been surprised by the total lack of contact on these sales. Send an ebay invoice and you're done apparently. I have not found it to be an encouraging experience.
Maryanne
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I think the biggest obstacle we sellers have to overcome is the overabundance of search results. Many small sellers (like me) can't afford to do more than maybe bold or highlight. Therefore most of my items come up around page 112 or some such. (Anybody know how the common search results are organized??) I know, I'm stating the obvious. But does anyone have any ideas about how to bring your items closer to the first page (other than paying $19.95, which would cost at least three times my profit margin on an item)?
As for customer service, I do NOT rely on my 3rd party listing provider to take care of my customer relations. Yes, they send automated "personalized" emails at each stage of the process, but I also send my buyers a personal, signed "thank you" letter, on letterhead, in their shipments. It's also my policy to respond to ANYBODY's inquiry immediately if not sooner. Certainly 'way quicker than 24 hours.
As for the postage refunds, thanks so much for the idea! I hadn't even thought of that. I'll implement that policy immediately. Any other great customer service ideas? I'd love to hear them!
Anyway, eBay can't break MY spirit. I'm going to keep doing and keep learning, and build a brand and reputation so that my buyers tell other buyers and I'll eventually be in the black. If I have to at some point in the future, I'll move off eBay and either go to another auction site or just open an ecommerce store.
"That's just my opinion - I could be wrong!"
Lisa