| Not all auctions go smoothly. Maybe the item arrived damaged. Maybe it didn't arrive at all. Maybe it wasn't exactly what the buyer thought he was getting. Maybe the buyer is a loud, complaining, major-league son of a rutabaga. In any case, if you have a complaining customer, you need to do something about it. Unfortunately, there are really no hard and fast rules for handling post-auction problems. You have to play it by ear and resolve each complaint to the best of your ability. On the plus side, most eBay users are easy to deal with and just want to be treated fairly . Others won't be satisfied no matter what you offer them. You have to use your own best judgment on how to handle each individual situation. What are you options when you have a complaining customer? Well, you could just ignore them ”not that I recommend this. If you specified that the merchandise was sold "as-is" or that "all sales are final," you're technically in the clear and don't have to respond to customer complaints. That's not a good way to run a business, however, as dissatisfied customers don't generate good word of mouth ”and are prone to leave negative feedback on eBay. Better to try to work something out. If the item never arrived, you can contact the shipping service to put a trace on the shipment. If the item was insured, you can initiate a claim for the lost or damaged item. And if the item doesn't work or isn't what the customer thought he was buying, you can work out some sort of refund. Even if you're not disposed to offer a full refund, you can perhaps negotiate a lower price or discount with the customer, and then refund the difference ”which may be preferable to taking the thing back and losing the entire sale. Guaranteeing Your Merchandise You can head off some customer complaints by guaranteeing the merchandise you sell. (Alternately, you can sell all items "as-is" ”as long as you clearly indicate this in your item listings.) Some novice eBay sellers might worry that the costs of guaranteeing their merchandise might be prohibitive. This is not the case ”simply because the vast majority of merchandise arrives intact and in good working condition. The number of customers who will actually take you up on a "money back guarantee" will likely be extremely small. When a customer is dissatisfied with their purchase and takes you up on your guarantee, you have a couple of options. First, you can offer to refund the purchase price if the item is returned to you. This approach prevents unsavory customers from taking advantage of you, either by claiming something is bad when it's not or by doing the old switcheroo and shipping you a defective unit while they keep the good unit you sent them; you get to inspect the returned merchandise before you send the refund.  | You can choose to refund (1) just the purchase price; (2) both the purchase price and the original shipping/handling charge; or (3) the purchase price, the shipping/handling charge, and the customer's costs to ship the item back to you. Make it clear which it is before you ask the customer to return the item. |
Second, you can offer a full refund on the item, no questions asked, no further action necessary. With this option, the buyer doesn't have to bother with shipping it back to you; this is the way high-class merchants handle their returns. The upside of this method is the extra measure of customer satisfaction; the downside is that you could get taken advantage of, if the customer is so inclined. You also have to determine just what it is that you're guaranteeing. Do you guarantee that the item is in good working condition? Or that it is completely free of defects? Or simply that it's as described in your item listing? Whatever your guarantee, you're likely to come across the occasional buyer who feels that the item he received is not as it was described. (Which is another good reason to include a detailed description of the item ”and a photograph ”in all your item listings.) This situation can quickly deteriorate into an exercise in who said what; it might be best to defuse the situation early by offering some sort of compensatory partial refund, whatever your policy states. How long your guarantee lasts is another question. Certainly, most retailers guarantee their merchandise to arrive intact and in good working condition ”or at least as described in the auction listing. Should you respond to customer complaints if the item stops working after 30 days, or 90 days, or even a year after the auction? While a manufacturer might offer an unconditional one-year guarantee, you probably don't have the same obligation. I'd say that any problems that crop up after the first 30 days shouldn't be your obligation. Most customers will understand and agree. Whatever guarantee you offer, state it up front in your item listing. You can include your guarantee as part of the boilerplate text you include at the end of all your listings. Resolving Complaints with a Mediation Service Of course, you still might run into that rare customer who just can't be satisfied. They want a full refund, and you don't see that it's justified. When a transaction devolves into a shouting match, it's time to bring in a mediator ”a neutral third party who will look at all the facts and then make a (supposedly) fair and balanced judgment. | | Of course, some problem customers are real problems ” especially if they don't pay, or send you rubber checks. Learn more about dealing with deadbeat bidders and other frauds in Chapter 16, "Dealing with Problems." |
eBay offers mediation services through SquareTrade (www.squaretrade.com). This site, shown in Figure 15.4, settles disputes through a possible two-part process. You start out with what SquareTrade calls Online Dispute Resolution. This free service uses an automated negotiation tool to try to get you and your customer to neutral ground. Communication is via email; the process helps to cool down both parties and let you work out a solution between the two of you. Figure 15.4. Use SquareTrade to resolve disputes between you and disgruntled customers.  If the two of you can't work it out in this manner, you have the option of engaging a SquareTrade mediator to examine the case and come to an impartial decision. This will cost the party who filed the case $20. Both parties agree to abide with the results. If the SquareTrade mediator says you owe the customer a refund, you have to arrange the refund. If the representative says you're in the clear, the customer has to stop complaining. (At least to you.) Given the low costs, there's no reason not to use SquareTrade in a disputed transaction ”especially if the customer files the claim and pays the cost. The Absolute Minimum Running an eBay business creates lots of opportunities to communicate with your customers, including  During the course of the auction, when potential bidders can contact you with questions about the item you have for sale After the auction, when you have to notify the winning bidder that theyve won (which is the type of communication you can automate with eBay Selling Manager or other auction management tools) After the customer has paid, when you should notify them that youve received payment and shipped the item When you have other merchandise to sell to your established customer base When you have a dissatisfied customer ”in which case you need to work something out or refund their money |
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