30/10/09 eBay Powersellers Secrets Newsletter

“In this week’s newsletter Amanda considers buying a Private Jet to achieve faster delivery of eBay orders to those customers who just can’t wait.” 

Hello!

This Monday around lunchtime, I received a very curt email from an eBay customer of mine. She informed me in no uncertain terms that she was extremely dissatisfied with my service and was going to report me to Trading Standards because her order had not arrived.

Ok, a little bit of an over-reaction on her part you might think, but on the other hand, maybe she had been waiting a little while for her order to turn up if she’s considering actually reporting me to some higher authority. Perhaps she had been waiting for a couple of weeks and maybe – incredibly - she has had no access to a newspaper or the television or the internet, except of course to eBay, and just hadn’t realised that there are postal strikes happening up and down the country.

So, I looked into her order to check when it had been placed and dispatched, expecting to see that it had been sent a couple of weeks ago and had simply become lost in the post somewhere and geared myself up for an apology, an explanation and sending a replacement product.

And that’s when it all got a little bit weird!

The buyer in question had purchased her item from one of my eBay listings on a Sunday night at 9.17pm. Nothing strange about that. But, the Sunday night in question wasn’t last week, not even Sunday night two weeks ago, but Sunday night as in the night before she sent her email complaint to me! I had packaged up her order on the Monday morning and taken it to the Post Office where it had entered the postal system at lunchtime – coincidentally at around the time of her email asking where her parcel was.

Now, unfortunately, my funds cannot quite stretch to a Private Jet just yet, so how exactly she expected to place an order on a Sunday night and then have the very same order arrive through her letterbox the next morning I would dearly love to know.

So, after I had stomped around the house, ranted on for 10 minutes about how on earth did she expect me to get a parcel to her so quickly when the post offices are shut on a Sunday and did she think I was super-human and do people have nothing better to do than complain etc (it’s ok – it’s good to get it all out!), I calmed down a bit - much to the relief of the dog, who had retreated to his cushion by the Aga and was keeping his head down – and decided to give my buyer the benefit of the doubt thinking that perhaps she had muddled me up with another eBay seller.

 I then emailed her, explaining that her order simply couldn’t have been dispatched any quicker and it had been sent out today and here’s the tracking number and so on. Always polite and professional, even when my blood is boiling with the sometimes unreasonable demands of customers, I sent my best wishes and fired the email off (with an extra hard smack of the send button and gritted teeth).

Quite honestly, I thought that will be the end of it. My buyer would realise her mistake, apologise for her insulting words and threats and would be all smiley and happy when her order arrived the next day.

Nope. It was not to be. This was a proper ‘Awkward Customer’ moment and I am sure you have probably experienced one of these yourself at some point. If you haven’t, oh are you in for a treat when it comes!

Anyway, about 3 minutes later, I got a reply from my buyer telling me: “your listing states 24 hour dispatch”.

Yes….

“And if you offer 24 hour dispatch then you should do so.”

Yes…. I thought I had dispatched within 24 hours! Actually it was more like within 15 hours if you want to be precise.

She continued:

“Your eBay listing is misleading and I will be reporting you to Trading Standards and looking for a refund and compensation from you.”

What!? Is this woman for real? Trading Standards? Refund? Compensation?

So, I fired off a second email explaining again (politely, even though my patience was wearing a little thin by this point) that I actually had dispatched within 24 hours, Post Offices aren’t open on Sunday’s and I reassured her that her order would be with her tomorrow as it had been posted today.

2 minutes later:

“My order was posted the day after I ordered it. That’s not 24 hour dispatch. I needed it quick and it’s not here.”

Oh My Goodness! It suddenly dawned on me that my buyer had taken the phrase ‘24 Hour Dispatch’ literally. She had read it, rolled it around in her brain for about 4 seconds and decided that ‘24 Hour Dispatch’ meant the same as 24/7 Spar Shop, 24 Hour Taxi Service and 24 Hour Supermarket.

I know you are probably reading this with your mouth hanging open in absolute disbelief, but I promise you this was really happening to me, as surreal as it may seem! My buyer thought that 24 hour dispatch meant that I was sat there at my computer all day and all night, just waiting for the orders to come in, packing them immediately and then summoning some kind of nocturnal personal postal worker who just happened to be hanging around outside, to come and collect the parcels and deliver them by 9am the following morning all over the country.

So, back went another polite email explaining the actual logistics of ‘24 Hour Dispatch’.

I was duly informed that this was very misleading, wrongly worded and I would still be getting reported to Trading Standards.

I pity the person at Trading Standards who answers that telephone call!

But it just goes to show that what might be glaringly obvious in meaning to you in your eBay listings, might be read and interpreted as something completely different by someone else.

Your dispatch times, terms and conditions and other pieces of really important information should be written without any ambiguity what-so-ever so that they cannot be misconstrued in any way, shape or form to avoid situations like the one I have just described.

If you dispatch only Monday to Friday then say so. If you only dispatch on Saturday’s then say so. Explain that orders placed over the weekend will be dispatched on the following Monday if that’s how you run your eBay business. And state which postal service you use and whether it’s 1^st or 2^nd class, recorded or standard etc.

Although it’s obvious to most people (but not all as I have proved), explain that phrases like “24 hour dispatch” mean that orders are dispatched within the following 24 hours of the order being placed. Not continuously, any time of day or night during those 24 hours like a taxi service!

And hopefully, in being blatantly obvious, there can be no confusion.

Sometimes it is the simplest things like being thorough and precise in your descriptions that make all the difference from persuading someone to purchase, right through to a positive feedback and high DSR scores – all of which are important to your reputation and your search placement on eBay.

So next time you are writing your eBay listing descriptions, don’t just throw them together. Take the time to read through what you have written, or get someone else to so that you can nip any ambiguities in the bud before you submit your items.

By the way, in case you are wondering, I checked the online tracking for my buyer’s parcel the following day and noted that it had been delivered and signed for that morning.

I have not heard from my buyer since and very much doubt I will be getting any repeat business from her. But, in the meantime I will wait for my letter from Trading Standards with baited breath…

Until next week as always I wish you the best of success,

Amanda

P.S For those of you who have already purchased my home study course, this week I have added 3 new wholesale sources to your bonus page. Don’t forget to take a look!

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I produce this newsletter on the understanding that these are my own personal opinions and experiences, which are as accurate as possible at the time of publication. I cannot be held responsible for any error in details, accuracy or judgment whatsoever. 

© Amanda O’Brien 2009
 

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