Ebay feedback question

[Quiet Storm]

I recently bought a relatively inexpensive item off Ebay from a seller with excellent feedback. I only paid for shipping without insurance, and the item didn't arrive. Communications have been top notch, he even offered a partial refund. I highly doubt that he didn't send it.

Now I'm wondering what kind of feedback I'm supposed to give him. I think not giving any feedback at all might be best, but it's obviously not his fault that it didn't arrive. "Neutral" sucks and I sure as heck won't give him negative feedback. But if I decide to leave him a positive point with the comment reading "item didn't arrive, but I doubt it's his fault"...well, that's lame and potentially misleading.

Any thoughts?

Before you lecture me on how I should have had him sent it insured: this is the first time something I bought got lost in the mail and I've still saved hundreds of euros on the shipping charges for inexpensive items that way over the years.

 

[SharpByCoop]

Hmmmm. An ethical dilemma.

If you think the seller handled his end of the transaction *as promised*, then regardless of the failure of a third party shipper to deliver, he deserves A+.

If you have reservations that he may have not *really* sent it out as promised, or bungled your address, then a neutral or doing nothing is appropriate.

There are not crystal-clear answers on this. You have to go with your gut. Even if you have to suck it up. The lack of insurance on your part is irrelevant to the feedback.

Coop

 

[Quiet Storm]

The lack of insurance on your part is irrelevant to the feedback.

Well, if it was insured, I'd expect him to file a claim and wait until I have the item/money - or not.

But I agree that it's a "gut feeling" thing. Since my gut tells me he sent it, I'll give him positive feedback with just an "A+" note and leave it at that.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Cougar Allen]

Seems to me the generous view is the transaction isn't over yet. Sometimes things are delayed in the mail for a long time. It's possible it might never reach you, but it seems to me since you're sure he sent it it's reasonable to go on waiting. I can't see any way to justify leaving him positive feedback before the package arrives, though. Wouldn't that make a mockery of the whole feedback system? What if all his previous positive feedbacks were from people who never got received what they paid for? (Talk about a reductio ad absurdum....)

 

[rifon2]

Seems to me the generous view is the transaction isn't over yet. Sometimes things are delayed in the mail for a long time.

Sometimes they are

I just had a similar situation. I bought an item from someone with good (100% positive) feedback. I asked him to please insure it and paid a few dollars extra to him for that.

Two weeks later it wasn't here...and in the interim, ebay listed him as "no longer a registered user" for reasons unexplained; and having nothing to do with my transaction.

But he answered my emails and seemed honestly bewildered at my not receiving this item. I asked him for an Insurance Tracking Number. He said he didn't have one on his Insurance receipt.

After giving it another week, (3 weeks at that point) I contacted PayPal and asked them to resolve the situation. A few days later the seller issued me a refund through PayPal.

Today, a month later, the item arrived. First Class Insured, a small package, traveling only a few states up the East Coast.

A month!

So I emailed him and told him that I'd send back the money he refunded.

So, being that ebay gives you about 90 days to leave feedback, perhaps you
might wish to wait a bit longer...?