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Bending over and taking it
 

I just received a DVD returned by customer who wants a replacement. It appears to have been gouged with a blunt image: there is a scratch in it so deep that it nearly comes through the other side. There is no way in hell that he received it in this condition - I can't imagine any kind of factory error that would do this, and the case is undamaged. But if I refuse he files an A-to-Z Claim AND I get bad feedback out of it. SO I swallow the loss and send the f**king thief a replacement.

Again, just venting.

Vent on - I hear your woes bud - pretty crappy what people can get away with but yeah - don't replacement. Cancel the order, refund - I think Amazon won't let him post feedback...but I could be wrong. Once a problem customer, ALWAYS a problem customer.

Amazon will allow feedback to be posted after an order is canceled and after a refund is posted too. Even if you cancel an order before confirming shipment, they can leave feedback. No escape from the utterly one-sided, fraud-inducing Amazon system!

Of course, I admire you simply because you sell DVDs. It's a famous area for arbitrary suspensions by Amazon.

I've had very little bad feedback (and worked hard to keep it that way), but I've gotten a few in cases where I was unable to ship something and even though I apologized profusely the customer filed bad feedback. I don't even think they went out of their way or realized what it meant - just got the automatically generated feedback request letter from Amazon, clicked on, said "Never got my item" and checked "1." (Of course I contacted them to ask if they would consider removing it, and several times they did. But it takes very little bad feedback to screw up your rating.)

I suggest considering using legal threats, especially if the feedback is personal. I've removed two or three negatives this way that would have never gotten removed otherwise. These idiot buyers don't care or understand that a single negative can ruin your account and possibly ruin your life (if you sell full-time). And Amazon doesn't care enough about sellers to remind buyers to be responsible when leaving feedback.

If the feedback is personal it's pretty easy to get it taken down by Amazon. In most cases I don't think it's even intended maliciously - people just don't realize how destructive it can be. And a lot of people just don't read their email, or else assume that an email arriving with the generic headline (which is the only way we can send it because we have to go through the Amazon filter) is just another reminder about their order that they don't need to read.

You don't ever want to threaten someone when it comes to feedback, on any site. That just makes people mad. Best bet is to refund, move on, and sell 100 more.

You don't ever want to threaten someone when it comes to feedback

Believe it or not, it does work when it's framed in a manner in which the buyer is made to see that his/her feedback was libelous & damaging to the seller.

Well in my experiences you just open a can of worms. DVD's are high volume sales anyway. Do you really have the time to send someone threats? Use ebay as an example... they're feedback system is so messed up now you need to beg plead and grovel to get good feedback. Back in the day this worked, but now you have no recourse when someone leaves you a negative.... IT SUCKS. I know Amazon is a bit different...My best advice is to issue the 20 dollar refund and move on. They're super touch with DVD accounts.

With DVD's, I certainly agree. I was actually referring to higher value items, such as the $250+ software I would regularly sell. My bad. DVD sales are a can of worms to begin with, on Amazon.

No amount of money is worth an annoying and angry customer...I have been there many times. You just gotta take the hit and cancel the order.

I would suggest NEVER threatening a buyer on Amazon. It is one thing to try to make your case to them and the customer in a polite way, but threats are really not a good idea.

To MrMondo - I don't know anything about you or about what you sell. So please don't think I am implying you sell counterfeits - I'm not.

I have to say though, that some of these discs coming out of China look like they have come out of a wood chipper. Or else they put the DVD's in a clothes dryer for a couple of hours before they send them. Scratches galore, skipping discs, gouges, chips, broken plastic... Back when I did the DVD thing, my theory was that these were the factory reject discs from the factories producing them for the studios.

But even the BEST factories with the highest quality control standards can let one slip through. So, my point is that the DVD **MAY** have been damaged before it was packaged.

I lasted for almost ten years doing my thing on Amazon, so I think I know a thing or two. Buyers get scared when they carelessly leave negative feedback and you use terms like "libel" and "lawsuit". It doesn't hurt that it has actually happened in the past.

No offense, I don't care what you did ten years ago on Amazon or eBay. It's not even the same site anymore. Bragging about how feedback worked over the last decade is like talking about how Pangaea is the most beautiful continent. The game is different now.

I wasn't on Amazon ten years ago, I was there until a couple weeks ago, just got started on the first stealth account. I've been selling heavily for the past 4 years.

You posted above you lasted for nearly ten years selling on Amazon....

I did. Most of those years were light selling. I sold heavily for the last 4 years or so. I moved from eBay to Amazon as eBay was going bananas. Now I am trying to move some of the business back to eBay as Amazon goes bananas and becomes completely unaccountable.

haha... what makes you think ebay is more accountable? Amazon just has better tracking.

I think they've gotten a little better, honestly. I'd describe Amazon's style as more arbitrary. Most of the bogus rules we slave under are created by so-called category managers who basically have unlimited power to do whatever they like. The only sellers who are free to do whatever on Amazon are the corporate, "featured" sellers.

For example, the category manager in software may decide that Windows XP Pro SP2 (and this is a real situation) may only be sold in the "used, very good" condition by non-corporate big box sellers. Or they may decide to limit sales of Adobe CS2, CS4, and CS5 products to corporate sellers only. I had 100% feedback and no complaints, but my application to sell against some of these listings were denied off the bat.

I'm not that kind of seller. Strictly legit dealer in hard to find and out of print movies. I've been dealing in DVDs and VHS for many years, and I'm 99% sure this disk did not come from the factory this way. Fortunately it wasn't an expensive one - I just hate letting a thief get away with it so blatantly.

Nothing you can do. Amazon is totally about the buyer, mostly because they are a bunch of corporate cowards. Expect more detail when I launch my Amazon website in about two weeks. Hope to bring their feet closer to the fire.

Amazon website? do tell