Principal vs DSR Ratings

[Elisek]

The DSR's on an account of mine are finally improving after an unfortunate negative, a couple of neutrals and a few low DSR's last year.

I'm very honest with my international shipping charges. What I sell roughly costs around £9.80 to ship internationally via Royal Mail (including tracking), with no additional charge for combining products. I charge a flat rate £10.

Recently sold 2 items that will ship together to an international destination. The buyer has paid but has insisted I refund the shipping charges because they are "too high" and "other sellers don't charge that much!".

I've not yet responded.

Reasons AGAINST refunding: - They've paid as much as the shipping will actually cost. I never profit from postage. If I refund, all shipping costs will be coming out of my personal funds. And it's clearly stated in the description how much I charge - why did they bother to bid if they were unhappy with it?!

Reasons FOR refunding: - If I don't refund, they could leave me a neutral and/or rate me low DSR's, which, honestly, my account cannot afford at this point.

I know £10 isn't a lot when it comes to keeping eBay/buyers sweet. It's the principal of giving in to a buyer who is plain wrong to ask this of me. Is it worth risking low DSR ratings?

Any thoughts?

[BigCJ]

They did it intentionally to get a free/low cost item.

Explain to them that this is extortion and will be reported to ebay unless they accept a cancel transaction request.

They may know that the new Defect nonsense is kicking in soon and want to just muck around to get what they want.

Id wait for others to chime in.

[Elisek]

Originally Posted by BigCJ

They did it intentionally to get a free/low cost item.

Explain to them that this is extortion and will be reported to ebay unless they accept a cancel transaction request.

They may know that the new Defect nonsense is kicking in soon and want to just muck around to get what they want.

Id wait for others to chime in.

Thanks for the reply.

[pokerpro]

I can totally relate to the principal of it....BUT, each time I stood my ground and didn't give in, I regretted it later!!! 100% of the time.....the neg and low DSR you are going to most likely get is not worth it at all......

Ask yourself, would you pay $5 or whatever to get rid of a neg.......I think everyone would say yes....and you're talking about less money than that BEFORE you get one........learn from my mistakes....give them whatever they want and after they leave you feedback, then send them a scathing e-mail........you'll be glad when you don't have to look at a neg for the next 12 months.

[MM78]

Yet another reason I don't sell internationally.

[Bunneh]

If your shipping is stated in the listing then you are covered.
Contact eBay by chat and explain what is happening..

You can also offer to scan in your tracking receipt so your buyer can see what you paid for the item.

[Lost in the Supermarket]

Bait him into threatening you with a neg FB if you don't comply. Then.....report him ot Ebay. If he does leave a Neut/Neg it will be removed because of "feedback extortion". Just how you get him to say he will leave a neg is up to you.

And then block him......

[pokerpro]

IMO, that is bad advice....I've had that exact thing happen more than once and reported feedback extortion and have NEVER had ebay side with me and remove anything....maybe someone has...but I'm like 0 for 3, and in each case I had it in my ebay messages for them to see.

I'm really surprised at all the people saying to report this to ebay...in my 16 years on ebay, this has never been something they are sympathetic to.

[vogeltron]

Someone says this to me, I ask them why didn't you buy from other sellers that that they have mentioned #1.

Assuming you haven't shipped the item. I would tell them you will refund your money and ask that you cancel the transaction. Tell them that you charge exact shipping costs and don't need someone who has no idea what they are talking about to try to lecture you after they agree to the terms. If the other sellers have better deals or subsidize the shipping costs please go buy from them.

Block them and report to eBay.

[Elisek]

Originally Posted by Bunneh

If your shipping is stated in the listing then you are covered.
Contact eBay by chat and explain what is happening..

You can also offer to scan in your tracking receipt so your buyer can see what you paid for the item.

Thanks for all the replies.

I was considering contacting eBay Chat but didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to the account.

Haven't shipped the item yet. Would prefer not to go through with this transaction to be honest, simply because this is a difficult customer and the fate of my account is in their hands. They seem very unpredictable and not very good at speaking English

Would rather send a Cancel Transaction request, but they probably wouldn't agree on their end now that they've paid.

Contact eBay prior to shipping goods - good idea?

[Elisek]

UPDATE:-

After an hour & 1/2 with eBay Chat and passed to 3 different departments, I've been told that the buyer has no right to ask for the shipping charges to be refunded.

I explained I was concerned that the buyer would give me a negative/neutral feedback and low DSR ratings. The rep I spoke to was very understanding and said that if this buyer gives me low ratings/bad feedback, all I have to do is email them and they'll remove it.
(Certainly keeping a copy of that transcript, just in case!)

I explained all of this to the buyer and gave them the option of a full refund or completing the transaction. They chose the latter. So I'll ship tomorrow and I'll cross my fingers they don't dream up any more problems!