Feedback question

[dam60]

So, what are your thoughts on this:

I have been buying from langessports aka zillaf4 since 1999. They always have good stuff, but there shipping time is a little ludicris . . .

 

Take this example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2152216579

 

I won this thing on January 5th. Emailed them right away and asked to pay via paypal on the 9th (my Amex statement ends on the 8th and didn't want to pay for it right away). They were cool with that. So I pay pal on the 9th and don't get the book. I still don't have the book today 2/3/03, but I do have a notice telling me that it is in the post office waiting for me. Prior to getting the notice, I emailed them asking where's the book and they quickly responded letting me know that it went out now 2 weeks ago Wednesday.

 

So I'm sure the book is there and fine, but now I wonder if I should leave feedback. I usually ALWAYS leave feedback, as I feel a responsibility to allow others to know if I had a good transaction or not.

 

I don't always leave feedback. Sometimes if I feel that the book was overgraded, or if the person is a flagrant shipping profiteer/etc. Basically in a situation like that I am afraid of a retalitatory negative.

 

My question now becomes should I leave feedback for langes sports? Also, do you think that I should leave feedback after every transaction, even if it is going to be negative?

 

What are people's thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

DAM

 

PS - let me also ask if anyone is a regular customer of Neat Stuff Collectibles. I had bought from them quite recently (a somewhat substantial purchase, paid $500 for a CGC book) and when I saw all their stuff on ebay I sent them an email asking if they would sell me 6 CGC 9.8 Batman books for $150 plus shipping - right now they are up there for $29.99 but at the latest NYC con they were selling them for $100 for 4. Now the thing that gets me is after two emails they haven't even written me back! I want to know where I stand even if they say no! Where's customer service? As Dungeon pointed out, they have a nice Bats 411 in 9.9 for $30 that normally I would snap on, but now I'm so insulted that I am going to boycott their auctions. Since when did I get put on the "pay no mind" list?

 

PSS - special thanks to all of you who gave me such good computer advice!

[collectorscavern-migration]

>My question now becomes should I leave feedback for langes sports? Also, do >you think that I should leave feedback after every transaction, even if it is going to >be negative?

 

I ALWAYS leave feedback, but then that's my take on the EBay feedback system. The whole feedback thing means nothing if poor or unsatisfactory transactions aren't recorded properly.

 

In the case you talked about, the seller is just guilty of not communicating (the slower shipping time, along with the lousy communication, i've found is fairly typical of larger volume sellers, which is why I don't deal with them much). I'd leave either a Neutral or a Positive with a side note that shipping was a little slower than you would have liked.

 

PS - let me also ask if anyone is a regular customer of Neat Stuff Collectibles. I had bought from them quite recently (a somewhat substantial purchase, paid $500 for a CGC book) and when I saw all their stuff on ebay I sent them an email asking if they would sell me 6 CGC 9.8 Batman books for $150 plus shipping - right now they are up there for $29.99 but at the latest NYC con they were selling them for $100 for 4. Now the thing that gets me is after two emails they haven't even written me back! I want to know where I stand even if they say no! Where's customer service?

 

Well, some EBay sellers can't or won't match the "latest" con prices (and stay profitable), or won't do side deals with their auctions, and this is probably their way of telling you no.

 

But it's true from the buyers i've talked to over my year+ on EBay; most sellers have fairly average to crummy e-mail response and cust. service. I called a buyer recently because of a problem with his auction win, and the guy seemed so shocked by my personal attention to it. He stated at the end of the conversation that I had earned a loyal customer on EBay because of my cust. service. Very cool.

[Bonds25]

I left a positive but noted that shipping was too slow on a particular seller, and the person_too_unaware_of_social_graces put me on his blocked bidders list.

 

I sure wish I could go back and leave him negative feedback.

[collectorscavern-migration]

Bonds25: If a seller is that anal about things, you're better off not buying from them at all.

 

I tend not to use canned responses for feedback about a transaction. I'll always note if the seller/buyer responded quickly, paid quickly, or not so quickly. It makes the EBay feedback system worth using, to me anyway.

 

I made one exception because the guy was such a jerk that I decided I would post something I would regret, so I posted nothing. He horribly overgraded a Spider-Man 129 I bought from him (said it was a VF and it was barely a VG, and the glarey scan didn't show the flaws), and then told me when I wrote to tell him about it, that it was graded by a "major New York dealer", who just happened to be a good friend of his (conflict, anyone?), and acted put out like I had no clue what I was talking about. *sigh* For every 20 great transactions on EBay, you run into one of these.

[supapimp]

!!!!! vengeful seller eh? i think you err'd, but you have like multiple ID's anyways to use.

[Darthdiesel]

They always have good books up and especially Marvel price variants. They ship media mail always and are probably slow because of guys like me who win stuff one week and then end up combining with next week's auctions and next week's and the next weeks...I have customers like that too....not everyone pays right away and I try to accommodate these guys with a 3 week combining limit or just pay for the books and then I'll give them combined shipping charge when they tell me they are done.

 

with 4-5 id's out there and thousands of books, sports cards and whatever else they sell, Langes probably is WAAAY too busy or is made up of different aspects of the company to keep better track of non payment emails?

 

Keep trying Dave - they'll get one eventually! The may not sell on the side - God knows I've offerred them enough $$$ to pull their price variants early

[Rickdogg]

"I left a positive but noted that shipping was too slow on a particular seller, and the person_too_unaware_of_social_graces put me on his blocked bidders list."

 

ROFLMAO...who was it?

[Ariamus]

Regarding Neat Stuff,

 

I've dealt with them in the past. I bought several lots of raw Amazing Spider-man books a couple of years back from them and though they're a little pricey, the grading on the books was very accurate and the whole process was amicable. However, recently, I'm in the same boat as you. I sent them an e-mail regarding some Thor books they had up for sale that did not sell. I told them I was interested. I have not, as of yet, received a response. I don't know if they have a store front, but they're in Jersey, so I'll look into it and may call them. I'll let you know what happens.

[Bonds25]

Here's the :

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3005594394&category=3417

[Darthdiesel]

It's even "CGC"'d

[The_Man_Of_Steel]

I don't always leave feedback. Sometimes if I feel that the book was overgraded, or if the person is a flagrant shipping profiteer/etc. Basically in a situation like that I am afraid of a retalitatory negative.

 

I understand EXACTLY where you are coming from, here is my nugget of advice. Don't be afraid of a retalitory negative feedback. If someone has EARNED negative feedback, give it to them. I only have 1 negative feedback, and I've given somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 of them out to different sellers. If I give someone a negative, I have a damned good reason, or I wouldn't be doing it. By giving a seller an EARNED negative feedback, not only am I telling them what I think, but I feel like I'm doing other people a diservice, IF I don't alert other potential customers of my disatisfaction. I've purchased from more than one eBay seller, that I wished their feedback had reflected my experience with them, so that I would have passed on their auction(s).

 

One last important thing I might add. I ALWAYS send an email to a seller BEFORE leaving a negative feedback. On more than one ocassion, I have given a seller the chance to "make it right". After sending them an email, I wait for them to respond, and if they don't respond in a few days, then I take that as a "cold shoulder" (as in I could care less if your satisfied type of attitude) and leave them the appropriate EARNED feedback.

[Bugaboo-migration]

Good advice MOS.....but I'm always concerned about one thing. If I'm going to give someone a negative.....I won't alert them that I might do that unless they have allready left feedback for me. I don't want to give them the chance to leave me a negative first. Because then....it would just look like my negative was in retaliation.

[The_Man_Of_Steel]

The key is to ask them to "make it right" without telling them you'll give them a negative "or else". People don't like to be threatened, so I've learned to be more tackful, and less direct in my approach. For example, I might explain to a seller that I'm very disappointed with the grades of the books, even telling them about the flaws I found in the books and following that with a word for word description of OverStreet definitions, and then ask for a partial refund. Do I ever ask to return a book? Honestly, I don't feel comfortable with returns, especially with someone that takes their sweet time to ship overgraded books. It would make me even more angry if they kept my money and the books, so I usually ask for a partial refund. Once I've made an offer without threatening them with negative feedback, and they don't make a counter-offer or respond at all, then I get the message loud and clear, they've earned what's coming to them!