BrickLink Negative Feedback

[Starwars4J]

I meant to discuss Troy yesterday. Yes, there have been huge delays but really I blame the BrickLink mechanism for buyers' dissatisfaction, not Troy.

Whilst sourcing parts for my StealthX by searching BL based on part number, one of the less common parts was available through Troy. I went on to add LOTS of parts from Troy's shop that visit. All the time searching his shop by part number. It was only when I went to the checkout that the Splash screen informed me that Troy was moving house and so any orders would be delayed by several weeks.

At that point, I had the option to cancel the transation as I hadn't gone too far. I chose not to since I'd ordered SO MANY parts that time and I couldn't be arsed re-searching elsewhere for them.

Several weeks later, Troy sends the invoice which I obviously paid for at the first opportunity and the parts arrived really quite quickly.

What I'm saying is that ideally I'd have had the Splash screen as soon as I went to the shop with my first selected part, not after I'd put together a large order.

Troy did warn his potential buyers. The BL mechanism didn't allow that warning to be as early displayed as it should be.

This is the only time I have dealt with Troy. I was very pleased, given that I chose to accept the delay on sending.

Maybe, but this was over a month ago, before any BL problems. He said it takes 1-2 days after payment to be packed and sent. Then he ignored two messages I sent through Bricklink itself. So I don't think my experience had anything to do with this. I just received an apology from him yesterday as a matter of fact, apologizing for the delay, but making no note of the BL problems, so I'm pretty sure he's hit or miss

[blueandwhite]

One thing.

Negative feedback over an exceedingly small order (.06 cents) is probably a bit harsh simply because it took the part two weeks to arrive. The very fact that the seller is willing to pack and ship something that will essentially net him no profit is quite impressive. To be overly critical for something so trivial is probably more damaging to him than it is to you. Your negative feedback negative feedback reflects very badly on his business, despite the fact that your order was insignificant. Reading the thread more carefully, I don't feel that his feedback was all that unreasonable given your reaction to something that for most people would be considered quite trivial.

I'm sorry that you've ended up with some negative feedback, but I can also sympathize with the seller. Heck, I see alot of sellers who simply refuse to leave feedback before the buyer does precisely because of this sort of thing. The problem with a feedback system is it really nothing more than an opportunity for people to lash out at each other. If you're going to leave negative feedback for very minor problems, it should come as no surprise that some sellers might get upset and retaliate. I wish you the best of luck getting your negative feedback removed, but I'm not sure that it will happen given the circumstances.

[captaintau]

One thing.... circumstances.

Surely the value isn't the point at all. Shouldn't all customers be valued?

Also, there was no minimum order value stated, so he's willing to accept orders that small.

[natelite]

I for one don't particularly care for it because there are buyers out there who are incompetent and do things like beat around the bush about payment for long periods of time (only had that once out of many sales).

tell me about it. i don't know why they don't read the payment instructions at all. this was after I sent 3 to 4 copies of the invoice with specific instructions. seriously, my margin is so tight, they still have the nerve to screw me over payment.

[blueandwhite]

Surely the value isn't the point at all. Shouldn't all customers be valued?

Also, there was no minimum order value stated, so he's willing to accept orders that small.

Of course all customers should be valued. At the same time, shouldn't sellers be shown some amount of consideration as well? Realistically speaking, we're all human. To give a flat-out negative rating for an order that arived slightly behind schedule is pretty harsh. Even a neutral feedback would probably have been a bit better received. Extremist reactions are typically met with extremist responses. As was noted earlier, negative feedback is far more damaging to a seller than it is to a buyer.

I'm curious as to when you would give neutral feedback, given that it would seem that a slight delay on a very small order is enough for somebody to earn your ire? I simply don't see that the seller acted that poorly towards you.

Edited February 20, 2008 by blueandwhite

[captaintau]

From my perspective, it wasn't a slight dely, it was TWO WEEKS. Now, for my StealthX, this wasn't an important piece, but it could have held up my building and been a great annoyance.

[voltio]

I personally don't think leaving negative feedback is worth the hassle in most cases. I've received parts of poor quality from BL (yellowed parts with odd stains and filth listed as "great condition"), but I also operate a store there and know that mistakes can happen. I just leave positive feedback so that they will do the same for me and boost my ratings, or say nothing (if I'm really :-( ).

The key is, BL sellers can't be expected to always have the same precision as, say, Amazon.com. We're people with outside commitments...and I can imagine a universe of outside commitments more pressing than a $0.06 order. Making a special trip to the post office to mail said order would cost more than $.06 in gasoline alone.

Negative feedback is really only deserved in the case of blatant fraud or seriously misrepresented items, IMO.

[gylman]

With over a thousand eBay transactions, and 200+ Bricklink visits in over 7 years, nearly all as a buyer, I have to say that my bar for a negative is pretty high:

-badly damaged goods that clearly were not due to the postal service malhandling

-blatant misrepresentation of item.

If something does not arrive, unless I spent a whole bunch extra for special delivery (which I never do), how can I prove that it wasn't lost in the mail? I usually buy only from >99% sellers, so I have to trust that they are honest.

So I don't leave negs for non-arrival unless other purchases from other sellers recently also got lost in the mail. Some sellers just "go bad". I lost a 100$ knife that way. I assume some guy in Canada Customs is enjoying it now, but maybe the seller never sent it. But I did not leave neg feedback.

I've never given a neg for lateness of an order, and I have had some orders from the US or Canada take 4 weeks to arrive, including several well known Bricklink sellers who have high sales volume. There are just too many reasonable reasons why an order can take a long time, either to prepare or to ship.

And actually, Voltio, my experience is that eBay and Bricklink are MORE reliable than Amazon. I doubt Amazon never makes a packing mistake or delivers damaged good. Do you think their packers and shippers are paid $25 hourly and care what they are tossing into boxes from various bins?

But if you want reliable and relatively hassle free eBay and Bricklink transactions you have to identify the good sellers with 99% or higher positive feedback, and resist the temptation to save 2 bucks by buying from the cheapos with a 92% feedback rating and a couple of bad feedbacks in the last month.