One of my students is so lucky! He sells nostalgic video games and gaming systems (think Mario Brothers for Nintendo and Centipede for Sega) on eBay and he gets constant thank you notes from his customers. These customers tell him that he has improved the quality of their lives, that the video games they buy from him bring them joy and the pleasure of youth relived.
I get the occasional thank you note as well, when a thoughtful customer takes a moment to thank me for the quick turnaround time or a freebie I have included in their package. But many of us only hear from customers when something has gone wrong.
Getting calls or emails from customers before a sale is usually a good thing, since these customers are interested and most often asking appropriate questions. But sometimes their questions border on nightmarish! Here are a few examples of the kinds of eBay customers that you need to add to your blocked buyer list immediately!
1. The Frugal Fanny – We all love to save a buck, but sometimes our customers take it too far.
- Ever have customers who will only bid on $.99 auctions (and NEVER raise the bid even to $1.04!) then haggle over the price of shipping?
- One of my students had a customer bid and win three items for a total of $2.97, and then ask for a 20% multiple order discount.
- Another student got a customer complaint that he did not combine shipping – when the items he sold to that customer came with Free Shipping!
2. The Time Bandit - Like every small business owner, time is one of our most important - and guarded - assets. Some customers seem to have too much time on their hands. Do any of these sound familiar?
- The customer who waits ten days to pay for the party favors he bought and then complains when they arrive late for his child’s birthday party!
- The customer who needs the item in three days but won’t spring for expedited shipping. Guess who gets blamed when their item doesn’t get there in time?
- The customers who are clearly looking for pen pals, rather than a shopping experience. They rob your time by asking dozens of minute questions about your items, respond back to your answers with several paragraphs about themselves and their families – but then don’t buy anything!
3. The Bully- They're not just in the playground.
- Some customer will try to strong arm eBay sellers into lowering their shipping prices or to accept their “best offers” on fixed price items. I especially like when they write: “It’s my best offer, take it or leave it.” I leave it.
- Some customers complain that the item arrived broken or complete in some way, demand a refund but then refuse to ship the item back. That's like buying a car, calling it a lemon, asking for a refund but then keeping the car!
- Some international customers ask us to falsify federal customs documents so they can avoid sales tax. I may really want to make the sale, but am not willing to serve time over it!
- Have you had customers who threaten negative feedback if you don’t succumb to their whims and wishes? They go something like this: I am giving you a head's up before I leave you negative feedback. (Read: You better refund me or else!)
4. The Terminally Confused - Some eBay buyers just don't seem to read the listings.
- We recently dealt with a customer who was shocked and outraged when he discovered that he could not pick up his order - even though every one of our auctions explicitly states that we do not offer pick-up service.
- Who hasn’t had a customer who wants to cancel their order, claiming that their spouse, their kids – their dog! – placed the order in error?
- We had a customer recently who left negative feedback because he thought the item would be larger, but the item’s dimensions were clearly listed in our item description – TWICE!
5. The Mission Impossible- Some customers have impossible requests.
- Can I get this delivered - from Massachusetts to California - by today at 3:00?
- Can you take all of the red M&M’s out of this candy assortment?
- I only need the right glove and not the left, is there a discount?
- I would be interested in hearing how this saxophone sounds. Can you call me and play it for me?
- Can you ship this to me today if I promise to pay you through PayPal on Tuesday?
6. The Creepy Ever get straight out weird questions?
- One of the most unusual question we have ever gotten was whether the sheep in our inflatable farm animals assortment was appropriate for a bachelor party. Freaky!
- Another customer asked if the balloons we sell had been previously inflated. When we responded back by assuring him that our balloons came in factory-sealed packaging, he was terribly disappointed. He explained that he collects previously inflated balloons. What?! However odd this sounds, remember that the first eBay sale every made back in 1995 was of a broken laser pointer. When eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar contacted the customer to remind them it was broken, the customer responded: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers."
- A student of mine engaged with a potential customer in an email discussion about some lingerie she designs and sells. That discussion stopped when he asked her to send more detailed photographs of the items – with her modeling them!
7. The Good Bye Girl Perhaps they have been scared off by bad behavior from other eBay sellers, but sometimes buyers have a tendency toward suspicion and paranoia and can’t be pleased or placated no matter what.
- Buyers who ask "is this basket hand made?" in response to a listing for a HANDMADE basket.
- Buyers who ask "is this item brand new in factory sealed packaging?" in response to a listing for an item that is brand new in factory sealed packaging. You get the picture!
- And my favorite? Those buyers - several every day - that ask "Do you combine shipping?" When our storefront and our Frequently Asked Questions and every one of our listings clearly states: WE LOVE TO COMBINE SHIPPING!
- Another eBay seller recently got the following email from a customer who had failed to read the listing description for a set of gift cards before buying: You are deceptive in your use of language. You may be true to the letter, but not the spirit, of fair eBay practices. Yeah, yeah, read the fine print, you give some "measurements" embedded in your description. Aren't you clever!! This is why fewer people are using this site. One or two transactions like this and you've ruined it for the majority of forthcoming sellers... This seller doesn’t know whether to feel insulted or complemented by the possibility that she is single-handedly ruining eBay!
Have you ever gotten these kinds of questions and emails? Some buyers simply can not be pleased and should be avoided at all costs. You will know who they are because their expectations seem impossibly high, they ask too many questions and their questions are too minute and riddled with suspicion. They may react with disdain to your assurances and explanations. Who are these people, by the way? With eBay's Buyer Protection in place, their fears should be completely alleviated. In nearly every instance, I find out that these suspicious buyer were burned in the past on eBay and are determined to believe that every eBay seller is an unscrupulous eBay seller. So unless you want to end up like Richard Dreyfuss, struggling to earn Marsha Mason’s trust in The Goodbye Girl, avoid these buyers.
So, yeah, there are lots of potentially negative buyers and experiences out there on eBay. But regardless off the kinds of questions I receive, I put my emphasis on the positive, stay open and transparent with my customers and answer their questions as professionally and promptly as possible. With all of its bullies, cheapskates and scammers, the truth is that 99.9% of my eBay customers are friendly, pay quickly, are satisfied with their purchases and leave positive feedback. And I am happy to do the same for them.
How do you deal with difficult customers? Do you have customers who ask threatening, odd, quirky, creepy or just strange questions?
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Outright is secure.
What do you think?
How do you deal with difficult customers?
Do you have customers who ask threatening, odd, quirky, creepy or just strange questions?
1
Odd, quirky, and strange are no problem for me...I just stay professional and answer their questions. I figure that since they don't know my product and policies like I do, all I can do is answer the question. And sometimes language barriers can account for odd questions - I once had a customer on eBay who I had perceived as difficult, because he kept asking the same question again and again. But I was just being too wordy in my response and he didn't understand me. So I kept my responses simple, and now he's a very good repeat customer.
Creepy...again, I'd just try to keep it professional and related to the product/service at hand.
Threatening...well, if it's a service like eBay, I'd contact their seller support (I am forgetting exactly what it's called) and run it by them. Or the police, depending on the threat! Or maybe even an attorney?
Posted Jul 18, 2010 10:35:18 PM by: Colorado Reed Company
1
Good question. I deal with each one as an individual and try not to have a generic response for "difficult" customers. One of the best parts of being a business owners is having full reign of your own strategic approach to any issue (as opposed to being limited to following the company handbook). I try to establish the "Why" behind their behavior, and if it's seems based on something within my control, I address it by offering a little more than I normally would.
If, on the other hand, it's based on someone's ornery personality, or if they're the my-money-my-time-so-you're-gonna-get-it type, then I wrap up the project as fast as I can, or in rare cases, we part ways before the project is complete.
Often, a "difficult" customer who is also irrational, can become the type of bad-mouth your business as you stay with them and try to "make things right". I do what I can to appease, but not to the point of irrationality.
Posted Jul 19, 2010 7:39:10 AM by: Execumama Enterprises
1
Communicate, communicate and communicate. We have an eBay business and get the full array of difficult customers. We ship internationally (about 15% of our business) and get many questions with the usual language problems.
Customer service is one of our top priorities, and under most circumstances we will give a complete refund for unwanted items that are returned in the same condition as shipped. As a last resort, Ebay provides the phone number of the individuals you are transacting with, and a phone call can speed problem resolution much faster than an impersonal email message.
At our discretion, we can also block individuals from bidding on our items.
To us, the customer is always right – when in reality this is not usually the case. Our feedback is over 7,400 with 100% positive feedback.
Posted Jul 19, 2010 11:31:25 AM by: connectibles