What feedback/stars shall I leave?

[BeforeTheWorst]

I bid on 3 things from the same seller a couple of weeks ago, saw them with moments to spare, so when I'd won them I messaged the seller to ask if they'd combine postage but said I understood if they said no as I should have asked before bidding but there wasn't time.

This was on a Saturday lunch time, I got no reply and by Tuesday I'd had an email from ebay asking me to lay for my purchases.

I paid via PayPal on the Tuesday and added a note saying sorry for the delay in paying, I was waiting for a reply to my combined postage question but I have paid anyway.

I received the three items 5 days later in a package together which cost £2.20 and the postage I paid was £10.50!

To be honest I am more annoyed that the seller ignored my email and want to mark them down in communication stars. Shall I mark them down on postage stars? I understand I knew the postage and should probably suck it up but £8 profit from postage is taking the p a bit. The seller should have sent my items in 3 different packages really shouldn't they?

The items were fine so I will leave positive feedback but wondered if I should leave low stars?

Beforetheworst - you are quite right. I totally do not subscribe to the you saw the price overall so you paid it willingly garbage. p&p is just that, not a tool for a seller to make further profit. It is the principle more than the money in my opinion. I hope you do leave 3 neg feedbacks. Maybe if you do they won't rip folk off again and be a bit more honest and transparent. Maybe they will also learn to communicate better too. And yes, you paid for 3 parcels, they should have sent 3 parcels. They saved not only on packaging but stamp price too.

Good decision to give them another chance to refund you the overcharged postage. Although I can't see how it could be a mistake it's always worth a try. It should also make your decision on feedback a bit easier. I'd give them until tomorrow evening to at least reply but hopefully also refund you some postage.

Not sure that a reply at this stage would get them up to high stars for communication from me though! The postage dsr is more tricky.

If no reply or a rude reply then 3 negatives left 8 days apart. Just remember it's not your fault that they communicated so badly. A lot of sellers would have just combined the postage for you straight away with no prompting. The feedback system is there to inform other buyers so don't feel bad if you do choose to leave negative.

Can I ask what a dsr is please?

Please leave negative feedback. Then if I happen to want to buy something of theirs I can avoid them.

Detailed Seller Ratings. The stars out of 5 you rate the seller for description, communication, postage and dispatch time when you leave feedback on ebay.

Nope am not a business seller; why would that matter?
Did you disagree with every bit I wrote, Leonard, or just select bits (which bits?)

I don't know about the separate packages argument; I am not sure I've ever read official Ebay guidance about it. I think maybe it's just a user culture convention. Nobody on the Ebay boards ever says anything about it, for instance, but other Ebay boards harp on about it. If I were OP I'd rather have One package and one reasonable discount.

I live in fear of poor DSRs, that's for sure.
OP sounds completely reasonable to me, and I think is mostly annoyed about the poor comms, which I totally understand. Just understand what your actions would mean.

I'm not sure of the ebay policy on combined postage and separate packages either (curious to know though!). I'm not sure it needs one as the most sellers will combine anyway to get positive feedback and return buyers.

I agree I wouldn't neccessarily expect a full discount, maybe the original postage plus the extra for the 10% fees that ebay charge on the other postage and any extra if different packaging is required. The full discount is always nice though!

DSRs are a bit of a pain as a seller. I haven't sold for a while now but I'm still annoyed by the tiny mark out of my postage star as I always combined without prompting, only ever charged the stamp price and refunded any difference straight away.

I think the OP's seller is a bit different though. No excuse for no reply to a contact since they were obviously around to post the parcel.

I think I've been really lucky to have always had lovely sellers and mostly fab items when received. I've looked on this board before at the horror stories and been so glad it wasn't me! I do sell sometimes and am always honest in descriptions and don't rip people off. I once had someone refund 50p as the postage was lower than expected and I was amazed!

No reply yet from seller, I thought that closerlook - I paid and sent a message tues and they send the parcel 2nd class quite quickly as I got it on the Monday after so they were there reading the messages but ignoring me!

Still don't want to get someone shut down as their feedback is mostly good! I imagine its a mum like me with young kids (from what I bought) and I hope she responds and offers me something then I can at least only mark down on communication?

There is no excuse for this seller to charge you that much postage. They should have combined and reduced the postage and having packed your items together they were aware you bought all three. Some new sellers are not sure how to combine postage or how to refund and this time of year you do get a few new or inexperienced sellers. What is the seller's feedback score? You are right to give them the chance to refund and right to mark them down if they do not respond. Hope you get a refund.

No reply from the seller yet, they have a feedback of 148 (100%), 1 neutral for bad communication.

I will wait until tonight then leave a neg.

Good decision. That's what the feedback system's there for. If I was buying off that seller I'd want to know how bad their communication was. Don't feel bad, you've given them another chance before leaving feedback so it's their own fault.

I know some people have been able to open a case with ebay for overcharged postage (and I'd say yours was definitely overcharged) but I don't know which option you would select for the case. I'm sure ebay could tell you and probably open the case for you at the same time if you wanted to.

Well 148 is enough to know better. I think in your case I would leave a neutral. I know some people think it's a bit of a cop out but if the items were ok then it is probably what I would do. I would put "items fine but no combined postage - actual P&P £2.20 seller charged £10.50" This will give others a heads up.

Please do leave a neg. Seller should have sent 3 separate parcels if they weren't going to combine.
I'd be half tempted to ask where the other 2 parcels were!

Neg all the way from me.

Any seller who communicates that badly and purposely profits that much on postage deserves a negative. Unless they've got back to you with a genuine apology and a refund on the excess postage then they are at fault and I'd want to know if I was planning on buying from them.

Don't feel bad about any consequences for the seller. If they were that worried about their ebay account they would have contacted you when you first requested the combined postage.

Most private sellers have no idea about the dangers of low DSRs.

The lack of comms is very odd; this is not an excuse, but maybe an explanation. Some people never read email. I know people who have Facebook & Ebay accounts & don't even know their email details. They just do all messaging thru the website. Which means they may not see a message if they don't expect one. Easy mistake for a very inexperienced seller to make.

Still no message, how else could I get in touch with them lljkk? When I paid I sent a message on the paypal form which I think comes up with my address details (and doesn't that come as an email from PayPal so say I've paid etc) to say since I'd not heard since my combined postage question I have paid anyway and surely they would see that and check if I'd sent any other messages?

I don't want to close them down, will 3 negs over 3 weeks and low star ratings do that?

Op occasionally there is a telephone number....I know you probably wouldn't want to call but a message maybe? To be honest though it is really slack. Give them until tmrw maybe.

You've done everything right, BeforeTW. Totally reasonable if you leave one neg & one lot of low stars for comms & postage, though it didn't sit easy with me that you leave repeated negs with low stars a week apart which some were suggesting for maximum effect. Which is why I spoke up.

Private sellers get a warning when over past year they have 2%+ of 1-2 star ratings in any category, and if it's a minimum of 3 actual lows (which perhaps have to be from different buyers??) in any star category. By the time seller is warned it's probably too late to fix unless they are a high volume seller. Ban follows maybe 6 weeks later (million rumours about this).

Low stars for a single transaction won't close them down but if they get low stars for several transaction they'll get a warning followed by ban. So you wouldn't be fully responsible if you only leave one lot of low stars, but it would certainly be fully their own fault for annoying a slew of buyers (and then maybe they deserve to be shut down).

Neg FB comes into the algorithm for shutting sellers down, too, but nobody is quite sure how.

Selling on ebay is a potential minefield.

I wouldn't have the patience to wait much longer. I wouldn't call but you could leave one last message stating that you are not happy with the lack of communication and the overcharged postage and will give them until tomorrow evening to get back to you before you go ahead and leave feedback.

I personally have never done the multiple feedback a week apart thing. Never really considered it because apart from anything else I'm probably not organised enough to remember a week later. I like the idea in theory with a rude seller such as this but not sure I would actually do it. I like to leave feedback and then forget about it.

Does anyone know how to open a case for overcharged postage like this if the OP wanted to?

I agree - leave your first neg, I bet that gets them communicating. I think they are just arrogant & rude, plus greedy. Why should you worry about their account, they don't seem that bothered in providing a good service to customers. Not really a good, reliable seller are they?

You can't open a case for overcharged postage, unless it is a new option.. I have never heard of anyone doing it.

Omg I had exactly the same thing Happento me on day I received a parcel I paid £10.50 for and when it arrived it was in one tatty package and she had sent it second class small packet so £2.60. I emailed her and said I was shocked and said she couldn't expect to make nearly £8 profit and I wanted a part refund on the p&p - as they were taking the piss. She emailed an apology but still only refunded me a fiver. Couldn't be bothered to argue anymore. She obv desperately needs it more than me. Like you I didn't want to leave neg feedback either but I made sure I mentioned the whole debacle in my feedback x

At least your seller replied to you! It's really annoying being ignored! I'm glad u got something refunded, cheeky beggars aren't they!

I am going to leave a neg and low stars and say in the feedback the main points and draw a line under it.

Like I said I don't want to be responsible for closing anyone's account, they do have lots of positive feedback. I will be avoiding obviously and will try not to let it put me off, I've had such good experiences before.

Cheers everyone

An update but rather boring. I had no response at all to my email so want ahead and left a neg and appropriate stars and have heard nothing.

Ebay still wants me to leave 2 more lots of feedback for the other two items but I think I'll leave it now.

Feel better for venting my frustration here and leaving them a neg.

oh well, no guilt on your part left to be had then!