eBay feedback problem - advice needed

[melpomene]

I'm fairly new to selling on eBay and recently sold a couple of romper suits which dd2 had outgrown. I described them as being in very good condition and that was true in my opinion - there were no stains or marks. If I had bought them through eBay I would have been pleased with the condition, IYSWIM. They sold for just 99p.

The buyer left me neutral feedback (without contacting me beforehand) saying that the condition was not as good as described. I emailed her to politely ask why she said that, and she replied that the romper suits were grey,not white, and that one had a large stain. She said she had to throw them away, but she didn't bother asking for a refund because of the low price.

I can't understand why she is saying that. I checked carefully before posting and there was no stain. The items were used and obviously didn't look brand new, but there is no way I would describe them as grey.

If she had asked for a refund I probably would have given one to avoid damaging my feedback,but if she's thrown the clothes away then that's not an option.

So my questions are:

1. Should I respond to the neutral feedback, or would that just draw more attention to it?

2. What sort of feedback should I give to the buyer?

Yes I am not saying it was the greatest selling experience in the world

but a negative should be reserved for:

sellers who do not send the goods or send really shoddy, misdescribed goods

and buyers who do not pay.

Giving someone a negative because you don't like the way they conducted the transaction is not really what feedback is for.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. it is what i'd do and so woulde a lot of other people

Yup, I know that. You're all wrong

(sorry PixieFish, am just in a silly mood, I am not seriously trying to annoy you)

not annoyed Franny.

Dh runs part of his business on ebay and when inexperienced buyers do stuff like this it affects his business until its gone off the feedback page (which can take a while if its bad)

Some people use the feedback system to communicate with dh rather than emailing- they just don't understand it. So I'm afraid it's a bit tooth for tooth here although I know it's not very Christian

I agree it is dreadful when people use the feedback system like that and I bet it does affect your dh's livelihood. I think retaliating just makes it look worse, though - I would think "Oh this seller doesn't sort out problems, he just negs the person". Sod being Christian, think of your reputation!

would they be able to get the neg removed franny?

you can get it removed if you go through square trade, but they do charge you, so not worth it really.

blimey didn't know they charged for that

Do you mean, could the buyer get the neg removed because you had just retaliated, SEA? No. You are allowed to leave what feedback you want, really, as long as it isn't obscene or contains identifying info (such as your real name).

Sorry if I misunderstood your question.

I had someone leave me neutral feedback , in fact i've had 2 in the past month. the first was because she felt the overseas postage cost of £6.00 was too expensive. it actually cost £3.00 to post but i'd had to buy stuff to post it in, and go on the bus to post it. Plus i had guessed the postage.
The second just left neutral and said the pages were all crinkled from being damp. There is no way this has happened, the book hadn't been anywhere damp. IReplied to say that they hadn't contacted me about the problem and that if they had i would have refunded on return of goods. The first one i never replied to.

no it was just a question really i haven't left any feedback for the 'lost' item at all yet

Ebay will, in certain circumstances remove the 'point' but they won't actually remove the comment unless ordered by a court to do so. It sucks