Speaking of feedback...

At the prompting of Gordon a few weeks ago, I began working on a manuscript for an ebooklet about my experiences with Ebay auctions. The ebooklet is still not quite finished--I am very close...I hope to find enough time this next week to pull everything together--I have a few vacation days off.

While working on the script this day, I received a phone call which influenced several paragraphs of the ebooklet...a phone call that caused me to pause and reflect on things...

I hope you don't mind my sharing part of my day with you...here is an excerpt from my Ebay manual...about "Negative Feedback":

(Copyright © 2000 by John David Bradshaw)
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Caution: Negative feedback can backfire. Any feedback, once it is posted, cannot be changed. So be very careful about posting negative feedback...make very sure that it is justified. Take into consideration all the extenuating circumstances, give the other party the benefit of the doubt, and then wait a day or so before you make a final decision.

I have yet to post any negative feedback. Maybe I have just been fortunate. Let me tell you a true story that just happened to me as I have been writing this script...

I sold an item on Ebay about a month ago. I followed up with the usual email and received a reply that payment should be in my hands in about a week. They were going to send a money order through the mail as payment. I waited...one week...two weeks. I sent another email. Another week went by. No reply. I got on the phone, called information and got a telephone number. I called and left a message. A very nice lady called me back. She said there was some confusion about a money order that had been sent and apparently got lost in the mail. That day was Saturday. She would mail a second money order on Monday. OK, fine. Thank you.

Another week went by. Still no money order. I'm beginning to get a little frustrated. It was only 20 bucks, but I'm used to having my money in less than a week. Almost a month has gone by and I'm still messing with this $20 deal! I'm starting to think things like, "Is this going to be my first negative feedback post for a customer?" "If they changed their mind, why don't they just email me and say so?" I was not a happy camper, to say the least.

So I picked up the phone and called again--long distance, on my nickel. Nobody home, I had to leave a message...I wasn't nasty, but I probably did sound a little frustrated, "Is the money order in the mail, or did you change your mind? Please email me or call me and let me know something...my number is 502-123-4567."

Several hours later the phone rang. It was the lady I had talked to exactly a week before on Saturday. The lady that was so nice, and was going to try to make things right by sending a second money order so her husband could have the John Wayne memorabilia he had bid on.

But today the story was different on the phone. She didn't need the John Wayne items now. Her husband had no need for them. You see, two days after the nice lady had promised to send the money order was a Monday, the very Monday that her husband would go to work as usual. Except this Monday, fifteen minutes after arriving at work, her husband had a massive heart attack, and died. She buried him this week. Two weeks prior he had had a routine physical and was given a clean bill of health. I guess the doctor must have missed something...

She asked if it would be OK to cancel the deal. I assured her that would not be a problem. I even offered to send her the John Wayne slides for free, in case she wanted them because her husband had wanted them. She declined the offer. I tried to comfort her. I prayed with her and asked God to comfort her and her family. Then we ended the phone call.

I really felt like a jerk. Here I was, ready to nail this guy to the wall...and he wasn't even around any more. God, forgive me...

This is why I say please be careful about posting negative feedback. I'm sure there are ne'er-do-wells that are out there ripping people off, bidding with no intention of completing a transaction. But so far I have been blessed to not have had to deal with any. I've had one dude that was a slow pay and very non-communicative, but he finally did come through.

So be quick, or at least consistent, in posting positive feedback. But be very slow on the trigger (better yet, don't even carry a loaded gun) when it comes to negative feedback.
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Count your blessings,

JDB