Ethics with amazon seller

[Guy Berger]

About a month ago I ordered a "like new" copy of S Turrentine's Never Let Me Go from an amazon seller with a very high rating. The description mentioned that it the case was scratched but I didn't care about that.

However, when the CD arrived I noticed that it was scratched. Not completely scuffed but there were 7 or 8 noticeable scraches. Fortunately the cd itself plays fine.

So today I finally got around to logging onto amazon and gave the transaction two stars, noting that while the CD plays fine, I felt that the seller's description was dishonest.

I got the following response:

Dear Mr. Berger,

I'm sorry to just find out that you were not happy with your purchase. Please rest assured that any defect/scratches were not noticed by me. I bought about 300 CD's at an estate sale, from a nice home, one owner, and examined at least 75% of them, all very fine. I've sold close to 200 so far without any problems. This must have been an exception.

Rather than incovenience you by having it returned to me, I've just issued you a full refund and you're welcome to keep the CD.

My main business is selling antiquarian and often expensive books. The CD venture was just a side adventure.

Under the circumstances,I'd appreciate it if you got the chance to remove the feedback comment.

Thanks in advance,

xxxxxxx

P.S. I sent you an email on 11/5( day of shipping, less than 24 hours after you placed the order ) asking among other things for you to contact me if there were any problems with the order. We could have worked out a satisfactory solution then. I hope I didn't miss your email or inquiry.

1) Did I act inappropriately? I don't buy a ton of used CDs so I am not fully aware of the ethics involved.

2) Should I accept the quid pro quo of the refund for removing the feedback comment?

[Niko]

i would accept that quid pro quo (at least i have in the two and a half cases where such a thing has happened to me...)

About a month ago I ordered a "like new" copy of S Turrentine's Never Let Me Go from an amazon seller with a very high rating. The description mentioned that it the case was scratched but I didn't care about that.

However, when the CD arrived I noticed that it was scratched. Not completely scuffed but there were 7 or 8 noticeable scraches. Fortunately the cd itself plays fine.

So today I finally got around to logging onto amazon and gave the transaction two stars, noting that while the CD plays fine, I felt that the seller's description was dishonest.

I got the following response:

Dear Mr. Berger,

I'm sorry to just find out that you were not happy with your purchase. Please rest assured that any defect/scratches were not noticed by me. I bought about 300 CD's at an estate sale, from a nice home, one owner, and examined at least 75% of them, all very fine. I've sold close to 200 so far without any problems. This must have been an exception.

Rather than incovenience you by having it returned to me, I've just issued you a full refund and you're welcome to keep the CD.

My main business is selling antiquarian and often expensive books. The CD venture was just a side adventure.

Under the circumstances,I'd appreciate it if you got the chance to remove the feedback comment.

Thanks in advance,

xxxxxxx

P.S. I sent you an email on 11/5( day of shipping, less than 24 hours after you placed the order ) asking among other things for you to contact me if there were any problems with the order. We could have worked out a satisfactory solution then. I hope I didn't miss your email or inquiry.

1) Did I act inappropriately? I don't buy a ton of used CDs so I am not fully aware of the ethics involved.

2) Should I accept the quid pro quo of the refund for removing the feedback comment?

[T.D.]

I recently had a similar situation arise, from the seller's point of view.

I had sold many CDs (well over 200) on Amazon with no problems, but a buyer e-mailed me back that a disc was scratched. I didn't believe that it was scratched pre-sale, and the buyer seemed a little flaky, but there's always a possibility of scratches occurring during shipping.

I proposed two options to the buyer: (a) keep the item, and we'd discuss a partial refund; (b) return the item. He elected to return it, whereupon I refunded the money, but told him to just keep the disc, as I didn't want to go through the hassle (and additional cost of refunding postage) associated with a return. I chalked the whole thing up to the risks of online/mail order business. The buyer was effusively grateful, and there was never a feedback issue (in fact, he wound up giving very positive feedback).

I suggest accepting the quid pro quo.

Edited December 2, 2007 by T.D.

[Dan Gould]

The quid pro quo is more than fair because it is obvious he is a seller who is very concerned with both his reputation and his customer's satisfaction. Its not like an ebay seller who threatens to go negative or leaves tit-for-tat negative feedback. You got a free CD, he deserves a clean feedback record - or better yet, the highest feedback possible because he went out of his way to fix things when you didn't even request anything.

[Jazzmoose]

Whether I would or wouldn't would depend entirely on the attitude of the seller. In this case, the seller seems cool, so I would. If they had come across like a jerk, I wouldn't. After all, you're out nothing, and if that's the way they deal with problems like this, it seems pretty cool to me.

[Chalupa]

Damn. I wish the LP sellers on Ebay that list their "VG-" vinyl as "NM" would be that accommodating.

[papsrus]

It does seem as though his explanation is sincere, and he resolved the transaction in your favor. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and re-evaluate how satisfied you were with the whole transaction. In terms of customer satisfaction, seems like it might deserve more than two stars. So you could upgrade the stars and change "dishonest" to "inaccurate," or something along those lines.

[robviti]

"Did I act inappropriately?"

I think so, as Amazon's policy states:

When you buy an item from a seller at Amazon Marketplace, you should be able to expect a high standard of customer service, both before and after you receive your order. If you receive an item different than what was described, or that is clearly in worse condition than indicated, please contact your seller directly to report the defect or damage within 7 days of receiving the shipment. You should be able to reach an amicable agreement with one another. If necessary, you can return your item to the seller for a refund.

"Should I accept the quid pro quo of the refund for removing the feedback comment?"

I think you should remove the negative feedback regardless of the seller's offer. Again, Amazon states:

If you're tempted to leave a critical rating, make sure that you've given the seller every chance to resolve the issue first.

[NaturalSoul]

I actually have a question (kind of relates to this). I ordered an album through an amazong seller (doolcity). I waited a month, sent 2 emails with no reply, finally on the third email they replied saying that it got lost in the mail and i will recieve a full refund. It's been a few days and i haven't been refunded. Should i wait a few more days for the refund? And even if i get the refund, what kind of feedback should i leave? I've never had a problem like this.

Sorry Guy for posting this in your thread. I'll delete the post if you want, just thought it was silly making a new thread that's similar to yours.