another take on feedback

perhaps this might sound defensive..it is not meant to be - it is intended to guide - cddstamps have an objective to mail all orders within 24 hours of receipt of the order, and we have achieved that for over 98% of orders; and we tell the customer that orders can take anywhere from x to y days ( we know by region various mailing times based on data we keep) but sometimes we have seen longer delivery times. .. we keep track of delivery times as best we can.

Our latest feedback made a comment to effect that our order took 2 months to arrive. .."it took 2 months to come.." now if I was a potential customer I might think twice about using cddstamps based just on that comment.

So, please, when writing feedback try to be considerate in the use of words and the message you are sending to others and unless you really want to have a go at the seller in public - another subject I won't address here - please think how your wording might be read and the impact it might have on others, let alone the sellers business.

The author of that feedback could have privately told us the order took " 2 months to come" and we would have been grateful to know and done something to show it was out of the ordinary and not our slow mailing..

Thank you for your time and understanding. MIchael cddstamps.com
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Comments

  • 36 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Same here Michael. Received over 25 positive feedbacks (same buyer) recently:

    "Took 1 month to receive letter. :( Everything else was good. Thanks for the magnifier."

    It's customs lotto. Stuff can be held up by those guys for weeks!
  • I had a negative from a customer who claimed he never received his purchase...which I quickly refunded! Two weeks later, I received back the enveloppe with a Post Office mention that it was undeliverable...the address didn't exist! Sure wish I could have changed my + feedback. Ooops! sorry about that! :cold_sweat:
  • I sold a rather expensive book to an employee at the Arnold Arboretum (Harvard) and sent it Priority Mail - for some reason it never showed up on tracking. It hadn't arrived two weeks later. Three or four days after they emailed me that it hadn't arrived it came back as undeliverable. Checked the Paypal address, checked on google, checked on the USPS site and all said it was the legitimate address.

    I took it to the post office and they checked and then remailed it with a handwritten notation that the address shown was correct. It arrived two days later.

  • Perhaps Hip Stamps on their lengthy list of changes to study might put in place some way to bring to the attention of International buyers that the International seller has shipped (Probably shown in most cases.) and that due to Customs delays, etc. orders may take longer than normal to deliver. I gather that three of the above comments are from Asia, Australia and Canada. Some countries are changing their sale of "POT" laws from those in the USA and Customs might become even more of a problem when the new laws come in.
  • Delivery is a serious problem at times.
    For example: my purchases from the USA will usually take close to three weeks to be delivered to me. I'm talking about envelopes around one ounce.( Between 30 and 40 grams)
    Envelopes mailed from France on a Monday will be delivered to my door on Wednesday, latest Thursday. From Germany, Thursday or Friday. Registered mail from Israel: minimum 2 weeks, sometimes three. The two most recent sales I mailed to Russia, I received positive feedback with 7 or 8 days.

    Francois

    https://www.hipstamp.com/store/stampboutique

  • I have found my International Buyers to be a very Savvy, Sophisticated & Knowledgeable group. They have an understanding of delivery times, regulations & possible delays. I see NO need for the Site to 'bring (anything) to the attention of international buyers'. Those Dealers here with an International clientele communicate effectively with their overseas buyers. (That is why they sell well on a global basis) The only 'lengthy list' I am aware of is the list of Upgrades, improvements enhancements, etc..that I discover so often when working in my store.
  • interesting commentaries.. but my message - obviously poorly presented on my part - was to people giving feedback to be considerate to the wording they write....... :-)

    and for the record, the customer I have who holds the record for longest delivery time.. order took 90 days for mail to be delivered.. and neither of us any idea why it took that long that customer was extremely patient. great customer I might add. have a great day everyone Michael cddstamps
  • Hi Michael, I do fully understand your intent.. Words are very very powerful & need to be used as Tools & not as Weapons. As you allude to.. Forethought is Always good thought. I just re-acted to the suggestion of the Sites involvement. I can beat your record Michael, Three years ago on e-bay I had sent a group of stamps to a young man in Amman, Jordan. A very likable fellow. This was in April. It ended as a refund/Non-receipt transaction. In Sept. I woke to an e-Mail advise from PayPal & e-mail from the young man.. His postal route man just handed him my shipment. He was very very happy (as was I)
  • Dan, that is a good record for longest delivery. nice to know good outcome in the end. well done.
  • Thank-You Michael, It was a nice surprise. I never doubted the customer. he was a new & very enthusiastic collector. He would frequently e-mail me with general questions about the hobby. on the flip side I once had a 5 day delivery to Hanoi City, Viet Nam & a 11 days to Ulan Batar, Mongolia. (Delcampe) At this point I never worry anymore & very seldom Register. You have a Great Store..Keep up the 'good fight'
  • Thanks Dan.. Best wishes Michael
  • Dan: Sorry you missed the original point of this thread on "FEEDBACK" and the comments of other international sellers. Michael Dodd has politely told you what it is all about and now perhaps you can give us your thoughts on educating those who put in Feedback that customs, etc. could affect FEEDBACK. My comments which you seem to have taken a different view on was only to try and educate international buyers on such shipping problems. Hope we can get this thread back on FEEDBACK and away from who holds the record for shortest or longest shipment time.
  • John, we don't need anymore lists or BUTTONS.

    Why do you feel the need to educate international buyers? Do they live on a different planet? Are they incapable of understanding such complex issues because they don't live in North America? Sounds a bit condescending to me. Generally, I find international buyers/sellers much more knowledgeable and sophisticated regarding these issues than US sellers/buyers. Dan said it very well in his post!

    Use common sense when leaving feedback. A simple check of the postmark would indicate where the problem originated. Unfortunately, emotions tend to dominate people's decisions without any thought as to how it might be perceived.

  • Jeri: According to the person that started this thread they are giving poor feedback to international sellers. How do you suggest we fix this aggravation to our sellers if we don't try to educate the buyers that there are such things as Customs.
    This all has to do with FEEDBACK and many of the buyers I was talking about do live in North America. I thought this thread had drifted from FEEDBACK when it concentrated on most lengthy and shortest trip started after Dan's comments.
  • A few years ago I mailed an order to a buyer here in the U.S. I never heard from the buyer one way or the other that there was an issue; no emails, messages or feedback. About 8 months later, the order was back in my mailbox. It was not postmarked, it had no auxiliary markings that it was not deliverable or Return to Sender. I had to scroll through my sold items to find the buyer. I sent them an email/message that I got the stamps back and that I was going to resend them. Again, the buyer never acknowledged my email or posted feedback. I'm assuming he got the stamps as they never came back.

    Bob
    https://www.hipstamp.com/store/parkinlot-stamps-collectibles
  • Nothing is foolproof as fools are so ingenious. Many years ago I mailed about $20,000. in Boxer Rebellion items to Switzerland I paid extensively for what I thought was a secure system. The person I sent them to told me he found the parcel on his doorstep. He provided no signature to the carrier but important to me he was honest and paid me. Sorry for the brief story but now back to this "FEEDBACK" thread.
  • Feedback is usually factual. If it took 2 months to arrive - then what else can the buyer say?
  • Dear Tania, I saw your comment. I think you missed the point I was making. Regards Michael
  • Michael,

    The feedback the buyer left is not as a big of a problem as you're making it out to be. First the buyer NEVER stated that it took YOU 4 weeks to post it or something like that. This is what the buyer actually wrote "stamps will fill a few holes thanks but it took 2 months to come all OK" Now knowing that there are some buyers that are not very patient and want their items within a week or so,isn't it better for those buyers to know that?

    Getting those type of feed backs are not the end of the world,second if you're selling internationally get use to the fact you are going to get them. Jeri has most likely gotten those,I have gotten them and most long time sellers you shipped internationally or even within the US have gotten them. They don't affect you as much as you think they do.

    You're receiving enough feed back that within a week or so those comments will be on the second page or so. Most people are not going to take the time to read pages of hundreds of positive comments.

    And this may sound harsh but you do have 4 choices

    1st You can continue to get upset with those type of comments and waste time trying to somehow change the buyers.
    2nd If you really can't handle those type of feed back you can quit selling internationally.
    3rd You can stop selling online
    4th Get a thicker skin and understand that this all goes along with the whole thing of selling online and if they leave it as a positive it won't affect you as much as you think it does. What will affect you more is NOT dealing the neutrals and negatives and not dealing with those things that you can change and let go go the things you can't.

  • I think, seeing that I started this thread, to offer a view about how important it is to write feedback with consideration..... my words were ... "So, please, when writing feedback try to be considerate in the use of words and the message you are sending to others" ... I should finish it. Perhaps we can close the subject as it seems many readers have not appreciated the intent I had when I wrote.

    I certainly never stated or implied that it was a big problem to me, I was just offering a comment for thought about the wording when leaving feedback. And I certainly am not upset and have never stated or implied I am upset. In fact I rarely get upset these days, well except when my airline flights are delayed, so maybe ok I do get upset a lot Only joking... 3 out of 4 flights in last 7 days have been on time. :-)

    I will leave it at that .. Thank you all, for taking the time to read and write. All comments have been taken in good spirit. Best wishes and have a great weekend.. Michael cddstamps


  • Michael,

    Just one quick question for you,before you wrote this public thread about the feedback the buyer left did you talk to the buyer about the feedback he left BEFORE you wrote this thread? Or did you turn around and do the very same thing you complained about the buyer doing to you?

    You do realize that some people will see it as you trying to retaliate against the buyer whether or not that was your intention. The reason is that you picked out a SPECIFIC BUYER leaving specific feedback.

    Especially when you said this in your OP

    So, please, when writing feedback try to be considerate in the use of words and the message you are sending to others and unless you really want to have a go at the seller in public - another subject I won't address here - please think how your wording might be read and the impact it might have on others, let alone the sellers business.

    Some reading that would very well see that as an IMPLIED threat to the buyer whether or not it was meant that way.
  • Yes I did. Subject closed.
  • Not quite Michael.

    Did you get the buyers permission to use his feedback as an example or invite the buyer to this thread to explain their side of the story? If you had already taken it PRIVATE it should have remained private. It should NEVER had been taken public without the buyers permission or consent,especially when you pointed out a SPECIFIC BUYER leaving SPECIFIC FEDDBACK which any first grader could have found and seen that users name when it should have already been let go
    as it should have already been dealt with that buyer.

    And the worst part it's not even an unwarranted negative but a soft positive in which you already TALKED TO THE BUYER.
  • I smile, should I have the last word? Chances are I won’t get a chance but ok, just once more :-)

    My thread was to offer a guide, to say how I thought, when writing feedback, some care and consideration could be used so the full and correct intent of the feedback was conveyed. At no time did I criticize an author. At no time did I give any indication which would lead a reader to think I was retaliating against a buyer (how could anyone even extrapolate to think that is amazing) I simply used a few words as an example, which at least one person thinks I need to have got permission to use. ….. Really... I used those words as an example, an example someone, or more than one, has researched further (because they have a grade school one certificate obviously) and made even more of. I have no control over people wanting to do that, that is their prerogative, but it should not be done to take away from the original intent – is this how fake news is created. I guess so.

    At no time have I suggested I am angry or upset or whatever words one wants to use. I just wanted to say hey, think about how feedback can be read. So the same goes for my writing eh! Ok no more thoughts from me because – and as I see on so many threads- people frequently seem to read them all wrong. My fault for poor communication I guess. Too much watching CNN I expect :-) …….. big smile, stay happy people and don’t take life too seriously, have a great weekend. Michael :-)
  • ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
  • Michael of cddstamps... thanks for raising a very valid point about how feedback can be misconstrued if not thought out clearly before posting it.
  • Sorry Michael,

    Your NOT getting the point I am trying to make. You're forgetting that these threads are read by BOTH buyers and sellers.
    The difference that I am trying to point out to you is that if you had general thread about soft positives the thread would be fine. When you bring in a feedback that to many people would think is a trivial matter over a soft positive and point out a SPECIFIC BUYER that does not sit well with a lot of buyers. Just leave out the specific buyers when you set up this type of thread out about soft positives because how much you may be in the right it will not come across that way to other buyers.
  • edited September 2017 2 LikesVote Down
    why do some people want to be forum moderators???
  • Rod,

    If you think it's a good business decision and it's really going to help your business grow to point out in public buyers that have left soft positives or other trivial matters. If you think it doesn't matter to other buyers who see these threads that you are pointing out these type of things,then go for it. No one is stopping you and I'm not stopping you either. I just think it's a really bad idea to do this and doesn't look very good to other buyers.
  • Michael - go away. Don't drag my business into your antagonistic opinions, thanks.
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