Former_Member
Not applicable

To give or not to give feedback?

One of my personality traits is that I hate leaving loose ends... so I have an interest in clearing out my "needs feedback" list. I feel every transaction should have feedback being that there are three options, and one of them "neutral" seems like a fair option in most cases... so, I leave feedback to customers as well as sellers who I buy from.

So here is my question: Was a wrong to give a "neutral" feedback note to a customer who returned an item? The item was returned because the buyer mis-read the listing and went as far to ask that shipping be refunded too (I ended up meeting her halfway and refunding half shipping because I was afraid of negative feedback even though I maintain it was not my error). I feel like in all honesty it was a negative experience for me (who likes returns, right?) but I would never leave negative feedback to a customer because I feel that is probably not a smart move or worth it.

The feedback I left was "neutral" with no comment given at all. The buyer did not leave me any feedback as far as I can tell. Now I see there is a "kiss and make up?" note next to the "neutral" feedback I left, so is "neutral" now a bad thing? As I said, I just wanted to clear up loose ends, no damage done.

opinions please on how I handled this and what "neutral" means to you? The buyer has not said anything about it, but the "kiss and make up" thing throws me off...
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: To give or not to give feedback?

Neutral is just that..... neutral. It isn't positive, but it doesn't reflect as poorly as a negative either.

Personally, I have only left neutral once, and left an explanation as to why I chose neutral. If you leave a comment explaining it, then at least they understand what they could have done differently (in this case, making sure they understand the listing and ask any questions before purchasing).

I don't really believe in leaving negative for a customer, and neutral is kind of pushing it for me. I mean, as the customer, their only real job is to make sure they've paid and asked any questions they need to - and hopefully be polite in the process.
Though I do understand that, YES, there are some customers out there who can be difficult to work with. I haven't had any yet that have been tooooo tough, but in those cases I probably wouldn't leave any feedback.

Basically, what I'm getting at is, keep in mind how the feedback you leave may reflect upon yourself. As long as you keep that in mind, and are reasonable about it, leave whatever you feel is right. :)
What I've said is just my own opinion/feelings toward it in how I run my shop - it's totally different for everyone. :)
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: To give or not to give feedback?

Since you didn't leave any explanation, I'd say just be open to explaining to the customer why you left the feedback you did, if they happen to ask you about it. :)
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Re: To give or not to give feedback?

As far as I understand, a neutral feedback doesn't affect the feedback score. I don't know why the buyer asked for a kiss & make up. Maybe you should have included a reason for the neutral. No one but the buyer would see it but at least it would explain to her why you left the neutral.
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: To give or not to give feedback?

I cant tell if the buyer asked for a "kiss and make up"... it was just there for me to click on and initiate... it is my first time leaving anything other then positive comments so I had never seen the "kiss and make up" option before now.

I feel like if I explained why the item was returned I would either have to make it look like my error (which it was not) or write something that made the customer feel like I was teaching them a lesson (that they need to read the listing), which seams like a bad thing. I knew it would not effect their overall rating and was glad for that. As I said, having it hang around in my feedback list was just bothering me. I wish there was a way to dismiss them without giving any answer.

I am glad though that you all seem to agree that "neutral" is not a big bad thing. :)
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: To give or not to give feedback?

To ME neutral is a sub par transaction, but not bad enough to hit the person with a negative.
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ohmyclumsyheart
Inspiration Seeker

Re: To give or not to give feedback?

Neutral does kind of indicate something didn't go right, but it was a tiny thing that couldn't be helped or was a mistake.

x
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