Posted By:
warshawlawI don't think anyone considers receiving a bad card and getting a refund to be a positive experience. I certainly don't. The whole point of a neutral feedback is to let future buyers know that there was a problem but that your problem was resolved in a manner that did not leave you at a loss but also did not result in your receiving the benefit of the transaction. If the seller screws you out of something, leave a negative. If the seller makes good, leave a positive. I'll give some examples I experienced:
(1) I bought a supposedly pristine set of 1976 Topps Star Trek cards from vending. Sure enough, all of the typically wax and product damaged cards showed signs of wax and gum stains. I demanded a refund or a make-good, the seller sent me replacement cards that were up to snuff, apologized for sending the wrong set. Positive.
(2) I bought several trimmed 1920s Exhibit cards. The seller refunded my money. Neutral.
(3) I bought a fake card, seller refunded my money but without my postage costs, leaving me to eat shipping both ways. Neutral or negative feedback merited.
(4) I won five cheap cards at auction, seller sold the key one out from under me to someone else but made good by refunding my purchase price on the others and telling me to keep them. positive.
(5) Seller shipped in an unpadded, unstiffened envelope and the near mint cards arrived in vg condition after the USPS's tender loving care was over. Seller refunded my money, told me to keep the damaged cards. positive.
(6) I sold a card that was damaged in shipping (thanks PSA for the flimsy holder). I refunded the purchase price and shipping costs.
The same holds true with any business. You either satisfy the customer or you lose the customer; ebay just happens to have a mechanism for providing a customer satisfaction feedback on every deal. SGC messed up an order of mine and not only redid it for free with free shipping but comped me a similar number of submissions for my troubles. I'd give that a positive feedback. PSA messed up my order, fought me all the way on make-goods, ultimately did make good. I'd give that a neutral at best because it was such a pain in the ass. Who do you think became my exclusive grading service? I lost a client yesterday because a court process is taking too long for their tastes. Not my fault the judge is a slacker; my fault for not explaining the process well enough so that the client felt informed and in full understanding of what might transpire.