OT: Negative Ebay Feedback Remedies???

[mdschulze]

I've been on Ebay for several years, primarily as a buyer, and have never had one negative feedback hit..... until today. Long story short, I sold a guy a putter, my posting stated that there was scuffing and damage to the head, the guy received the item, and immediately left me negative feedback for damage to the head! I would be more than happy to refund the guy and just let him him keep the damn putter but he won't answer my email. I checked Ebay's website and can't find an answer on how to dispute negative feedback as a seller. I know a lot of you do business on Ebay and was wondering if I have any options or am I just helpless? This guy with a positive feedback of (9) knocked me down to 98% positive instead of 100%. Also, once feedback is left, can it be changed by the buyer? Thanks, Mike

[HRBAKER]

I believe that if you could get in contact with the buyer and resolve the issue that he could agree to remove the feedback. That is the way that it used to work. Ebay is now so skewed towards the buyer I am not sure any more. I would call the Cust. Service line but be prepared to wait.

[danc]

I got my first negative feedback last week. Don't even know why I got it. The person was unhappy, but didn't give an explanation. The only thing you can do is contact the buyer and work with him to reverse the feedback. I tried and he didn't even bother responding to a full refund. You won't get anywhere with customer service as their policy is pretty much set in stone and won't reverse it for you, unless there is slander or a list of other things which didn't pertain to my case, or yours. This is happening more and more as you can't leave him negative feedback for being a bad buyer.

DanC

[mdschulze]

Thanks for the posts and suggestions.

DanC: I was wondering about Ebay's Customer Service Dept.... thanks for validating... I won't even bother messing with them! Does anyone know why the seller can't leave negative feedback for a buyer? I had a no-payer a few weeks ago and could not leave negative feedback. It seems Ebay would want other sellers to be warned about buyers like these.

Furthermore, I've bought items in the past and several sellers will not leave feedback for the buyer until the buyer leaves positive feedback first. As a seller, I always leave positive feedback as soon as I receive payment.... maybe I should change my approach??

[martin neal]

After receiving a totally unwarrented negative feedback and the corresponding waste of time trying to get it removed, I decided to ignore my feedback altogether. I still ship on time, provide great scans, package the cards well, and charge what I consider fair shipping and handling, I just don't give a ...... about what Ebay says about it. I feel much better about the process now that I relieved myself of the mental anguish of worrying about feedback.

[FrankWakefield]

As for why a seller can't leave negative feedback on a buyer...

There's no need. If he didn't pay then turn him in as a non-payer, and eBay will undo those seller fees. If he did pay then he's done all he's supposed to do.

[daffyslanding]

i used to be a power seller on ebay but with all the changes they have made regarding feedback, their requirement to use paypal, and the ever increasing fees I decided that there is life outside of fee-bay. There are plenty of other resources to sell out there although ebay has a good following they are obviously buyer skewed as well are more geared towards taking care of their shareholders. Try Rubylane, Etsy or so many more sites out there. BTW, ebay is trying to buy out Craigslist and currently is a 20%+ shareholder so the days of CL may be numbered. good luck.

[iggyman]

Mike, don't worry about that one bad feedback on your record. I believe 99% of buyers will overlook a couple of blemishes as long as you have something they want and the rest of your feedback is solid. So don't sweat it!

By the way, the buyer does have the ability to reverse a negative. It's built into the eBay feedback menu.

Lovely Day...

[RichR]

All these factors listed in this thread are why I'm trying the Grand Slam Bids auction system.

[NeuhartCards]

I am a Power Seller and have figured out that you can't satisfy everyone every time. I just try to package well, ship fast, and provide quality scans. I especially love the buyers who wait to pay for 10 days and then get ticked when they don't receive their item the next day.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

As for why a seller can't leave negative feedback on a buyer...

There's no need. If he didn't pay then turn him in as a non-payer, and eBay will undo those seller fees. If he did pay then he's done all he's supposed to do.

Nothing personal but I absolutely disagree with this statement. If a darned buyer renegs on a purchase then the seller should be able to zap them with a negative. If the only punitive damage is a reversal of fees then how is the next seller/ebayer supposed to know the buyer is a deadbeat? I guess an analogy would be a bank robber that gives the loot back. As long as he gave it back there is no need for anymore punishment, right? I am quite sure most sellers would agree with me on this. regards

[Leon]

Originally Posted by RichR

All these factors listed in this thread are why I'm tyring the Grand Slam Bids auction system.

Well, I have to say I appreciate the plug very much. As everyone might know, BOTH sellers and buyers can leave feedback on the new GSB site. Also, ALL bidders will be seen after the auction is over. Our only concern on that policy is that there won't be quite as many auctions as the shillers will have a more difficult time hiding their activities . My gut tells me that there is a huge amount of friend-to-friend shilling on ebay. In the next month we hope to bring over several very large ebay sellers to GSB. Since our fees are approx. 80% less than ebay, we hope those sellers will give discounts on Grandslambids and still make more money than selling on ebay. Unfortunately, inertia is hard to change....but it can be done over time .

[mdschulze]

Thanks for all of the responses. I disagree that the buyers are only supposed to pay and that's all. This guy that I'm dealing with paid very quickly so I left him positive feedback. Then, after the transaction, the buyer decides to ding me on feedback because of an "inadequate description". I reviewed my listing and I clearly state that there was scuffing and signs of wear on the head of the club. I feel like I should have some options here to dispute... besides just commenting on the negative feedback.

I have always taken pride in my feedback score and it just feels like I've been slapped in the face while being hog-tied. I know it's not the end of the world and I don't rely on Ebay to pay my bills... so I'll just forget it and move on.

LEON: I hope everything works well with your auction site. When business picks back up on my end and I have a little spare cash... I'll be visiting more often.

[peterose4hof]

I too am a power seller on Ebay and while I do agree the balance of power has shifted too far towards the buyers, the change to allow only buyers to leave negative feedback I believe is a change for the better. The problem with allowing both parties to leave negative feedback is buyers would rarely leave negatives for fear of a retaliatory negative. Now buyers are free to express their honest opinion which helps other buyers get a realistic picture of the quality of a seller.

It is frustrating to have a buyer not pay and not be able to leave them negative feedback. However, in addition to getting your fees refunded, when you file a non-paying bidder claim against a buyer it counts as a strike against them. If the buyer accumulates too many of these strikes their account is suspended or closed. As far as I can tell, Ebay does not openly say exactly what the consequences are and how many strikes it takes. If anyone knows more about this I would love to hear from them.

To the original poster there may be hope… I received an undeserved negative feedback a few months ago and the buyer has since been kicked off Ebay. A lot of people probably don’t realize this, but if a person gets kicked off Ebay ALL of their feedback (positive and negative) is removed. So I am back to 100% positive! Maybe you will have the same luck.

[glchen]

I tend to agree with ebay regarding negging buyers also. I think typically sellers only neg buyers for non-payment (or very slow payment) or in retaliation to a neg/neutral or opening a case against them. And retaliation is supposed to be against the ebay rules of leaving feedback. Other than that, the only legit reason for negging a buyer if that person were a scammer, etc. In a way, I think ebay wants sellers to be like Walmart which pretty much accept all returns even if the buyer opened it, damaged it, etc. That's not really feasible for a lot of small time sellers, however.

The tweak I would like ebay to do would be to require buyers to contact the seller before leaving negative feedback. This is similar to when a buyer opens a case, and they are required to talk to each other before ebay comes in to settle the dispute. If buyer/seller still disagree, then the buyer can still neg, but at least they chatted which would avoid a lot of the cases discussed in this thread.