Ebay refuse to remove negative feedback so I'm quitting after 20 years as a seller.

[rustic-avenue]

I've been using Ebay coming up on 20 years/ 2 decades  and I received my 1st negative feedback. 

Buyer of an item claimed the item was damaged which it wasn't, they even sent me pics of the item showing no damage. 

Buyer claimed I wasted time when I actually refunded full amount and paid postage same day ! Buyer claimed  waste of money which was untrue as I made a full refund ! 

Ebay refuse to remove the feedback, I reported Buyer I and used request negative feedback form, I tried to appeal Ebay said I cant appeal. 

20 years 100% feedback and I've sold around 1200 items.. 

I'm planning on closing my account now as a matter of principle, Customer services have sickened me. 

Dreadful experience. 

I have  a heart condition and this has stressed me right out... I've had several call backs  ffom customer service discussing this, no joy, had enough now. 

[*help_no_brakes*]

Why did you refund without a return?

Perhaps you would have a better chance of feedback removal by sending this reply to their initial message... "Please return for refund",,, rinse & repeat if necessary... works for me.

Why leave them positive feedback?

[tommystrezures]

Looking at the feedback it doesn't appear to breach policy hence why it wont be removed.

From the comments made though it would imply that the item whilst it left you in good condition it has had a rough ride and been "bounced" around in transit. Did you receive the item back before refunding? If it has indeed been damaged in transit then that would be something for you to take up with the carrier.

You can leave a response to that feedback, but keep it short and polite. Something like "Sorry to hear that your item arrived damaged. Full refund given" - or similar. One negative is not always a bad thing. (yes annoying) but at the end of the day we are all humans, we all can make mistakes, things can get damaged in the post and my coffee cup is now empty!

[rustic-avenue]

It may not break Ebay policy, it breaks my policy, accusations of wasting time and money do not sit well with me when clearly untrue. 

I've been using Ebay 20 years and I know how to package an item, see my feedback as a seller ! 

It's since been returned and there's no damage so nothing to do with being in transit. 

Yes I  refunded sane day which was  my choice, that is why.... 

You can't leave a response to that feedback, doesent appear to be an option.

As for mistakes I didn't make any. 

Those are the facts. 

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

I wouldnt worry about a neg.

I have a competitor on 90% and I am on 100% yet he sells more than me !

Work that one out.

[*vyolla*]

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@rustic-avenue wrote:

You can't leave a response to that feedback, doesent appear to be an option.

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You need to use a web browser, not the app.

Go to your feedback profile here and scroll down to the bottom, to the right of 'Suggested next' are some text links, one is to 'Reply to received feedback':

https://feedback.ebay.co.uk/fdbk/feedback_profile/rustic-avenue?&ssPageName=STRK:ME:UFS

[indigo-island]

The first one always hurts.  I've not had many but to be honest they still hurt.  But my advice - take a deep breath, swear to yourself, the wall, the dog, whatever.... close the page and remember you're better than all that.

Then open the page again and carry on - and stop checking the dates to see when it will vanish from your feedback page.

And yes - on my other id I still scowl at the screen when I think of the lady that left me a neg for apparently sending a disgusting top covered in food - that was almost new and utterly beautiful.  She'd muddled me up but wasn't having any of it, and the feedback stayed put.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

the only person who will be affected by your closing your account will be yourself!  If you have only had one negative in all those years then you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.  Anyone who uses these forums know that there are always some dubious buyers (and sellers) and this one may well be one.  However he did say it arrived damaged and did not say you sold a damaged item.  I go to great lengths to make sure my items are all okay and fit the description however i have had  a handful of items returned and i do not know if they were genuine or not (the fake dvd claim definitely was not),  I just refund and put it down to experience.  Certainly do not stress about it.

[ian_w42]

I wouldn't stress about a single negative feedback, I can assure you 99.999999999% of buyers don't either. Most won't even look at feedback but if they do people are smart enough to see one negative in a sea of positives and think nothing of it.

"You can't please everyone" is a well known idiom and while it's sad that someone has affected you this way it's also a near certainty that after so many sales this was going to happen. Ignore it, move on and months from now you'll probably not even think about it.

[plpmr]

"You can leave a response to that feedback, but keep it short and polite"

Indeed that would be best, unfortunately they left a big false positive.

[vinylscot]

Of course it's not really the OP's first negative; it's his third (still pretty impressive, in 19 years).

Having said that, it's really nothing to worry about, and I wouldn't be concerning myself, or flouncing off in a huff. His heart condition has no bearing whatever on how the case should be treated. As has been said, there is nothing in the feedback which breaches eBay policy, so there is no reason why it should be removed.

If the OP is sure the item wasn't damaged when he sent it, and there's no reason to doubt that, it seems pretty obvious that it could have been damaged in the delivery process. A measured response along these lines should ensure that the feedback will have little or no effect on the OP's reputation going forward. We all get negs from time to time. Sometimes, you just need to suck it up.

[4_bathrooms]

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@rustic-avenue wrote:

I've been using Ebay coming up on 20 years/ 2 decades  and I received my 1st negative feedback. 

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That's pretty good going considering there is always going to be a small minority of buyers who will choose to engage in feedback extortion and/or abuse eBay's returns process.

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@rustic-avenue wrote:

Buyer of an item claimed the item was damaged which it wasn't, they even sent me pics of the item showing no damage. 

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You needed to send a pre-paid return label if eBay hadn't already sent one on your behalf. Once the return label was sent you simply needed to wait until the item (or whatever the buyer sent) was actually returned. 

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@rustic-avenue wrote:

Buyer claimed I wasted time when I actually refunded full amount and paid postage same day !

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This is the moment you made a mistake. You should have waited until you received the item (or whatever the buyer sent) back. Once the return tracking showed the item had been returned - or attempted to be returned - back to you you would have been afforded three days to either issue a refund or report a problem via the case. Reporting a problem includes reporting the buyer for abusing the returns process by falsely claiming the item was not as described. If you had followed this process - and eBay agreed you had met your obligations to the buyer - eBay would have automatically removed any negative feedback that was left.

As you volunteered a refund to the buyer without reporting them first this was effectively treated as your acceptance of being at fault. There are upcoming changes to the law which will come into effect in the autumn covering things like fake online reviews, manipulated seller ratings, false endorsements etc. Under the changes negative ratings can only be removed in certain circumstances to prevent businesses appearing to have a higher customer satisfaction rating than they really do (for example). The penalty for any business breaking the the new laws is up to 10% of their global turnover so you can fully expect eBay to be over-complying already. eBay are highly unlikely to remove any negative feedback unless it was removed automatically (i.e. because the seller had a money back guarantee case or a payment dispute decided in their favour). Even where feedback comments contain offensive language or are demonstrably false eBay will likely remove the comment but leave the rating intact.

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@rustic-avenue wrote:

I'm planning on closing my account now as a matter of principle, Customer services have sickened me. 

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Closing your account over the receipt of one negative feedback rating seems a tad extreme. After ~1,200 sales you will be closing your account because 0.0833% of your transactions turned into a problem. Most sellers would love to have 99.917% of their transactions go without a hitch over 20 years!  
   

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@rustic-avenue wrote:

Ebay refuse to remove the feedback, I reported Buyer I and used request negative feedback form, I tried to appeal Ebay said I cant appeal. 

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Once a seller volunteers a refund without reporting the buyer first that's it - eBay will wash their hands of the situation. As mentioned, eBay are not going to remove the feedback now so it's pointless contacting them about it any further as it will only cause you more stress. Some of eBay's customer service reps may initially appear to agree with you and tell you things like the feedback will be reported to the relevant team, they'll make a decision within 48 hours etc. but in reality nothing of the sort is going to happen. It really is best to forget about it now and move on.

[rjwilmsi]

Some buyers (and sellers) are sometimes fools, or make foolish or careless mistakes or have unreasonably high expectations, or change their mind and won't admit it. You have to be able to accept and deal with these people and events. I mostly consider the effort part of eBay selling to be "dealing with idiots". It is generally easy, quick and frustation free to unpack, test, photograph, list, pack, buy postage, post items and keep records, do taxes once you've done it a few times. But dealing with problematic buyers is where all the time wasted, money lost, frustration and sense of unfairness comes in.

If you can't tolerate any of those negatives then you shouldn't sell on eBay. But you can't avoid all idiots in all areas of life - they keep inventing better idiots!

[dibbs73]

You'll have their home address, post a formal letter stating that you will be taking them to court for libel and slander and costs, and give them 28 days to take down their review.  People usually do once they realise the internet is not hiding their anonimity.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

are you for real?  The buyer stated what he believed was the case that the item arrived damaged and that he had had his time wasted.  Even if a person was stupid enough to actually write a formal letter and even take it to the court it would be thrown out.   Now that really would be a waste of time and money.  Did you see the  response from the seller?  Again nothing actionable but way over the top.   You need to keep this in perspective, negative responses happen and if the guy actually got his item back with no damage that surely is a win, most people do not.  The seller may have a heart condition and if this is his reaction then he is the one stressing himself out over a trivial matter.  

[vintage-emporium-jedburgh]

Closing your account

  enhances  the effectiveness of  negative feedback , its  an own goal

ebay will care less

the buyer will probably gloat at the result

[tnt-tubbs]

Same issue I'm leaving EBay. 20 years of positive and some left negative feedback & they refused to remove it. 20 years zero loyalty. I'm leaving also.

[technthread]

Just based on what your buyer said and your reply, I am reading between the lines but it might have helped to show them a picture of the issue you found so they believed you and they might have abstained from leaving feedback on it. They give the impression they didn't see any proof of what you said and it was an expensive item, they must have been disappointed to lose out on it. 

[danaher18]

Bit harsh that but you are right , just forget about it and move on. 

I received one neg, the buyer was a person sadly lacking in  manners, listing clearly stated postage only and buyer just took it for granted she could collect ! Nobody died !! Hope it made her feel better lol

[*knight-rider*]

I agree and think that hasn't helped with the feedback removal. Firstly, by refunding the same day, your effectively admitting fault, whether you think you are or not, if the buyer had an issue, i would have insisted on return first before refunding. Not sure when you did the followup to the feedback, but once you do that, Ebay are less likely to remove it, something i've noticed over time.

Personally, it's one neg and i wouldn't worry about it, as it will soon disappear and most buyers don't even read the stuff most of the time, much less be put off by it!