Abusive feedback from seller

[frotnrs]

I bought an album from a seller in an auction, paid for it immediately and they sent it to me promptly. When I looked at the feedback they gave it read

ABSOLUTE TIMEWASTER NO PAYMENT AND NEVER ANSWERS E MAILS

I've looked through the feedback they have left for others and it seems this is something the seller indulges in rather too much and has left the same for other buyers who have paid.

I did contact them and was told that they had left positive feedback, when I follow up with a screenshot of their comments they said it must have been the 'boy in the office' and they would look into it. Never heard back.

[**peaseblossom**]

Negative comments with positive ratings is grounds for removal.    The link to apply to remove it is on here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellerhelp

[ile136yz]

Sellers should not leave Negative comments on a Positive Feedback for their Buyers  -  eBay has a policy regarding this.

Contact eBay's CS & ask for the comments to be removed.  The Seller may get a defect for this.

If you have are leaving a Feedback for this Seller, word it carefully, so it cannot be removed.

[department28]

It sounds like they have been muddling up their feedback & mistakenly giving 'timewaster' feedback to the wrong customers. It is not very professional of them not to have sorted this out for you, and the other buyers they have done this to. The 'boy in the office' should stick to making the tea...

[sml192 · Accepted solution]

Sellers are not allowed to leave negative feedback for buyers and leaving a negative comment in positive feedback (false positive) is against eBay policy and eBay will remove it if it is brought to their attention. 

You will need to contact eBay Customer Services to get it removed (the link you have been provided above is incorrect, that is for sellers wishing to remove neutral/negative feedback left by buyers).

Use this link to request a callback from eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

8am to 10pm on weekdays and
9am to 6pm on weekends

[frotnrs]

Thanks for all your answers. I did contact eBay but I may well try and talk to someone on the phone. None of this seems to make sense though. Why would a seller leave negative feedback for people who have paid for an item and who they have sent it to. Seems quite ridiculous to claim that a buyer hasn’t answered messages when none have been sent. I’ve sent a couple more messages to the seller over the past days but had no reply.

[department28]

Yes, if you are getting no response from the seller, it is probably best to try & talk to eBay. The seller is obviously leaving negative comments by mistake, and does not want to take the time to sort this out.

I wonder if they have left positive comments for the buyers that were supposed to get the negative comments, so the non-payers & timewasters may have got lovely feedback by mistake!

[m25jet]

If you have not already done so by the time you read this response contact eBay Customer Services using the link provided in @sml192's reply in post 5 and click on the option that says "Have Us Call You" in order to get an eBay representative to phone you back.  However, if you do decide to do this the best option would be to request a call first thing in the morning, as that way you have a far better chance of receiving a phone call from an eBay representative based in Ireland, as opposed to an eBay representative located in eBay's Philippines-based call centre.

If you decide to leave negative feedback I would advise you to hold off of saying something along the lines of "Seller left false positive feedback so I had to ask eBay to remove the comment", as this in itself could result in eBay removing your feedback for the seller if he/she were to complain to eBay and request that your own feedback be removed, the reason why being that you are not allowed to make any mention in feedback of having had to get eBay involved in order to resolve an issue between buyer and seller.  Having said that, however, if the seller is making a habit of leaving false postives for buyers I wouldn't have expected him/her to risk drawing eBay's attention to the matter by asking them to remove the feedback you left!  Then again, two wrongs don't make a right, so it's best not to leave the seller any type of feedback comment that could potentially qualify for removal if eBay became aware of it.  A comment along the lines of "Seller not good on communication skills with buyers - ignored requests to resolve a problem when I made contact" may have a better chance of remaining on the seller's feedback history forever, as it doesn't mention anything that eBay would look at and say "That's in breach of feedback policy".  However, at the end of the day the decision as to whether or not you choose to leave any feedback for the seller is completely up to you.

[frotnrs]

I’d already left them positive feedback before I saw their nasty comments, so that’s not a problem. It seems they are in the habit of leaving bad feedback (always the same words, always in capitals) for random people who have bought from them. It’s just very odd and probably counterproductive behaviour. Why would you insult customers, especially when the account is a business one? I will try and get eBay to give me a ring. It may well be that others the seller has insulted have also made a complaint. BTW I get the impression that the ‘boy in the office’ is rather like the ‘cat in the box’

[frotnrs]

I don’t think they are leaving these comments by mistake, in fact I believe it to be quite deliberate. They have been doing it at least since the start of October (maybe earlier, didn’t check).

[department28]

If they are doing it on purpose it is a stupid thing to do! It will be interesting to know what eBay says about this, if you manage to speak to them.

[frotnrs]

Today I received a call-back from eBay after following the link provided by sml192. A very nice lady spent a bit of time listening to me and then deleted the comment left by the seller on my account. I pointed out that the seller had also left the same abusive feedback for other people who had bought from him. She told me that she had noted all instances of the negative feedback and would be making a referral to eBay (I presume the complaints dept). When I asked what the outcome might be she said it could be one of three things. 

1. A ban from selling on eBay.

2. Having the number of items allowed to sell restricted. (Think that is what she said)

3. Having their eBay fees raised

So there will be some sort of conclusion. Good to know that politeness, honesty and fairness can still matter I'd like to thank everyone here who has offered advice. Thank you all.

[frotnrs]

Spoke to nice lady at eBay today. She listened to the problem and then removed the negative feedback on my account. She also said she would report the seller (presumably to the complaints dept). I pointed out that the seller had made a habit of leaving negative feedback from people who had bought from him. She said that would also be included in the report. As a result of this the seller could either loose the right to sell on eBay, have the number of items they can sell restricted or have their fees increased - that was my interpretation of what she said when I asked.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has replied to my intial post and has taken the time to offer constructive suggestions. Good to know fairness and honesty can still be still relevant in these days.