Buyer left unfair negative feedback

A buyer bought 7 items from me and appeared happy with the items until several weeks later when I had to cancel the 7th item and refund it.

 

The buyer then proceeded to go back and leave negative feedback on this item and several previous items. The feedback was along the lines of "postage too high" and "seller cancelled as they wanted more money". I used the default ebay postage rates so this is out of my control, and I did not relist the items at a higher price.

 

After I contacted ebay they refused to remove the malicious and defamatory feedback. Their response was as follows:

 

"After carefully reviewing the Feedback, we didn't find any violations of our policies and guidelines.

 

For this reason, the feedback was not removed. Just so you know, this feedback will not impact your seller performance level."

 

Can I do anything else to remove the negative feedback? The buyer has ignored my requests to remove or revise it...?

 

Thanks

Message 1 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

They may be a properly registered competitor.

 

See :- https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/business-seller-policy?id=4710

Message 2 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

You're a very experienced eBayer, so please don't let this upset you so much. You know the ups and downs of feedback by now! Your peace of mind is worth more than any DSR. Feedback doesn't matter much for private sellers, and most Buyers expect to see some negatives. It's good to know when you can appeal to eBay for help, and when it is within their Feedback Policy. What matters most is to respond calmly.

 

Personally if I were going to request feedback revision, I would wait until the initial shock of the Negative has passed, and then work with the Buyer to address their concerns. The last time I did this, it took about 3-weeks before I felt the Buyer was ready to consider revising to Positive. If it hadn't worked out, I would have left a Feedback Reply then. Of course, sometimes it's better to ignore it and go on into the future 😉

Message 3 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

plpmr
Experienced Mentor

"several weeks later when I had to cancel the 7th item and refund it."

 

Whay did you cancel and refund - especially several weeks after the purchase?

Message 4 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

The buyer bought the 7 items over several weeks and I sent them all within a few days of purchase.

 

The 7th item was cancelled within days of purchase when I attempted to dig up the plant and realised it would be too big to send due to box size and weight limits imposed by Royal Mail.

Message 5 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Do you mean they are buying my items to sell on at a profit?

 

I'm not sure where they would sell them as they aren't selling anything on Ebay...

Message 6 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Probably selling them on Peabay

Message 7 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

yes just call them back at different times, i had similar thing some lowlife buyer who couldnt read basic english expected a wheel to come with a tyre when i never sold a tyre, anyway return back then left me a neg, as usual like the answer u got, then i called back a few times got through to a agent who took all details looked at the communication and facts of what was sold then realized the feedback was lies so they removed it

 

 

Message 8 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

I read another post of yours that  you wish to become a Mentor, just  a tip,  Community Managers will read your posts  and how you answer,  and answering as you did here  calling a fellow member...... '  i had similar thing some lowlife buyer who couldnt read basic english  '   will not win you many brownie points !  😶

 

@crash_salvage_repair 

Message 9 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

well im not really bothered if come a mentor or not, its no loss of mine, but after reading though many sellers  posts on here who are incurring losses to the tune of £0,000s by fraudulent buyers, thought my own experiences would help them out so they wont b put off by sellin online and lettin scam buyers get away with £0000s of free goods, you might think its entirely fine for a buyer to scam a seller, many dont.

 

i'm about to pursue a scammer who ripped me off to tune of £200 on some door handles, he sent back his scrappy ones, but the buyers so thick, he actually sent messages showing pictures of my handles saying there was a fault with one of them and he wants a partial refund, it was all nonsense.

 

SO i have factual evidence he received the correct handles, then ive done subject access cctv request at postoffice he dropped them off and I deliberately didnt open the door to postman so they would redirect to my local postoffice and done a subject access request there for  the cctv showing  the same package he sent collected by myself oh u can also see me moving the package up high so it will be fully captured by the cctv. Then  had my handles weighted when dropped them off at postoffice and the package he sent back also weight checked to prove his *bleep*py plastic handles weigh less than solid aluminium  ones.

 

So now ive reported him to police got crime reference no and then i've actually been down to his house taken pic's of my handles in his car, and after Police have decided if they want to investigate or not (doubt they will) , I  will be pursuing him through the court with a civil trial (moneyclaim online) , and when his standing up in front of a magistrate im sure they'll believe his lies. Its advice like this which needs to get out to sellers to stop these fraudster scam buyers simply coming online and ripping ppl off. 

 

Another courier scam; dropped off some very expensive wheels/ tyres £900 (used value not new) at a couriers depot, who then thought they'll rob them for themselves and lie denying that i  even dropped them,

 

Well there again comes the legal knowledge; subject access request for cctv in public place gdpr laws etc..., and you guessed it; they suddenly found the said wheels!!!! as the cctv showed me dropping them off in my car and the manager of depot walking out  to receive and he never scanned them as realized there a opportunity to rob expensive wheels. 

 

 so im sure  advice like this will be beneficial to many genuine sellers on ebay, you might think otherwise as its not you thats losing out 0000s to scam buyers, but many would appreciate this type of advice and knowledge from a actual business who has experienced these attempted thefts on a regular basis

 

 

thankYOU

 

 

 

 

Message 10 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

It wouldn't stop me buying from you, clearly seems ott to neg all. I don't leave them at all really & understand it's not nice. Hopefully it is the case & ebey don't demote you in any way for them. 

 

Imo if they must leave such marks it should be as 'critical' not 'negative' maybe with a nice question mark next to a comment instead of red marks. imo this is connected bad ebay management policies forcing sellers in line, carrots & sticks, going way back. 

Message 11 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

What they mean is you are growing items to sell, and should review the link that has been supplied as to whether what it states applies to you.

Message 12 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

I'm not growing items to resell, I just sell plants I don't want anymore or have room for. I keep all my plants for a season to see how they perform and make a decision whether to keep or sell when autumn comes and the plants can be sold as bare roots. I also don't sell cuttings of plants due to PBR, I only sell grafted plants that I own and have bought from commercial plant growers.

 

There are some strange accusations being thrown around on these threads, when my original question was about unfair feedback...!

Message 13 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

@crash_salvage_repair  wrote:      so im sure  advice like this will be beneficial to many genuine sellers on ebay, you might think otherwise as its not you thats losing out 0000s to scam buyers, but many would appreciate this type of advice and knowledge from a actual business who has experienced these attempted thefts on a regular basis .

 

Why on earth would I think otherwise?

 

Any post which is of help to others is obviously welcome here,  and of course it doesn't need to help everyone but if it helps one then it's worth the time to post.

 

Not sure where you get the idea that I think this help is not useful 🤔 ?

 

I was addressing one of your other posts as you were enquiring to become a mentor, and of course you don't need to be one to post on all the boards , aside from the M2M board.

 

All helpful posts no matter what subject are welcome !

 

@crash_salvage_repair 

Message 14 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Hi 👋 

Will I hopefully find help and support for a similar upsetting problem as yours? Shall we start a support group! (We’re not alone in this cruel scenario).

I listed a set of 3 Rizla mugs and they sold quickly as my price was ridiculously low @ £25 for all 3 mugs (don’t ask - my error 🙄). On pace them, I accidentally dropped one. I apologised to the buyer and explained, and cancelled the sale, as this was accepted by eBay, I promptly refunded the buyer. I was unprepared for what followed.
I was absolutely hounded by the buyer with a barrage of absolutely ridiculous requests like could I “send the set with the broken one”, as “I’d like to mend it”/“I’d actually like to buy just one/“thinking about it, I may buy two”/“im thinking about whether they’d survive transit?” 
The requests came thick and fast, all evening. The tone of all had an underlying menace about them, although they didn’t contain defamatory words. It was (really) weird, intrusive and began to worry me- despite my initial explanation and apology to the buyer about why I didn’t want to send one single broken mug or a set of 3, one broken etc. They were sparked up by my apologies, straight back at me with (yet) another bizarre comment about my sending them the mugs with the broken one included.

I gave up replying and tried to report this as harassment but there was nothing on eBay to help as there was no defamatory language used. I resorted to blocking them from future bidding. 
I was shaken by their unnatural harassment of me. 
Weeks later, my friend actually presented me with an exact copy of the broken mug from a charity shop to complete the set. I relisted the set and, after viewing similar sets, priced them sensibly and relisted them. 
I found nasty, negative feedback from the person today - saying I’d cancelled their sale in order to resell with a hiked up price?!? 
Why haven’t eBay protected ME from this buyer - albeit cancelled sale? I blocked them because they harassed me for a whole evening! Yet, here they are- ALLOWED to further cause mental distress by putting negative and damaging feedback on my account? 
I have cancelled my listing now. I can’t put an explanation under their feedback to shield my future listings as I have blocked them. 
I have absolutely zero on trust of eBay care and safety of sellers now - my mental welfare has been compromised by them allowing this freak to further cause distress by allowing their feedback to be published. I do not want to beg the freak to remove the feedback as I prefer not to resume contact with a pest. 

Message 15 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Did you send the buyer a picture of the set with the broken one?

 

If not, what reason do they have to believe you,  especially as all they can see is exactly what does happen when a seller doesn't want to sell at a bargain price, right down to the relist.

 

It's the buyer's perspective which counts in feedback. In fact the feedback is also entirely accurate, you did cancel a set of three Rizla mugs and you did relist a set of three Rizla mugs at more than double what the buyer paid.  You even used the same photos.

 

That doesn't excuse any harassment but it does explain why the feedback stays put.

 

 

Message 16 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Hi
Thanks for your reply
I didn’t want to send a photo as I was concerned about the unwanted harassment from their unrelenting emails.
I will sadly now look elsewhere to sell my stuff.
I’m not alone in fearing that eBay protects the buyer in preference to the seller. 🤷🏻‍♀️
I don’t like my mental health being compromised because of harassment. This person harassed me. I trusted that by blocking them that I’d be protected from further contact. I wasn’t.
Kind wishes
Sent from my iPhone
Message 17 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Blocks for people that you have been in a transaction with don't work immediately. 

Message 18 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback

Thanks. Live and learn 🙄🤷🏻‍♀️
Kind regards
Sent from my iPhone
Message 19 of 20
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Buyer left unfair negative feedback


@papso22 wrote:

Blocks for people that you have been in a transaction with don't work immediately. 


In my most recent experiences it seems the block on messaging is now immediate. The block to prevent further bids/offers/purchases has always been immediate but the block on messaging used to take 90 days following a transaction to take effect. I believe as long as the "Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me" box is checked in buyer requirements that now also takes effect immediately.

 

@kheate31 - do you have the box stating "Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me" checked in your buyer requirements? I believe that option is unchecked by default. Also, even if you block a buyer this way they can still communicate via a case but once the case is closed they can't communicate with you any further.

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
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