eBay

therosegardener · ‎04-10-2025

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

roger_roger_over_and_nowt · ‎04-10-2025

They may be a properly registered competitor.

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

style_wise · ‎04-10-2025

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 😉

plpmr · ‎04-10-2025

"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?

therosegardener · ‎04-10-2025

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.