Ebay won’t remove inaccurate buyer feedback

[sandpiper434]

Hi, I’ve been unlucky enough to deal with an extremely aggressive, unpleasant buyer who’s left my first negative feedback in my 17 years on Ebay. The feedback is demonstrably factually inaccurate but the buyer has refused to amend it and Ebay has refused to remove it. I’ve used the automated process and spoken to two agents, both of whom have claimed the buyer is entitled to their ‘opinion’, even if I can prove that what they’ve stated is false. To me, this is a nonsense - in essence, a spiteful buyer can get away with making any exaggerated claim they like.

Please can anyone suggest anything else I can do? Thanks in advance. 

[tressygirl]

eBay will not remove it as it doesn't break any feedback rules.  

You made an error , but apologised and offered / gave that full refund,  if after that,  the buyer was still not appeased and did not wish to change it through a feedback revision , there is nothing you or eBay can do.

You left a follow up answer explaining what has happened,  buyers can read this and it does show how you,  as a seller,  deals with issues and troublesome buyers.  Always bear this in mind when leaving follow up feedbacks.

@sandpiper434 

[sandpiper434]

Ebay clearly states it will remove feedback which is inaccurate. This feedback is inaccurate and grossly exaggerated. Therefore it breaks Ebay’s rules and should be removed.

[tressygirl]

eBay's rules are if there's any mention of a refund,   a case,  rude language used,  or claiming an item was fake, these all break feedback rules.

None of the above unfortunately appear in the feedback you received.

eBay are basing it on the experience the buyer had on receiving an item mis described.

I'm not taking away anything you have done to be of assistance,  which is correctly apologising and refunding.  I understand fully the receiving of a negative when  being a conscientious good seller is very hurtful  and disheartening.

End of the day,  the buyer had a negative experience from you and the feedback unfortunately stays. 

You've left a follow up to explain what happened,  if you were selling something I wished to buy from you,  it would not put me buying the item.

@sandpiper434 

[4_bathrooms]

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@sandpiper434 wrote:

Ebay clearly states it will remove feedback which is inaccurate. 

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No, they don't. Here is the policy that states when eBay will remove negative feedback.

By your own admission you made a mistake in the listing. It sounds like your buyer opened an "item not as described" return case with you (the seller) ultimately being held at fault. It doesn't matter if the buyer exaggerated the reason for the item not being as described; the feedback the buyer left is almost certainly not going to be removed.

[dancewithadingo]

Good Afternoon Sandpiper

You have been most unfortunate to come across this buyer. I sympathise. We all walk a tightrope when selling.  

Like TG I can't see anything wrong with the feedback and certainly no grounds for removal. I know that you will find that statement unpalatable and galling. You have done all that you can and I thought that your follow up was excellent and covered everything.

As you say we are all prone to make a mistake when listing, unfortunately your buyer was unforgiving and unpleasant and unwilling to listen.

I am confident that it will be another 17 years before you have a repeat. Your record speaks for itself. If I wanted any jewellery I would buy from you without hesitation. Try and forget it and make a few sales to lift the gloom.

Draw a line under it.

Good luck and carry on selling.

[sandpiper434]

Yes, they do. The buyer accused me of being a scammer, for a start. That’s abusive. I would hardly have more than 2,200 positive feedback mentions over 17 years - no neutral and no negative - if I were a ‘scammer’.

[sandpiper434]

No, the buyer didn’t need to open a case - the minute they messaged me to flag the error I offered a refund. And at the end of the day their feedback is still inaccurate - when did you last see a 2mm pendant? This shows how sloppy this unpleasant buyer has been throughout, but Ebay just lets them get away with it. It’s wrong.

[sandpiper434]

Thank you, but look again at the feedback.  A 2mm pendant?? The buyer has also repeated this claim elsewhere and refused to amend it; despite seeing clear photos, Ebay let this stand. So, in Ebay’s eyes it’s fine for a difficult buyer to use untruthful claims as fact but of course (and rightly) a seller can’t. In the exact words of one of the agents I spoke to, “We wouldn’t remove feedback for being untruthful.” Funny, that, when their policy says they will…

[tressygirl]

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@sandpiper434 wrote:
Yes, they do. The buyer accused me of being a scammer, for a start. That’s abusive. I would hardly have more than 2,200 positive feedback mentions over 17 years - no neutral and no negative - if I were a ‘scammer’.

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Sorry,  but I cannot see the word scammer in the feedback.

If they used the word in a private message this does not count as it's not in the actual feedback, shame because if it was in the feedback,  then yes,  name calling using rude words, is not allowed  and the feedback would then have been removed.

[sandpiper434]

Yes, I agree, but they did that repeatedly in our message conversation which of course the agents were able to see. They also demanded a refund before returning the item, which of course I wasn’t able to agree to, and made threats about consequences if I failed to refund them - even though the refund was never in question. As I understand it, abuse is against Ebay’s rules wherever it appears?

[4_bathrooms]

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@sandpiper434 wrote:

No, the buyer didn’t need to open a case - the minute they messaged me to flag the error I offered a refund. 

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In which case you're lucky the buyer didn't open a case. If they had you would have been held entirely responsible for the return shipping label and would at the very least have received a (non-removable) service metric strike recorded against your account.

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@sandpiper434 wrote:

And at the end of the day their feedback is still inaccurate - when did you last see a 2mm pendant? This shows how sloppy this unpleasant buyer has been throughout, but Ebay just lets them get away with it. It’s wrong.

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You obviously have the pendant back and it has gone from being 4cm in the original listing to 2.4cm. I don't doubt the buyer has been unpleasant but they could equally argue they mistakenly put mm instead of cm in their feedback. In any case nowhere in the policy I linked to does it state that eBay will remove feedback on the basis it is inaccurate; eBay will just tell you that "it's the buyer's opinion" and refuse to remove it. 

[sandpiper434]

Hi, I’m sure they did make a mistake - I was pointing out that this is indicative of their carelessness throughout. If sellers aren’t allowed errors, then buyers shouldn’t be either. That’s what I’m saying - Ebay has one rule for some but not for others.

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

Look OP, when people see 'recent feedback' it no longer defaults to the most recent feedback, for me it seems to home in on some (nice) feedback from 6 months ago every time, the nags have never showed up in this view, you've explained next to it and people do not go about seeking sellers with 100% feedback. This silly comment will even soon be gone from YOUR view within a few sales.

Leave it and move on. Block the buyer. 3Bay won't be removing the feedback. As Mr B says it's lucky they DIDN'T open a case as they would have been entitled to.

[sandpiper434]

I was merely asking a question if you read my original post. And I don’t think luck comes into it.

Thanks to all those who have responded with kind words.

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

Kind words don't always help, facts can. Thankfully, unlike some who post here, you've not even had to pay for a return, let alone lose a £4000 Apple laptop to a scammer. You continued to push the issue of feedback removal for 10+ responses even after it had been explained several times that there was no such policy for what had happened. And it was only a matter of 'luck' that the buyer did not open a case, most would have. You yourself used the word 'unlucky' in the first few words of your opening post, but you can call it whatever else you like, if that helps.

[department28]

It is very upsetting when something like this happens. You obviously did everything you could to sort out the situation as quickly as possible, and if the buyer had bothered to take a look, they would have seen that you have excellent feedback, and that this was just one small slip over many years. 

Most buyers would have accepted this was a rare error, thanked you for the prompt refund, & probably still left positive feedback, or neutral at worst. You certainly didn't deserve negative. 

As signs_and_vintage said, feedback displays the most relevant first, not the most recent, so the nasty neg is already heading to the bottom of the page, although I would imagine it is the loss of the 100% that hurts the most.

[booteek]

hi , i too received a negative from a buyer who thinks there is a free packing fairy about! this after 21 years and over 6500 positives! 

i spoke to customer services who said to ask for the appeals department. this i did and it was refused. rang again and again, got 2 more refusals although 4 people at customer service agreed that the feedback was not relevant and unfair. after the 3rd refusal i wrote and asked who was constantly refusing my requests. This got an immediate answer someone else who removed it immediately!

so keep asking, keep on and on and good luck

[magpiecorner1]

Keep asking.

I've just had a stab at measuring the pendant (don't ask me how, my other half hasn't stopped laughing watching me do it) but I'm guessing it was 2.4 cm, if so out but hardly the end of the world.  

So suggesting it was 2 mm - which is about the width of a matchstick (yes, hubby is now belly laughing after watching me measure a matchstick! - it's been a quiet Christmas) - is a lie, and it's making you out to be grossly misleading.  So use the buyer's ignorance to get the feedback removed.  Speak to Dublin, stress the 17 years, and above all be lovely to the CS working over the holidays.

Best of luck!

And in future list a good idea is to put the imperial size also, a pain but I write out a conversation chart which saves continually measuring, amazing how often I've rechecked sizes written when the imperial doesn't make sense.

[sandpiper434]

Aw, what a lovely reply, and so glad I’ve given you a bit of festive mirth! Almost makes it all worthwhile! 😂 I did stress the buyer’s inaccuracy to two different Ebay agents but it made no difference - they don’t seem to have the same autonomy as they used to to make adjustments based on common sense. But never mind - the person I really feel sorry for is the buyer who must be in a bad place. Thanks again, and wishing you and your other half a very Happy New Year! x