ebay feedback policy a farce

[6231pete]

Hello all

I recently sold a camera {used} and clearly stated as such. After a few days the buyer queried the warranty of which as a used item there isn't one ( red flag raised) 3 weeks later after he'd had it a month he decides i advertised it as a "new" item which clearly wasn't true anyway after a few civil back and forths he then sends a return request which i refused, no actually reason just decided he doesn't want it. After a month I'm well within my right to refuse such a request.

Anyway a week later i get a negative feedback claiming im untrustworthy and my explanations as to why the warranty is not transferable were ramblings, none of which were remotely true and the evidence is all in black and and white

So I went through all the procedures to get such lies removed . After a lot of communications according to ebay he hasn't breached ebay policies? So according to ebay policy a buyer can make false claims and lie and that's perfectly fine.

As a private seller it's bad enough although it has no effect on what i sell but for a business this could damage your sales. Yet ebay completely refuses to address this. .

The feedback system is stupid misused and badly organised and the policies are stupidity itself.

[wgwillia]

 This is typical of Ebay  when things go wrong they don't want to know, and some of the information they give you is very misleading.

[style_wise]

You've been around the eBay block! And you're right Feedback is misused, but it is a lot better than it used to be. Hopefully you also know as a Private Seller that the odd Negative or Neutral doesn't matter. May I tell you what I would have done with this difficult Buyer? Some of it may still be useful for you to ask again for eBay to help.

As soon as the Buyer queried the non-existent warranty I would have started a paper trail for eBay Help by:

- Blocking the Buyer

- Reporting them to eBay, using reason Buyer Demanded Something Not Included in the Listing...

Please do both now, if you haven't already.

I wouldn't respond to them in Messaging, but only in an actual Case (if they open one).

You did it right, in my opinion, when he opened the Doesn't Want It case. Within the case, for the rejection reason I would have written as if to eBay Help rather than the Buyer, giving a short explanation of correctly described used item with no warranty.

When the Negative appeared - I would leave the same short neutral explanation again as a Reply. This makes you look reasonable to Buyers who check the Feedback, and it gives eBay Help another place to see the main point (described correctly, Buyer asked for extras). Then I would call eBay - on a weekday morning after 8am preferably - to explain calmly which Feedback Policy points the Buyer had broken. You can see a list here:

Feedback policy | eBay

In this case I would still call eBay and explain that 'untrustworthy' breaks this policy point:

• Personal attacks that could harm the reputation of the seller or their business and could not reasonably be viewed as constructive criticism

And that the buyer tried to extort extras not in the listing - new instead of used, plus warranty.

I would say to eBay CS that my other feedback shows that I am proven to be trustworthy, and that this was said to harm me.

The extra bonus if CS remove this Negative, is that they will also remove your reply.

If eBay still did nothing, forget it and move on. Your peace of mind is worth more than the feedback. The odd negative looks completely normal and is almost meaningless to future Buyers.

[jimthing]

In your feedback response (presuming you likely want to answer it) be very civil, because other buyers will see your overly negative response to a buyer (however annoying they are!) as a seller to avoid, unfortunately. 

[fatbobfan]

As others have stated be the consummate proffessional with you feedback reply , it then highlights your professionalism and if done well belittlles the seller and their feedback, use it as a selling tool

As for the Ebay system,  AI anyone?

Forrget it and move on,

Useless system imo opinion, spent a lot of time trying to get my first neg in 10 years removed all the CS agents agreed and said yes it will be removed only for what ever system is being used (AI?) it didnt meet the criteria for removal. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@fatbobfan wrote:

Useless system imo opinion, spent a lot of time trying to get my first neg in 10 years removed all the CS agents agreed and said yes it will be removed only for what ever system is being used (AI?) it didnt meet the criteria for removal. 

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Due to a new law that came into force in January eBay has to be very careful when removing negative or neutral feedback - it is now illegal for them to do so in many cases. eBay did update their feedback policy last year in preparation for the (then upcoming) change in the law and in doing so stated the specific circumstances under which they will remove negative or neutral feedback.

The OP's best hope is to convince customer services the "not a trustworthy seller" comment is a "personal attack that could harm their reputation". However, I suspect eBay's CS agents have been specifically instructed not to remove any feedback unless it is obviously in violation of the feedback policy (i.e. obvious to someone who doesn't speak English as a first language). The most likely action eBay will take - if they take any action at all - will be to remove the comment but leave the negative rating in place. Also, historically eBay would not remove feedback if it had been replied to unless it was clearly offensive - I don't know if that is still the case.

[fatbobfan]

Was aware of the changes not the legality issue, thank you

Not a fan of the new changes, 

Its not consistent, there are  grey area's and its clearly wide open to abuse, a correctly worded feedback will never be removed and sellers no matter how much professionalism/service to the platfrom are high and dry. Add in buyers not understanding the feedback system, basic intelligence on buying and selling and their selfishness and sellers are just out in the wind