Hi there, are buyers allowed to leave feedback for an item they didn't pay for?

[bobbylane75]

The buyer bought the item, but didnt pay. Ignored all my messages asking if he still wanted to go through with the purchase. Then finally said he changed his mind, i then cancelled the order and replied with this message: "Thanks for the delayed heads up, you've now been blocked from bidding on future listings."

So now he left negative feedback on my page, claiming i was rude. the item has already been bought by somone else, who left positive feedback.

So i thought that this could be a glich, i didn't think feedback could be left if there was non payment for the item.

[john1297576 · Accepted solution]

You need to understand the rules, NEVER cancel for a Non Payer they can leave feedback as you have discovered.

The correct thing is an Unpaid Case,buyer gets an unpaid strike and THEN CANNOT leave feedback, or if any has been left you can  get it removed.

I suggest you enter Unpaids into Help & Contact and read all about it.

Set your buyer preferences to Block any members with 2 or More unpaid strikes,and also add to Block Bidders List any Non Payers.

Explore MORE ACTIONS, as links are there to cover most problems, in this case "I have not been paid" would have put you on the correct track.

[bobbylane75 · Accepted solution]

Thanks guys, i understand now.

[*guinevere*]

Rather than sending provocative messages to your buyer you'd have been better off completing a non payment case against them. This would have got you your selling fees back, and they wouldn't have been able to leave feedback at all.

You get 30 days to open a case so if you are still in time open one now, close it after 4 full days, and the feedback should be automatically removed. If it isn't ask ebay to remove it on Help and Contact.

Edit: I've just re read your post and I see you cancelled the sale. You cannot now open a non payment case, and you can't get the feedback removed, sorry.

[ruby*tuesday]

No they can't leave you any Feedback if you open an Unpaid Item Case in the Resolution Centre after 2 days then Close after 4 Full days. Your EBay Final Value Fees are then Credited back to your Seller Account. The Non Payer receives a Damaging Unpaid Strike on their Account. 2 of those and they will struggle to Buy on here as most Sellers Block Bidders with 2 or More Unpaid Strikes.

How did you Cancel the Sale?  If you didn't action it through Ebay you won't Receive a Fee Credit.

[bobbylane75]

Hi there,
I just cancelled the transaction after the buyer said he didnt want it anymore. This was almost two weeks ago. Someone else has bought the item. Today im seeing that the guy who didnt want it or didnt pay for it, has left negative feedback. Which i didnt think was possible for an item he didnt officially purchase. ebay are saying they wont do anything about it and i must take it up with buyer. he wont reply though.




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[m25jet]

To be honest you've gone about this the wrong way.  You shouldn't even had bothered with sending the buyer messages asking if he/she wanted to cancel the sale - the correct thing to do would have been to decide how long you were going to allow for the buyer to make payment and if you'd still not been paid by the deadline then you should have opened an Unpaid Item Dispute against the buyer.  If that hadn't been sufficient to prompt him/her into paying for the item then you should have just closed the case down at the first opportunity that you got, making sure that you selected the "No" option when the page came up with the question that says "Did the buyer pay for this item?"  If you'd done that instead then you would have received a total refund of your eBay Final Value Fee, the buyer's account would have been hit with an Unpaid Item Strike and he/she would not have been able to leave you any feedback.  Any feedback that the buyer had left prior to you closing the Unpaid Item Dispute without having received payment would have been removed by eBay upon request.

Although you hadn't gone through the Unpaid Item Dispute process you may have initially stood a slim chance of being able to get the feedback removed if you'd just kept quiet, but given the fact that you sent the buyer that sarcastic "Thanks for the delayed heads up, you've now been blocked from bidding on future listings" e-mail you can pretty much count on that comment to have killed off any slim chance that you may have had of successfully persuading eBay to remove the buyer's negative feedback.

Finally, if you have not already done so, add the buyer's User ID to your Blocked Bidders List.  If you're unfamiliar with the process click on this link https://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/isapi.dll?bidderblocklogin and a big white box will appear on the screen.  Add the buyer's User ID to that box, then click on the Save button beneath it.  Once you've done that the buyer in question will be unable to purchase anything else from you in the future and cause you any further aggravation.

[bobbylane75]

Yes thanks, i understand that i made a mistake. I will learn from it and keep moving. Yep i already blocked the buyer before the message was sent. it was something i read on the ebay community pages that prompted me to cancel and block the buyer. but i obviously jumped the gun a bit. still think its a bit harsh that someone can leave negative feedback for an item they didnt even purchase. Nor do i think my message was rude, considering i was sending helpful message before that. ebay has ignored all that and sided with the buyer, even though he didnt spend a penny!


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[bobbylane75]

Thanks for the responses guys i fully understand and have learned a lesson. Will have to take this one on the chin.