Auction ratings? Good and the Bad

[Luv2Roam]

All these auction threads make me wonder what everyone's thoughts are on viewing and leaving positive/negative feedback.
I recall when the R**** situation broke, that many were saying she was rated good on Ebay.
I have had a few (luckily they are rare) auction sellers I would not buy from again for various reasons. I did not leave negative feedback, only due to not wanting retaliation negative feedback. (I am sure you all know I am not the type to not contact the buyer; I gripe to all. No one is spared! )
I know other buyers who am sure are very good. But when they left negative feedback to a seller, they experienced feedback retaliation. One person told me because they had left negative feedback, the seller kept responding with negative back. So they had multiple negative remarks from the same person, and only for retaliation purposes. (And the buyer had only left negative feedback when the seller stopped replying to their e-mails.)
Some people have said they leave a postive, but with negative remarks.
What's everyone's 2 cents?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Before we leave any bad feedback, we will not only contact the person, but let eBay know what is going on. I have found that if I have to leave negative I have done enough contact so there is no retaliation. Also, you can only leave feedback once per transaction, and it has to be related to a tranaction where you and the other person were both involved.

About a year ago JudySue had a problem with a person and kept eBay aware of what was going on. The other person left a negative. A few days later Judy was going to respond and found that eBay had revoked the individual's registration. If someone looks at her profile you will find a score of almost 500 with only one negative, and that well over six months ago. Anyone who looks at that will know that it is a rarity.

Personally I think it is almost impossible for a person to have several hundred dealings and no negatives; it's just not in Human Nature. I came close once when I forgot to send a payment and was going to ask the person where my item was. When I realized I had forgotten to send the payment, I apologized profusely and used PayPal while I will normally send a check.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Let's see.. My collection is small compared to that of other board members. I have a little over 200 pins, but I acquired 90% of them through auction site purchases. It was not until I met the CT crew that I started to get together with them, trade here and there and have them pick up pins for me when they travel.

My point is, out of over 200 purchases, I've had negative experiences with only 5 sellers. I do not like to give negatives, out of the concern for retaliation. But one time, I had to! This seller received my payment, weeks went by and I received no pins. I e-mailed him several times until he started to ignore me. I tried Square Trade, but he would not join the mediation. As a last resource, I filed a complaint for fraud with the post office. By then, I was pretty fed up. I had given him a last warning, which he ignored. So I decided to leave a negative, describing the fraud investigation. I did all I could to prevent it, however.

The investigation took 4 months. He eventually refunded my payment, but I learned that if he had refused to, it was a civil matter. There would be nothing the Post Office could do for me beyond that point. I paid with a money order, and I decided it was to be the last one. From there on, I pay with credit cards. The company does the investigation and the refund is issued promptly.

I had some sellers who sent me awful looking pins! Stained, irregular and so forth. I was pretty much able to get a refund from most of them. The most recent problem was a duffus that shipped a pin in a regular envelope with no padding. The back arrived destroyed! I did not leave feedback, but e-mailed him regarding how I felt. He never replied. The front of the pin was fine, it was a rack, I paid less than $6 anyway, so I figured it was not worth raising a stink about it.

And the latest one is an auction I won and the seller only accepts money orders. I shared my experience with R@#$%! with her, and asked that she accepted a credit card issued check instead because the amount was over $100. She refused and ignore my subsequent e-mails, so I think that will lead into contacting ebay about a seller who refused to sell the item...

::SIGH::

So, if my experience is negative, I'll probably just not leave a feedback at all.


Wanda

 

[MeanLaureen]

I'm going to jump in here right now and remind everyone this conversation must remain civil and cannot include any personal attacks on anyone, eBay sellers included.

Let's keep this one friendly and informative.. not a outlet to attack anyone, okay?

Thanks for your cooperation!

 

[megashark]

I guess once you have a transaction, the system allows you to leave whatever feedback you like. But if someone bids on an auction and refuses to comply with the terms of the auction, gving the seller a negative for not bowing to their request is a little unfair.

But who expects fair?

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Nobody was attacking anyone, Lauren. We're merely sharing annon experiences and insights.

Wanda

 

[MeanLaureen]

Wanda.. you probably misread what I meant.. I was only reminding people of our rules against personal attacks just in case the conversation got heated. We all know how subjects like this can get. I was not implying that there had already been something said that constituted an attack. Sorry if you misunderstood