EBAY - feedback questions

[Marie17]

We buy a variety of things using Ebay and have never had any problems before except for something pretty recently.

We purchased an item for a new collection we are starting and received the wrong item. It was something we really weren't interested in since we were bidding on a completely different item. The seller sent us the wrong item and after we wrote them they acknowledged that the wrong item was shipped. We had already paid for this item. We wrote and asked when/or if they would receive another of the item we were originally interested in. Yes, they would get another and he would email us when he did. Okay - fine all around. We asked if he would complimentary ship the correct item to us as long as we paid the price the other item was sold for. Fine all around again.

Granted we paid for two of the items from the auctions - one was right, one was incorrect but we had already paid for it and decided to keep it.

Finally, we get the notification that the original item we were interested in has come in but he changes his mind and now will be happy to ship it to us as long as we also pay the additional shipping charges. Email back to ask him to clarify that he is now happy to make right the wrong item being shipped to us by charging us the additional shipping fee. Yes. Seller won't budge - states he is a power seller and says that his offer is no longer valid.

It's only been about 30 days since the auction, so we decide to leave negative feedback with the following reasons

#1 item shipped to us was wrong
#2 went back on offer to comp shipping on the correct item when it came in.
#3 we paid for all items and even offered to pay for the additional item (the correct item) once it came in without additional shipping as noted by the buyer but has since went back on their word.

As the buyer - we pay almost immediately - usually within 1 hour of an auction ending. He then left feedback in the negative for us - stating to beware of this ebayer. He obviously waits for feedback to come in from his buyers so that he can leave "equal" feedback.

I was under the impression that a seller could only leave feedback in the negative if a person did not pay - NOT - if the buyer leaves feedback negatively.

This was the first and only person that has ever done this.

So my question is....how does a buyer protect themselves from a seller if a seller doesn't live up to their end. Should a buyer never leave feedback for a seller until a seller leaves theirs first? Shouldn't a seller have to prove something "negative" besides being a little upset that they went back on their word and a buyer left negative feedback?

I am so confused at all this.

 

[cvrap]

Wow, I was just fixing to make a post about generally the same thing. "A bad seller". My problem is I paid for an item won on 2/9/07 through paypal. It still shows the payment unclaimed. (Also, I notice now she's not a registered user of paypal, if that matters). She's emailed me saying that she shipped item on the 14th, but it still has not arrived. What should I do? I'd like to get the item, but I do want to post negative if she doesn't follow through. But, of course, I don't want negative on me. I've saved all of my contacts through ebay. She's also very slow getting back with me. Thanks for any input.

 

[delmar411]

FB is optional. The seller can leave you any type of FB they want. Your protection is filing through Paypal to get your money back from the wrong item. The seller has several choices then:
make it right
give a refund
or paypal can have you ship the item to them and they will issue a refund(the seller does not get their item back then)

the only time a person is blocked from leaving FB is when they have a non-paying bidder strike against themon the item. Then the seller can neg them and they cannot leave FB at all.

HTH!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

nope, ebay does very little to protect Buyers or Sellers from unfair feedback.

 

[cvrap]

That stinks!! How long is an item available to place feedback? Is it 30 or 60 days or something like that? I've noticed that my seller did this one other time and it was an auction that went for .99. I don't think she got what she probably wanted on my auction, so I suspect she's trying to do the same to me.

 

[Marie17]

nope, ebay does very little to protect Buyers or Sellers from unfair feedback.

Wow - a little screwy in my eyes. I think certain criteria should be met - sort of like a checklist.

Buyer - Did the seller pay on time? Did the seller ask a zillion questions? Did the seller bug you about negotiations after the fact? Things like this.'

Seller - Was the item shipped? Was it shipped in a reasonable time frame? Did you get the item as listed? Did you receive the correct item as it was described? Did the seller actually use a confirmation service if you as the buyer paid for?

We did leave a "reply" to his feedback stating that we paid quickly (within the hour of the auction closing) and that we only received negative feedback because he wanted feedback retaliation.

Does it really matter to sellers a buyers feedback? All our others are positive and every comment ever left (we only buy) was that we pay immediately and easy to deal with.

Should a buyer leave any feedback before a seller does? We don't play games like that and once we receive an item always leave feedback for the seller. NEVER had we ever left another negative feedback.

I guess we shouldn't have left anything since he did state that he doesn't leave feedback until feedback is received. We won't be buying from that buyer again - which will be bad for us because we purchase a product that doesn't have a big seller list. We usually see the same names for it but we will just go to the others because their shipping was sort of high

 

[HelenePA]

I went through something like this.. i bid on a diamond ring (first ebay mistake!) They shipped the wrong one... of course... I shipped it back, they claim they never got it... of course... so I was out the ring and the money... I had proof of shipping but they said that didn't matter to them. they get got their ring back... I wanted to leave neg feed back SOOOO bad but i look at his feedback history and it was FILLED with negs against the people who also gave him his few neg feedbacks... I dont think its fair... we as buyers do EXACTLY what is stated most of the time... pay on time ect ect ect... yet we get feedback for THEIR poor service! how is that fair? I think sellers should be required to leave feedback FIRST! This way they can't retalliate! I bet it would be SOOOOOOOOO easy to put that in place... yet here we are as buyers not really being able to say what the sellers service is REALLY like because we know they can turn around and leave neg for us!!!!!!!!!

 

[missj1975]

I wouldn't stress too much over it. Yes, it sucks getting negative feedback when it is undeserved but as long as your positive outweighs your negative, then I think most seller's/buyers don't care. I have over 1,000 postive feedback and two negative. Those two were undeserved in my opinion but at least ebay gives me the option to leave a comment about why the negative feedback is unfair.

I sell more then I buy. And I never look at my buyer's feedback unless they are slow in paying. I know some seller's won't sell to people with zero feedback but I figure everyone has to start out at zero sometime.

 

[missj1975]

I went through something like this.. i bid on a diamond ring (first ebay mistake!) They shipped the wrong one... of course... I shipped it back, they claim they never got it... of course... so I was out the ring and the money... I had proof of shipping but they said that didn't matter to them. they get got their ring back... I wanted to leave neg feed back SOOOO bad but i look at his feedback history and it was FILLED with negs against the people who also gave him his few neg feedbacks... I dont think its fair... we as buyers do EXACTLY what is stated most of the time... pay on time ect ect ect... yet we get feedback for THEIR poor service! how is that fair? I think sellers should be required to leave feedback FIRST! This way they can't retalliate! I bet it would be SOOOOOOOOO easy to put that in place... yet here we are as buyers not really being able to say what the sellers service is REALLY like because we know they can turn around and leave neg for us!!!!!!!!!

I understand what you are saying. As a seller, I leave feedback as soon as I ship the item. I have never had a problem with a buyer not receiving an item (knock on wood). I guess I will worry about that if/when it ever happens but I have sold over 1,000 items without a problem.

 

[Marie17]

Thanks for all the input.

I went back to read some of the negative feedbacks that were on the account. It seems that other negatives were sort of for the same thing - 2 wrong item shipped (blamed it on the buyer not reading the description). Well, we know what animal we were buying and read the wording. You just can't make the animal he sent us into the one we really wanted. And when I looked up the negative feedbacks - that seems to be the only time he replies to feedback for a buyer. Leave him negative - you get negative. Leave him positive - you get nothing noted in your feedback. We had bought from him once before and left positive and didn't get anything in response for it.

 

[Marie17]

I understand what you are saying. As a seller, I leave feedback as soon as I ship the item. I have never had a problem with a buyer not receiving an item (knock on wood). I guess I will worry about that if/when it ever happens but I have sold over 1,000 items without a problem.

You sound like the people we usually deal with.

 

[angwill]

I had a similar situation happen and left neutral for the seller since the item was not as described and basically was a scam. I tried communicating to him before leaving the feedback but he was a jerk about it all. I had perfect feedback till he left me negative because of my leaving him neutral that only stated the truth. He was very angry about the situation and wrote me more than one nasty email. I didn't like having the negative but I didn't sweat it either. I felt it was more important that others not get scamed the same way I did. Ebay and Paypal did nothing except offer to get my money back which was under $10 so it wasn't worth the headache to me. Only one person commented on my negative feedback and that was a small seller that I bought from telling me she felt I did the right thing. She looked up what I wrote for his auction and saw that I put a reply against his negative for me stating that he gave me negative in retaliation for my neutral. I also stated that I paid the same day and was a great buyer. The things I learned about ebay (these are my opinions) that day are: One, I will never buy from anyone who states they will leave feedback after I leave mine even if it is a great deal and I really want the item (to me that is a scam waiting to happen). Second, you can not believe all feedback ratings and must read between the lines if possible and read all negatives against the seller and what they wrote in response (I didn't or would have known better). Third, I would do it again if I got scammed but put negative not neutral and not worry about a possible negative again since it is more important to me that others be warned than what my rating is.

Hoping you will feel less alone after reading this.

Ang

 

[Toby'sFriend]

It is totally screwy but just look at how many auctions are ending EVERY MINUTE on EBAY. They just don't have the resources to police this issue. They'd probably have to triple their fees to hire enough people to do it.

Hey, i got one the other day. It was a positive but it said:

"Item was fine but arrived with no greeting card or personal touch in the packaging."




I think of them as the 'EBAY Freaks'

 

[Marie17]

Hey, i got one the other day. It was a positive but it said:

"Item was fine but arrived with no greeting card or personal touch in the packaging."




I think of them as the 'EBAY Freaks'

That is so cool. Who would have thunk that! I do admit it is nice to get a "greeting card" with your package but something I would NEVER expect. We've never gotten one to date - usually it is just a shipping form with a little "thanks" on it from the seller.

As for the feedback - I do think it is very easy to "police" this. I think a simple form which wouldn't allow you to just retaliate if you like be in place. Like I said before:

For sellers:
Did buyer pay on time?
Did buyer revoke their bid?
Did buyer ask a zillion questions?
Did buyer change terms after the fact and try to get something else?

For buyers:
Did seller send the item after payment was received in the manner specified and on time?
Did seller charge for something that was not utilized? i.e. delivery confirmation over-charges (seen that happen)
Did seller accurately describe the item?
Did seller ship the correct item?
Was the item shipped appropriately? Fragile items ect.

Simple - then and only then would the feedback be generated. If a negative is left - these simple questions would show up with their answers and then a buyer and/or seller would be able to explain why.

Or - I guess simplier would be - negative feedback left for buyer only because negative feedback was left for the seller.

I just think as a buyer we have a simplier obligation to meet - PAY FOR YOUR AUCTION that you win quickly and get in touch with the seller to give your information immediately. Ask a question to verify if the description doesn't address an issue but other than that - just bid to win or what you want to pay.

 

[DMRick]

or paypal can have you ship the item to them and they will issue a refund(the seller does not get their item back then)

the only time a person is blocked from leaving FB is when they have a non-paying bidder strike against themon the item. Then the seller can neg them and they cannot leave FB at all.

Paypal doesn't have you ship the item to them, but back to the seller (when it's not as described). They do give you back your money, but not the shipping costs you incurred sending it back.

I'm not sure I understand the second thing you said. A person isn't blocked from leaving feedback, just because a npb is filed..only if it's their third one and they are suspended.

 

[delmar411]

Paypal doesn't have you ship the item to them, but back to the seller (when it's not as described). They do give you back your money, but not the shipping costs you incurred sending it back.

I'm not sure I understand the second thing you said. A person isn't blocked from leaving feedback, just because a npb is filed..only if it's their third one and they are suspended.

actually yes you do ship back to paypal in many instances. And yes if they are given a NPB strike they cannot leave you FB. Ebay put that in as the single protection against unwarrented FB from buyers who do not follow through.


http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/losing-feedback-privileges.html