Disputing Negative feedback

[fundy_picker]

I just got a  negative feedback which I thought was unwarranted, so I decided to use the new feature to dispute it...my complaint and Ebay's reply is below...it was almost a week ago...does anyone know how long Ebay  takes to decide and if I will receive a copy of the decision. 

Here is comment to Ebay..

Comments: This buyer left neutral feedback because they claimed the actual lot did not look as good as the pictures...The item was a mixed lot of jewelry and no individual pieces were represented in the photos. The claim is to general and to vague. Also no communication was attempted by the ebayer to allow me to rectify the problem before leaving feedback. This is a very new ebayer where as I have almost 1000 feedback...perhaps this person is not aware that I offered a full refund...Anyhow please rectify this for me if possible...  tdmuddler

[tobyshitzu]

yes there is a slight delay in the dsrs being reflected after the fb is left.  But the low dsr count doesnt reflect ones for transactions in the current month until the 20th when it changes from showing to the end of the last month to the end of the current month

Granted, dead simple to run a few reports and knows exactly what "anonymous ratings" everyone left, which almost everyone must know by now

[tobyshitzu]

"good feedback and poor DSR's which I believe is also cause for dispute!!"

Its not, they can leave positive, a glowingly positive comment and all 1s, with not a thing you can do about it unless it meets the few reasons for removal.

[fundy_picker]

I woke up in the middle of the night with the realization that the reason The REPORT BUYER link was on the feedback page was because of the percentage of negative feedback they have left  over all was to high...THe average neg or neutral would not be grounds for dispute but if you are dealing with a newbie who has not left much feedback or if you were dealing with someone who leaves more than the average the the new link will show up with the feedback left....

[prairietrains]

Feed back is a joke, Yes eBay does remove negative and neutral. It has nothing to do with the reasons it is given for, but how big a seller you are and how it might effect eBay's profits. It does not matter how crocked or dishonest you are as long as they make money. Sellers should have to give feedback as soon as a buyer makes payment. A buyer should not receive negative just because they where brave enough to complain. Most sellers will cuss you out and tell you they will have you band from eBay and give you negative feed back if you dare complain. I just leave positive and a description of the problem, and one star when deserved. When I get stung I do not contact the seller but leave appropriate feed back, and add them to the do not deal with list. I WILL NOT contact a seller after being taken because I am tired of being called names and threatened. All sellers that have to make a refund should get an automatic negative feed back, these are the people I do not want to deal with. If this happened feed back would actually be of use. Sellers have the chance to make it right BEFORE they list an auction. When I see in an auction the phrase call before leaving negative feed back I immediately delete it. because it tells me they've had a lot of problems.

[rose-dee]

I woke up in the middle of the night with the realization that the reason The REPORT BUYER link was on the feedback page was because of the percentage of negative feedback they have left  over all was to high...THe average neg or neutral would not be grounds for dispute but if you are dealing with a newbie who has not left much feedback or if you were dealing with someone who leaves more than the average the the new link will show up with the feedback left....

tdmuddler - the "Report Buyer" option is shown on all my transactions on the "Sold" screen, and many of these are seasoned buyers.  I don't think it's particularly intended for "newbies".  "Report a Buyer" is meant for reporting buyers who contravene eBay policy, as mentioned by another poster above (things like feedback extortion, a history of repeatedly leaving negative FB, etc.).  There are very few infractions that apply, and leaving unfair neutral FB is not one of them.  You will probably just get a pleasant but unhelpful reply from eBay.

However, neutral FB can be removed by the buyer if he/she agrees.  I've done it successfully -  the link to make the request to the buyer is on the FB page.  I'd give it a try.  Most buyers have no idea how critical their off-the-cuff FB can be to a seller and how hard good sellers work to keep their reputations on top -- buyers often simply use FB as a forum for griping about generalities.

Be professional, sympathetic and non-argumentative.  Explain how important your reputation as a seller is to you and that you would like to make things right -- perhaps a refund?? How expensive an item was it?  How important are your FB & DSRs to you?  Personally, if the item cost is under $20, I'd tell the buyer I'd refund her money and let her keep the purchase once she revised the FB. For me, it isn't worth losing my TSR.  Of course, you can only afford to do this once in a while, but such buyers are relatively rare anyway.

I doubt eBay will do anything in this situation, so your best bet is to try to work it out with your buyer, otherwise there's not much you can do. Have you got your "blocking" preferences set to block buyers with less than 5 FB points, repeated Unpaid Item Cases, etc.?  This helps to weed out the more troublesome buyers from the start. 

Incidentally, you may have been thinking of the new policy  -- effective February -- that before opening a Buyer Protection Case, buyers will be required to contact the seller first.  This is different from a buyer leaving neutral or negative FB. 

Best of luck with this!

[fundy_picker]

 A few things You should realize...

1. Sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers...

2. Ebay makes more money in fees by not removing bad feedback ie... the lower the rating the higher the fees

3.You have a feature called the Item Not as Described that will get you a refund almost 100% of the time.... as a buyer to not utilize it when you have the misfortune of dealing with a bad seller is in a word DUMB!!!

4. If you are called names and threatened you can have that seller removed so fast they won't know what hit em...

If you bought something at a brick and mortar store and it wasn't what you expected...would you not get a refund or an exchange if it was available... regardless of who was in error..Why should Ebay be any different...

[fundy_picker]

Hi my last post was to Prairietrains Comment

 Rose-Dee you are probably right but on on my feedback page the only Report Buyer Link is beside the Neutral...the rest are positive and there is no link

[Anonymous]

BEWEARE for all sellers who tend to give feedback to their buyers right after they made the payment, you CANNOT report your buyers to eBay as this feature disappeared right after you post feedback to your buyers.

So think about it and don't post feedback to your buyers right away after they made the payments to you.  And then should any problems arise, you cannot report your buyers to eBay because that feature disappeared right after you post feedback.

You as sellers will need that feature to remain intact should any problems arise when they claimed not received items, threaten you for refunds, etc.  I always think posting feedback to my buyer right after they made the payment is way too early as each transaction is not complete until they received and are happy with them.  I always post feedback after they informed me that they received them or leave me a positive feedback.  It is to protect myself and now that new feature, we need to protect ourselves now so we can report them should any problems arise.

It is true because it happened to me and now I am unable to report my buyer to eBay because that feature disappeared.  It happened only once and never again, believe me.  Unfortunately eBay didin't tell us that, I had to find out in a hard way when I need to report that buyer only to found out that this new feature has disappeared!

[pjcdn2005]

BEWEARE for all sellers who tend to give feedback to their buyers right after they made the payment, you CANNOT report your buyers to eBay as this feature disappeared right after you post feedback to your buyers.

The link may disappear after feedback is given but there is a "report a buyer" link in the resolution center.

[pjcdn2005]

Most sellers will cuss you out and tell you they will have you band from eBay and give you negative feed back if you dare complain. I just leave positive and a description of the problem, and one star when deserved. When I get stung I do not contact the seller but leave appropriate feed back, and add them to the do not deal with list. I WILL NOT contact a seller after being taken because I am tired of being called names and threatened. All sellers that have to make a refund should get an automatic negative feed back, these are the people I do not want to deal with. If this happened feed back would actually be of use. Sellers have the chance to make it right BEFORE they list an auction.

As already mentioned, buyers can not receive negative feedback. It has been that way for a few years.

I disagree that "most" sellers will cuss you out when you contact them and calmly explain what the problem is. As far as sellers having the chance to make it right before they list....yes they do but and some sellers do send out items that they shouldn't have sent. But there are also sellers who make an honest mistake and would be happy to be contacted so that they could make things right.

[pjcdn2005]

Well shoot..I meant to edit..not post..

That last paragraph should say

As far as sellers having the chance to make it right before they list...some sellers do send out items that they shouldn't have sent. But there are also sellers who make an honest mistake and would be happy to be contacted so that they could make things right.

[fundy_picker]

You are probably right ...Ebay won't do a thing about it...I am going to change my settings to prevent newbies...etc from doing this sort of thing again...as to giving a refund to preserve my feedback....NEVER....They could have got one... but to offer it now is like saying I agree with their assessment and I don't. I don't care if the lot cost 1 dollar I would not refund solely to preserve feedback and be subject to buyer blackmail in the future lol.

[old.crows.nest]

BEWEARE for all sellers who tend to give feedback to their buyers right after they made the payment, you CANNOT report your buyers to eBay as this feature disappeared right after you post feedback to your buyers.

The link may disappear after feedback is given but there is a "report a buyer" link in the resolution center.

And on your own Feedback Page.

[pierrelebel]

"One other thing...the buyer had a feedback score of ONE maybe that is a red flag.."

The buyer is relatively new to eBay and one more reason for that may be that you, the seller, did not leave positive feedback when the buyer paid for his purchase.

There is nothing to gain by a seller for NOT immediately posting positive feedback for the buyer upon receipt of payment.  It has little importance, it costs the seller absolutely nothing except a few seconds and makes many buyers feel good!  Nothing to lose!

Also, if you take a look, you will notice that buyer has left positive feedback for his other sellers except for you.

He may have been wrong to leave a neutral but that was the way he felt about the transaction.  Maybe if he had received a positive feedback from you he may have considered contacting you instead of leaving feedback.

We will never know.

In any case, eBay seldom gets involved in removing feedback unless its rules and policies have been violated.  I do not see it in this case.  eBay does not arbitrate those "he said she said" types of problems.

Let it be and move on.  There is nothing to gain by obsessing about it.  It happens.

Good Luck.

[fundy_picker]

Pierrelebel...This whole thread changed its topic from what I originally posted...thanks for pulling it back into context...However I am not obsessing, I asked a question is all..and the rest is just general conversation..Maybe if I had made this particular buyer "Feel Good" by leaving  feedback earlier as you suggest it could have all been avoided...WE will never know!!!:)