Feedback Appeal Denied.

[007steveb16]

I'm absolutely floored and astounded by my latest situation with negative feedback left for me. I want others to know of this blatant ability of a buyer to abuse the feedback system.

-Buyer sends message claiming item is not as described with very specific detail complaint.

-I answer the claim with a very calm and factual answer that the detail is actually listed twice in the ad. Nothing remotely personal is said.

-Buyer responds with accusation that they don't appreciate my "aggressive" response. Huh??????

-I respond that nothing was meant to be aggressive but only a factual reply to his original message that a detail was missing. Offer apology.

-Buyer then writes back stating in more or less terms, "what are you going to do for me?"

-I state for him to return the item for a full refund as well as his return shipping costs.

Today I wake up to my latest negative feedback left by this buyer. A call to eBay for a feedback appeal is made and am told there is no cause to remove the feedback because it's, "based on the buyers experience" and to not worry as this won't effect me as I'm obviously a reputable seller. I tell her the defect DOES matter in regards to my power seller status etc... To which she responds with, "right". She suggests I "communicate" with the buyer and ask for a feedback revision. Because communications have already gone so well...

This buyer has a fairly consistent history of leaving negative feedback, whether valid or not. Instead of accepting the fact they made the mistake they obviously made up their mind and decided to turn it on me and showed their true colors with the "what are you going to do for me" related statement.

I remained calm, never made things personal, I was responsive and I offered a full refund...everything eBay suggests I do.

Am feeling extremely betrayed by the system right now.

[momcqueen]

It is very interesting that the seller in question was so quickly able to have that feedback removed when every other seller that I am aware who's ever tried to have feedback altered has had to beg, argue, cajole, bribe, plead and threaten self-harm repeatedly only to still be told to take a long hike from a short cliff by the Feedback Specialists. Something doesn't quite make sense with this. Is it possible that you may have inadvertently crossed one of the fine lines that is inarguable? Although, I don't even know what those might be anymore. 

If you decide to call eBay Customer Service and ask them what the issue was, can you let us know what they tell you? 

For the record, when as a seller I have been asked to issue a quick refund before the order was shipped, I just do it. Better to make an unhappy buyer a little happier by giving them a refund at their request because they found a better price than go to the trouble of packing that order, printing the label, shipping it, having it returned, getting negative feedback etc. That is a major time waster in comparison to the ten minutes it takes to reply to that message, issue a refined and submit a Cancel Order request.

It's not like 'Sorry but I found a better price' is some kind of insult to the seller. 

And as careful as I am as a seller, I have been guilty as a buyer of bidding on something before reading the whole listing. (Gasp, yes.) I look at the pics, the title, the item specifics. Then, go back later to review the Item Description only to see New meant to that particular seller that parts of it were still new but most of it was, in fact, used and totally wrecked and/or completely missing. Or, the seller shows 62 items splashed across the kitchen floor in the single photo but mentions in the last line of the description that the auction is for the first three on the top left only.

So..... it happens. 

[tobyshitzu]

The feedback removal policy is ,feedback that refers to the "structured details" is removable.   That includes the return policy in the field for it.  I think I see the listing, which had "14 days money back, you pay return shipping, 20% restocking fee may apply".  So if the seller followed that policy, and the feedback referenced it, its removable by ebay.  Also removable if "A buyer requested the cancellation of the sale due to no fault of the seller, and the seller cooperated with the buyer's request."

[momcqueen]

So to be sure I understand what you are saying: if the feedback is neutral or negative and the text of it implies the buyer is complaining about some manner of the item or listing which has been outlined by the seller clearly and to which has been adhered to by the seller, ebay will remove it? 

If it's that clear, and cut and dry, then my 'feedback problem' buyer from weeks back who complained about receiving exactly what he or she bought as described in the listing's Item Description should also have been removed without question? It was not. My Feedback Specialists would not even take the time to read the Item Description. I had to read it to them. They wanted nothing to do worth what I was asking. 

I'm not trying to argue or be difficult. I'm just trying to understand. Or do Item Descriptions not count as a 'structured detail'? 

[tobyshitzu]

Ddint say anything about the description,  the policy is the "structured details", the specific fields ebay has added in recent years for condition, returns, etc. above the description  eg If you say its used in the condition field, and the buyer complains it isnt new in feedback it can be removed.  if you set it to no returns, and the buyer leaves a neg saying you won't take a return it can be removed.  

[momcqueen]

I see. Interesting. 

[rose-dee]

Yes, 'toby' is right.  A (relatively recent) change to FB removal is that structured details will be compared against FB and if the FB is contradictory, it will be removed.  

I assume this is because eBay has a way of easily comparing their "text box" details to the text of FB, whereas reading a description could involve interpretation (perish the thought!)

[tobyshitzu]

That, and sellers cant bury anything there like they could in a wall of text in the description 

[pjcdn2005]

Is that part about the structured details still valid and is it written somewhere on .com? I say .com because there are often pages updated there that aren't updated on this site.

I believe it does say in the cancellation information that a seller is not obligated to accept a cancellation even if it is within the first hour after a purchase. Personally, I think that it is silly not to cancel when requested to but because it isn't required, ebay could have been willing to remove negative feedback regarding that.

[zee-chan]

On the canceled purchase note, what annoys me is that eBay is still bugging me to leave feedback for a buyer who asked me to cancel a purchase that he found cheaper elsewhere......