Is it normal for a seller to request a statement of not leaving neutral or negative feedback before issuing a refund? Is this legal?

[attakmax]

Item was received damaged and not as described. Seller said it was not damaged when shipped. Shipping box had no damage and item was well wrapped and protected! Item had to be damaged before shipment. I I kept it and repaired it as I was waiting two weeks for it to arrive and needed it asap! Would only issue a $30.00 refund which did not even cover the shipping! I went ahead and left negative feedback to protect other buyers from this scam artist!

[oskye · Accepted solution]

No - this would be considered Feedback Extortion and is against eBay policy.

"Examples of Feedback extortion

A seller refuses to ship the item or refund the buyer unless the buyer leaves good Feedback or detailed seller ratings (DSRs)."

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html

[femmefan1946]

BTW, by repairing the damaged item, instead of returning it with Confirmation of Delivery, you shot yourself in the foot.

Paypal will only refund if the item is returned in the original condition. Refunds have been refused because a buyer returned second hand  garments after washing them.

Your refund now depends entirely on the goodwill of the seller.

And frankly, no matter what you do, I doubt you will get any money back.

[attakmax]

FYI this was already discussed and they were going to issue a partial refund of 30%. Then this buyer emails me and says that they will issue the partial refund if I send them a statement saying that I will not leave neutral or negative feedback. This is extortion in it's truest form. I then leave negative feedback to protect other buyers from this scam artist ( calpartsconnection BTW ). I open a case with EBay to try and get my partial refund and he says just send the part back for a full refund. He knows that I can't do that so the negative feedback gets wiped out because EBay considers it resolved. The issue wasn't a full refund, it was the fact that he was trying to extort positive feedback for a refund. This is crazy! Beware of this seller!