There needs to be a policy change on feedback!

[stevekchurchill]

This feedback system needs a revisal. There is no way that a buyer should be able to leave negative feedback without first being forced by eBay to contact tyne seller! If there is no communication for the seller within a reasonable amount of time (4 days) then the buyer can leave negative feedback. We deserve a chance to resolve the issues before feedback is left and it is in the best interest of eBay to do so as they make their money off the sellers and demand we provide the best customer service! How can I if the buyer won't communicate!!! 

Change this and regulate that communication and resolution be the process not just negative feedback with no communication! 

Steve 

[rose-dee]

This is a really good idea in principle, but I'm not sure how it would work in practise. 

I suppose there could be a pop-up that appeared as soon as a buyer hit the "negative FB" choice, or better still, a link to open a message screen directly to the buyer.  Of course, that would mean eBay would probably have to completely re-programme its site.

The trouble I can see is that some buyers don't leave FB (negative or positive) until late in the process, so allowing the seller a few days to respond could be an issue.  What if that conflicted with the timeframe given to buyers to make a legitimate claim? 

Judging by policy changes over the last year or so, EBay seems to have been moving away from encouraging direct buyer-to-seller communication, and more toward a system of automated intervention on behalf of the parties, where eBay (or Paypal) is the referee.  They got everybody used to the idea, through a claims system, and now "Managed Returns" and "Money Back Guarantee" are more recent examples. 

The sort of change to the FB system that you suggest would be a complete reversal of eBay's stance.  I doubt we're ever going to see it, but that doesn't mean I don't wish it could be done.  Still, I'd wager that the whole FB system is about to be tossed out and replaced with something completely different, and hopefully not worse -- just wait for it in the Spring Seller Update.