Customer abuses eBay rating system

[gltranquilla]

Buyer gave me negative rating then admitted after my followup that he broke the item on his 6th use!

Yet he still blames me, the seller. No warranty was offered as the manufacturer offers a transferable 100% satisfaction guarantee for normal product use. 

Regardless of my attempts to work out a solution or agreement with buyer to return the item for a full refund etc. 

he decided to simply leave me stranded with a negative reputation which is damaging my ability to sell effectively on eBay.

I have contacted eBAY multiple times on this issue but no response.

How is it possible for eBAY to continue to operate a successful business concept if they allow abusive customers to lie, cheat and steal from sellers who work hard to maintain a 100% positive selling reputation as was mine until this incident occurred.

As I have only sold 6 items to date, the negative feedback from one individual has driven my feedback rating down to 86%....

[silverpinups]

I would call eBay Customer Service and ask for CS Rep that specializes in Feedback Removal.

Let them know that you have messages that the buyer admitted to breaking the item and the Negative Feedback is unwarranted . 

With that said, responding to feedback with a bribe isn't going to help your situation....

You would have been better off responding, "Item as Described, the Buyer admitted to breaking the item." "Offered Full Refund!"  

[maggiebvintage2010]

I agree with "silverpinups" - the comment you left in response to the negative feedback is more damaging than the feedback.  I don't know if there is a way to remove feedback comments, but it would be worthwhile to try, or at least try to add a more reasoned comment  such as the suggestion already given.

[femmefan1946]

Feedback is not counted toward your seller metric.

It is from eBay's point of view irrelevant.

With less than 40% of transactions having any feedback, this is sensible.

But your future buyers will see and read your feedback.

And I agree that having offered so publicly to bribe the buyer for removal....

Your best bet, if a FB Specialist will not remove it is to abandon this poisoned account for selling and start a new one.

Sellers don't much care what FB is like if we get paid promptly, so you can continue to use it for buying.

You can have several accounts. And they can all use the same PP account.

[mapleleaf-collectibles]

Take a year off, and when you come back the negative will be gone and you will have 100% Positive again. It disappears after 12 months.

In the mean time, buy a bunch of really cheap junk and the negative feedback you received will be buried in all the postive feedback you get for buying. Once it gets onto the second page of your feedback profile, no one will ever see it.

When I received my first negative after over 1000 sales, I really stressed about it, but in the end it was no big deal and I got all worked up for nothing. It went away after a year. Ebay will not help you at all when it comes to removing a negative feedback, so save your time and energy and don't even bother trying to get them to help.

Sometimes buyers use the feedback system to take you hostage,  so don't even bother refunding the payment or trying to get it changed to a neutral, in a year it will be gone. Its not your fault, it is Ebay's fault for having a system designed to let buyers take advantage off sellers with the archaic and one sided feedback system.

Block the buyer who gave you the negative and move on, and don't let it bother you.

Getting stressed about selling on Ebay is not worth it, there are plenty of 100% Free places you can sell other than Ebay, just look around some of your local area buy and sell sites, the bigger social media sites, and you can find places to sell with more than a billion users where you can set all your own rules, sell in auction or buy it now, sell completely for free, and just pay the paypal fee's when you get your money. It is the new direction selling online is going to, and Ebay is getting left behind.

[dianequeenofstuff]

You do have the option to, "reply to feedback received."  Let your other customers know what the problem was.

Say, "Offered full refund, buyer did not respond" would be my take on it.

The buyer is always right with eBay. 

I knew that the customer I was working a combined shipping sale with was going to lie.

Not just instinct but she questioned my honesty telling me she was not an honest type and though I know she most likely received her purchase that she was going to pull a fast one on me. Even mentioned it at the post office when I shipped it.

Rather than risk another year of a negative feedback I gave her a full refund placing it under the category of,

"the cost of doing business."

You should make them go through the complaint system to insure you are refunded your FVF.

I recommend using that as your go to when ever a customer starts to complain.

Put the loss in your expense column and them on your block buyer list.