Feedback after transaction has been cancelled.

[73rhc]

I have two items that I cancelled. One was that the buyer was able to bid and was from a country on my excluded country list. And the other didn't want to pay the advertised shipping cost (tracking to UK). These two transactions were cancelled without any dispute. I'm curious to know why these two items still appear on my "leave feedback" page. And are they still on the bidders "leave feedback" page?

Shouldn't they disappear once the transactions are cancelled?

[rose-dee]

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@73rhc wrote:

Shouldn't they disappear once the transactions are cancelled?

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Nope.   This is one area that I personally have a bone to pick with eBay, but they've never changed it. Feedback remains open until the usual window closes (is it still 45 days, I'm not sure?), even after a cancellation. 

This is one reason for sellers to keep communications around a cancellation courteous, cheerful and professional. I find most buyers for whom I've cancelled a transaction are so pleased to be let off the hook that they never bother to leave FB, but the opportunity is there.   

Some people claim that knowing buyers have the ability to leave FB after a cancellation keeps sellers honest and friendly during the process, and I suppose there's an argument to be made in that respect.  Still, my feeling is that a cancelled transaction should be retired immediately, as usually both parties are happy to just move on.  

[73rhc]

"Some people claim that knowing buyers have the ability to leave FB after a cancellation keeps sellers honest and friendly during the process, and I suppose there's an argument to be made in that respect"

During the process is fine. But once the process is over with. I don't see the point.

In one of my cases. The buyer didn't want to pay the advertised shipping cost. He wanted out and I obliged. But, he can now leave negative feedback about he cost of shipping...

[pjcdn2005]

It may not be true in in your case but I believe that there are times when a buyer should have the option of leaving feedback for a cancelled transaction For example, a buyer purchases and pays for an item...5 days later the seller refunds the buyer telling them they they are out of stock. I think that results in a bad transaction for the buyer and they should be able to comment on it.

[73rhc]

If the sellers refunds, that's one thing. But a cancellation has to be mutual for the sellers to get his/her FVFs. So if the buyer doesn't agree to the cancelation, then I agree. But when both parties agree, the feedback option should be voided.

[rose-dee]

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@73rhc wrote:
If the sellers refunds, that's one thing. But a cancellation has to be mutual for the sellers to get his/her FVFs. So if the buyer doesn't agree to the cancelation, then I agree. But when both parties agree, the feedback option should be voided.

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As 'pj' mentioned, there may be times when a buyer feels there's no choice but to accept a cancellation (where a seller has made an error, out of stock, etc. and has to cancel), even if the buyer could refuse the cancellation.  Yet in those circumstances the buyer may go away rather unhappy, and eBay feels he/she has a good reason to leave poor FB/DSRs. 

However, my own point against eBay is that cancellations which are requested by a buyer should not leave FB/DSRs open.  In those cases the cancellation is almost always a result of buyer error of some kind, and I feel very strongly that a seller who goes ahead and initiates the cancellation process -- as a courtesy to the buyer -- should not then be left open to FB/DSRs from the buyer.  

In these cases, the seller would generally otherwise have the option of opening a UID against the buyer, but doesn't, to accommodate the buyer.  It doesn't seem fair to permit the buyer to then give any opinion they wish about the transaction.  At the very least, my belief is that eBay should only allow positive FB and 5-star DSRs in such a situation.  But really, I think it would just be better and simpler to close off the transaction completely! 

I suspect the problem is that in order to do what I've suggested, eBay would have to have a way of monitoring and judging communications between buyers and sellers.  One of the eBay.ca staffers did mention a while ago that they plan to "work on" closing off transactions where buyers request a cancellation, so perhaps we can look forward to that in the New Year.  

In the meantime, the key thing is to deal with buyers requesting cancellations as if they were buyers paying in full -- grit your teeth and offer friendly, courteous, professional service, then move on to the next (paying!) customer.  

[73rhc]

I'll conceid the point. But I can't imagine a situation where the buyer would feel obligated to accept a cancellation. As a buyer myself, I would want expect a refund and see no advantage to accept such a request. But there are possibly obscure and extremely rare situations where this might apply.

But in both of my transactions, the bidder should have no access to feedback. One bidder had a loophole to bid. And one refused to pay for the advertised shipping. He even ask if I could send it the cheapest way. I refused. If I had advertised the cheaper shipping, my item would have sold for more. This would have been unfair to the other bidders. And I would have more in my pocket.