Nightmare buyers

[origin1435]

So I have been on eBay since 2009. Never have I had any real issues. Recently I had someone that had been purchasing from me on an ongoing basis for a short period of time, and like most ebayers they never leave good feedback. Fast forward a couple months this person has bought about 5 items from me. The first four were sets of paint brushes. Securely wrapped in bubble envelopes. All went smoothly. The fifth one was a set of paint tubes (about 100). When the buyer received the item it had been handled poorly during shipping and was a very large box and 2 of the paint tubes had leaked a bit. 2 out of 100! They felt they should not have to return it and they should get to keep it. As I could tell they were turning into a typical eBay nightmare buyer I decided to try to be nice and refund them and let them keep the items for free in an Effort to save my feedback score (which I should not have done Becuase if they didn’t ship it back I would have won the case but I was trying to be a stand up good seller) the reality is if I ever have an issue with shipping I make it up to the buyer ten fold. Even if it is out of my control. I have devoted regular customers that appreciate me. I always include extras and free gifts for people as well that include things like other art supplies to try.
This person lost it on me. Called me a scammer and every other name in the book. I have maintained 100% feedback prior to this and have about 1200 sales on this account. So the person who refused to let me make it up to them and didn’t understand it would be better then just getting that item for free went on to leave me 4 bad feedbacks 3 of which were from past sales that were all good and they never left feedback for. they got mad they maliciously weaponized the feedback system.

So my main issue is :

EBay rep on the phone decided there was many blatant policy violations made a report, submitted it to appeal team in back office and assured me the feedbacks would be removed. They praised my effort to work with the seller and recognized this was an extreme case of an abusive buyer. So they forward this to the back office and the back office then says they will remove the person comments Becuase they were so abusive but the bad feedbacks will stay and now just read “ - -“. Aside from the bad feedback for the item they are unhappy with which should be removed also, the fact they left me 3 other feedbacks negative that they had from other past transactions completely unrelated to this later transaction as a means of retaliatory measure is a complete breach of eBay policy.
So the appeal was sent to the back office and they decided to leave the negatives but remove the comments which clearly demonstrates to me the back room eBay reps are not as familiar with policy as they should be. This was a crystal clear example of buyer abuse. Even if they decided to leave the feedback associated with that transaction the person was mad about, the other ones are a clear breach of policy evident in the feedbacks themselves.
I do about 80-120k a year in sales on eBay so it is somewhat a big deal to me to have 4 fraudulent bad feedbacks and that eBay is not honouring their policies out in place to protect sellers in these situations. I called eBay three separate times about this all reps agreed with me and then send it to the back office appeal team and they just don’t even look at the issue and don’t honour eBay policy and decide against me at which point I receive an email advising me of their decision.
I am considering a few options and may even further explore pursuing legal action as it is malicious slander effecting my livelihood and business , but I remain slightly hopeful eBay will honour their policies and correct the situation.
What do you think is the best course of action ?
Thanks have a great day everyone and thanks to the helpful eBay employees.

[ericsells75]

Don't even get me started. I had something a few months ago. I shipped an item 2 days before the postal strike. In the middle of the strike a buyer left me negative feedback that the item was missing parts and was damaged. Again, in the middle of the strike, it could not have been delivered yet. Ansyway tried reaching the buyer, no response. Contacted ebay explained that because of the strike the buyer couldn't have the item so this feedback must be for something else. several reps, including @askebay all told me they couldn't remove the feedback because the buyer could have had the item.....I absolutley could not believe it. It was the dumbest thing i ever heard. I later finally reached the buyer and they said the item was damaged but wouldn't give me pictures..... anyway i just refunded them and they agreed to remove the feedback. A month later the tracking on that item changed to delivered after the strike ended, what a surprise. This has nothing to do with your issue except getting feedback removed is nearly impossible even when your obviously right. It was one of the first few signs that I am done with ebay. I'm liquidating my inventory this year and shutting down. 

[origin1435]

My person said they would remove it then when I refunded them they just stopped replying and I looked and noticed the feedback after

[visual-sound]

You can leave a reply to the feedback you received. Explain the situation and note that the buyer has been blocked. You can also do the same for the feedback you left for the buyer.

[reallynicestamps]

@origin1435 

You had a regular customer.

He purchased 100 tubes of paint.

He complained that two had leaked.

I decided to try to be nice and refund them and let them keep the items for free

Sensible.

This person lost it on me. Called me a scammer...

Did you refund 2% of the selling price/total payment?

Or refund the entire amount without a Claim?

Did you know that you can accept a Claim without demanding the return of the goods? (Common with sellers of china and glass, who don't want to pay for the return of a box of shards)

Did the buyer open a Claim?
I understand that if a Claim is settled, no feedback can be left by either party.

back office and they decided to leave the negatives but remove the comments

Did you know that eBay does not use feedback to assess member accounts, because as you noted:

and like most ebayers they never leave good feedback.

Your 98% rating is not going to be a problem with most buyers.

The few that pay attention might click on the "4" negs and see that they are all from the same buyer and that the words have been removed by eBay.

[reallynicestamps]

I shipped an item 2 days before the postal strike. In the middle of the strike a buyer left me negative feedback that the item was missing parts and was damaged.

Did you use tracking?

A month later the tracking on that item changed to delivered after the strike ended, what a surprise.

Did you respond to the Claim with the tracking number which showed the item was still in transit?