what to do with a negative feedback I feel I don't deserve ?

[lucky9092]

Maybe some of you will recall my post on a sale gone wrong with a particularly difficult buyer.  I'm relieved he finally kept the item after threatening me that he would return it if it didn't arrive on time.  It arrived 3 days late so I refunded all his shipping fees like I promised if it didn't make it by the 24th of December.  The tone of my messages to him stayed calm and polite throughout our "short" discussions. I packed this item with utmost care as it is a fragile camera lens. 

All this to say that the buyer left me a stinking negative like I expected (his messages hinted that he was very upset for not using Purolator with his account number like he told me to do and because of the fact that the item arrived late).  What really gets my gander up is that I can't even reply to his feedback.  I don't want to contact him personally as it is futile (he will only listen to his own mind). I'd like to warn other sellers that this person is impossible to please or reason with to prevent them from going through the same antics or worse.  Can I report the buyer to ebay for leaving me a negative ? Can I fight to have it removed from my record without contacting the buyer ? Should I just capitulate and be done with it ? Thanks.

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

You can reply to feedback received. You can leave a factual calm statement under his feedback. Something like "Tried to work with buyer, refunded shipping cost for delay, still not happy". You may be able to have the negative removed if the delay was caused because of the rotating strike.

[silverpinups]

What really gets my gander up is that I can't even reply to his feedback. 

Yes, you can reply to his feedback indefinitely.  Under Help & Contact type in "Reply to feedback". Click on "Reply to Feedback" (blue button) and respond to the buyers feedback.

Make sure your response is calm and factual.

You can also Report the Buyer. Under "Manage all orders" go to the transaction and click the down arrow beside Sell Similar. Click on "Report Buyer".

You can also call eBay Customer Service and talk to a Feedback Specialist and try and have the feedback removed. You have all the messages with the buyer asking you to ship the item in a way you didn't feel comfortable with and you wanted to protect yourself from a "item not received" claim.

You can also try using the Canada Post Postal Strike situation since the negative feedback was related to late shipping.   

[femmefan1946]

A calm professional Response will really stand out on a page.

Remember you are not talking to him, you are talking to your future customers and to other sellers who are looking at his Feedback Left for Others.

"Demanded upgrade to Purolator at postoffice price Shipping refunded"

Politely-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

[esclyons]

i would message tyler,   as eBay promised, to remove all defects associated with the postal strike, and i would consider a negative feedback, a defect caused by the postal issues..

[momcqueen]

I might be wrong but I think that with the record of messages exchanged, you would be able to appeal to the Feedback Specialists to have this removed on two fronts: the buyer was trying to get you to do something not promised in your listing ship via courier on his account which is scammy, and then held you accountable for strike-related delays which ebay Canada sellers are supposed to have protection from. 

Regardless, I think Tyler  must be summoned to examine this highly problematic situation.

As a fellow ebay user, I don't feel like you deserved a negative for how this played out. I realize we're only hearing one side of the story but I cannot envision any way this would be spun to make your buyer look good. 

tyler@ebay, could you please look into this? 

[lucky9092]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I slept on it and it helped me to regain my cool. The last thing I want is an emotional response on my part.   I will report the buyer for undeserved feedback first and give as much detail as I can. If for some reason the negative cannot be removed, I will reply to his feedback. 

How many days do I have before I can't reply to his feedback ?

[lucky9092]

How can I message him directly ? If I click on momcqueen's link on next post, I get to Tyler's page but I don't see any way to post a message. Thanks.

[femmefan1946]

There is an indefinite time (ie forever) for Responses to feedback.

Tyler has already been notified.

If you need to alert someone that they should look at a particular thread just doing @ before their ID puts a message on their email @lucky9092

[nostalgicaftertaste]

Thank you for this note on having defects associated with the strike removed.

I checked my late shipment rate report, and I have two transactions during the period of the strike where a buyer indicated delivery was late. For one of the two, the buyer actually absolved me of responsibility in their feedback, citing the strike.

tyler@ebay, how would I go about addressing these so they no longer count against me?

[snoopwiz]

tyler@ebay, how would I go about addressing these so they no longer count against me?

To send out the proverbial "bat-signal" I think the @ comes before the tyler. 

[tyler@ebay]

Thanks for the tag @momcqueen!

Hi @lucky9092 - I definitely agree with other members here that a calm, professional response to any feedback is the best way to go in general. As Femme points out - this is much less for their benefit as it is for the benefit of future customers looking at how you react to reported 'problems'. 

Personally, I tend to prefer sellers with at least one negative feedback on their profile (so I can gauge their responses to it). 

With regards to this situation, however, there are a number of mitigating factors at play. A buyer isn't able to request to change the terms of sale after they have finalized the transaction (ie, paid). In addition, the seller-protections from the CPC strike are a factor as well.

Feedback, late shipments and other seller performance impacts due to the strike are normally removed automatically, you could also contact CS directly to request they review it.

I've also submitted it for review, so you shouldn't have to in this case, but in general a phone call or social media contact to CS would be the best way to go in a situation like this. Thanks!

[tyler@ebay]

---

@nostalgicaftertaste wrote:
Thank you for this note on having defects associated with the strike removed.

I checked my late shipment rate report, and I have two transactions during the period of the strike where a buyer indicated delivery was late. For one of the two, the buyer actually absolved me of responsibility in their feedback, citing the strike.

tyler@ebay, how would I go about addressing these so they no longer count against me?

---

Hi @nostalgicaftertaste - sorry to hear about the late shipments. The good news is that they should qualify for automatic removal. That protection runs weekly (usually on Thursdays). 

I've gotten these submitted for a manual review too - keep an eye on your dashboard over the next few days, as removals can take up to 72 hours to display there. 🙂

[momcqueen]

Thanks, Tyler!

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

Just checked your feedback & it looks like the negative feedback was removed for you. That is great news. Sometimes eBay comes through for the seller.  Remember to block this unreasonable buyer!

[momcqueen]

Excellent news! That was fast.

Yes, block. A user like this is best avoided; I don’t doubt he was left unhappy by the entire affair but the seller was not responsible for that and shouldn’t be held accountable for it.

[lucky9092]

Special thanks to Tyler, femmefan and momcqueen. 

I was ready to phone ebay CS with all details which I kept: messages to and fro, emails from Canada Post, etc. It looks like I won't need to and I'm very happy with the outcome.   I appreciate the help from everyone involved.

[nostalgicaftertaste]

---

tyler@ebay wrote:

---

I've gotten these submitted for a manual review too - keep an eye on your dashboard over the next few days, as removals can take up to 72 hours to display there. 🙂

---

They've been removed. Thanks a lot for your help!

[redqube]

I wasn't sure if a separate thread was needed and since this message regards a similar issue, I will post it here.

I recently received a negative feedback from someone and I don't deserve it (or at least I don't think I do).

This is for item: 183343771545

I've been selling digital photos for some time now. I wanted to experiment on ebay before I make the switch to a stock photography platform. The buyer bought a photo on the 7th of January.  I immediately sent the photograph to his email address successfully. The buyer sends me a message a few weeks later stating that he never received the image. I have proof that it was sent and received by him through his email address but I believe the buyer was waiting for a print through the mail (although he doesn't clearly state this). I contacted him telling him the photo had been sent the same day the purchase was made. I asked the buyer to check his email address inbox carefully and tell me if he could find it. I would have sent him another copy if he did not.

He never answered my question and because he felt my listing was misleading, he gave me an unwarranted negative feedback. All my photo listings have been clear since day one. I mention very clearly in my listings that there is no physical shipping, only a digital copy sent to their email address.  I mentioned this to the buyer with no response. I would have liked to work out something with this unhappy buyer either by sending them another photo for free or by simply refunding them but they did not even give me the chance by ending communication and leaving me a negative.  I aim to please but this is just an abusive feedback by an unhappy buyer unwilling to communicate. His "fake information" feedback can't be substantiated. It is a blatant lie.  I would like this feedback removed. I have kept all his messages from him to me and vice versa. Thank you.

tyler@ebay  please look into it. Most appreciated. Thanks !

[redqube]

Since this thread is about negative feedback received that is not warranted, I will post my situation here instead of starting a new thread.

tyler@ebay  please take a look at this. I would greatly appreciate it.

I've been selling digital photos for some time now on ebay (and other things as well). I wanted to experiment with this before going stock. Recently I received a negative feedback from a person who bought the picture several weeks ago.

I checked my email and the photo was sent the day the buyer paid for it. The buyer sends me a message a few weeks later stating that he never received the image. I checked my email and I can confirm that the picture was sent successfully. I contacted him telling him so. I asked the buyer to check his email address inbox carefully and tell me if he could find it. I would have sent him another copy if he did not.

He never answered my question and because he felt my listing was misleading possibly because he expected me to ship something to his home address (although he never clearly specified this), he gave me an unwarranted negative feedback. All my photo listings are concise and clear as to what the buyer is getting. I mention that there is no physical shipping in my listings, only a digital copy sent to their email address. I mentioned this to the buyer with no response. I would have liked to work out something with this unhappy buyer either by sending him another photo for free or by simply refunding him but he did not even give me the chance. I aim to please but this is just an abusive feedback by an unhappy buyer unwilling to communicate. I'm asking to have this feedback removed. The "fake information" he claims can't be substantiated. At worst it's a blatant lie. You can also check my listings and the messages we exchanged. It will prove what I am stating here. Thank you.