Do Top-rated sellers have a privilege of the removal of negative feedback?

[tech-x-world]

I bought a total of 21 items from one top-rated seller. The seller has a large store and has large quantities of old rarities. When I bought my first item several months ago,  I asked  the seller to pick the box with the best condition. The seller's response was they randomly pick from the shelves and the tone of the message did not seem courteous.

I never had any return requests with the seller. Some of my bought items were later given 50% discounts.  I would have saved around $200 if I had waited a little further. As you are aware, large stores often price match recently reduced items or that of the competitors. I recently messaged the seller and pointed out that I had already bought 21 items and nicely asked whether he could give me large discounts on future purchases as a reward for loyalty. The seller outright blocked me from purchasing his items, which offended me. Does that seem like a response a good seller would give you?

I had recently bought several items without any feedback and I gave negatives pointing out that although the items were fine, the seller was bad tempered and had poor communication with the buyers. Two days later, my feedbacks were redacted by eBay. Several buyers had already complained about the poor communication with the seller. What is the point of negative feedbacks if the sellers can later remove them?

[mudshark61369]

@tech-x-world,

"I recently messaged the seller and pointed out that I had already bought 21 items and nicely asked whether he could give me large discounts on future purchases as a reward for loyalty. The seller outright blocked me from purchasing his items, which offended me...  I had recently bought several items without any feedback and I gave negatives pointing out that although the items were fine, the seller was bad tempered and had poor communication with the buyers". 

What you did was wrong on several levels. Buying 21 items from a seller who has sold over 18K items, isn't even a drop in their bucket. 

You seem to have the opinion that because you did not wait for some items to be discounted, evn though he states in his listings that saving items in your watch list could get you offers of up to 40% off,  Not to mention having a standing code offer of 20% off,  that  You are entitled to Large discounts?? That attitude is wrong.   Your feedback comments were removed because your comments were not about those transactions, they were about purchases you hadn't even made yet, all because you didn't get your way.  By the end of today you'll be on several more BBLs.

[tech-x-world]

I just asked a question. Is it wrong to ask questions? I did not say that I was entitled nor I did force the seller to do anything, the seller could have just nicely declined and I would not have have a grudge.  Some sellers I have dealt with in the past were nice to offer personal discounts, so I tried to negotiate. The negative feedback was about the seller's character and intended to warn other buyers about the seller's communication skills. Also I have suspicion that at least 2 persons operate Ebay account and one is nice, another one is grumpy, because once I received a long nice message to my query.

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

Sellers have every right to block you from buying from.them for any reason or no reasom at all.

You presented yourself in such a way that the seller found unsatisfactory, and the seller decided they no longer desire your business. I have blocked numerous buyers whose further patronage I do not desire. I have had prospective buyers send me 1 message, never purchase anything, and I have deemed them to be individuals I do not want to sell to. 

I won't pass judgement on you, but I'm not at all surprised you got blocked by that seller....

[tech-x-world]

How would you feel yourself if you wanted to do a business with a seller and got a rude response from him? Would you still have a positive opinion about them?

All I said was Please. I didn't say "You are obliged to do so" or pointed a gun.

[just-me]

In some cases a top rated seller can have feedback removed, I don't think this was the case with the feedback you left for that seller.  I think any seller could have had your feedback removed since the negative and positive ratings you left are still there, but the comments are gone, I would guess that eBay removed the comment as violating eBay policies or abusive buyer issues.

The abusive buyer policy includes this copy/paste below

____________

A buyer demanded something not offered in the original listing

You never have to agree to any changes to the terms in your listing (for example, including additional items or giving a discount). If a buyer demands a change to what you originally offered, you can choose to cancel the order or you can complete the transaction under the original terms. We'll remove any related negative or neutral feedback and canceled order defects when we can see the buyer's demands in eBay messages.

____________

My opinion on your question of does that seem like a response a good seller would give you is........yes.  Yes, I would block you immediately and I am very customer service oriented.  Maybe if you had given them a list of the items you wanted to purchase and asked if they were open to an offer on the lot of them it might have been different, who knows.  Looking at their feedback, I would know going in that it's just business, they are not looking to make me feel good, they are looking to sell an item and move on.  I'm okay with that.

Part of the issue may have been while you did not think the tone of their message seemed courteous, they may have felt the same way about your message and felt it was a demand, intent gets lost in text form.

The reason I would block you is not because you asked a question about a discount, it would be because you asked about a discount on eBay where I have very little control over what happens regarding transactions.  eBay has made a number of decisions for me in advance, so knowing what I can and cannot do, I limit risk, you seemed risky to them........and then you left 5 negative and 1 positive feedbacks.  Risk confirmed!  

"Large stores" often price match, I'm not sure how many people on eBay dealing in old cell phones and electronics would qualify as "large stores" to be able to give large discounts, particularly when they are going out of business, they do have over 2,000 listings, but still, not really the same category as "large stores" in my opinion.

For me, feedback for a seller I am looking to potentially purchase from, I'm looking for issues like, did they ship within their stated handling time, was the item as it was described, I don't care much about   communication, I buy, they ship, I get a tracking notification, it arrives as described, we are all good, I leave feedback. 

[tech-x-world]

The first time I was blocked online was years ago when fraudster blocked me after I had sent them a payment, but they were never going to honor the agreement (did  not happen on Ebay). The last time I was blocked outside of eBay was 3 years ago when a scammer swindled me and then cut off all communication. So for me, blocking is a grave offense and I don't generally consider people blocking other people to be trustworthy unless they were bombed with incessant spam mail. So I left negative feedbacks to warn of communication issues with the seller.  I would never have left negative feedbacks if the seller had politely declined my offers, I am not such kind of person. If you don't like someone's message, just ignore and be careful about blocking.

[susanvaldo]

Yes. I just discovered ebay’s policy assuring top sellers that they will remove negative & neutral feedback. So, they are now scrubbing reviews. I noticed a seller had a lot of reviews that were neutral but with negative feedback; appears buyers were trying to not get feedback removed. But ebay has decided to erase neutrals too.
They can go to h*** with that. 
Also, expect defensive seller replies here. 

Goodwill now sells online. 

[mudshark61369]

@tech-x-world,

@just-me, makes a good point. To you,  your message may have seemed a polite request, but the seller may interpret it differently.  The fact that you decided to leave negative feedback for items there was no issue with is the reason for the tone of my earlier reply. They may also have looked at your feedback profile or items listed and saw that you are selling and have sold vintage phones and games, even though you make some of those private listings so they don't show up on your profile.

  As I have told some re-sellers at a Flea Market and other shows I sell at, who buy from me fairly regularly, and try hard to get me to lower my prices;  "I'm here to make money. I'm not here to help you to make money".  I can't block them at those venues, but if they were buying from me on ebay and asking for a discount, I probably would block them.

[tech-x-world]

I am not re-selling everything I buy on eBay. Sometimes I sell items I no longer need, but is that a crime? The first item I sold on eBay was a specific medical device that nobody in my area would have bought even if I sold it for $1 because it was long outdated.

Also please read this: https://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/customer-care/customer-loyalty/ten-ways-to-reward-loyal-customers There was nothing strange about my question because this is widespread business practice. I explicitly stated that the items were fine, but I was displeased with the seller's rudeness.

[myangelandmyprincess]

You said the "tone" seemed rude. Tone is hard to read in messages and even when hearing someone speak can be misconstrued if someone doesn't like the answer they are given.  So we will start at the beginning You asked to pick the best looking box...while this may seem reasonable to you it's not to a seller or the numerous other buyers who would probably also love to have hand-picked the best looking box.   So this to the seller can already come off as entitled.  

Then you asked the seller for discounts on future large purchases and maybe the seller just decided it wasn't worth it. 

How did you find out you were blocked?  Did you try to purchase or did the seller tell you?  Did the reply at all to the request for a discount? 

When you discovered you were blocked you then left feedback on the previous purchases.  This would probably be an easy removal depending on what you said to the seller and what your feedback said.  It could have been viewed that you left the bad feedback because you were blocked from future purchases or because you couldn't get a discount on future purchases.  That would violate feedback policy and be a fairly easy request to have eBay remove it. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@tech-x-world wrote:

When I bought my first item several months ago,  I asked  the seller to pick the box with the best condition. The seller's response was they randomly pick from the shelves and the tone of the message did not seem courteous.

Seriously, a seller with 2800+ listings isn't going to go through their inventory to find "the best box" for a buyer. (And what does courteous "seem like?")

 Some of my bought items were later given 50% discounts.  I would have saved around $200 if I had waited a little further. As you are aware, large stores often price match recently reduced items or that of the competitors.

Some stores make adjustments and price match and others don't. And each store (and on ebay, each seller) sets policies that work for their own business. 

In fact, just 2 days ago, I bought something at Lowes and although they do match competitor prices, they don't match their own online prices. The items I was buying were online at 1/2 the in-store price but they didn't match it. That's their policy and I accept it. 

I recently messaged the seller and pointed out that I had already bought 21 items and nicely asked whether he could give me large discounts on future purchases as a reward for loyalty. The seller outright blocked me from purchasing his items, which offended me. Does that seem like a response a good seller would give you?

Yes, especially after the previous (best box, price adjustment) requests you'd made. 

I had recently bought several items without any feedback and I gave negatives pointing out that although the items were fine, the seller was bad tempered and had poor communication with the buyers. Two days later, my feedbacks were redacted by eBay. Several buyers had already complained about the poor communication with the seller. What is the point of negative feedbacks if the sellers can later remove them?

I'm glad ebay removed your comments. IMO, they should have removed the feedbacks too. I bet if he'd reported that you sell the same items, possibly sabotaging competition, they may have removed the red donuts too.

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Some of my replies are in red above. 

The fact that you keep arguing tells me you aren't getting what we're trying to convey. You don't have the right to expect sellers to give in to your passive-aggressive requests (that come off as demands) and the fact that you negged the seller when he didn't comply shows that he made the correct decision in choosing that he no longer wants to do business with you.

Thank you for posting your issues. 

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@tech-x-world wrote:

How would you feel yourself if you wanted to do a business with a seller and got a rude response from him? Would you still have a positive opinion about them?

All I said was Please. I didn't say "You are obliged to do so" or pointed a gun.

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My opinion of them is irrelevant because I don't have the type of mindset you do and I would never be able to put myself in your shoes... Honestly, I wouldn't have dared to ask the question you asked, and would have fully accepted being blocked by that seller had I asked such a question. Just because you said please doesn't make it better... 

I don't believe the seller was rude in any way. I don't see ceasing business with you as rude. I would see a message to you berating or demeaning you as rude. I don't believe a clean cut-off of future business is rude especially when a buyer approaches with such a proposition.

I have been blocked by sellers. In those cases, it was usually the seller royally screwed up IMO and I fought for what was right and the seller felt they didn't want to deal with me further, which was fine, because I wasn't interested in dealing with them further. I specifically checked to see if I was blocked out of curiosity, was not trying to engage further. Usually it was a seller's screw up on an order or listing, that proved to be habitual patterns that I called them out on as bad business practice or ignorance to the situation. Following extremely unconventional methods in terms of quantifying and advertising can be deceitful as all heck. Especially when you don't define your counting method clearly and leave the buyer guessing and believing they are getting 2-3x the items they are supposed to.

[tech-x-world]

I keep arguing because you don't get my point. I don't sell exactly the same items I have bought from that seller previously. I own a large collection of electronics, accessories and a lot more. I didn't know until today it was a crime to sell some items that I don't particularly need. 

I get that the seller has the technical right to block the buyers, but it is you who does not get that the buyer also has the right to be upset with the seller's rudeness. I completely did not expect the seller to yield to my request, but I had successfully negotiated with various sellers in the past and I myself have given large discounts to buyers purchasing multiple items. If the seller had responded with a nicely worded rejection to my proposal, I would have been OK with that and I would never have left negative feedback.  Blocking someone you know in real life can be construed as a declaration of enmity or if you own them a debt in real life, it can be instantly proved that you are a fraudster.  I just wanted to warn other buyers to be careful in their communication with that seller.

I am not the only one who has complained about the poor communication skills of that seller.  " Seller is typical junkyard thrift store sales person Responds with long messages but never really addresses your issues." "el vendedor no responde la comunicación que se le hace, osea no tiene buena comunicación con el cliente. " "Bad review and I expected to deal with an honest seller."

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@tech-x-world wrote:

I keep arguing because you don't get my point. I don't sell exactly the same items I have bought from that seller previously. I own a large collection of electronics, accessories and a lot more. I didn't know until today it was a crime to sell some items that I don't particularly need. 

I get that the seller has the technical right to block the buyers, but it is you who does not get that the buyer also has the right to be upset with the seller's rudeness. I completely did not expect the seller to yield to my request, but I had successfully negotiated with various sellers in the past and I myself have given large discounts to buyers purchasing multiple items. If the seller had responded with a nicely worded rejection to my proposal, I would have been OK with that and I would never have left negative feedback.  Blocking someone you know in real life can be construed as a declaration of enmity or if you own them a debt in real life, it can be instantly proved that you are a fraudster.  I just wanted to warn other buyers to be careful in their communication with that seller.

I am not the only one who has complained about the poor communication skills of that seller.  " Seller is typical junkyard thrift store sales person Responds with long messages but never really addresses your issues." "el vendedor no responde la comunicación que se le hace, osea no tiene buena comunicación con el cliente. " "Bad review and I expected to deal with an honest seller."

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You don't get it either.  Even if you in your mind you didn't leave the negatives because you were blocked or because the seller wouldn't make a deal it can absolutely look that way to eBay making your feedback removable under policy. 

Even if you hadn't messaged about the discount part and only about wanting the best looking box picked and then you left negatives over communication there is a decent possibility it would have still qualified to be removed.  Since in that it may have been seen as you left it because the seller wouldn't cherry pick the best for you. 

Point being if you request something not in the listing or not regarding that listing and then leave a negative complaining about communication to eBay it can look like you left bad feedback because you didn't get what you wanted that wasn't included in the initial listing or transaction. And feedback left for that reason is removable. Even if you didn't mean it that way it can look that way.