Buyer Agreed to Revise Negative Feedback, Then Changed His Mind.

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

We specialize in motorized bikes and we are sellers here on eBay.   We've been active and loyal eBay sellers on and off since 1999 and our current store has been open since 2009.  We are customer friendly and we're told that we are easy to talk to.

We maintained a 100% feedback rating for 17 years until last year when one very resentful, puerile buyer found an error in the wording of one of our listings and it took a week for him to receive his item as opposed to 3 days.  He said our listing was "intentionally misleading".

It was a new item that we sold through our distributor in China and we had been misinformed (unintentionally) by them about where the item was being shipped from.  So our eBay listing unwittingly reflected that misinformation.

We corrected the error in our listing, we refunded the angry buyer's money AND we let him keep the item.  We did this with the mutual agreement that he would revise his negative feedback.

We lived up to our end immediately, but he was moving quite slowly on his promise to revise his feedback. Three weeks later I asked him very politely when he was going to be able to fulfill his end of our agreement.  Apparently this bothered and/or made him feel rushed so he became irate and angry.

He said he that he never promised to change his feedback and that we needed to leave him alone!  So he did not to live up to his promise and he did not change his feedback and it remains the only single negative feedback on our record to date.  Because we were just getting started though, our sales were low in quantity, so 1 negative feedback brought our rating from 100% down to 91%.

Since this time, our sales have literally dropped to ZERO.  From $15K in one quarter to $0 in the blink of an eye.  Who wants to buy from a seller with a 91% feedback rating?  There are plenty of sellers with 100% feedback rating who are selling the same thing.

eBay was useless in helping us with this. They said there was no way they could "make him live up to his promise" and that once feedback has been left, there was no way to change it or delete it from their system.

We’ve been loyal sellers on and off since 1999, but that apparently meant nothing to eBay when we needed them.

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

Your comment concentrates primarily on a point of discussion which assumes that we are not up front with customers about where items are being shipped from but this is not the case at all.

So just on a matter of principle, I'll say that the shipping location for this particular item was listed exactly as it was presented to us by our distributor.  We were told it was being shipped form a hub in the U.S. and that's how we listed it.

If we had been lying about shipping locations for the past 18 years, one would have to assume it would have caught up with us and taken us down long before now.  I believe you may have been sniffing around for a bad smell in the kitchen and you latched on with "assumed consent" about a dirty deed that just didn't exist.

So your assumption that we would appreciate your advice was indeed correct because we do.  It is constructive and it is reasonable.  It just doesn't pertain to our particular situation.

Regards

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

Your right, it was a bad move on my part. I was just really **bleep** off at eBay for refusing to help us and I guess I let that anger cloud my better judgement. I've since removed that from the listings. Thanks for your good sense. It helped me to find mine. :0)

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

This is a great story.  I hope my own story doesn't reflect that I go to the same extreme as the dumb waiter.  If it does, then I appreciate your insight and I have a lot of catching up to do.  In the 18 years I've been doing this, I should be more evolved by now.

I sold variable life and mutual funds for 15 years at Prudential and Metropolitan Life before this and I was very aware that talking bad about a customer to another customer (or anyone else) would only make me look bad so I never did it.

Maybe I was better then and maybe I've lost sight of what is real and what is right.  Maybe I just need to get back to basics and try to learn from the things I used to know...;0)

[aaamotorizedbikes2016 · Accepted solution]

Well you could be right.  I guess one good insult deserves another, so I can't really argue with you for saying this.  Dare I say, "Thank you"?

I have to say, this has been a very cathartic experience for me.

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

Thank you.  I completely agree with you and removed that disclaimer.  I guess we all have a childish side to us and mine came out when I was angry.  What I need to do is learn from this and try to remember that allowing my childish side to come out  now and then might be ok in a game of poker with the guys, but it's never a good idea to bring that same child into my business dealings.

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

Very well said.  I completely agree with you.  Thank you.

[aaamotorizedbikes2016]

I think I've been pretty reasonable about all the comments portraying me as childish because they were absolutely correct.  I was very childish in how I behaved and in how I presented this.  However, I will NOT stand by when something is said that is dead wrong.

I did NOT attempt feedback extortion!  The buyer said if I refunded his money he would revise his feedback.  We not only refunded the money but we let him keep the item he purchased.  We acknowledged the buyer's stance about where the item was shipped from and we acted with a gesture of apology and all we wanted was the buyer to acknowledge that.

Feedback extortion would be if we asked the buyer to lie about something or to state an untruth about what went down and how.  So your accusation of malice on our part is spurious and it was a bad thing to say.

[swenson8781]

I think the 'extortion' comment was being referred to because it sounded like you offered a refund, and the item, in exchange for the buyer revising their feedback.  So you offered something, in exchange for the buyer to do something else.

The important thing to remember, is not to do anything that you wouldn't be willing to do otherwise.  We cannot control others, ever.  And unfortunately, your buyer didn't follow through with what they said, but that isn't uncommon in life.  You have to run your business on here the way that makes sense to you, but also with the awareness that buyers are free to state their 'opinion' of how you run that business.

In your circumstance, you could have made them return the item to you, before offering a refund.  Only you can decide if that would've been a wise financial business move, or not.  If you would have done the same thing, regardless of the feedback they left, then you did the best thing for you/your business either way.  They did what they feel is best.

[tellmemama]

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@aaamotorizedbikes2016 wrote:

I think I've been pretty reasonable about all the comments portraying me as childish because they were absolutely correct.  I was very childish in how I behaved and in how I presented this.  However, I will NOT stand by when something is said that is dead wrong.

I did NOT attempt feedback extortion!  The buyer said if I refunded his money he would revise his feedback.  We not only refunded the money but we let him keep the item he purchased.  We acknowledged the buyer's stance about where the item was shipped from and we acted with a gesture of apology and all we wanted was the buyer to acknowledge that.

Feedback extortion would be if we asked the buyer to lie about something or to state an untruth about what went down and how.  So your accusation of malice on our part is spurious and it was a bad thing to say.

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Who brought it up first?  And did the buyer leave the neg before this "negotiation"?  If what you say is what actually happened and can be substantiated through the ebay messages between you both, then the buyer is guilty of the feedback extortion and not you.  Therefore the neg can and should be removed.

Good luck!

[stitchesandseamsct]

The buyer has already agreed to revise. You're safe, call ebay. let them know the HONEST situation. point out the email and evidence to the agreed revision. This has happened to me. ebay played for my team

[stitchesandseamsct]

Also, drop shipping and not being honest about it will definitely make people angry and avoid you

[plumbingspecials]

If your listing had an error, although you say it's not intentional, you could see why he wouldn't know that, right? "Intentionally misleading" is a typical pita buyer. Wording like that leads one to believe they are accustomed to get something for nothing by using key words that might intimidate a seller. You can probably find something in the messages that will qualify for removal of the feedback.
I hope you blocked him.