Negative Feedback Removal Request declined

[techspecialist1984]

Hello! At the beginning of March, I received negative feedback from a customer who said the following:

"This item description isn’t correct. It says the laptop is supposed to be a touchscreen. This touchscreen isn’t even working"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/395199232309

Now nowhere in the item description, specifics, or photos mention it having touchscreen functionality. It was never advertised as such. I looked over my listing to make sure I wasn't in the wrong. I reached out to the customer to no reply. I originally thought they might have left me the negative feedback by mistake and it was meant for someone else due to the feedback making no sense to me. I sent a feedback revision to the customer as well, but it was declined. I went through eBay for the feedback removal request but that was also declined. They stated it was the "buyer's opinion". Also, this buyer has a history of leaving negative feedback.  

I've called eBay and they pretty much said the same thing, that it's the buyer's opinion so it doesn't go against eBay policy. But it's not an opinion, it's a false claim. 

I'm pretty much just looking for advice on what to do or if I should even pursue this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

[ckimodog]

@techspecialist1984 

Sorry for your frustration.  No doubt you work hard on your site.  However, you have SO many more customers who have given you rave reviews.  Why not focus on that fact? The negative will drop off after a while.  Don't let it spoil your day.  Some customers don't always read and there's no way to make them read either.  These are some of the downers of internet sales.  Move on and continue to do the great job you do as quality seller.  Hang in there.  😊

Happy Selling

[rosszonebricks]

You can reply to the Feedback, but I suggest writing as if FUTURE customers are reading it.  You aren't really replying to the original buyer.

That said, the HP EliteBook 840 G5 apparently IS a touchscreen, or at least some of the variations.  So even if you didn't specifically say it was (or wasn't) the buyer likely assumed it was based on the official specs.

[gator08041971]

Not much you can do.

I would have replied a bit differently, less open ended (not with a question) and a bit less sounding offended.

Anytime you are going to reply to a negative feedback, keep emotion out of the reply, and stick to the facts.

Replies matter as much as the negative.  How you handle a negative in your reply says a lot more about you than the negative in the first place.  Your previous replies to other negatives look okay though.  But just FYI.

[sapphire_studio]

I got a negative feedback yesterday because USPS is being slow with someone's package. He didn't reach out to me at all he just left a negative asking where his package is. I sent him a message politely asking him to open up an item not received case and his response to that was that I was a scammer for not just refunding him.

If he would have reached out to me before leaving the negative feedback I would have just refunded him even though the shipment is still on the move because it's only $8.49 Total. But now I want him to open the case so that it will auto scrub the negative feedback when I refund him through the case. I tried to get the feedback deleted but was denied. So I decided to move on and not let my emotions get involved and use it as an opportunity to create a really good reply for future buyers to see.

[techspecialist1984]

You're right, I should've probably replied a bit better. I'm very focused on customer service and making sure the buyer is having a good experience. They never replied to me when I sent a message. I even let them know I would have given them a significant partial refund just for the inconvenience to them.

They haven't started a return either due to them being in the Bahamas, they shipped through a forwarded instead of eBay international shipping.

I usually go the extra mile with any of my customers who are having even somewhat of an inconvenience. It's a learning experience. 

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post! 

[techspecialist1984]

Thank you, everyone, for taking the time out of your day to reply to my post. It's greatly appreciated. I've learned a lot and will change the way I do a few things in the future. Thank you again! 

[kabilab]

Tech,

My situation was similar to yours'. I sold a factory sealed game and then received a neg, due to it not working; no notice from the buyer. As I have been selling games since 1992 and had never experienced such, I checked the buyer's feedback history for other sellers. In 5 1/2 wks., it was 40+ sales and 40+ negs.

In contacting the Facebook reps, I was informed the neg would not be removed, but that the feedback history would be sent to the RISK team. Upon the last occasion of my checking, the buyer is still active and with several accounts of the neg activity.

One of the lessons I learned from this forum was to NEVER respond until after a cooling period. I waited, so the neg has not noticeably affected my sales AND I now accept there can be additional like situations in the future. All sellers can do is their best and roll with the rest.

[chapeau-noir]

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@sapphire_studio wrote:

I got a negative feedback yesterday because USPS is being slow with someone's package. He didn't reach out to me at all he just left a negative asking where his package is. I sent him a message politely asking him to open up an item not received case and his response to that was that I was a scammer for not just refunding him.

If he would have reached out to me before leaving the negative feedback I would have just refunded him even though the shipment is still on the move because it's only $8.49 Total. But now I want him to open the case so that it will auto scrub the negative feedback when I refund him through the case. I tried to get the feedback deleted but was denied. So I decided to move on and not let my emotions get involved and use it as an opportunity to create a really good reply for future buyers to see.

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Seems like it's always the cheapskates. 😕