I left negative feedback - eBay removed?

[jgrit]

I was shocked to open package and find my purchased item (a magnifier scope) wrapped in a used Covid19 test kit box. It did frighten me (I am old) after touching the box and breathing the air. I did keep the item, but I left negative feedback. It is no longer there. Feedback disappeared. Apparently removed by eBay. No notice. No reason given. Does eBay not understand buyer spirit. It ruins buyer spirit to buy when interfered with like this. Especially with no reason or notice. It is like I am the buyer who does not deserve consideration for my experience. Ebay totally ignored me.

[bonjourami]

You dont have to be 'old' to be frightened with that. It depends what you said on that fb if it was removed.

[ebooksdiva]

I’m not sure how a test kit box could frighten anyone. 

[house*of*paws]

Hi @jgrit 

A buyer leaving negative feedback because of the recycled, packing materials used to ship an item ... when no actual threat or danger was involved ... might be removed if the seller complains to eBay.  I'm very sorry you were scared ... but that doesn't mean the seller deserved the feedback.

>>  Does eBay not understand buyer spirit. It ruins buyer spirit to buy when interfered with like this.  <<

I understand ... but sellers are also eBay's customers ... and it certainly must ruin a seller's spirit to receive negative feedback when they've done nothing wrong.  [Not everything that scares us is dangerous.]

[albertabrightalberta]

@jgrit 

Did you contact the seller before leaving the feedback to let the seller know you were uncomfortable with his packaging? 

As a seller, you didn't like it when buyers didn't contact you before leaving feedback. 

[atlasesattic]

Why is everyone so quick to leave negative feedback? So many people make mountains out of Mohills....

Nobody wants to be happy.

[evry1nositswindy]

Ok @atlasesattic it sounds like I don't want to be happy, but...it's make mountains out of molehills.  Yep, country girl here!

[legalbeagle52]

@bonjourami wrote:

"You dont have to be 'old' to be frightened with that."

--------------------------------------------

I completely agree with @bonjourami.

I'm pretty sure a lot of people wouldn't be happy with that packaging right now  -- young or old --  Covid was very recent, very scary and while I think the packaging was safe, it's the optics of it ... I think the seller used poor judgement using that kind of box.  Many people have become very germ-conscious since covid. 

I personally use all recycled boxes for my large book lots.  I also mention it in my listings, so the buyer won't be surprised. But I choose my boxes very carefully.   I will often pass on a box with wording that might be offensive to some.  So I'm very tuned in to what is written on the box.  I also try to cover up most of the wording with brown tape, but I'm sure it still comes through.   So as a seller of many years, I would NOT have used that box.

Now would I leave a negative?  - No -  I'm not quick to leave negatives, having only left a couple of them in 20 years and only after trying to work it out with the seller.  BUT I would have emailed the seller & explained nicely how I felt, just to make them aware.  

[kathiec]

Let me preface this by saying I'm also old. But honestly I'm happy the seller got the neg removed. How is a Covid test kit box anymore likely to be contaminated than any other surface? If a seller has Covid the virus is going to get on tissue or bubble wrap or any other packing materials. If anyone who handles the package along the way has Covid the virus is going to get on the outside of the package. It doesn't matter. Tests have shown that the virus can only live on cardboard surfaces for about 24 hours, and that the amount of virus detectable on a surface reduces sharply with time. And it's also been proved that the virus doesn't transfer from a surface to the air. So there is no more chance of being infected by a Covid test kit box than any other packing material, and that chance is close to nil. 

[legalbeagle52]

Hi @kathiec,

I agree with everything you said , 100% correct on all of it.   But we're dealing with the general public. I just feel that not everyone may be as knowledgeable as we are..  Many of us studied it like we were working on our PhD.   But some people are extra germ conscious.

That's why I said ...  to me, it was just the optics of it.  Covid was so recent & so scary.  Maybe the seller could have found a different box.  I knew there would be some disagreement on this.  So this is just my 2 cents. 😊

[12345jamesstamps]

You are selling pre-owned items...items considered "used". 

Happy to know seller got that feedback removed. 

Cardboard is recycled in San Francisco...we have 3 separate colored bids for our garbage vs. some cities who thrown everything in just one bid.

The little Covid-19 test kit box makes a great reusable box for mailing.

[house*of*paws]

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@legalbeagle52 wrote:

Hi @kathiec,

I agree with everything you said , 100% correct on all of it.   But we're dealing with the general public. I just feel that not everyone may be as knowledgeable as we are..  Many of us studied it like we were working on our PhD.   But some people are extra germ conscious.

That's why I said ...  to me, it was just the optics of it.  Covid was so recent & so scary.  Maybe the seller could have found a different box.  I knew there would be some disagreement on this.  So this is just my 2 cents. 😊

---

I agree with you 100% about the optics ... and I also would have told the SELLER to use more benign packing materials.  [I also tell sellers not to include religious or political materials in their packaging.]

But the seller didn't contact us.  The OP was the BUYER ... who was frightened unreasonably.  Understandably ... but still unreasonably.

[maxine*j]

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@ebooksdiva wrote:

I’m not sure how a test kit box could frighten anyone. 

---

OP assumed anyone using the test had Covid symptoms, and OP didn't want to handle something a possibly-infected person handled.   In fact, so far as I know, the virus cannot persist on such materials or for such a length of time as shipping would have taken.  I'm just explaining what I believe OP's reaction was.

-

[kathiec]

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@legalbeagle52 wrote:

Hi @kathiec,

I agree with everything you said , 100% correct on all of it.   But we're dealing with the general public. I just feel that not everyone may be as knowledgeable as we are..  Many of us studied it like we were working on our PhD.   But some people are extra germ conscious.

That's why I said ...  to me, it was just the optics of it.  Covid was so recent & so scary.  Maybe the seller could have found a different box.  I knew there would be some disagreement on this.  So this is just my 2 cents. 😊

---

It doesn't take studying it like you're working on your PhD. It took me literally 30 seconds to Google how long Covid can live on cardboard. I didn't even have to click off the results page to find the information. So IMO jumping to negative feedback on a purely gut feeling without taking those 30 seconds to research crosses the line from scared to lazy.

[chapeau-noir]

It could be worse (or maybe not), but I recall a buyer saying they got their purchase in a tampon box. Too many people are scared of too much these days, but optics do matter.