Buyer left negative feedback immediately after purchasing and then canceled order without cause

[tiltedtimecompany]

I had a buyer yesterday that purchased an item (a pocket watch) from me for $80. The description was spot on and it had photos of the item from every angle. The item was exactly as described.

Immediately after the buyer made the purchase (no more than 5 minutes later) they left negative feedback stating "Way to go. Your a dishonest scammer. It's getting sent right back." They then requested to cancel the order; all within 10 minutes of the original purchase.

I requested a feedback revision from eBay and it was declined saying it didn't violate any of eBay's policies. I contacted eBay for Business on Facebook and they suggested I contact the buyer, and request a revision from the buyer. I messaged the buyer politely asking what we could do to improve, and why they left the feedback they did. The buyer never responded. 

I had eBay call me back so I could speak to a live person about this, and was informed that they would submit an appeal for the eBay feedback revision request that did not end in my favor. 

I am extremely disheartened and frustrated by this experience. Why would eBay allow buyers to abuse sellers like this for no reason? What can I do beyond this to remove the false, defamatory feedback? What's stopping other sellers from doing this to their competition to tank their feedback ratings, and as a result; their sales? Why is it okay for a buyer to buy an item just to leave negative feedback to hurt a business? 

[vintagecraze50]

So basically then any buyer can leave a feedback like this based just on your descriptions buy the item, cancel, never get it and blast your reputation and then not be able to get it removed. Way to go EBAY.

[gamersbaystore]

ebay phone reps are lying when they say they can't remove feedback, they certainly can. They just removed a neutral for me a few weeks ago. I called, whined about it, they removed it while I was on the phone. They absolutely have the power to remove negatives and neutrals.

My first request to have that feedback removed was denied, they make you jump through hoops to get it removed now.

Something to note, if you have an open dispute, they wont touch the feedback without the case being closed first.

[vintagecraze50]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

So basically then any buyer can leave a feedback like this based just on your descriptions buy the item, cancel, never get it and blast your reputation and then not be able to get it removed. Way to go EBAY.

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SO IF THEY WILL NOT REMOVE IT, you have to reply under that feedback saying something like. “Buyer purchased item, then canceled their order immediately, refund issued immediately,  never had the item at all, and left us this completely false feedback comment”

[vintagecraze50]

Anything is possible with these kinds of buyers.

[gurlcat]

I would wait to reply at all, until all possible removal avenues are gone, but then yes, a simple reply stating the facts (no insults) would be the best bet.  

Still it sucks that the OP should even get the blow to their score because of this and the one other neg they got (no clue what that was about since the comment was removed).  Anyway, a 92 is kinda rough.  

[slyders_finds]

Nobody said it was. It was a general response to dqdistributions comment:

"What if the seller never ships? Should that seller just not get negative feedback?"

[robbie31415]

Yes.

I feel they used policy violation reason when it should have been outside my control and emphasized that it was a cancelled order and that the seller simply followed the buyers request to cancel order.

Policy violation reasoning is harder to win unless it's blatantly obvious. Abuse of feedback by another seller on a dummy account is pure speculation so it might be completely denied by a reviewer.

[luckythewinner]

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@rockystradingpost wrote:

Why does ebay allow a Buyer to leave feedback before an item has even shipped?? 

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Perhaps because in some cases it is the seller's behavior that is the issue, not the item. Examples might be:

• a seller who is abusive;
• a seller who doe snot honor an agreement for shipping cost;
• a seller who discloses defects after the sale;
• a seller who states that he will substitute a different item;
• a seller who says he will not ship because the auction price was too low;
• etc. 

[slyders_finds]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Yes the seller does clearly say plated in the description. 

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Clearly you didn't read my message or pretending you didnt read it. I said that. 

[slyders_finds]

Sure they did. 👍

[tiltedtimecompany]

Yes; it was acid tested. It is gold plated.

[tiltedtimecompany]

Same. That doesn't appear to be the case anymore though. They left it within 5 minutes of purchase.

[tiltedtimecompany]

I left the feedback after posting this. I also did not leave the feedback as a positive, but it appears as though it came up that way. I would never knowingly or in good conscience violate an eBay policy. This appears to be poor design of their feedback UI in the seller hub on PC. How can I remove this feedback seeing as it shows as a positive with a negative message? This was not my intent at all - I thought it would be neutral as I am aware you cannot leave a negative remark attached to a positive feedback.

[tiltedtimecompany]

I am the seller. The buyer left negative feedback 5 minutes after purchase. They definitely have the ability to leave negative feedback immediately after purchase - this case proves it. 

[tiltedtimecompany]

It is plated. It was acid tested.