After purchasing an item, before I shipped it, a customer asked me to falsely declare the value of the item to her nation's Customs bureau to reduce potential Customs duties she would pay. I refused, explaining that this would be illegal.
The customer responded somewhat unhappily but said that she understood.
Shortly thereafter she sent me another message saying she was ready to buy two items, trying to coax me into declaring a false value again. I did not respond.
After receiving the item, the customer sent me another message enraged about the Customs duty she'd needed to pay, reiterating that she'd asked me to declare the item as a gift. I responded and reminded her that I'd declined for the reason I'd given.
The customer then left me a negative feedback, claiming that the item had been poorly packed and that I'd ignored her messages.
If one looks at my other feedback, many customers have commented on just how carefully my items are packed, and none of my customers have complained about the packing. Moreover, the only message I ignored was the customer's second request for me to do something illegal.
eBay's Abusive Buyer Policy* explicitly states that "Asking a seller to falsely declare an item as a gift on a customs form is considered to be encouraging illegal activity."
eBay's Abusve Buyer Policy* also says "If a buyer is making demands that are not a part of your original listing, you will be protected from negative feedback and defects when you either deliver the item purchased by the buyer according to the original terms of your listing, or cancel the transaction."
In addition, eBay's Spring 2019 Seller Protections Update states clearly, "When we find that a buyer violated the [Abusive Buyer] policy, we will remove any feedback and defects, including opened cases in service metrics.".
Clearly, the customer was asking for something that was not part of my offer, which is a violation of the Abusive Buyer Policy. What she was asking for is also specifically prohibited by the Abusive Buyer Policy.
Do you know what eBay customer service told me when I asked for the negative feedback to be removed?
They told me that, even though the buyer violated the policy, because the feedback itself did not violate the policy, they would not remove it.
I responded and emphasized to customer service that the argument they gave me is not consistent with what the policy actually says. The policy makes an absolute statement, not a conditional one, that I will be protected from negative feedback (period) from a buyer who violates the policy.
I tried to make the point to customer service that the writer of the Abusive Buyer policy was keenly aware of the fact that customers who have violated policy may use any cleverly-worded negative feedback they want to make a seller look bad in retaliation, and a violator is never going to make a policy-violating statement in their negative feedback if they know what's good for them.
Well, eBay stonewalled me at that point and essentially told me that, because this was the second time I had written, they would ignore any further messages from me on the matter.
If eBay will not stand behind its policies, or claim that the policies say something other than they do when they are pointed out, what good are the policies?
*https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/abusive-buyer-policy
**https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2019-spring/seller-protections.html
