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Newbie Bad Buyers
A 6 month eBayer received our like new shirt and sent a demeaning message "you should get a real job". No mention of any issues and did not start a return. Their feedback given was problematic. 23 feedbacks, 1/2 were negative or neutral, all negative/neutral in the last month. We did not respond to the message and an eBay agent told us just to block and report them. 2 weeks later they left a neutral with the comment "nothing special". We messaged them asking what the issue was with no response. We did a feedback revision request with no response. The eBay feedback removal tool denied removal. The real issue is the entire feedback profile of this newbie buyer. There are violations of eBay rules. One negative where he says he had to cancel the order. If he canceled and never received an item, how can he leave a negative? Another negative he admits "I haven't opened it yet but surely it is just some low quality b s." I contacted his other seller victims who had blocked and reported him and they showed much frustration with his rude behavior. One said he ordered on a Friday and on Sunday was already wanting to know why it had not shipped out. The seller actually added a couple items for free to the shipment to appease him but instead he left a neutral with "seller is reaching". What does that even mean? And many of the feedbacks have bad grammar, misspellings, and odd Latin phrases mixed in. Looking into the name and address of this buyer it appears to be a nursing home. One thought is there could be a worker there who set up an account with a resident's credit card. If so, why would they be trolling sellers like they have? But the real issue is why eBay is forcing the Feedback Removal Tool on us yet making it harder to get feedback removed. Last agent that called me took 24 minutes when it use to take 1-2 minutes. Why is a newbie bad buyer given the same power to ruin established sellers' feedback as a well established buyer who leaves the rare negative? eBay says they treat all members "fairly and equally", yet sellers are ranked in their performance but buyers are not. Sellers can only leave positive feedback for a buyer and cannot later revise that feedback in any way ... that alone is not "fair and equal". The ability of a seller to leave a follow-up to a prior feedback would be one step. Undeserved negative and neutral feedback takes away from the bottom line of sellers and eBay as well. Potential buyers are less likely to buy with them in place. Negative feedbacks are also given undue weight on the eBay feedback page. One of this buyer's victims is a large non-profit seller. 3,000 positives and 1 negative in the last month. When a potential buyer goes to that page, do you think they will click on the 3,000 positives or the 1 negative? That's right, they will read the 1 negative. That gives unbelievable power to one person versus the 3,000 buyers who loved what they got, To be "fair" a potential buyer should need to click through page after page of the positives to find that 1 negative not just click it on the table. I will continue to ask for an escalation until hopefully someone at corporate will speak with me. eBay has been a family side business for us and we can only compete with bigger sellers with customer service and better feedback. We went 2 years with perfect feedback before this. In my earlier years I was a management consultant, MBA information systems, and industrial engineer so I do have some qualifications.
fashionsandbeauty4u
Mentor2 years ago@georgiagenes
eBay is currently showing that you have 100% positive feedback with two neutrals and no negatives.
eBay has consistently said that how the Seller responds to feedback is more important that the Buyer's feedback left. Your responses actually qualify for removal if those two Buyers were to report them.
eBay recently changed their policy on feedback removal. Phone reps are no longer able to remove negative feedback. In the past, feedback removal was not consistent and depended on who you spoke to on what day. The Feedback Removal tool is trying to level the playing field.
georgiagenes
OP2 years agoAnd you have 98 positive feedback with 1 neutral. I have been on here 25 years. Many positive changes, some not positive. The Feedback Removal Tool is programmed and the intention is to reduce the amount of customer service time required to deal with feedbacks. It is not "leveling the playing field" if it is now harder to remove feedback. It should be programmed to look at the overall "buyer score" starting with account age and the % positive feedback they give. Buyers who are giving 50%+ non-positives should have a low score and it should be easier to remove their "gray area" feedbacks. It is not my particular neutral from that buyer that is the concern but their obvious feedback abuse of other established sellers. Two of the negatives are clear violations which the sellers could get removed. But most sellers are just irritated by the whole process of trying to get "fair treatment". Now we can't talk to a human, and if we do, as you say they will not help remove feedback. Please explain how the eBay shareholder value is increased by having unjustified negative and neutral feedback stick? It will reduce the number of transactions because potential buyers (me included) routinely click on the negatives on the feedback page to see what problems the very few buyers had. My responses to my 2 neutral feedbacks will not be removed. The first one from a long time buyer who is having issues at work and has no time to report. The 2nd I am working on is a fraudulent account and they have not responded in messaging. The person with that name in that city lives at a different address, not at a retirement home. And they work in finance not in elderly care. The phone number provided eBay registers to a different person as well. Which gets to the issue of fraudulent accounts which are always... fairly new accounts! New account, insulting and trolling sellers, and being allowed to operate with the freedom to ruin feedback! You OK with that? I have managed to speak with a corporate manager before and hopefully can make that happen again. My daughters work with me and this weekend they had a lot of 100 womens jeans to list. I told them just to list them on poshmark which does a much better job with the issue of feedback. Looking at Mercari now with seller fees cut to zero!
mam98031
Mentor2 years agoNeither of your neutral FB are removable as they do not break any policy.
georgiagenes
OP2 years agoThey broke eBay buyer guidance because they did not message us with any issue before leaving feedback. If you had looked at the buyer's feedback given page you would see at least 2 negatives feedbacks given to other sellers that do break eBay policy. Is is OK for a fraudulent account to leave bad feedback? As in an employee of a nursing home using a resident's credit card to order free stuff? By the way, we were pushed to offer Free Returns a couple years back. It has gone well but one of the advantages was the easier ability to get bad feedback removed. Abolishing the feedback removal ability of the customer service agents was a major move against sellers. You've been on here since 1999 like us. Ask yourself, does having undeserved negative / neutral feedbacks sitting for potential customers to read make economic sense? Are there more transactions as a result of potential buyers reading garbage negative feedback? Sure, you and I have an equal chance of getting bad feedback by a scammer or newbie, but we should not be in that position. I go to your profile and only click on the one neutral you got. That is the one that gets most of the reading by your potential buyers. Apparently my responses to my neutrals have resonated well... a record weekend lots of sales! Or maybe it is all the messaging I did with the other sellers who were damaged by the newbie bad buyer. They were very frustrated with their interactions with the "rude jerk" of a buyer as they put it. Cassini loves messaging I guess. We would not be on here if it wasn't mostly positive of course. Never had an issue as a buyer and just the handful of issues as a seller.
mam98031
Mentor2 years ago@georgiagenes
They broke eBay buyer guidance because they did not message us with any issue before leaving feedback.
"Guidance" is just that, a guide, a suggestion, NOT a rule. There is no requirement that a buyer contact the seller before leaving negative FB, so this is not breaking one of the rules.
If you had looked at the buyer's feedback given page you would see at least 2 negatives feedbacks given to other sellers that do break eBay policy.
None of us can see that as only you, the seller, has access to your buyer's ID. The mere fact they have posted 2 other negs doesn't mean they are a bad buyer. It certainly can be cause for concern, but still not a breach of any rule unless they said something in the FB that breaks a rule.
Is is OK for a fraudulent account to leave bad feedback?
What makes your two buyers "fraudulent"? Their accounts are still active. Not sure I understand.
As in an employee of a nursing home using a resident's credit card to order free stuff?
I have no idea what this has to do with anything or if you are just trying to sling mud at someone.
By the way, we were pushed to offer Free Returns a couple years back.
Ebay has recommended 30 or 60 day returns with seller pays shipping for years. In the last few years they call it Free Returns, but it is the same policy that has been available to sellers for years. It is the choice of the seller which return policy they are going to offer. With that said, Free returns had nothing to do with your issue of the two FB you don't like.
It has gone well but one of the advantages was the easier ability to get bad feedback removed. Abolishing the feedback removal ability of the customer service agents was a major move against sellers.
It has not been abolished. It is as it was before in regards the FB has to break some rule. Yours does not. And that is why they won't remove it, there is no policy break. If you feel differently, provide the link to the policy either of your buyer's broke.
You've been on here since 1999 like us. Ask yourself, does having undeserved negative / neutral feedbacks sitting for potential customers to read make economic sense?
Because that is your opinion doesn't make it the truth. You may feel it is underserved, but clearly your buyer doesn't.
Are there more transactions as a result of potential buyers reading garbage negative feedback?
I'm not sure what you are getting at here or even what you mean. You don't have any negative FB.
Sure, you and I have an equal chance of getting bad feedback by a scammer or newbie, but we should not be in that position. I go to your profile and only click on the one neutral you got. That is the one that gets most of the reading by your potential buyers.
I don't consider a buyer that gives me negative or neutral FB a "scammer". That is such an overused word and often used incorrectly. For me, when I do have an issue with a buyer, it is far more often with a seasoned Ebay than it is with a new one.
You are assuming that those neutrals are going to be problematic for you. Typically they aren't when you have very good FB by others like you have. The part that hurt seller more than the negative or neutral FB left by a buyer is far too often how the seller responds to it. If a seller wants to respond, it should always be professional, polite, factual and NO name calling or emotions in it whatsoever. I've seen too many sellers do far more harm to themselves by their responses than the actual FB itself.
Apparently my responses to my neutrals have resonated well... a record weekend lots of sales!
Well that is a leap. I mean congratulations on your sales, but you have no way of knowing if it has anything to do with your remarks on the FB. That is just wishful thinking. Besides lots of buyer never even look at a seller's FB especially when they are 100% positive like yours is.
Or maybe it is all the messaging I did with the other sellers who were damaged by the newbie bad buyer.
You are taking this FAR FAR FAR too personally. Doing this is a breach of the rules and can be seen as interference with another seller's transactions. You can get in trouble for doing this, so be careful.
They were very frustrated with their interactions with the "rude jerk" of a buyer as they put it. Cassini loves messaging I guess.
Cassini has NOTHING to do with messaging. IDK what the heck you are referring too. Cassini is the name of Ebay's search engine. As to calling your buyer names. I'm not into that and it is simply unprofessional.
georgiagenes
OP2 years agoThanks for you very detailed breakdown. I am very sorry for your negative for a $1.99 item you sold that was low quality. Perhaps if they had messaged you with the issue you could have acted. You must know how it feels. Unprofessional is not realizing that we are all in the business to make as much money as possible. This requires both motivated sellers and motivated buyers. The fact that you do not realize that unprofessional, undeserved negative and neutral feedbacks out there that are read MUCH MORE by potential buyers and reduce transactions is problematic. I have an MBA in information systems, spent years in management consulting and industrial / systems engineering. Our eBay is just a family side business. We have done poshmark, mercari, and others mostly for fun with our teen girls. This buyer has posted ALL bad feedbacks in the last month, I was just pointing out that 2 of those were clearly against eBay policy. The sellers I have been in touch with damaged by him were very upset. No, I am not that concerned about my neutrals, but the next undeserved negative we get that can't be removed may be the end of our 25 years for us. Sorry you don't see the big picture. Seller motivation DOES matter. A 25 year account that has sold thousands of items should be more important than a 6 month account that buys cheap things and trolls. I am in touch with many sellers and this issue of a big switch in feedback removal is current and real. With your logic, a seller should be professional but is it AOK for buyers to be unprofessional and not follow guidance? Doesn't seem to matter how many sellers report and block them? Another 25 year seller on YouTube I know got his one and only negative with a one word comment "thanks" recently. That is a clear violation of eBay rules. And eBay will not remove it yet just months ago that was not the case. Fair to you? This seller is attempting to take it directly to eBay's CEO. There is a very clear change in feedback removal rules and this goes beyond current concerns about my account or me taking it "personally" as you say. You can clearly see we have one of the oldest and highest rated accounts around. Top rated for many years. 3 years since the last negative we had removed. In another instance, a bad buyer left 24 of 25 negative feedbacks. Is that an OK percentage to you? 25 years, thankfully I have NEVER had to leave anything but positives for sellers I have bought from. This platform requires professional conduct of BOTH sellers and buyers. If you think new buyers should be able to come in and leave negative after negative that cannot be removed then IDK what the heck you are doing defending them! If you are an "eBay mentor" then maybe you should spend some time mentoring new eBayers into being more professional instead of going after concerned seasoned sellers like us. I did not call my buyers any names, "rude jerk" is what my other seller friends had to say about their feedback given profile. And if you think that "bad buyer" is an insult, well, my definition and just about every other seller definition would be any buyer who leaves 50% + non-positive feedback. "I've seen too many sellers do far more harm to themselves by their responses than the actual FB itself." Well, our response has been to list on poshmark this weekend instead of eBay. And our responses to our 2 neutrals which you obviously think are "unprofessional" hopefully were read by many customers who made a record weekend for us. Our responses show we are serious about our business and want serious buyers willing to abide by the Golden Rule.
mam98031
Mentor2 years ago@georgiagenes
You are welcome. I only read the first line. I took a lot of time with my other response, but I'm not willing to go through another wall of text. It simply is too hard on my old eyes. I'm unsure as to why you won't to paragraphs, it isn't that hard. But your right not to of course. I wish you the best.
georgiagenes
OP2 years agoAs for your one neutral, it is the only feedback I read in your profile. Completely undeserved. And I completely agree with your comment "I wish you had contacted me before leaving this feedback". I guess this is still eBay buyer "guidance" that they message a seller FIRST before starting a return or leaving feedback. That is the best way that us as sellers can try to placate a buyer before all the time consuming and frustrating things can happen. This statement is on every one of our listings: "If anything does not meet your approval at any time, please message us FIRST before starting a return or submitting feedback (eBay guidance) so we can provide options." Also on our thank you sticker on every order is "Any issue just message us!". So between eBay guidance (they no longer enforce) and it being required behavior by our store, any buyer who is not communicating properly should not be able to leave feedback at all in my book. When they start a return or go to leave feedback, they should be told to message the seller first. That would save a ton of customer service and seller time and aggravation. If the seller doesn't message back within say 4 hours, then they could start a return. I believe in our case as a top rated seller there is a waiting period before they can leave feedback at all which is good of course. As for even treatment of sellers, yes, the feedback removal tool works equally across all sellers, so all sellers do have the equal chance of being trolled by a newbie bad buyer. The fact that sellers used to be able to call in multiple times until they got an agent that would remove a negative was actually a GOOD thing. I usually succeeded with the 1st rep. It may be 3 years now since we had to get a negative removed. That is a LONG time considering the thousands of items we have sold. And we are selling USED items which have a much greater chance of having undetected issues. So we are proud of our performance but this is about that next negative that comes our way. I am certain we are in the top tier of sellers whose opinions and guidance should be listened to. When we have an issue it should be viewed as serious.
fashionsandbeauty4u
Mentor2 years ago@georgiagenes
I agree that your opinions and guidance should be listened to by eBay. On the feedback page is a link for "comments?". When you click on that link it takes you to another screen that says "
Tell us what you think about the Feedback System on eBay.
In addition to that, throughout the year, eBay hosts events for Sellers to participate in and before these events, they send out a call for questions to be answered by top-level eBay staff during the event. There is also a live chat feature during these events that the staff reads.
I agree with many of the points you are stating. And it is obvious that you care about your eBay business and put a lot of work into it like many of us. I do hope you will consider leaving feedback for the eBay staff.
georgiagenes
OP2 years agoMuch thanks. What feedback page? I'm not seeing the comments link.