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Ratings & eBay communication
I received a request to retract a rating from a seller. He also appealed to eBay. I can find no place to reply to eBay's message, so I am resorting to this. The form appears not to allow me to include the correspondence reference number.
I have searched your site and found no place in Help & Contact to contact eBay directly with this kind of issue.
This is my reply to eBay's notification. I need help in determining whether this listing is fair and honest or, in my opinion, meant to deceive.
The seller refunded my money after blaming me, for my mistake, based on his false information. It was not a misunderstanding. It was a deceptive listing.
My feedback was based on the seller's describing the item all the way through as a physical dvd/blu-ray, to be shipped by USPS. He says at the beginning to read the description. The description says that it is a physical disc. At the end, which now appears to be altered, below all other description, even after "shipping method", (which doesn't exist. How does one ship a digital copy) is the disclaimer "digital copy only. no physical disk." Furthermore, a code square does not indicate a digital copy. You have to scan it and then it will send you a third party. In my opinion this is dangerous. In my opinion, an honest seller would say at the very beginning that he is selling a digital copy, and not copy page for page a description of a legitimate listing and use it as his own. He would also provide--in the listing--where this digital copy is coming from.
His response to my rating was to complain, that I had been at fault for not reading and that he had refunded my money. He does not take responsibility for his, in my opinion, deliberate deception.
I question the legality of his selling digital copies. If this is a legitimate 'digital' sale, the seller should provide his listing/selling license for digital copies. In my reply to his request to change my rating, I will ask him to provide that information.
But if selling digital copies is legal, that's one thing. Providing text that states the listing is for a physical copy, and then a including a disclaimer below the shipping information is not forthright or fair.
In my twenty years with eBay I have almost never given a negative listing. In the very few times that there has been a problem, the seller and I have worked it out.
I received a refund only after he challenged the legitimacy of my objection, putting the fault on me, and I then told him I would be asking eBay about his ethics. So if eBay accepts this practice and tells me so, then I will consider changing my rating.
mam98031
Mentor3 years agoA seller can not change a listing in any way after you have made a purchase that would affect you. Sure they can change the listing, but it will not affect your purchase. The easiest way for you to see this it to go to your purchased items and look at the listing from there. Ebay takes a snapshot of the listing at the moment you purchase the item and a seller can't change that. Make sure you click on See your Order Details.
If you felt the listing was questionable, you should have asked questions of the seller before you purchased an item or just move on to another seller. It is never a good idea to go ahead and purchase it and hope for the best.
This note on the listing that you felt was wrong regarding it was a digital copy was in the description of the time. It wasn't done after you purchased. It is on the original listing. But in reviewing the listing, it is poorly written and it is misleading because it doesn't tell you it is a digital copy in the title, in the item specifics or in the box for About the product. It is below that in the description area. So I can see how this was missed by you.
The response the seller put on the feedback you left stated that he gave you a full refund and you asked for the code so you could get the digital copy of the movie. If so, I'm not so sure your strongly worded negative was the appropriate thing to do. If you had not accepted the digital copy, that would be different.
marie908
OP3 years agoI understood that the seller could not change a listing of my purchase after I did so. I was concerned that he would keep the listing, but change it for future purchases, then claim that was what it said originally. My reasoning was that his method was deceptive in the first place. You did not need to scold me for my suspicions based on my experience with him. It's good to know that eBay takes a snapshot of a listing the moment of purchase. That is somewhat comforting. It also shows that you realize that either the buyer or seller could claim that something was changed. Again, I was remiss in not looking for the IMPORTANT description of the item at the very end, even after shipping info. So, the old adage is still appropriate: "Buyer beware." I'm very disappointed that eBay finds his method of listing acceptable. I will follow your advice from now on: Read every word, and read it again. If unsure, ask the seller, or better yet, just, as you say, move on to another seller.
In regard to your statement that I accepted the code, that was from another mis-statement of his. I was confused by his "do you want me to email the code or send it through eBay?" I did not know he was talking about a digital code. My ignorance. I have never used one. My reply to him was, "Send message about the dvd through eBay." Not my exact words, but I did use "send the dvd." I thought he meant a receipt. I did NOT accept the code. I wrote him immediately and told him that what he had done was unacceptable.. He denied any wrongdoing, justified his hiding the disclaimer, just as you have. How could I "return" the code. I deleted that correspondence, the code along with it. He knows that.
All right. I understand your view of my negligence in missing the all but hidden disclaimer. But I am sorry that you are defending his methods. Your doing so justifies my wording in my rating. Yes it was strongly worded. The purpose of ratings is to warn future buyers of problematic seller practice -- or to reward them for exemplary or appropriate practice. It would be negligent of me NOT to give this person a negative rating. I will consider--not promise--a rewording of the rating. But to give him a positive rating based on his deception would be dishonesty on my part.
mam98031
Mentor3 years agoShipping info is on a totally separate page of all listings.
marie908
OP3 years agoI have just read your warning. I did not see it before I wrote this reply. I did not realize that I was again breaking community rules.
marie908
OP3 years agoI am upset and pressed a send button before I finished my comment. I had not read your warning before I sent this letter. In reading the warning and rereading my reply, I realize that I have probably broken rules again. I do not understand these rules, even after reading the material you linked for me. But, I will heed these warnings and be careful to read descriptions very carefully. If I have to resort to eBay, which I have always believed in, in the past, I will word my correspondence carefully. This has been an emotional and unfortunate, eye-opening experience for me. I apologize for my not understanding your rules.
mam98031
Mentor3 years agoThey aren't my rules, they are Ebay's rules.