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What the heck happened to Ebay's feedback system?
After 21 years of largely trouble-free experiences on Ebay I have been repeatedly burned over the past four months — to the point where I fear I am far from alone.
For those who don't want to read the (long) back story, my question in a nutshell: How can I go about reaching someone in Ebay upper management regarding my feedback that Buyers who have little to no history of leaving negative feedback should be given a WARNING before negative feedback is permanently deleted? To summarize, I feel Ebay ought to implement a Feedback Revision mechanism or Feedback Appeal process vs. the current "fist strike and you're out" approach to justify feedback censorship.
The back story, for those who care to read why I landed here on the Community Forum, concerns a spate of Item not as Described/Not Received transactions over the past four months that have collectively wasted roughly 10 hours of my time. (Even though Ebay has ruled in my favor, as the saying goes time is also money.) I can't keep encountering situations where it is necessary, in the first place, to open a Buyer Protection Claim, nor do I stand a chance of steering clear of this kind of trouble in the future if sellers who act in bad faith nevertheless have few or no Red Flags in their feedback.
In every case I am about to describe, it occurs to me that if feedback more accurately reflected buyers who have had a negative experience — but were not permitted to leave negative feedback — I might have been spared not only a complete loss of trust in Ebay's feedback system but have been better informed to shop with sellers who DO deal honestly with their customers. (When bad sellers are protected, better sellers miss out on business and buyers of less honest sellers end up burned — not exactly a winning formula, which is why I hope this post will make it up Ebay's management chain!)
So here's how it went down: The "bad luck" began in November when a seller listed a mechanical item as "tested and working". I sent emails beforehand just to be clear I understood the condition, return policy, etc. And, of course, I reviewed the seller's feedback. There were no Red Flags to speak of so I bought the item. Unfortunately, not only was the item received in non-working condition, it was incomplete. I contacted the seller and asked if it was possible that he shipped the wrong item, since the one I bought (out of several similar items listed) was explicitly said to be working. The seller simply said to return it for a refund, so that's what I did. Upon receipt, the seller deducted almost half of my refund amount and did not respond when I messaged him to ask why my refund was shorted.
After spending about three hours trying to resolve the matter, Ebay came down in my favor and refunded the balance. I used that refund to shop with another seller for the same item, which in turn was also advertised as "tested and working". Again I communicated over email beforehand to make sure I confirmed what to expect. Upon receipt, not only was the item in non-working condition — it was a different model than indicated in the listing. Once again, I gave the seller the benefit of the doubt and asked if it was possible — since that seller, too, had multiple similar items listed in his Ebay store — if I received the wrong item by accident. This time, the seller did not respond at all — not even to ask that I return it. Again, I had to open a Buyer Protection Claim.
In January, I posted another topic to Ebay Community because I ended up in a situation with the aforementioned item where USPS did not scan my return for over 10 days. I had to spend about three hours trying to trace where the package would have gone from the substation where I dropped it off. Meanwhile, because it was never scanned at the point of origin, for all intents and purposes it had not been returned (per Ebay customer service who said the only way they would intervene is if the tracking entered the system). Ultimately, I had to spend another two hours of my time going in circles through the USPS phone system before I was was at last successful in creating a Post Office Inspector General complaint. By the time all was said and done and the package had been "found", I was within two days of Ebay's cutoff for receiving a refund. Given that the item was valued at over $100, this was too close for comfort.
One would think I would learn once twice burned, but I did not. Instead, I made one of my larger purchases to date on Ebay. The listing had what appeared to be great photos, a video and solid seller feedback. As in the prior cases, there was nothing to tip me off as a buyer that I might end up in another bad spot.
Upon receipt, the item that was described as "no problem" and "no issues" with condition was visibly in need of repair. Problem is, I live far away from the nearest place to obtain a professional inspection/estimate. So I decided to take photos of the issues and ask the seller if they wanted additional documentation from a jeweler. Seller responded with a terse "Sorry. Send it back".
Since the item is vintage (not "off the shelf" or easily replaced) I decided that I should check into what it would cost to repair, so I made the hour-long drive and dropped it at a jewelry shop (a Friday). That weekend, I was snowed in and the shop owner wasn't answering his phones (found out later, the business was closed all weekend).
I sent a follow up Ebay message asking if the seller would consider a *partial* price adjustment in lieu of return. (It's important to note that at NO TIME did I specify a dollar amount or demand a refund.) Seller sent another terse reply that the item did not belong to me but to his consignment client, therefore I am required to return it to the owner. Of course, I responded that since my payment had cleared and I was in the process of obtaining a repair evaluation, it was not up to his consignment client but rather a question of if HE wanted to work with ME to come to come to a resolution. Rather than acknowledge any of the specifics of what I wrote, he responded with a terse "Sending you a return label". (Due to the way his responses were worded I couldn't be sure he had even bothered to read my actual messages.)
A week later, with no Return Label having been received, I got on a chat with Ebay and said that I wanted help because the Seller, beyond failing to acknowledged any of my actual questions, also threatened to delete any future messages. (This despite the fact that I specifically went out of my way to assure him that I was NOT threatening to leave negative feedback.)
Ebay instructed me via chat to open a Return Request. I objected saying I would prefer repair to return. Ebay assured me that this was a necessary step, and after three days Ebay would assist me in communicating with the seller. After three days I followed up with Ebay customer service and was then informed that unless I send the item back as per the return request I opened, they can do nothing. I pointed out that I was instructed to open a Return Request as a means to obtain assistance communicating with an unresponsive seller, only for Ebay to clarify, belatedly, that they won't get involved apart from a refund upon return. Because Ebay misdirected me about the difference between a Return vs. Dispute (what they used to call it back in the day), I wasted over two hours on the phone and a chat to arrive back at Square One. Consequently, I decided to throw in the towel on Ebay and instead leave negative feedback since by then I had exhausted three weeks of my time and all my options.
To digress for a moment: In all the years I have been using Ebay, I can count on one hand how many times I have left negative feedback. I can also count on one hand how many times I have had to open a Buyer Protection Claim — all of which have been clustered in the past four months! As such, I have no idea what is or is not acceptable kind of negative seller feedback to leave.
In each of the FIVE instances over the past four months (to include another situation where a Seller failed to ship an item and did not upload any proof of tracking to myself or to Ebay), I have found that once my Buyer Protection claim was resolved (in my favor), Ebay nonetheless BLOCKED my ability to leave Seller feedback indicating that I was forced to file a Buyer Protection Claim in the first place. (While I may have had my money back, I also feel an obligation to other buyers to warn them if a particular Seller engages in bait-and-switch practices.)
In this most recent instance, I left a detailed feedback statement essentially saying that the seller, besparkledagain, described the item as "no problems" and "no issues" but that the item needed extensive repairs that were not disclosed in the description or depicted in the listing photos. A day later I get an Ebay notice with no appeal option stating that my feedback was removed for "feedback extortion". I immediately get on the phone with Ebay customer service, where I am informed that because I went beyond the photos of the damage to offer the seller further documentation in the form of a repair estimate, the seller may have used that email history to flag me for Feedback Extortion! (Again, this is despite never making a refund demand or threatening negative feedback!)
While I belatedly understand Ebay may have strict policies in place for Seller feedback, I feel I should have been given an opportunity to Revise Feedback or Appeal a Feedback Decision. I was told on a customer service phone call, however, that no such option exists.
Bottom Line
From the looks of it, high-volume sellers are permitted to maintain their near-perfect feedback, in part because negative buyer feedback is censored.
The fact is, I have yet to encounter ANY circumstance under which a buyer in my position has been permitted to leave negative seller feedback.
Given all the money I have spent and nearly a dozen hours of my time wasted trying to get help for Sellers who refuse to communicate and are impervious to feedback consequences, I now question the integrity and reliability of the entire Ebay feedback system. (This is not how Ebay was run years ago when I signed up!)
Short of closing my 21-year-old account because I no longer feel safe shopping here, is there any way, apart from posting in the community forum, to run my suggestions higher up the Ebay management chain? (I already tried asking this question by phone but got nowhere — not even a case number assigned — hence why I am posting this question to the Community forums.)
