Seller cancelled but claimed that I requested to cancel
I bought and immediately paid but the seller cancelled stating he had made a mistake yet he put that:
buyer had requested to cancel as the reason when refunding.
This is untrue and also prevents me from leaving negative feedback and also preserves his score with Ebay.
What can I do?
Is there any way that I can leave negative feedback?
11 comments
mudshark61369
·5 months ago@karmgord1 ,
Use the link provided by @jonathanbrightlight .
On the first page use the blue Report seller button.
Next page select seller has violated an ebay policy > Continue
Next Pg. enter the seller's username, select Other, then in the text box write.
"The seller used an invalid reason for cancelling the transaction. Check my messages I did not request canceling the transaction. The seller selected that option, possibly to avoid a defect."
You may not be able to leave a negative feedback for the transaction, but the seller will get a defect on their account and have to pay the final value fees for the transaction.
gurlcat
·5 months agoKudos for coming to ask, and knowing he had no right to do that. By reporting what he did, you should also lose the buyer strike for cancellation.
jonathanbrightlight
·5 months agoI’m curious, have you seen either documentation from eBay that they remove that, or buyers showing that it happened? Not doubting, just had never thought about that aspect of the process and haven’t seen it mentioned before that I can think of.
Edit: @karmgord1 you can use this link here to report the seller (but you will not be told if any action is taken, typically): https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/resolving-issues-sellers/reporting-item-issue-seller?id=4022
gurlcat
·5 months ago@jonathanbrightlight Well you're exposing my ignorance and this^ is really just the tip of the iceberg; the whole 'buyer strike' topic is something I wish I knew more about. Note that I said "should" -that's a word that almost automatically gets my side-eye when OP's use it, because usually it's the kind of "eBay should" outcry that's like screaming into the wind, nevvvver gonnna happen. But in this case I used it in the "in a just world" sense, because I really don't know. But considering how eBay loves (arguably 'favors') buyers, and because there is a systematic, quantified, buyer strike allowance setting in Seller Preferences, then a "just" eBay would instruct the employees who field reports to remove a buyer strike whenever they've proven they didn't deserve it.
But .... do buyers even GET a buyer strike from cancellations like what the OP described (if they'd really been the canceling party)? Here's the Seller Preference language:
Note how it says "buyers who caused _ cancellations of UNPAID orders" (the OP said they paid immediately).
Okay how do I even organize all the thoughts in my head right now?
So, first the word "unpaid" -does that mean buyers don't get a strike if they already paid, but then request a cancellation? If so, that ticks me off because lately I've been getting more of those than 4-day deadbeats or immediate requests to cancel (auction wins) before the buyers paid. Post-payment cancellations are just as frustrating as pre-payment ones, as relisting and starting over is the outcome either way, and the post-payment ones are all the more likely when eBay opts to make a bidder provide a payment method for autopay, even if the seller had that preference turned OFF (did you know I've been seeing that here and there? -This was the first instance, but I've had a couple more since: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Why-is-eBay-overriding-my-Buyer-Rule/td-p/35499561 ).
Anyway, "eBay should" count buyer cancellations as strikes whether they were "caused" by simply never paying in 4 days, requesting to cancel before paying, or requesting to cancel AFTER paying, and I can't think of any reason why post-payment should be "okay" in eBay's eyes. Isn't it even more 'taxing' on them when they have to do a whole refund than if it's just a 'never mind' that only makes the seller relist?
[ Lil' side note since we're in the rabbit hole anyway and probably nobody is reading this far 😆 -When I had the 3rd of those post-payment cancellation requests in quick succession, I was so honked off and in need of the money, I did something I'd never done before, and which most regulars here (including me!) would normally advise against doing: I DECLINED the request and shipped that package the next day! I didn't even send the buyer a message to "explain myself" or anything, just did it. The item was delivered super fast and so far the buyer hasn't started a return nor given me feedback. ]
So, IDK if the OP even got a strike for the falsely-cited cancellation anyway, probably not if we're to believe the 'letter of the law' in the Seller Preference language. But here's another "eBay should" and I mean REALLY should, for everyone's sake, including eBay's own: they should make it clear to buyers that their cancellations are not without repercussions, that they are tallied against settings that could disable them from buying from some sellers. And since WE have pages showing us our various kinds of 'strikes' and 'dings' and what-not, they should too, so they know exactly where they stand. A year is a long time to try to remember, especially for prolific buyers. I get why eBay would want to be opaque about their formulations for taking away buyers' MBG privileges, but cancellation tallies should be something they could find on a page in their accounts.
ESPECIALLY considering the search result algorithm doesn't filter out sellers they can't buy from, and when they try they get a really vague block statement. I can't remember the wording of that but I recall it being something that would confuse the heck out of me if I didn't know the seller's side of it.
jonathanbrightlight
·5 months ago@gurlcat
To my knowledge, there is no strike or tracking (probably something internally in eBay's systems, but nothing sellers can act on) for buyers who cancel either before OR after payment. Only unpaid orders cancelled as "Buyer has not paid" by the seller when the buyer has not requested a cancellation.
It does seem like having the option to block buyers who have requested x number of cancellations within x months, similar to the current system, would be valuable, but it's not currently available.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@jonathanbrightlight So you're pretty sure that setting is strictly for 4-day deadbeats?
Then that's probably what this buyer was trying to avoid on this auction win, which she requested to cancel on the 4th day. I sell to tons of resellers, probably more than to actual end-users/collectors. Some I can tell simply because they buy with their seller accounts, others because their feedback indicates so much jewelry buying it's very unlikely for themselves. So if you're right, then this one probably also knew, and tried to avoid the strike after holding my inventory hostage for 4 days.
I said to heck with that and declined, just to make sure she got the strike (added her to my BBL too of course). But here's what I don't understand: why the whole thing didn't close after her remaining hours ran out. It's STILL on my 'Awaiting Payment' page, although when I click the Cancellation Details page, it says it's closed.
I relisted the item, but had to do so as a Sell Similar.
jonathanbrightlight
·5 months ago@gurlcat
Yes, it's only for the ones who don't request a cancellation and don't pay, and when you decline a cancellation it doesn't give them a strike or give you the option to give them a strike, it just leaves it as an open order. All you can do now if they never pay is archive the order. If they formally request a cancellation (instead of just messaging you asking to cancel), there is no possible way for them to get an unpaid item strike, regardless of whether you accept or decline.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@jonathanbrightlight UGH that is bulllllllllshhhhhhhhh. 😡 Well hopefully she spilled nail polish on her favorite pants that day, or something.
ed8108
·5 months agoReport the seller to eBay that you did not request or agree to the cancellation
Unfortunately we live in an age in which manny people don't believe honesty is the best policy.
Good luck
albertabrightalberta
·5 months ago@karmgord1
You can go to the order and in the dropdown, click to report the seller for lying about the reason for the cancellation. (Sellers lie in order to avoid a defect on their account.)
You can also leave appropriate, non-emotional and non-accusatory feedback without name-calling.
You can say, "Very disappointed that seller cancelled my order because he made a mistake but claimed that
I asked to cancel."