eBay Negative feedback problem
It was inevitable that it would happen, I have a multitude of similar items listed and for sale and our shipper accidentally sent out the wrong model. The buyer, instead of contacting us, used negative feedback. We fixed the issue and sent a revision request to the buyer. The buyer spent several hours trying to get the revision to work and was only able to submit a reply. When they contacted eBay to let them know that they were unable to change the feedback from negative to positive, they went in circles trying to say that I, the seller, needed to submit a feedback revision request, which had been done. Finally, the eBay CS team said that I, the seller, needed to contact the eBay CS team so they could rectify the issue. I spent 3-4hrs with their CS team as they went through 3 or 4 different departments only to have the last person say that it needed to be kicked up the chain to an appeals department as they do not know why the buyer was unable to revise. I was told 72 hours for the department to respond and rectify... 5 days later and I have yet to have the issue resolved and the representatives today were all condescending and dismissive, each attempting to state that they cannot remove the feedback, which was not the result myself or the buyer were looking for...
At this point I am seeking legal action against eBay considering feedback is used as a performance metric in search features and because mobile platforms do not show feedback replies.
Any other suggestions?
tncountrygrl
·3 years agoI am going through the same thing. Buyer claimed my item was broken when received but ebay could look at the pictures of item it was in like new condition .I notified buyer twice and even offered a full refund and I know that item was not broken she did not respond to my revision so i still have a negative for something was not my fault, Ebay needs to let us sellers leave negative feedback for buyers.
carlmarxx
·3 years agoI though eBay use's number of return's /refunds in seller ProFormance status from TRS+/ TRS , above standard Seller to Low standard seller rating ? , Which set's the FVF's numbers the seller is charged I.e. Seller account strikes as stated in the eBay UA. Also Ebay keep's track of INR's the seller gets and are counted as strike on the seller performance . I never heard of eBay use seller's less then positive feedback as part of performance Matrixx . Because they know most less then positives are goof ball complaints aren't about what the seller did wrong ,but a unhappy buyer that will never be satisfied .
oldwestcoins
·3 years agoI don't see any negative FB for you. ???
Every time I have requested eBay to review a negative feedback left, it has been removed. Of course, all my requests were justified and could be proven. I probably have requested 5-6 times in the past 23 yrs.
I wouldn't get bunched up over one negative FB. In truth, not a lot of buyers even check them.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoActually, more than 53% of buyers use feedback to determine if they'll buy... And even ebay's top match algorithm takes into account the feedback...so? Who cares that you've been selling for 23yrs? Pretending it doesn't doesn't matter doesn't mean it doesn't matter.
fashunu4eeuh
·3 years agoSource of the claims?
femmefan1946
·3 years agoThe last time I consulted a lawyer was over 20 years ago and her half hour consultation cost me $300. Worth every penny.
How much is an actual letter going for these days?
bonjourami
·3 years agoLike Marlon Brando said in 'Streetcar Named Desire'...... "I have this lawyer acquaintance."
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoAbsolutely nothing. Real job has benefits that gives me legal on retainer...no money needed for a letter
oldwestcoins
·3 years agoReal lawyers don't offer retainers. FYI
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years ago🤣 Ok buddy...glad you understand how corporate legal works...
kabilab
·3 years agoIn 2013, and as part of a case the lawyer was handling, I was charged $125 for a letter. I was irritated, until a friend mentioned that was a discounted rate and I should be thankful.
junk4geeks
·3 years agoWhat's funny and infuriating is I just saw a seller with thousands of sales and enough negative feedback to drop to 94% I also left negative and I saw today he's at 100% with all his negatives removed including mine. But a person who was an obvious scammer that even ebay agreed was scamming left their negative feedback on me but that was a coue years ago.
byrd69er
·3 years agoSuggestion: Forget it and move on. All that over a feedback?
bonjourami
·3 years agoWell lets hope this fb removal will be the worst problem you ever have here. Seems like much ado about nothing to me, but I know how important it was to you..and your lawyer.
quicksilverdiecast
·3 years agowelcome to ebay, when you get a chance call back and ask for a supervisor in security and trust, and wait regardless of how many times they check in with you say they are still trying to find one. TAKE DOWN DATES TIME STAMPS AND NAMES OF THE PEOPLE YOU SPOKE TOO otherwise you can jepardize your own case. Explain to them THEIR POLICY at how they instruct you to do so, since it cannot be done due to ebays failure NOT yours or the buyers request it be removed.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoMy attorney was more versed in this than I, he simply asked for the buyer and my statements and handled the rest. Less than 24hrs later it was removed.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoIf I got a nickel for each person that stated here that they want to pursue legal action against ebay, I would have enough to buy a nice steak dinner at a fancy restaurant with my hubby. Anyway, it looks like the negative was removed. I am sure it was NOT because of the threat of legal action.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoConsidering the last action taken was a draft letter with statement from my buyer, myself, and an attorney who was familiar with eBay policies, I would say the removal was part of a legal action just not a court action.
oldwestcoins
·3 years agoYou would be a multimillionaire by now. ðŸ˜
Unavailable member
·3 years agoLooking at your feedback it appears the negative feedback was removed. Congratulations.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoIt was! Seems either the forum or having my lawyer draft a letter pushed the buttons!
janet9988
·3 years agoI do not see any negative feedback nor any revised feedback.
Ebay only allows
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How to respond to a revision request
If a seller would like you to revise your feedback, we’ll send you an email with all the details. You’ll then have 10 days to either:
We’ll send you a reminder if you haven’t responded after 7 days. Revision requests expire after 10 days and the feedback won’t be changed if you haven’t responded within that time.
az93
·3 years agoCan buyer add to his feedback that negative was left in error?
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoHe sort-of did, but the issue was that eBay policy allows a revision when buyer leaves feedback for sellers. eBay CS lacked the knowledge on how to fix the issue when the revision request was not working properly and refused to do anything about it, literally had several eBay CS people just say "It will not be removed" as if we were asking for removal. Technically, we could have started a return since I had the right item sent out overnight, however eBay stated we would be able to use a revision request since I had never needed to use the service before, and the buyer would be able to change from negative to positive in the request. When the first session via chat failed to work, my buyer left a comment stating that I fixed the issue and didn't know why he couldn't change the feedback. eBay even recognized this and our email chain through the eBay messaging system. So, we were put on a three-way chat with someone who said they would make sure it was fixed... we were promised it would be fixed after 72hrs, and nothing happened. So, I had to go another route, which worked, but it was not what I wanted to do. Most people on here are just as condescending and pretentious, assuming they know everything but give no answers. Fortunately, I had an attorney that found a way into seeing how their policy dictated that they were required to remove the feedback if the buyer and I were in agreement, and we forced their hand.
onlinecentral
·3 years agoThe buyer spent several hours trying to get the revision to work and was only able to submit a reply.
Ask your buyer to try to do the revision on a Desktop PC running Windows 10 or 11. Smart phones and other devices tend to have more screens that do not work properly.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoHe was on a computer at work. eBay went through all these steps while we were on a three way call.
fashunu4eeuh
·3 years agoâ€At this point I am seeking legal action against eBay considering feedback is used as a performance metric in search features and because mobile platforms do not show feedback replies.â€
Because feedback is voluntary, subjective and arbitrary, eBay does not use it in performance metrics any more, and hasn’t for a number of years. I am not sure what you mean by using it as a metric in Search features. I don’t believe buyers can filter Search results by feedback scores.
Before undertaking a pricey and time-consuming legal action, i suggest you review the eBay User Agreement, paying particular attention to Sect. 18 Legal Disputes.
Feedback no longer carries the same weight it once did, as fewer members are using it, fewer are leaving it. A professional response showing your customer service skill and concern for the buyer experience is usually all that is required to assure future buyers and “undo†any poor rating.
The other poster is correct. Leaving a negative statement under a positive review is expressly against stated eBay policy. Given that you have done so, i would not do anything to call attention to myself regarding feedback. It is not in your better interests.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoYou might want to look up how feedback is used in the buyer seller matching process and how feedback can affect SEO when buyers are searching for products with multiple sellers and listings.
fern*wood
·3 years agoWhere do I look to see this documented? Do feedback policy violations by sellers affect this also?
chapeau-noir
·3 years agoIn other words - "sometimes buyers look at seller feedback"?
fashunu4eeuh
·3 years agoHi @unicorns_and_battlestars I have spent quite some time attempting to find a correlation between SEO and eBay feedback, and have come up empty. Can you elaborate further on your suggestion? What do you mean when you reference buyer-seller matching process? Where did you find the information on these assertions?
soh.maryl
·3 years agoYes, I do have another suggestion: Feedback is not used as a performance metric.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoIt is, it just isn't used by eBay to measure your performance for their system. It is, however, used to match sellers and buyers and is indeed a performance metric on traffic and matched buyers.
luckythewinner
·3 years agoAny other suggestions?
Yes. Perhaps your buyer is incompetent or is not being honest and does not want to revise the feedback.
each attempting to state that they cannot remove the feedback
I would hope eBay would not remove a negative just because a seller sent a revision request that was not acted upon.
At this point I am seeking legal action against eBay considering feedback is used as a performance metric in search features
How is feedback used a performance metric in search features?
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoBuyer was fine, we were talking to the same eBay CS rep together and there was definitely something wrong on eBays side of the revision request. There was significant email exchange and a recorded call the buyer and I had discussing the issue.
Feedback is used in search optimization for matching buyers and sellers, hence a performance metric. Negative feedback, when there are multiple listings of the same item, can move you out of the matching criteria. This is combined with feedback replies not being visible on mobile devices, and while a supposed 70% check the replies, this ignores the mobile usage and many of metrics to grade buyer seller interactions based on feedback.
gloryglorygifts
·3 years agoI had a similar problem a year or so ago, but the shipper sent out an item that had a brown bead in a pink rosary (one brown wood bead in a wood rosary). Customer put negative feedback instead of contacting me first. I immediately contacted her, rectified it and had messaged back and forth with her. She couldn't revise her f/b, even tho I sent her a revision request. So in my response I included something she wrote in our messages and she was fine with that. She was a happy camper and it looks much better that it was resolved too.
It happens.....
hartungcards
·3 years agoI have a suggestion. I hope you're considering making this "legal action" a class-action suit. I'd love to join it just to see how fast a class-action suit over unfair negative feedback on eBay gets tossed out.
inhawaii
·3 years agoThat feedback I don't think will be removable by ebay.
BUT
Because the buyer is happy I see no reason my the buyer would not agree to a feedback revision.
Have you thought about going that route?
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoDid you not see the part where THE BUYER TRIED TO DO A REVISION! I sent the request after the issue was resolved. They tried going through the steps only to not have the option to change the feedback from negative to positive... did you even read?
richard1rst
·3 years agoWhat do you mean by "our shipper". Are you drop shipping? In any event a mistake was made on YOUR end. You need to put on your Big Boy Pants, own up to it and learn from the experience.
kensgiftshop
·3 years agoAre you saying that Amazon shipped the buyer the wrong item?
As long as the feedback doesn't violate any policy, they won't remove it.
slippinjimmy
·3 years agoeBay does NOT use Feedback as a performance metric
FYI - Your reply was very good and the buyer follow up confirms that, I'd be happy to have that neg unlike the neg I currently have that only says "bad service" (shipment to Spain took 17 days).
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoIt would work well if the replies showed up via mobile platform, but they only show the initial feedback. Also, the backend search optimization for preferred seller matching utilizes the feedback metric to match buyers and sellers. eBay will tell you they, as a company, do not use it to determine your performance but it is used as a means of guiding customers to your store.
12345jamesstamps
·3 years agoI had the same problem where buyer wanted to change a negative to a positive feedback after I refunded the buyer. Apparently, buyer is allowed a certain time frame when buyer can change a negative feedback to a positive feedback. So I basically couldn't do anything but watch my one and only negative feedback for about a year. No a whole lot can be done. Calling CS the minions who answer the phone can't really do much anymore. They used to be able to years ago. I would just go on and don't let a negative feedback bother you. I did it for almost a year. I finally got my rating back to 100%. The more positive feedback you get from future sales will return your rating back to 100%. I don't know the metrics on how much feedback you need to get it back to 100% before year end.
soh.maryl
·3 years agoMy impression has always been that, if a buyer left negative FB, and the seller fixed whatever the issue was, the seller could send the buyer a "Feedback Revision Request" and the buyer would then be able to revise the feedback accordingly. So my impression was incorrect?
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoNo, you are correct. I sent the request, the buyer used the link, followed the revision instructions but it wouldn't let him change from negative to positive...it only let him add an additional comment.
lamber9347
·3 years agoThere is no 'legal action' you can take over feedback. There is no requirement for a buyer to contact the seller first, and feedback is simply a buyer's opinion. You are giving it too much credence. Best of luck to you....
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoActually there is legal action that can be taken against a performance metric that also affects search optimization. I spent plenty of time with an attorney I have on retainer discussing this.
coolections
·3 years agoYour story, stick to it.
bonjourami
·3 years agoI expect a lot of drop shippers have attorneys on retainer..so many things seem to go wrong with them.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoWasn't dropped shipped, it was a local warehouse picking issue, and was corrected. You seem to think I wanted to go after the buyer, which I did not. I wanted to fix the experience the buyer had, and we did just that. eBay refused to allow either of us to remove or edit the feedback and only allowed the buyer to make a reply, even with the feedback revision sent. The issue was not with the buyer or the feedback, it was with eBay refusing to adhere to guidelines they put in place that allow feedback corrections and then refused to allow the correction to happen. eBay refused, initially, to adhere to their own defined policy, not suggestions, and this is where myself and the buyer had issue. He signed the same form from my attorney giving statement to the interactions with the eBay CS team.
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoeBay agreed...so apparently so. The only issue that arises is when buyer leaves feedback and the seller attempts to sue the buyer. This instance was against eBay for failing to correct an error on their end. It was removed...so obviously sustenance was in my approach.
bonjourami
·3 years ago"At this point I am seeking legal action against eBay considering feedback is used as a performance metric in search features and because mobile platforms do not show feedback replies. "
Im sorry..but really?
unicorns_and_battlestars
OP3 years agoIt worked...so, yes
oldwestcoins
·3 years agoLOL. If we only had a dollar for every time we read a post here threatening a lawsuit. Nice post.