Horrible Selling Experience
Here's what happened:
July 5th: Buyer initially claims product is defective and states "I will give you till tuesday July 9 to respond with a refund before i give feedbak."
July 5th (30 minutes later): I send a refund and informed the buyer the refund has been complete
July 8th: Buyer says "Thank you for processing the refund as quickly as you did."
July 9th: Buyer posts negative feedback falsely stating that he asked for refund and have not heard from seller.
July 13th: Complained to eBay via feedback removal request and email. Got rejected both times.
July 14th: Sent another feedback removal request, this time with documentation because these customer support bots can't look up information in their own system apparently. Waiting for a response.
This is from a buyer who has 30+ years of running a computer business, yet this is how sellers are treated on eBay. I hope this can bring some awareness to how unreasonable eBay has become.
[Update]
eBay still refuses to do anything about this. Apparently eBay allows buyers to leave retaliatory feedback on sellers. This is ridiculous.
rugerskick
·2 years agoIts also clearly provable its a lie. Ebays own system will show the refund was sent.
kjowe1
OP2 years ago[Update 2 July 15th]
Buyer honored request and revised feedback to positive. I appreciate the honesty and fairness.
On the other hand, eBay is still full of bots (yes I'm calling their customer support representatives bots, they deserve it) who rejected my nicely documented complaints around three times. They still lost me as a seller, and I will move my listings off eBay.
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years agoKeep in mind that feedback has no bearing on a seller’s performance metrics. Given that feedback can be wholly arbitrary and subjective, one lone neg is not a reliable or fair measure of a seller’s qualities.
Most buyers are also aware that a negative feedback is virtually inevitable for any seller. As a result, savvy buyers are far more influenced by the seller’s response to the negative than to its existence in the first place.
Therefore, this can render the seller’s follow-up comment as one of the most valuable bits of real estate on eBay. It is where the impact of feedback resides. That space can make or break a neg depending on how the seller handles him/herself.
A well-thought-out professional reply, devoid of emotion, has the potential to undermine the negative, and in the process, can even enhance a seller’s image. (Conversely, a seller engaging in blaming, defensiveness, becoming angry or devolving into name-calling, will do the opposite.)
So one need not fear getting a negative review. Acting out of fear of poor feedback gives one’s power/authority away to the buyer who threatens to use it.
animal-house-8
·2 years agoI had a customer who offered me half price for 10 items, I politely refused the offer, he then bought the items, after I shipped them he messaged me he wanted me refund him x amount of dollars or he will leave negative feedback. I told him just go ahead and leave the negatives. He did, I contacted ebay with all his emails 4 times, I got one person to remove 3 of the feedbacks the rest just had to run their course for a year. It was so simple to put 2+2 together and see this guy was a scammer but nobody in ebay but one person figured it out, but could never figure out and they also would not tell me why they removed 3 feedbacks but not all. All you can do just shake your head in bewilderment.
This scam is right out of how to rip off ebay sellers handbook.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years ago+1 for trying to do the right thing ðŸ‘
-1 for doing the right thing thus exposing yourself to let the buyer do the wrong thing 👎
Makes no sense (moral standpoint) and most buyers would not of left a neg but unfortunately it is better to stick to Ebay's rules for protection. (having them initiate the return)
No one is slamming you for what you did but that is not much more you can do at this point except move on. It was a good response and i agree that is more important than the neg. (most reasonable buyers)
adamcartwright
·2 years agoWhy did you refund without getting your item returned first?
Next time something like this happens, come to the forum and ask for advice.
Sorry this happened to you.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoWhy would you 'just refund'? (without having buyer go through correct procedure)
You stated 'defective' like you knew it was? If so, why are you selling defective items?
kjowe1
OP2 years ago1. Low dollar value, not worth shipping.
2. I didn't know it was defective until the buyer stated it. I took his word for it.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoYou consider $70 plus $22 "low dollar value?"
buyselljack2016
·2 years agosuspect the "open box" item may have had a low COG. Not worth the return postage as opposed to letting it go.
gurlcat
·2 years agoI wouldn't. But then again if the last thing I sold was $9500 I might! 😳
ittybitnot
·2 years agoI took his word for it.
@kjowe1
Don't do that again. You truly do not need to get a rep for being so 'easy to fall for a shakedown' after the creep tells all his friends. Hope you added the person to your Blocked Bidder List, and made note of the name/address in case he comes back for more under another ID. It is not wise to allow the "threat" of a red donut review get in the way of your business decisions. Truly sorry you had to go through this.
The request to have feedback removed thorough 'seller help' is broken. The bot in charge apparently does not take in consideration removing feedback that is eligible for removal under eBay's posted policies. No customer service rep is allowed to intervene. The 'new' message system apparently has removed the option to report a message under the "Action" tab as before. Things are a mess.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoBuyer gets 10 days to change feedback. I thought it was 30 days...nope.
After 10 days and when eBay sends the email 'buyer did not do a revision'...just forget about it.
"30+ years of running a computer business"...yelps reviews..any bad ones...not telling you to do one of course.
Doesn't sell anything...not telling you to purchase the cheapest item of course.
Just kinda forget about it.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoYou gave an excellent response, though. People will look at that more than the neg.
chariot_badges
·2 years agoFirst of all he didn't "ruin your ebay account".
Second, don't respond to blackmail. Jump back with verve.
Just block and move along.
You paid tuition.
bonjourami
·2 years agoYou should have reported him right away for feedback extortion,then told him to open a case and provided a return label to get your item back before you caved and refunded him so quickly..
kjowe1
OP2 years agoWhen he said it was defective, I just took his word for it. Low dollar value, not worth return shipping cost. It's more about the false negative feedback. Like why would someone wanna ruin my eBay account with negative feedback when I gave him the easiest refund of his life 😞
bonjourami
·2 years agoMaybe you made it too easy for him, so he added a little fuel to the fire.
kjowe1
OP2 years agoBro eBay is already rigged and buyer friendly. If I make it any harder on him he would leave a legit negative comment and everyone including eBay will side with him.
bonjourami
·2 years ago"Bro eBay is already rigged and buyer friendly. If I make it any harder on him he would leave a legit negative comment and everyone including eBay will side with him."
Sorry, I dont mean to make it more difficult for you, there are a lot of jerks on Ebay. Idk how 'rigged' Ebay is, but they are buyer centric..I agree tho with the previous poster, put it behind you and move on.
dhbookds
·2 years agoLike why would someone wanna ruin my eBay account with negative feedback when I gave him the easiest refund of his life
Some buyers get mad when items don't work........they had to take time to find the thing, wait for it to be delivered, presumably install it, and then find it doesn't work.......so they will punish the seller....
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoEven if it was more cost effective to issue a refund without a return, you should have told him to open a return request and you'd make him whole. Had he opened a return request and you refunded (as you did anyway), I believe the feedback would have been removable.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoBecause some people are just pathetic.
kjowe1
OP2 years agoAlso, thanks for the idea. Will report it.
gone.c-33
·2 years agoYou should have insisted on a return for a refund instead of caving in so quick.
Now you have no money AND a neg. 😕
broto_64
·2 years agoUnderstood.
Now I'll tell you what you could have done, is asked the buyer to return for a refund...
Then AFTER they open the return request go ahead and do NOT issue the label but just refund.
You have to be careful, if you do it wrong they will be issued a label and I've seen buyers use it even thou they already got their refund... Which is annoying but there is a way to issue the refund without giving them a label, from inside the return.
Now you have documentation too, and it makes the buyer have an open return.
It is weak but it is a defensive measure.
I always make them open a return.
Yes, no matter what.
kjowe1
OP2 years agogreat tip, thanks!