How to get an unfair negative feedback score removed?
Hello,
Recently I had a buyer purchase a jersey from me that they ended up being unhappy with. They called me a scammer & other not so nice things so instead of fighting a headache I just initiated a return. After I accepted the return, I tried to get more information from the buyer as to what about the item didn't match the description. They would not answer and instead continued their name calling. They returned the same item....but in a clear plastic bag that had holes in it. Then they left a nasty review with a negative feedback score.
So I have tried going through eBay support multiple ways but all they would do was remove the buyer's comments....which removed my comment to their feedback as well. They keep refusing to remove the score itself because it's a "reflection of the buyer's experience." In what way is that fair to a seller when I didn't do anything wrong? When asked why they were not happy with the item, the buyer deflected and never answered. They received their money back. To me this feels like buyer's remorse.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get this score removed or who to contact? This is such garbage that buyers can pull this crap with out and repercussion.
Thank you!
kh-sireesha
·3 months agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
harkins82
·3 months agoYes,eBay is ridiculous with this ai system that doesn't understand the truth about the situation and only goes off what it's programmed to do, it doesn't matter how obvious it is, but the AI doesn't understand the truth by what a human understands, eBay needs to update their AI system and make it understand buyer abuse of the seller, they have all the different types of feedback rules and most negative feedback is going against the policy rules, like irrelevant negative feedback and if a customer knows what they are buying and then complains about the same thing they knew when buying the item, well that's irrelevant and just buyers remorse, which has nothing to do with the seller being at fault, but eBay lets AI handle the removal process and you never get the negative feedback removed,if the AI program would understand by putting 2 and 2 together,by understanding their own policies and rules, then a lot more sellers would be happy with eBay for protecting the sellers from spiteful buyers remorse,some of these buyers are just finding sellers with perfect approval rating and buying the cheapest thing, just to mess up the approval rating,but eBay ai system doesn't understand human psychology and sellers are suffering from it.
groovz4u
·1 year agoFirst time I've ever replied on this forum, but your experience mirrors mine in many ways. Been on eBay 16 yrs w. 100% positive feedback, a few times have received negative feedback but was able to have them removed by calling CS & explaining sale details, most of them involved Buyer's Remorse, and CS responded they would remove. Then ~ 6 mos ago sold a video game & buyer asked for return saying game not "authentic" & didn't match description so I called CS who agreed that game appeared "perfect" but encouraged me to do return/refund even though I listed as no returns. I ended up giving buyer option of full return or $ discount - they chose the money option for an item they claimed not authentic and then left negative feedback. I tried to the "ask buyer to revise" (no response) and then added my comments to the neg fdback. The feedback included comment to not buy from me, that I don't honor returns even though I offered return.
Enough about all those details. I appealed to get it removed and then the fun started. A few months prior eBay had released news that feedback appeals were no longer being handled by automated responses and that CS agents would play a bigger role, but what I experienced was just the opposite. I would get a standard reply that looked AI generated and appeared that the details of my appeal were not read at all. I went thru 4 or 5 of these, the wording would vary somewhat but clearly were automated replies and asked me to do the things I had already done.
There was one thing I learned that I want to pass on, and that's the main reason for my posting. I had contacted CS on another subject and the agent I spoke with was quite helpful and so I brought up the neg fdback issue and he was quite honest & said that the "back office", or whoever the group is that reviews appeals, will almost never remove feedback when appealed thru the procedure. His advice was to go the "Report Buyer" route and that a different group handles that. Unfortunately, that option is open for only 90 days after feedback and I was too late for that. So if unjustified neg fdbk happens to anyone in future I would suggest appealing but be ready to "Report Buyer" if unsuccessful in getting removed.
gurlcat
·1 year agoYup, I always say REPORT THE BUYER'S ABUSE BEFORE TRYING TO APPEAL TO EBAY (not just for feedback removal but some refund decisions too). It's just like how you have to file a police report before your insurance will cover a loss from theft or accident.
alvinmacksportscards
OP1 year agoAppreciate this answer. This sounds very similar to what I dealt with. I did report the buyer for how the item was returned. I have also went through like 6-7 different outlets to try and get the feedback removed and each time I am met with a similar, likely AI generated as you said, response.
Curious if I ever get a response out of the buyer report.
gurlcat
·1 year agoalvinmacksportscards
OP1 year agoThe buyer reached out to me very unhappy. They wouldn't tell me what was wrong so I just pointed them to the instructions on how to request a return if they didn't want the item.
They called it a knockoff but wouldn't go into detail as to why. I looked the jersey over when I received it back and I still can't figure out what makes it a knockoff. It was Champion brand and it has all of the appropriate tags and such.
Buyer used the reason of the item not matching the description in their return request. When asked what about the item did not match the description, they deflected.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoFB is no where near as important as it used to be.
Many buyers neither leave nor read it. They believe in the Ebay MBG.
Ebay uses it in a minor way for measuring seller performance. It is really does not matter when they are evaluating a US based seller selling on Ebay.com.
Lots of sellers see a negative as a blow to their ego. Lots of sellers see a negative as unjustified whatever the situation. I have gotten unjustified negatives, and I have gotten a pass from the buyer when I deserved a negative. If you sell enough, it evens out.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoUnfortunately you are stuck with the negative feedback...at least eBay removed the comment's of the buyer and the seller.
To get a higher feedback score a seller has to sell quite a lot of items to get it higher.
Perhaps there are items which are cheap you can sell to get the score a little higher.
I sell items at .99 to get feedbacks...since are the buyers who leave feedbacks more.
I have two neutrals and gave no response...responses to a buyer feedback only make's it worse.
All a seller can do is ask for a revision....and then block the buyer from future purchases.
dryophelia
·1 year ago@alvinmacksportscards
The comments were removed, but the negative is still there.
inhawaii
·1 year agoThe feedback does not violate ebay policy.
I don't think they will remove it.
iamalwaysright
·1 year agoUnfortunately I’m unable to see if the feedback comment violates policy, if it’s written politely, or if it’s hostile and emotional. The problem when eBay removes the comment to a feedback, it makes the feedback look neutral but justified because there is no context to assume it is unjustified.
I’d much rather have a ranting lunatic of a buyer leaving a totally outrageous, inappropriate, and policy violating negative feedback versus a negative feedback with no feedback comment at all.
With no feedback comment shown, there’s no way any future buyers can know that the person that left the bad feedback was coo coo for Cocoa Puffs.
biggymoe
·1 year agoAgreed