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negative reviews when buyer cancels a sale
a buyer messaged us to cancel the sale before shipping - we canceled the sale... buyer leaves a negative review / ebay refuses to remove it - ebays policy allows negative reviews when buyer cancels their own sale- sellers good luck keeping your reputations as good sellers - ebay does not protect us even from non transactions
27 comments
kh-cathy
·1 year 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.
exclamation69
·1 year agoi cancelled sale of 5 magazines and the buyer left me 5 negative calling me a scammer skunk etc and ebay has NOT removed them even though i tried
this reflects bad on me but the ai is silent and does nothing terrible thats how ebay looses business
bellisimostationery
·1 year agothats odd coz i saw on a forum that regardless of if you cancel or not any neg feedback is automatically removed - why were they leaving neg if you cancelled ? also on google it says neg gets removed automatically and thats whether you cancel or not so seems odd that you cancelled and feedback wasnt automatically removed - if they message you maybe to cancel but if they open a cancellation maybe thats when it gets removed - im confused lol but try to appeal it though
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoWhy the buyer is cancelling can readily be a reason for negative FB.
Not all buyers recognize problems with misleading listings prior to buying. When they recognize they have been misled, they ask the seller to cancel. Feeling misled is a justifiable reason for a negative FB.
It is a long standing practice of some sales people to "fluff" their sales pitch. Fluffing is not lying but fluffing is not being candid and honest either. It can affect the feeling of a buyer about a transaction and FB is intended for a buyer to share their feelings.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoFB is a relic of the 20th century internet and should be dropped entirely.
Maybe a public record of successfully completed transactions, numerical, no commentary.
fbusoni
·2 years agoThis seems to be the dominant opinion.
But feedback keeps me on my toes. I am prepared for negative feedback but I'd prefer to not receive it (and in 25 years of selling have not so far).
And that's because I sell in categories that appeal to educated, older adults who are well off and who pay attention to quality. These people are careful shoppers. They read feedback; I know because they tell me they do.
Feedback may be considerably less important to large companies that sell hundreds of items daily.
But for small sellers working in niche markets, it remains an important index for buyers.
Fortunately eBay does not factor it into our metrics. Testimony, I reckon, that its intended really for discriminating shoppers.
I'd enjoy hearing other opinions.
gloryglorygifts
·2 years agoFeedback may seem like a thing of the past, but when a seller has 15 negs and 15 neuts, in a year, people will think twice before buying from them, or at least I would.
mam98031
·2 years agoIt may be a relic, but many large sites still have it for sellers. Ebay is about the only one left that have it for buyers. So it is something we must deal with, like it or not.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoHere's the tricky bit.
A Claim/dispute is an argument. There is a winner and a loser. The dispute being ended, the problem is considered to be resolved and no feedback can be left.
But.
A "cancellation" is considered to be an agreement between two sensible adults that the transaction should not proceed. Polite and agreeable. So friendly feedback is expected and allowed.
Sounds like your customer was neither sensible nor adult.
That being said, you get a LOT of negs and neutrals. And often those are left by customers who are unhappy but do not understand how to make a Claim and get a refund. So in my experience, a lot of bad feedback, points to even more unhappy customers who did get refunds.
EBay does not use FB to assess member accounts, but they do use Claims and especially Defects from losing Claims.
I suspect based on your overall FB, that you have had many unhappy customers and that eBay is reacting not to this particular neg, but to your overall customer service.
mam98031
·2 years ago@reallynicestamps
This situation was actually addressed in the announcement about pending feedback updates that haven't happened yet after weeks.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Seller-Check-in-Feedback-Update/ba-p/34523278
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoThis is what I was thinking of. There is no reason for feedback to be eligible for a transaction that never happened per buyer request. If their example, i.e. we will remove feedback when a seller denies a buyer’s cancellation request, because per eBay policy a seller has discretion to accept or deny a cancellation request is to have any consistency at all, neg feedback for a buyer requested cancellation should also be removed. This isn't even open to interpretation - it's black and white.
Having said that, leaving a grievance as a response is not a good idea - it needs to be kept professional - our beef with eBay is our own business, not the buyer's.
mam98031
·2 years agoWell three weeks later and still no changes that I'm aware of.
wilsonharborsales
·2 years agoThere is nothing you can do. eBay said they will review the new feedback system over the coming months, but we are all in the same boat. I just try not to take it personally.
mam98031
·2 years agoNeither in the Seller check in meeting or in the announcement they put out did they suggest these changes would come in the "coming months". In both places, at least to me, it sounded like it would be much sooner than that.
So far we have seen no changes and it has been almost a month from the announcement and longer than that from the Seller Check in.
Sorry I'm venting a little. I'm extremely disappointed in Ebay on this subject.
az93
·2 years agoBuyers cannot cancel a sale. You, the seller, cancelled the sale per buyer's request. Sellers should be protected from this causing a problem.
robbie31415
·2 years agoIt's better to ignore the cancellation and fulfill. And have them return to avoid negative feedback.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoOverall you should just help the customer and cancel the listing. This is not the typical buyer and its better to cancel and move on. Prolonging the transaction by ignoring and shipping it out just opens yourself up to other shenanigans, especially if this buyer is just being a tool. (if they are abusing the FB after the cancellation, what is going to stop them from filing a INAD and sending back a box of rocks?)
It is a tough situation the OP is in and Ebay has stated they were going to help sellers with FB situations. We will see but don't hold your breath.
mam98031
·2 years agoThat is pretty dangerous for a seller. Often times it will result in having to handle a return, which of course costs the seller more money. Then the buyer is ticked off because the seller didn't honor the Cancellation Request and put them through the extra effort of a return and hits their feedback anyway.
Or worse yet, the buyer files a Chargeback, wins, gets to keep the product and their money and still will leave a negative for the seller.
There is less risk by honoring the Cancellation request if the seller can. Still some risk, but it is much less than actually shipping the item when you had time to stop the order.
robbie31415
·2 years agoNot any more dangerous than any order where a buyer can open a chargeback or return.
I'd rather pay for original shipping and return shipping than deal with negative feedback.
If they file a chargeback for authorized or they didn't receive it due to bad address then I get to keep my money due to eBays seller protections.
Small costs to protect feedback is a non issue for me.
"Hello, we got your request and will contact our fulfillment ASAP to try and process your request.
However, if our fulfillment has already began shipping your order then we may not be able to cancel.
We do offer free returns so once you get it you can open a return request for a free return label and we will refund you once it gets back to us. "
Never had issue so your 'danger' is just paranoia.
mam98031
·2 years agoYes it is. I'm sorry you don't understand that it can cost the seller more money and more time that simply is not necessary. But if it is your preferred method of dealing with issues like this, that is completely your right to do. It is just poor advice for others.
You assume if you do it as you describe that the buyer would not be inclined to leave you negative FB. As I said before, it seems to me the buyer would be more likely to leave it as you created more work and effort for them.
I'm not sure why you said "If they file a chargeback for authorized or they didn't receive it due to bad address then I get to keep my money due to eBays seller protections." as that wasn't even part of the discussion. But if that is how you justify it, then again, you have the right to do that.
"However, if our fulfillment has already began shipping your order then we may not be able to cancel." Again this also wasn't part of the discussion on this transaction. You keep trying to bring other things into the conversation that weren't present when I responded. To answer this concern, there is a distinct difference in "began shipping" and actually shipped.
The difference in the two things would determine for me if I would cancel the transaction or not. If I have only "began" the shipping process but I still have the package, I would cancel per the buyers request to avoid future issues and the possible loss of the product. Each seller has the right to deny a cancellation request and should if the item has already shipped, "began" shipping seems a bit lame to me, but that is just me. If it is an expensive item and it did get shipped, I would advise the seller to try and have the package intercepted so there would be less risk of loss. And if they can get it back, then cancel the order.
robbie31415
·2 years agoYour response shows a lack of understanding of what was said. I advise you to reread what has been said so you don't twist and manipulate responses of other posters.
You talk about charge back issues being unrelated. However YOU were the first one to bring up charge backs.
You shouldn't bring up topics if you don't want a rebuttal.
Never once did I ever mention a buyer would be less inclined to leave negative feedback. You made this assumption on your own.
Your entire response is twists and turns and a false narrative and it's quite inappropriate.
I'm not sure if you are intentionally being manipulative or you just didn't understand what was said.
But it's pointless to continue a disagreement when someone acts in bad faith like you are.
eBay has done a great job at selecting mentors.
mam98031
·2 years agoI understood, you just didn't like my response. The two aren't the same. But then there really is no need for us to agree.
You didn't bring anything up about Chargebacks until AFTER my response to something you posted. So you brought new comments to the conversation. I'm not sure why you said "If they file a chargeback for authorized or they didn't receive it due to bad address then I get to keep my money due to eBays seller protections." as that wasn't even part of the discussion. But if that is how you justify it, then again, you have the right to do that.
So I didn't say it was "unrelated", I said it was a new part of the conversation. The two are not the same.
The original post you made that I responded to was this "It's better to ignore the cancellation and fulfill. And have them return to avoid negative feedback." So yes you suggested that this method would "avoid" negative feedback.
As I said in my earlier post. This may be a process that you have found works well for you. That is great, if it works for you, you have every right to do it. It breaks no rules, you are fine. Again, no need for us to agree. You need to do what works best for you.
windycityart4u
·2 years agoCall eBay customer service. Probably a competitor trying to ruin your reputation/ business. Call them and try to get a rep to remove the feedback. This works sometimes. Explain the situation.
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years agoHi @eyehunt4u I checked on this. According to the Order Cancellation policy, buyers are eligible to leave feedback on an order they cancelled. Still sorry this happened to you.
See link below:
“A buyer can still leave feedback on a canceled transaction, unless the order was canceled because they didn't pay for the item. Learn more in our Unpaid item policy“
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/order-cancellation-policy?id=5298
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoUgh - you might should have waited to leave a response.
eBay has promised to clean up their awful feedback program so I would pester them about it more.
mam98031
·2 years agoYes they did but I've seen no evidence that they have done anything yet and believe me I'm watching.
pinktoe4
·2 years agoEbay has shown they don't care much about anything other than increasing their profits. I'll be moving on.