Old negative feedback removal?

[rivett608]

I'm not a super-active ebay seller, mostly a buyer. I have one old negative feedback where the buyer was nasty and rather misrepresentative of the circumstances. I refunded his money in full, and let him keep the item as well. I tried to get ebay to amend or adjust the feedback but it never happened. I pretty much just let the whole thing go - wasn't high on my life's list.

Over a year later, I still occasionally see that nasty neg if I view one of my own listings. It's aggravating, maybe unnecessarily so, but can it be removed? The ebay "help" system dead-ends without being helpful.

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@rivett608   It is too late to do anything about the feedback now.  Even if you had asked eBay to remove it they wouldn't have since it was the buyers opinion of their shopping experience.    Feedback can only be removed in RARE cases if it violates eBay policy and has to be done within 30 days of the date it was left.  

Back then you could have tried to reach out to the buyer and see if you could make things right for them.   Then AFTER they were happy you could have asked for a feedback revision from the buyer. 

You could respond to the negative feedback but at this point I think it's not the best idea and will just make it stand out more.   When you respond to feedback it's for your FUTURE buyers to see and not a response to this buyer, always be professional and calm.  

Keep in mind that having a no returns policy does result in these type of feedbacks sometimes. Also no returns doesn't mean no refunds.  The buyer could have filed an eBay Money Back Guarantee refund request and you would have been required to pay return shipping and refund the buyer.

You may wish to at least consider buyer pays returns.  If you offer FREE returns then if the buyer somehow reduces the value of the item you have seller protection and reduce the refund by up to 50%. 

Seller Protections>  https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protections?id=4345&st=

[rivett608]

Thanks for your reply. At the time I did file some sort of complaint (don't recall the technical term) with ebay but it was never acted on. The brief story is that the item was something I had little knowledge of, and I said so, and I described and photographed it as best I knew. The buyer claimed that there were parts broken and he requested that I pay him for the required parts (in excess of the auction ending price) before he would leave positive feedback. That by itself seems like extortion, but apparently ebay didn't think so! Even after I fully refunded, never heard a thing. Oh well, some folks just aren't happy unless they're miserable and spreading it around!

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@rivett608   I understand it's frustrating that a buyer can lie and get away with saying parts were missing when they were not.     That's where the seller protection I mentioned can be helpful in regards to refund requests.

You said you fully refunded, if that's what happened ,then you SHOULD respond to the negative for future buyers and say.  " Sorry about the misunderstanding, a  full refund was issued"   I know that's not what you'd prefer to say but it looks good to your future buyers.  

You said that you didn't know about the item very well.  Unfortunately then it's not a good idea to list it on eBay.  When you list an item unless the category has the option as  For Parts or Not Working then the item you are selling is expected to be complete and in working order.    Not knowing about the product sets you up for failure.    I have had to do some homework before listing items for sale that I knew nothing about.  FB groups or groups here in the community are both helpful for gaining knowledge.     

[rivett608]

In the interest of clarity (not that you care ha ha!), the item was an antique model airplane engine. I played with them years ago, but this was an obscure one that I didn't have intimate knowledge of. I gave it a cursory checkover. The buyer's claim was that internal parts were damaged.

I was mostly irritated by his threat to leave negative feedback if, effectively, I did not give him the engine free, along with even more money to fix it. It was always presumed that indeed there WAS a mechanical problem, although this was never detailed by the buyer or inspected by me. I was somewhat displeased with ebay's response (none) to my sending them the entire chain of emails and ebay communications. The still-extant negative feedback refers to me as a "crook" and advises all buyers not to deal with me. It was not removed or amended even though a full refund was issued.

I appreciate your insights along these lines. It's not a huge money thing, really I didn't care. But I have my own business (unrelated to ebay) and I've always tried to deal fairly and treat people with courtesy. Unfortunately, no matter what field you're in, there is a small percentage of people who are just miserable. I've got one today, in fact, who refuses to check his spam folder for the several emails I've sent, while claiming that it's impossible to reach me. 

Life's rich experiences!