Negative feedback removed

[nancysnostalgicdolls]

So. I had a negative feedback removed I left a seller. Sent a lot a vintage ornaments with absolutely no packing, just loose in a box and most broke. I paid 19 dollars in shipping. When I opened a return case, I posted pic. She demands I send back paying another 19 dollars and then she will refund me the eight dollars I paid for the ornaments. Nasty. I won the case and had to send back the three ornaments that survived. I packed them well. I left a neg but did not use profanity or mention the case. She "appealed" and and had it removed. I called and they said she provided "evidence" to have it removed. What??? What could that be? Only thing I can think of she took a pic of the box without the ornaments I sent back. I did not know you could do this. This will be the last time I buy on ebay.

[couldabeenworse]

Sorry to say, but sellers that know the ropes seem to have no problem getting negatives removed.  I think a common strategy is to get the buyer to either mention feedback in messages or suggest a partial refund, then calling until they get a rep that construes that as some sort of feedback extortion.

eBay doesn't look at pics, so I doubt that was part of the reason.

I agree that eBay makes feedback worthless by allowing so many removals.  On the other hand, they did get all your money back from a lousy seller.

[nancysnostalgicdolls]

I never mentioned feedback nor suggested a partial refund. They said she filed an appeal and provided something. I have no idea what. Yes, I am glad I got my money back but she was so awful to me she deserved a neg.

[mudshark61369]

@nancysnostalgicdolls,

If you mentioned asking ebay to step in, or opening a dispute / case in any way, that qualifies a feedback for removal.  There are very few reasons ebay will remove a buyers feedback, and that is the most common reason why.  If you had left a comment like.

"Poorly packed, of 18 items sent only 3 survived Wanted me to pay return shipping"

it probably would have stuck. 

No matter what a seller gives as their return/refund policy buyer's do not pay the return shipping cost for a not as described dispute, the seller does, and provides a shipping label for what was originally sent. You should have returned the whole shipment including the broken items, with the 3 remaining ones more carefully wrapped, in the same box when feasible.   Since you only returned the 3 undamaged ornaments, that could be why the seller was able to get your feedback removed.

[jklfindings]

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@nancysnostalgicdolls wrote:

So. I had a negative feedback removed I left a seller. Sent a lot a vintage ornaments with absolutely no packing, just loose in a box and most broke. I paid 19 dollars in shipping. When I opened a return case, I posted pic. She demands I send back paying another 19 dollars and then she will refund me the eight dollars I paid for the ornaments. Nasty. I won the case and had to send back the three ornaments that survived. I packed them well. I left a neg but did not use profanity or mention the case. She "appealed" and and had it removed. I called and they said she provided "evidence" to have it removed. What??? What could that be? Only thing I can think of she took a pic of the box without the ornaments I sent back. I did not know you could do this. This will be the last time I buy on ebay.

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I'm always curious when people post "This will be the last time I buy on ebay" after a bad transaction.  Would you stop shopping in a city because you had a bad experience at the local frozen yogurt place?  "Sorry, but I won't shop in New York...  last time I had pizza there, it wasn't pleasant."  Just like the rest of the world, there are plenty of great people and sellers, and then the few bad apples who ruin it for everyone.  I'm sorry you're transaction went badly for you, but there are plenty of us who know what we're doing, and have high customer service standards.  

As for the feedback that was removed, it's not easy to get negatives removed.  There are only a few criteria that you would have to meet to get it done.  Possibly not returning the broken ornaments.  Without knowing what exactly you said, we're just taking guesses though.

[nancysnostalgicdolls]

I did return the broken ornaments with the surviving ones carefully wrapped. I did everything by the book. The only thing she could have done was appeal the case after the fact. Look, I know there are good sellers. I'm a power seller and a top rated seller. I just can't believe  they allowed her to act this way. It seems my negative buying experiences keep increasing. I usually don't say anything if it's not much money, but 19 bucks shipping with absolutely zero packing really **bleep** me off.

[emeyat0]

Did you mention feedback in your communications with the seller?

[monster-deals]

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@mudshark61369 wrote:

@nancysnostalgicdolls,

If you mentioned asking ebay to step in, or opening a dispute / case in any way, that qualifies a feedback for removal.  There are very few reasons ebay will remove a buyers feedback, and that is the most common reason why.  If you had left a comment like.

"Poorly packed, of 18 items sent only 3 survived Wanted me to pay return shipping"

it probably would have stuck. 

No matter what a seller gives as their return/refund policy buyer's do not pay the return shipping cost for a not as described dispute, the seller does, and provides a shipping label for what was originally sent. You should have returned the whole shipment including the broken items, with the 3 remaining ones more carefully wrapped, in the same box when feasible.   Since you only returned the 3 undamaged ornaments, that could be why the seller was able to get your feedback removed.

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You don't even have to go that far...just vauge words loosely connected to the sale will work like "no good" "bad sale"...means absolutely nothing without context and can't be removed

[missjen831]

Returning part of the order has absolutely nothing to do with why the feedback was removed. That’s never been eBay policy. What happened here is that seller got the right rep on the phone and they removed the feedback despite there being no violation. This happens frequently. 

[upstandinggryffindor]

SAME!!!! I just found out today that an eBay Rep removed the Negative Feedback I left a seller for an item they sold that was Significantly Not as Described and shipped poorly causing the item additional damage. I opened a case, sent back the item and got the refund. This seller had 4 negatives and 4 neutrals 6 months ago and I ignored the past stuff, figuring they had cleaned-up their act. Hard lesson learned, of course. Buy yeah, he called eBay and appealed to have my Negative Feedback removed from his Feedback history and the eBay Rep easily granted it. The reasoning was that the "feedback had nothing to do with the item itself." I wish I would have known beforehand that one needs to mention the fault with the item specifically, as opposed to warning other potential buyers against the sellers poor selling practices. My feedback stated "Don't Ignore his Negatives/Neutrals. Poor selling practices." Well, Lesson Learned!

Shoot, I remember I tried to appeal-away my unfair negative I got last year from a malicious buyer who never communicated about an item with which she was confused. Even my resplendant record of 18 years being a member/seller/buyer on eBay with 100% Feedback history throughout all those years didn't make a difference. The particular eBay Rep with whom I spoke left that negative to bring down my 100% Feedback to 92%. So, luck in getting the "right" eBay Rep on the other side of the phone does seem to matter. It's an unfair thing that is happenening and it's happening much more than we realize. Something definitely needs to change or the Feedback Forum is dishonest and pointless.

[femmefan1946]

FWIW- feedback has no effect on the seller's account with eBay.

It does of course have a public relations effect for other buyers.

Filing the Dispute, and making the seller pay for return shipping does have an (economic) effect.

If a seller refuses a return in a Dispute, or refuses a voluntary refund on returned goods, she gets a Defect on her selling account.

Defects can mean higher fees, restrictions on the number or value of listings she can make, or even termination of a selling account.

If the seller left feedback for you, before the Dispute obviously, you can add a Response at any time. The most effective Responses are calm and factual. Some of the suggestions here would be perfect.

[couldabeenworse]

The reasoning was that the "feedback had nothing to do with the item itself."

Had your feedback been about the item itself, the seller would seek to have it removed as a "Product Review".  When the game is rigged, you can't wain.

[rose_red39]

I left a negative feedback for a item I received because it did not work. Not to long after that I started getting messages from this seller any where from 2-3 times a day. I told them I would not do so at any time. I told them if they did not stop I would report them. Well they did not. I finally placed them on my ignore list which seemed to work for a couple of days. Then today I started getting messages from them again. What steps should I do now? Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.

[chrysylys]

Corporate's responses to the complaint on the BBB site are almost comical.

[judge_judy_here]

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@rose_red39 wrote:

I left a negative feedback for a item I received because it did not work. Not to long after that I started getting messages from this seller any where from 2-3 times a day. I told them I would not do so at any time. I told them if they did not stop I would report them. Well they did not. I finally placed them on my ignore list which seemed to work for a couple of days. Then today I started getting messages from them again. What steps should I do now? Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated.

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Is the seller cotacting you through ebay messages or your personal email account? If it is your personal email account ebay can't help you.

Is the seller using threatening, abusive or profane language? Have you tried reporting the seller for harassment? Check out the info on this page:

Member-to-Member Contact Policy https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262

You can always call ebay to report the seller if all else fails.