Seller Doxxing Buyers Who Give Negative Feedback... Is this Cool? How to Report?

[bpr103]

So, I'm engaged in a lively debate with a seller and decided to have a look at his feedback, some 1,400 over the last year with 11 negatives.

I looked at the negatives, and he posts replies, using the actual names of the buyers. Things like:

"...please dont blame me on your ignorance Mr. Firstname Middlename Lastname"

"...Self-inflicted laziness, we feel sorry for you and hope you may wake-up one day Mr. Lastname/ username."

"No Mr. Lastname, you will not get an [expensive item] for 10 €"

"Username / Mr. Lastname is sadly a proof of nowadays ignorance about how shipping works"

These are all private sales, as the username is hidden.

Isn't this a great seller tactic to discourage negative feedback? I mean sellers ship us stuff and have our names and addresses and here is where they can post for all to see exactly who is behind the username if we are unhappy with their services or merchandise.

Is eBay ok with this? If not, how can it be reported?

[bonjourami]

If the buyers are not worried about it, why are you? Only a buyer can report inappropriate feedback on his page.

[bpr103]

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@bonjourami wrote:

If the buyers are not worried about it, why are you? 

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Because it's a tactic to intimidate buyers who might otherwise leave negative feedback.

I didn't realize that one could report inappropriate feedback (I've never had any, and I'm a pretty active user... I would imagine most eBayers are unaware of this). 

[stuff4divas]

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@bpr103 wrote:

So, I'm engaged in a lively debate with a seller and decided to have a look at his feedback, some 1,400 over the last year with 11 negatives.

I looked at the negatives, and he posts replies, using the actual names of the buyers. Things like:

"...please dont blame me on your ignorance Mr. Firstname Middlename Lastname"

"...Self-inflicted laziness, we feel sorry for you and hope you may wake-up one day Mr. Lastname/ username."

"No Mr. Lastname, you will not get an [expensive item] for 10 €"

"Username / Mr. Lastname is sadly a proof of nowadays ignorance about how shipping works"

These are all private sales, as the username is hidden.

Isn't this a great seller tactic to discourage negative feedback? I mean sellers ship us stuff and have our names and addresses and here is where they can post for all to see exactly who is behind the username if we are unhappy with their services or merchandise.

Is eBay ok with this? If not, how can it be reported?

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don't know if it can be reported, but you can see here>

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/working-sellers/report-seller-listing?id=4022

[12345jamesstamps]

Most of that is against eBay rules.

The buyers or sellers can ask their negative feedback be removed by using certain words or people's names in feedback.

I had negative feedback removed from them using "fake" in a feedback to me.

Customer service is rather good in helping in this.

[kathiec]

Ebay's feedback rules prohibit "The publishing of any personally identifiable information". But only the person receiving feedback that violates a rule can report it.

[mtgraves7984]

I have to ask... now that you know that you can't be dissed permanently, does it make the item more appealing to you? 🙂

[bpr103]

So, that would explain why only 5 or 6 of the 11 negative comments have names attached: the others likely complained and eBay scrubbed the offending information, while the ones still there either don't know about the policy (like me) or are under review.

Which means, eBay is cool with using this as a seller tactic to discourage negative feedback.

[lamber9347]

#1- You are implying you want to purchase from this seller, and I cannot imagine why. The naming of the buyer's really is nothing, but the comments are just vile. Regardless of whatever treasure they are selling someone else on eBay, or another platform, will have one to sell. Why give your money to them.

#2- It obviously doesn't bother any of the buyers being named, because they should be able to get that removed. Since none of them have, it shouldn't bother you either.

#3- These days anyone can Google your name so there is no longer complete anonymity. This seller is rude and obnoxious, but they aren't doing anything illegal. It would be removed by eBay as a courtesy to their buyers who are actually named, but not for anyone else. 

#4- Any future buyers should not hesitate due to this occurrence. There is a money back guarantee on here and if the seller retaliates by naming a buyer in feedback, that should be an easy one to have corrected. Notice there is no naming/shaming allowed on this forum either. 

[bpr103]

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

I have to ask... now that you know that you can't be dissed permanently, does it make the item more appealing to you? 🙂

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I'm not sure if this is what you're asking, but I've already told the seller that if the item actually arrives (tracking from early April only says a label was created) I'll ship it back to him because I'd rather pay more for it from another seller than use his merch.

[femmefan1946]

This is a great tactic to discourage  buying from him.

Obviously he doesn't understand who reads feedback.

Or how common most names are.

EBay doesn't use feedback to assess member accounts.

EBay does not allow sellers to leave negative FB, so each buyer gets a GREEN rating.

Most sellers don't have a chance to look at buyer feedback (and in any case, he is leaving a positive feedback)

The only reader is likely to be future buyers who look at Feedback Left for Others and backbutton away from such a drooling anger monkey.

Any of those buyers could, if they actually cared, have eBay remove the false positives, and the drooling seller would get a few Defects, which could raise his fees, reduce the number or value of his listings, and even get his account closed.

So..... neener neener neener. Mr. Smart Alec Seller.

[femmefan1946]

So, I'm engaged in a lively debate with a seller

????

Why?

Did you buy from him and want a refund?

You can get that from the Resolution Centre. Asking him first is just a courtesy.

Are you trying to negotiate a better price?

There is a Best Offer system in place.

Is he being obtuse about answering an otherwise straightforward question about the item?

Move on.

It won't get better.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Please don't support this seller by buying something from him.  Stop talking to him.  He doesn't deserve your business. 

If you did order and haven't gotten  your item yet file for an item not received one day after the estimated delivery date.

[bpr103]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

So, I'm engaged in a lively debate with a seller

????

Why?

Did you buy from him and want a refund?

You can get that from the Resolution Centre. Asking him first is just a courtesy.

Are you trying to negotiate a better price?

There is a Best Offer system in place.

Is he being obtuse about answering an otherwise straightforward question about the item?

Move on.

It won't get better.

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Yes, I bought it from him in early April and tracking just says "a label was created." So I opened a case, and he unleashed on me via messaging.

I'm an occasional seller, too, so I don't like negative feedback, but this seller is outright abusive in messaging, so that's when I looked at his negative feedback (to see if others had similar experiences). Seeing names named made me take pause on hitting the negative feedback button.

[kathiec]

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@bpr103 wrote:

So, that would explain why only 5 or 6 of the 11 negative comments have names attached: the others likely complained and eBay scrubbed the offending information, while the ones still there either don't know about the policy (like me) or are under review.

Which means, eBay is cool with using this as a seller tactic to discourage negative feedback.

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If eBay were cool with it they wouldn't have a rule against it. Anyone who had their name used in a remark can report it and eBay will remove it. Perhaps the others aren't bothered by it. I wouldn't be. 

What eBay doesn't want is feedback vigilantes scouring feedback to find violations. There's too much room for abuse. So they only take reports from those for whom the feedback is left.

I find it interesting that you weren't bothered enough by 11 negs to avoid the seller in the first place.