Buyer wanted to cancel, so I did, and two months later they left negative feedback…

[cleaning.the.attic]

Buyer bought item 1/3 (a Friday) and Sunday 1/5 sent odd message that I was lazy if I hadn’t shipped their item yet, and to cancel the ‘price’ (?..). I asked if they wanted me to cancel, they said “Yes till the cows come home”. Okayyy… So I quickly canceled. Got a message from eBay that I’d successfully canceled, etc. 

I noticed today that I had a negative feedback from them that they’ve left recently.

Two issues with it.

First, I didn’t think a buyer that initiates a cancellation (and gets one) could leave negative feedback. That’s what feedback policy says, from what I read.

Second, they left a negative feedback but wrote “Ty”. Common abbreviation for ‘thank you’. So to me, that’s a neg fb with positive comment, also against feedback policy, from what I read. 

I did the automated thing to request feedback removal. You pick a reason and can leave a note/more info. Did that.

Within just a few minutes I got a message from eBay that the feedback would not be removed. 

—> Said it did not violate any policies and guidelines. Not eligible for removal. 

Am I missing something?

[ebooksdiva]

If a transaction is cancelled for out if stock --buyers can still leave feedback. 

If the transaction is cancelled because the buyer requested --- it says they remove neg/neutral feedback. 
Perhaps you accidentally made the wrong choice when cancelling.

[femmefan1946]

First, I didn’t think a buyer that initiates a cancellation (and gets one) could leave negative feedback.

If there was a Dispute, you would be right.

No FB after the argument is settled.

But.

This was a request for a Cancellation, and it seems that cancellations are treated as a mutual decision between sane consenting adults that the transaction should not continue.

And therefore leaving FB is still allowed.

Unfortunately only you were a sane  adult in this case.

to me, that’s a neg fb with positive comment, also against feedback policy,

No.

What is forbidden is a positive FB with a negative comment.

These are left by some foolish sellers who want to "punish" their buyers for hurting their fee-fees.

FWIW

EBay doesn't use FB to assess member accounts.

Some buyers do.

But any buyer reading that FB would be confused and think your oddball was .... an oddball.

No harm done to you or your reputation.

I hope the oddball is on your Blocked Buyer List.

[collectorzone]

That's strange. I also had a buyer leave a negative a month or so after he asked me to cancel the transaction.

He had paid for it and a day later asked for the cancellation. I also reported it, but noted in the comment box that the buyer had requested the transaction be cancelled and had no business leaving negative feedback. Maybe the reason you gave was why it wasn't removed. I think most of these requests are decided by AI and the reason you gave didn't meet the criteria. I would reach out to eBay CS reps on ebay's facebook or twitter accounts. If you DM them, they will respond and set up a secure messaging session where they can review your account. I recently had success with them that I don't generally have when calling and speaking to CS reps.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I didn't think they could leave FB either, but it happened to me.  Now this was a few years ago, so I guess things may be different.  I did a Feedback request through eBay & stated that I canceled at their request & my NEG was removed immediately, but that's back when a lot would get removed immediately. 

I think it's worth a try!  Make sure to indicate that you canceled at your buyer's request & tell them to view your message # whatever for proof.

ETA:  I don't think it's hurting you though, it's already fallen off your first page & you can easily leave a reply that simply says 'did you mean to leave a positive' or something like that. 

[ebooksdiva]

---

@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

I didn't think they could leave FB either, but it happened to me.  Now this was a few years ago, so I guess things may be different.  I did a Feedback request through eBay & stated that I canceled at their request & my NEG was removed immediately, but that's back when a lot would get removed immediately. 

I think it's worth a try!  Make sure to indicate that you canceled at your buyer's request & tell them to view your message # whatever for proof.

ETA:  I don't think it's hurting you though, it's already fallen off your first page & you can easily leave a reply that simply says 'did you mean to leave a positive' or something like that. 

---

The OP states a feedback removal request was denied. 

[cleaning.the.attic]

No, I went back to the message from eBay that I had successfully canceled the order, and in details, it shows that the reason I selected was that buyer wanted to cancel. 

They messaged me that they wanted to cancel. Nothing to do with being out of stock, etc. 

[cleaning.the.attic]

Haha, yes they were on my BBL in a hot second back in January 😆 

So I looked at feedback policy again, and it does say “positive comments with negative ratings” are not allowed. 

Better than negative comments with negative ratings, I guess. Could be worse, but dang it, they have those rules… they should follow them. The whole leaving neg fb after asking to cancel seems the most ridiculous to me, the neg/pos thing seems like a technicality, but I’d take it.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@ebooksdiva  sorry, I missed that, but sometimes it takes multiple tries, I would try & try again making the explanation short but clear, maybe even adding 'please escalate', can't hurt. 

[fab_finds4u]

You need to contact eBay on social media and have them revisit their removal policy because it does meet the criteria for removal.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.


https://www.facebook.com/ebay— Message button in upper right on landing page.
#204760888466
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
 

[mam98031]

@cleaning.the.attic 

This should be removeable per the rules.  It may take a little effort, but it should go away.  First try the automated version and make sure you put in the form that the buyer requested the cancellation.

Go to the Seller Help page. Towards the bottom of the screen you will see a place to click on to submit the feedback for removal.

https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp/feedback?id=5566

If that gets denied, you should appeal that decision to Ebay.

*******************************************************************************

On each Ebay page there is a link to contact Customer Service at the top of the page and again at the bottom of the page.

I would suggest that you contact Ebay for Business on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the better trained CSRs.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/ebay

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.

If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.

If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

https://www.ebay.com/help/home

[cleaning.the.attic]

Thanks to all who suggested eBay on Facebook/socials, I’ve never needed to use that, but that’s what finally worked.

>>> I tried the automated feedback removal ‘tool’…. It determined that it didn’t qualify for removal.

>>> I called an eBay CS Rep (old school) and he appealed that ^ decision…I got a response from that—does not qualify for removal, because buyers should be able to share their opinion on my items, etc. It went on as though a customer had left criticism about the item (that was cancelled and never sent). The response included helpful tips like always be sure to describe my items accurately, take good photos, mention defects, etc…. So, nothing to do with my actual issue.

>>> I messaged eBay on their facebook page, told them all the same info I’d shared the previous two times…. And got a message back today that it would be removed, and it has been. It didn’t specify the exact reason it was removed/if one or both reasons called for it, etc. 

It was a pain and somewhat time consuming, and I know some buyers wouldn’t be deterred by a 99% rating, but seeing it off of there is much nicer. I’d definitely try contacting someone through facebook again.

[mam98031]

Congratulations!!!!  That is how it should be.  😊

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Ridiculous that you have to go to a competitor site or ANY outside site, but I'm glad you got it removed!