Eliminate the Competition using Negative Feedback

[454v]

I sold a pre-owned watch to a Invicta reseller, I too sell these watches, I have been a Ebay member for over 23 years and HAD perfect 100% Feedback.. The buyer pleaded with me to reduce the price of the watch by $200, way too much but I did it anyway, Watch was delivered, buyer receives it and then complains of a loose screw in the wristband, and demands that I credit him $25 to repair it, considering the huge discount I already gave him, I offered him a full refund instead, apparently he didn't like that and left Negative and False FB shortly after;

"WATCH ARRIVED IN POOR CONDITION!!! AVOID!!!

Now the buyer NOT once complained about the "condition", and even if he had, we posted over 10 photos and what he received is no different, he received exactly what he paid for.

Come to find out, this buyer buys from other Watch sellers also, and has left them Negative FB as well on almost ALL of the purchases he made, relative to what he left me, which leads me to believe, he not only wants additional money, his intention is to lower the FB scores of his competitors while he maintains a perfect 100%.

I reported all of this to Ebay and they completely ignored it, I don't believe they looked at any of the evidence in the messaging or his FB history, Ebay sent me what appears to be a auto generated denial.

Ebay has a policy against FB extortion and unfair practices like this, but they did NOTHING about it in my case, NOTHING, quite surprising when you consider that Ebay deducts a 15% from every sale, I would expect A LOT MORE THAN THIS! 

I'm going to have to cancel and block watch resellers from buying my watches, it's the only way I can protect myself from getting burned like this again.

Currently waiting for buyer to ship item back, it will likely be replaced with another watch or vandalized and then I'll have to file a police report in the buyers jurisdiction, and reporting it to Ebay will likely be a waste of time, they'll let him get away with that too.

[moondogblues]

You will be advised to contact eBay on social media.  I would take that advice and point out all the negs this 'buyer' leaves.  Good luck to you.

[soh.maryl]

Just as a side note, how are you going to be able to block watch resellers from buying your watches? Do you have a way to identify them? 

[stuff4divas]

@454v   

OK

if this is a one off in your 23 years on eBay, consider yourself blessed and lucky

as far as the feedback itself, it is not an extortion comment, it is an opinion of the buyer's experience  

it doesn't look like you have enough Invicta inventory for 'competitors' to be concerned about 'competion'

Whatever your decision, hope you continue to have great transactions on eBay 

[bamorris · Accepted solution]

I've come to the conclusion that low ballers are just not worth the effort in general. I'm at the point where if I get a lowball offer, I just decline it and block the bidder.

Even with the slowdown, eBay is big enough that sellers can be a little more selective over who they choose to do business with. Full price purchases aside of course.

[maxine*j]

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@454v wrote:

... I'm going to have to cancel and block watch resellers from buying my watches, it's the only way I can protect myself from getting burned like this again...

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Why do that?  Would you like to be told by any seller, anywhere, that you cannot purchase inventory as a reseller?  We always said in the trade that it's perfectly okay, in fact a good idea for building useful contacts, "to leave a little for the next guy."

I'm sorry this happened to you, in this case, but after all these years to have only one neg and to have run into only one such jerk is an enviable record!  And you may well be able to get the neg removed.

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[luckythewinner]

Sorry, but a loose screw is a problem with the condition. 

Asking for a seller to rectify a condition issue with a partial refund is not feedback extortion - it is something that eBay actually encourages buyers and sellers to consider. 

The fact that a buyer has only left negative feedback doe not necessarily mean he has left negatives for ALL his purchases. He may only leave feedback when there is an issue. 

[debvor]

Did you even read what this man said??????? Beyond that if the buyer was a watch dealer it is safe to assume that he should have some knowledge on care and repair of these watches. If someone is so inept and has no tools to fix something like a loose screw he shouldn't be dealing in watches!!!!!!!

[theteamsetguy]

It takes time to fix it and $25.00 to fix anything these days is cheap.

[chapeau-noir]

I would have stopped at the $200 begging - this kind of thing never ends well.

ETA:  And they did not use feedback extortion, it's not removable.  As said above, if this is the only problem you've had in 23 years, you're getting off lightly. 

A reasoned, non-emotional response designed to reassure FUTURE buyers of your integrity as a seller is really the best way to go IMHO. Don't go on about what this buyer did, that's in the past.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

The buyer is also a seller, so they know what they are doing. Scamming!

Curious what the seller gets back if anything.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

the O.P. stated the buyer has a history of negative feedback. They should have reviewed the buyer's full feedback history before selling.  

When I have a loose screw on something around my house, on my glasses, or yard equipment, I get what is called a screwdriver out of my tool chest and tighten. 

[12345jamesstamps]

That first negative feedback does hurt. I feel your pain.  However, when a buyer tries to lower the price of something that expensive it sounds like drama. I think you should be firm in the future of your pricing. 

[sumsum70]

Definitely some good advice here about not selling to lowballers in the first place and checking history of FB before selling. One of my favorite uses of the best offer feature is that it is a useful filter of bad buyers. My BBL is full of people who sent offers.

[stainlessenginecovers]

That 'seller' is not going to eliminate ANYTHING this way. Having 1 neg isn't going to hurt anyone. You can simply 'reply' to the negative (if you can't get it removed, using Facebook reps) like this:

"The item shipped was EXACTLY as described. I offer Full Refund upon returns as I take care of my customers"

Anyone that bothers to click your feedback (having a 98% is doubtful many will but..) will see you are honest, as well as having a full page of positives with one neg doesn't hurt most any seller.