Feedback policy question

[richard1rst]

I was under the impression that a buyer could not leave negative feedback for a TRS seller until 7 days have passed since delivery. The idea being that the buyer should first contact the seller with any problems and give the seller a chance to resolve the issue. I recall seeing that message on the feedback pages when I was leaving feedback for other sellers. (No, I was not intending to leave negative, I just remember it being a memo note).

I am a TRS+ and a package was delivered 3/29 and negative feedback was left 3/30. The buyer notes that there is an issue which I am prepared to resolve.

The question is that I can not find the specific eBay policy page which details the above. Is there anyone who can provide the link to that specific issue?

[fashunu4eeuh · Accepted solution]

Hi, i believe you are remembering the PowerSeller perk of the 7-day grace period before a poor feedback rating could be left. eBay retired the PS program last year, and apparently the 7 day wait was not transferred to the Top Rated Seller program. I can find no mention of it anywhere in the current feedback rules or Top Rated Seller benefits.

[richard1rst]

Thanks for clearing that up.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Yep, that was the last remaining PS benefit. You would think it would have transferred over to TRS, but I guess not.

[wastingtime101]

The 7 day wait to leave feedback was transferred from PS to TRS when PS was deprecated @richard1rst. One of the eBay reps on this board confirmed it. I'll see if I can find the post.

In the meantime, I took this screenshot just now as a referencer:

[wastingtime101]

I did you one better than finding the post by an eBay rep. I found the e-mail eBay sent out in May 2021.

[wastingtime101]

The only thing I can think of is that someone at eBay screwed up the programming. The PS program gave a 7 day grace period from delivery date, but maybe someone messed up with TRS and made it 7 days from date of sale? Your item sold 3/22 so the timeline fits with that kind of error.

Can you look into this please tyler@ebay? Did eBay mess up or do I have it wrong? Was it always 7 days after the date the buyer paid?

I only have one purchase awaiting FB right now and I placed the order on 3/24, so I can post an update after the 7 day mark.

[nobody*s_perfect]

The PowerSeller grace period was 7 days after the transaction. Not 7 days after delivery.  The Powerseller benefit predates eBay's obsession with tracking, delivery confirmation, etc.

[wastingtime101]

Thanks for confirming that.

Cancel my above request tyler@ebay. 😁

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @wastingtime101 - I've been looking and it's difficult to find anything public facing that goes into detail. 

From internal resources, the 7 day Top-rated feedback window applies from when the listing ends. 

I'll request additional info, but from what I can see this is not a tech issue, but the design. 

[richard1rst]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

Hi @wastingtime101 - I've been looking and it's difficult to find anything public facing that goes into detail. 

From internal resources, the 7 day Top-rated feedback window applies from when the listing ends. 

I'll request additional info, but from what I can see this is not a tech issue, but the design. 

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Thank you. I have no problem rectifying what is really a small issue. It just rankles that the buyer immediately left negative feedback instead of contacting me first. The screenshot that @wastingtime101  showed is what I expected.

[albertabrightalberta]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

From internal resources, the 7 day Top-rated feedback window applies from when the listing ends. 

---

IMO, 7 days from date of sale (when listing ends) is unreasonable for the following reasons. Presumably, the reason for the delay in allowing less-than-positive feedback is to encourage the buyer to approach the seller with concerns rather than blindsiding the seller as @richard1rst's buyer did.

There are several reason why the timeline should start on the date of delivery.

1. No buyer leaves feedback at the time of payment. As they should, they're going to wait to receive the item.

2. Not all buyers pay immediately so if the buyer doesn't pay for 2 days and even if the seller ships on the day of payment, the seller has already lost at least 2 days of the "resolution period." And many buyers don't pay until the 4th day is approaching, further reducing the seller's time to resolve. 

3. Even for IPR and immediate shipment by the seller, with USPS being under-staffed and delays in delivery often taking longer than estimated, the 7 days from date of sale can expire before the item is even delivered.

tyler@ebay 

[riversideglass]

I totally agree with I just got 4 bad feedbacks on one sale with 4 items. The items were purchased on Jan 10 and feedback left on Jan 14 not even 7 days from sale. Just to check I started a negative feedback on a recent purchase and was not blocked or reminded to contact the seller first. Of course I didn't go through with the feedback but something seems to not be working correctly.

[riversideglass]

Also why does ebay count multiple sale only once and negative each item gets a feedback count. I now have 4 bad feedbacks for one transaction done through the shopping cart and they used a coupon code. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Yet another ZOMBIE thread.