eBay

jennifrance · ‎11-24-2024

For 21 years I have had nothing less than 100% positive feedback but I recently sold a used iPod which had belonged to my late husband. Cosmetically it looked in good condition apart from usual slight dings from being in a car iPod dock. I thought I had reset it back to factory settings but for some reason, although it appeared to have reset, it hadn't deleted off all the content. I packaged it carefully, included a brand new leather case and sent it 1st class Tracked. The buyer got back to me after receiving it claiming that it had a gap between the front and the rear of the iPod and sent me photos to show this. I am fairly certain it was not like this when it was sent but can't prove it. He also found that the hard drive had not completely cleared. I have since cleared it using iTunes - not a difficult job even though I know very little about iPods. I sent him my response which asked if someone else could have had access to it as it had been inspected when I sent it off and it appeared to be in good condition cosmetically. However, I did say that as he wasn't satisfied I was happy to refund his money if he returned it to me. In response, he sent me the most abusive and vitriolic response claiming I was trying to scam him, that I was playing games with him, that I had sold him the item under false pretences, etc - really nasty. He has repeated these allegations on feedback which has reduced my feedback to 80% which has devastated me. I don't sell much on eBay but if someone were to complain, I would immediately offer a refund for the return of the item. This was his response to me offering him a refund

"Hi, nobody my end had access to the iPod. I find this insiniuation quite distasteful and a really disingenuous attempt to deflect responsibility. How dare you. Why would anyone want to prise the rear off anyway. Next you'll be blaming the courier. The box was not damaged either so good luck with that. And to send a copy to eBay to prove that you are not lying is again a disingenuous at best and sly at worst attempt to play the victim. What is clear is that you missed this or overlooked it. Don't play me for a fool. I'm too long in the tooth and can see through your games. The serial number on the rear does not match the serial number on the iPod itself. It has been replaced...badly. Disingenuously you took photos to hide the damage. Also you claim to have factory reset it, there are still 373 songs still on it, how is that factory reset? You claim to have done it twice, another fabrication, the hard drive is corrupt. You have tried to sell a non-working badly refurbished iPod for the maximum you thought you could get away. You will not be getting away with this."

What I want to know is how I report this to eBay admin - I know I can block him but want to have the unfair feedback removed. The gap he photographed was easily remedied by simply clicking the front and rear together and this is now firmly in place. A factory reset was carried out using iTunes and there is now 74gb available. Wasn't a difficult job - even for ignorant me. I know I can block him but he has affected my feedback so badly that I want to contest it. So both his claims are untrue. Any help would be gladly received as this has really upset me badly. I am 71 and have never knowingly sold anything on eBay that was faulty or not as I have described.

mam98031 · ‎11-24-2024

I'm very sorry about the loss of your husband. 😍

I always encourage sellers selling stuff like this to put the Serial Number in with your pics for the listings and in the description. If your buyer were to return the item, then you could tell if you got the exact phone you shipped to them back.

Now when a buyer reacts to your willingness to take a return and refund in the fashion they did, they are trying to bully you into a partial refund and no return of the phone. So don't play. Just respond Please return the item for refund. They send another nasty note, just send the short and sweet message again.

They will give up or file for a return. Most of the time they just disappear.

Now you can report these messages, but FIRST, save a copy of them in case they come in handy at a later date. Once you report the messages, Ebay sometimes completely removes them. You can report a message right in the Message system. If you have any trouble finding it, just ask.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

vintagecraze50 · ‎11-25-2024

Your buyer is blowing hot steam at you to get the product for free or a greatly reduced price. DO NOT FALL FOR IT. Continue to offer full refund with Return of item. If they do not like it want it something wrong with it then return it. I have had a few of these pesky buyers on here and I understand your frustruation. Keep copies of the messages. Ebay will look at them. If said buyer has done this too many times on here they will consider blocking their account. Move on to your next GREAT CUSTOMER on here that will not be such a hassle.

vintagecraze50 · ‎11-25-2024

@jennifrance wrote:
For 21 years I have had nothing less than 100% positive feedback but I recently sold a used iPod which had belonged to my late husband. Cosmetically it looked in good condition apart from usual slight dings from being in a car iPod dock. I thought I had reset it back to factory settings but for some reason, although it appeared to have reset, it hadn't deleted off all the content. I packaged it carefully, included a brand new leather case and sent it 1st class Tracked. The buyer got back to me after receiving it claiming that it had a gap between the front and the rear of the iPod and sent me photos to show this. I am fairly certain it was not like this when it was sent but can't prove it. He also found that the hard drive had not completely cleared. I have since cleared it using iTunes - not a difficult job even though I know very little about iPods. I sent him my response which asked if someone else could have had access to it as it had been inspected when I sent it off and it appeared to be in good condition cosmetically. However, I did say that as he wasn't satisfied I was happy to refund his money if he returned it to me. In response, he sent me the most abusive and vitriolic response claiming I was trying to scam him, that I was playing games with him, that I had sold him the item under false pretences, etc - really nasty. He has repeated these allegations on feedback which has reduced my feedback to 80% which has devastated me. I don't sell much on eBay but if someone were to complain, I would immediately offer a refund for the return of the item. This was his response to me offering him a refund

"Hi, nobody my end had access to the iPod. I find this insiniuation quite distasteful and a really disingenuous attempt to deflect responsibility. How dare you. Why would anyone want to prise the rear off anyway. Next you'll be blaming the courier. The box was not damaged either so good luck with that. And to send a copy to eBay to prove that you are not lying is again a disingenuous at best and sly at worst attempt to play the victim. What is clear is that you missed this or overlooked it. Don't play me for a fool. I'm too long in the tooth and can see through your games. The serial number on the rear does not match the serial number on the iPod itself. It has been replaced...badly. Disingenuously you took photos to hide the damage. Also you claim to have factory reset it, there are still 373 songs still on it, how is that factory reset? You claim to have done it twice, another fabrication, the hard drive is corrupt. You have tried to sell a non-working badly refurbished iPod for the maximum you thought you could get away. You will not be getting away with this."

What I want to know is how I report this to eBay admin - I know I can block him but want to have the unfair feedback removed. The gap he photographed was easily remedied by simply clicking the front and rear together and this is now firmly in place. A factory reset was carried out using iTunes and there is now 74gb available. Wasn't a difficult job - even for ignorant me. I know I can block him but he has affected my feedback so badly that I want to contest it. So both his claims are untrue. Any help would be gladly received as this has really upset me badly. I am 71 and have never knowingly sold anything on eBay that was faulty or not as I have described.

Some of these buyers on here buy these things and then resell them on here or elsewhere. They try to get a freebie so they make 100 percent profit. They mistakenly think that Ebay is a great place to steal merchandise this way. But buyers CANNOT bully a seller into giving them a partial, nor request a refund with NO RETURN of merchandise. If this buyer tries anything else REPORT this account on the report buyer section. Nobody wants this type of buyer buying from them on here.

vintagecraze50 · ‎11-25-2024

@vintagecraze50 wrote:
@jennifrance wrote:
For 21 years I have had nothing less than 100% positive feedback but I recently sold a used iPod which had belonged to my late husband. Cosmetically it looked in good condition apart from usual slight dings from being in a car iPod dock. I thought I had reset it back to factory settings but for some reason, although it appeared to have reset, it hadn't deleted off all the content. I packaged it carefully, included a brand new leather case and sent it 1st class Tracked. The buyer got back to me after receiving it claiming that it had a gap between the front and the rear of the iPod and sent me photos to show this. I am fairly certain it was not like this when it was sent but can't prove it. He also found that the hard drive had not completely cleared. I have since cleared it using iTunes - not a difficult job even though I know very little about iPods. I sent him my response which asked if someone else could have had access to it as it had been inspected when I sent it off and it appeared to be in good condition cosmetically. However, I did say that as he wasn't satisfied I was happy to refund his money if he returned it to me. In response, he sent me the most abusive and vitriolic response claiming I was trying to scam him, that I was playing games with him, that I had sold him the item under false pretences, etc - really nasty. He has repeated these allegations on feedback which has reduced my feedback to 80% which has devastated me. I don't sell much on eBay but if someone were to complain, I would immediately offer a refund for the return of the item. This was his response to me offering him a refund

"Hi, nobody my end had access to the iPod. I find this insiniuation quite distasteful and a really disingenuous attempt to deflect responsibility. How dare you. Why would anyone want to prise the rear off anyway. Next you'll be blaming the courier. The box was not damaged either so good luck with that. And to send a copy to eBay to prove that you are not lying is again a disingenuous at best and sly at worst attempt to play the victim. What is clear is that you missed this or overlooked it. Don't play me for a fool. I'm too long in the tooth and can see through your games. The serial number on the rear does not match the serial number on the iPod itself. It has been replaced...badly. Disingenuously you took photos to hide the damage. Also you claim to have factory reset it, there are still 373 songs still on it, how is that factory reset? You claim to have done it twice, another fabrication, the hard drive is corrupt. You have tried to sell a non-working badly refurbished iPod for the maximum you thought you could get away. You will not be getting away with this."

What I want to know is how I report this to eBay admin - I know I can block him but want to have the unfair feedback removed. The gap he photographed was easily remedied by simply clicking the front and rear together and this is now firmly in place. A factory reset was carried out using iTunes and there is now 74gb available. Wasn't a difficult job - even for ignorant me. I know I can block him but he has affected my feedback so badly that I want to contest it. So both his claims are untrue. Any help would be gladly received as this has really upset me badly. I am 71 and have never knowingly sold anything on eBay that was faulty or not as I have described.
Some of these buyers on here buy these things and then resell them on here or elsewhere. They try to get a freebie so they make 100 percent profit. They mistakenly think that Ebay is a great place to steal merchandise this way. But buyers CANNOT bully a seller into giving them a partial, nor request a refund with NO RETURN of merchandise. If this buyer tries anything else REPORT this account on the report buyer section. Nobody wants this type of buyer buying from them on here.

What is completely hilarious to me in the buyers response is that they are basically saying that this is a piece of garbage that they do not want YET, THEY WILL NOT RETURN IT.. i guess they are 100 percent satisfied with that. LOL!!!!!!!

vintagecraze50 · ‎11-25-2024

@jennifrance wrote:
For 21 years I have had nothing less than 100% positive feedback but I recently sold a used iPod which had belonged to my late husband. Cosmetically it looked in good condition apart from usual slight dings from being in a car iPod dock. I thought I had reset it back to factory settings but for some reason, although it appeared to have reset, it hadn't deleted off all the content. I packaged it carefully, included a brand new leather case and sent it 1st class Tracked. The buyer got back to me after receiving it claiming that it had a gap between the front and the rear of the iPod and sent me photos to show this. I am fairly certain it was not like this when it was sent but can't prove it. He also found that the hard drive had not completely cleared. I have since cleared it using iTunes - not a difficult job even though I know very little about iPods. I sent him my response which asked if someone else could have had access to it as it had been inspected when I sent it off and it appeared to be in good condition cosmetically. However, I did say that as he wasn't satisfied I was happy to refund his money if he returned it to me. In response, he sent me the most abusive and vitriolic response claiming I was trying to scam him, that I was playing games with him, that I had sold him the item under false pretences, etc - really nasty. He has repeated these allegations on feedback which has reduced my feedback to 80% which has devastated me. I don't sell much on eBay but if someone were to complain, I would immediately offer a refund for the return of the item. This was his response to me offering him a refund

"Hi, nobody my end had access to the iPod. I find this insiniuation quite distasteful and a really disingenuous attempt to deflect responsibility. How dare you. Why would anyone want to prise the rear off anyway. Next you'll be blaming the courier. The box was not damaged either so good luck with that. And to send a copy to eBay to prove that you are not lying is again a disingenuous at best and sly at worst attempt to play the victim. What is clear is that you missed this or overlooked it. Don't play me for a fool. I'm too long in the tooth and can see through your games. The serial number on the rear does not match the serial number on the iPod itself. It has been replaced...badly. Disingenuously you took photos to hide the damage. Also you claim to have factory reset it, there are still 373 songs still on it, how is that factory reset? You claim to have done it twice, another fabrication, the hard drive is corrupt. You have tried to sell a non-working badly refurbished iPod for the maximum you thought you could get away. You will not be getting away with this."

What I want to know is how I report this to eBay admin - I know I can block him but want to have the unfair feedback removed. The gap he photographed was easily remedied by simply clicking the front and rear together and this is now firmly in place. A factory reset was carried out using iTunes and there is now 74gb available. Wasn't a difficult job - even for ignorant me. I know I can block him but he has affected my feedback so badly that I want to contest it. So both his claims are untrue. Any help would be gladly received as this has really upset me badly. I am 71 and have never knowingly sold anything on eBay that was faulty or not as I have described.

I FORGOT to tell you this. Make sure you offer a free shipping label so they can send this back to prevent another major rant from them about having to pay for shipping. If they chose not as described I believe they get the label free. We set up all our listings with free return shipping so we do not have any problems with this. They just automatically get the label.

fbusoni · ‎11-25-2024

@jennifrance

It can be painful to be falsely accused of deceit... it's happened to every seller at least once.

You can report a buyer; information is here:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/leaving-feedback-buyers/disputing-feedback-received?id=4102

Unfortunately, the feedback will be difficult to remove. It reflects the buyer's experience and "opinion," according to eBay.

This is a cautionary tale about (a) the perils of selling electronics online, and (b) the need to ALWAYS remember that you, the seller, have no idea who the buyer is, or what is their motivation / mental condition.

Correspondence with malevolent / unstable individuals is quite risky.

It's always best to simply respond to messages with an apology for the inconvenience and a gentle suggestion to return the item for a complete refund. Short and sweet.

I would suggest that you reply to the feedback in a way that shows other buyers, who may want to review your feedback, that you have tried to offer a reasonable solution to the buyer's concerns.

"Buyer contacted me with his concerns, and I offered to pay for a return of the iPod and refund his money. Buyer responded with negative feedback."

Intelligent people will draw the appropriate conclusions.

Meantime, I looked at your listing and it says "Seller does not accept returns."

You have a right to not accept returns. But accepting returns is a far more customer-centric policy and instills confidence in buyers. regards

eBay seller since 1999. This is a posting ID.

pickapaper · ‎11-25-2024

Just to reiterate, do not engage in conversation with the buyer. He is clearly a bully trying to belittle you and get something for nothing and anything you try to say now is only going to add fuel to his fire.

The only thing you need to say to him is something like "I'm sorry you are not happy with the IPod. Please file a return claim with eBay and you will be issued a label for the return of the item. When I receive the IPod back, I will issue you a refund". If he continues complaining/ranting, just repeat this. Say nothing else.

One of three things will probably happen. (1) You will not hear from him again. (2) He will return the IPod and you can issue him a refund. (3) He will return your IPod broken or will return something other than your IPod, for which you will still have to issue a refund, but that's a whole different issue.

I wish you luck.

jerseyboymusic · ‎11-25-2024

@jennifrance

I'm REALLY sorry you are going through all this... especially with the loss of your husband.

I don't see anything listed or sold on this account you are posting from, so I assume this is a posting ID... I have no idea what you had in your listing.

I would make a last ditch effort to tell this buyer how distraught you are... especially since this belonged to your late husband. Appeal to their sense of humanity.

Also, on the negative feedback, you can reply to it saying something like "This iPod belonged to my late husband. I really don't know much about these and thought I had reset it, but he was the expert in these things". The feedback reply is for future buyers and may win you some compassion

fern*wood · ‎11-25-2024

I'm so sorry for the loss of your husband.

As others have mentioned never get into a back & forth with a buyer. From reading on the boards over the years I see one of the fastest ways to make a buyer really angry is to tell them you are going to report them. I would ignore all their messages and only reply return for a refund.

In the US, many times bad feedback is removed if you have a return and handle it properly.

luckythewinner · ‎11-25-2024

The gap he photographed was easily remedied by simply clicking the front and rear together and this is now firmly in place. A factory reset was carried out using iTunes and there is now 74gb available. Wasn't a difficult job - even for ignorant me. I know I can block him but he has affected my feedback so badly that I want to contest it. So both his claims are untrue.

To be honest, his reply to you wasn't even close to being "the most abusive and vitriolic" based on my experience on this board. I would call it "angry and accusatory".

That aside ...

His feedback says there was a gap when he received it, and it was not factory cleared when he received. In your statement above, you seem to admit that both of his claims were true and had to be remedied afterward. In your post above, you also admit you questioned him about whether someone else "had access to it" which could easily be interpreted as an accusation that someone at his end had pried the back off.

I see no grounds for eBay to remove the feedback, and you seem to have burnt your bridges with the buyer so I doubt he will revise it at this point.

jennifrance · ‎11-25-2024

Thank you all for the advice and the support. I have reported him for the abusive message but I'm not sure how to send the conversation through to eBay itself so they can see that his attack was unprovoked as the first message I sent was to ask him to return the iPod and I would authorize a refund for him. As it had been inspected before packaging and sending and there being no indication of any damage at that point, I obviously asked if there was anybody else who could have had access to the iPod. His photos show the gap between the front and rear of the item. If this was there when I sent it, it would have been very hard to miss so I don't know if he has damaged it himself (possibly accidentally). However, he has sent it back and he has had a refund and he has had an apology. I have responded to his abusive message pointing out that nothing in my response warranted the level of vitriol, sarcasm and hatred in his message and pointed out that I hadn't threatened to report him, just that I would pass my response on to eBay so that they had a clear view on what had happened and that he had been offered a refund. I have only ever had one other dissatisfied customer for a Walkman which had a defect (the lid for the battery case wouldn't open) but wouldn't have been spotted on inspection. I immediately offered him a refund if he returned the item. He was completely happy with this and appreciated me responding immediately.

I would like to give a short response to his abusive feedback along the lines of 'I'm sorry that my immediate response of a refund on return of the item has not been appreciated but that I am glad that we managed to sort things out to your satisfaction.' However, I can't find a way to respond to his feedback - does anyone know how this can be done?? I also would like to forward his response to someone at eBay but again, I can't find a way of doing this??

chapeau-noir · ‎11-25-2024

@jerseyboymusic wrote:
@jennifrance

I'm REALLY sorry you are going through all this... especially with the loss of your husband.

I don't see anything listed or sold on this account you are posting from, so I assume this is a posting ID... I have no idea what you had in your listing.

I would make a last ditch effort to tell this buyer how distraught you are... especially since this belonged to your late husband. Appeal to their sense of humanity.

Also, on the negative feedback, you can reply to it saying something like "This iPod belonged to my late husband. I really don't know much about these and thought I had reset it, but he was the expert in these things". The feedback reply is for future buyers and may win you some compassion

I would not leave that as a response - IMHO it sounds like a weak excuse and makes the seller look bad - people don't want to hear excuses, just what the seller did to remedy the situation. The reasoned response above I think is a better one.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Do not obey in advance." Timothy Snyder "On Tyranny"

mam98031 · ‎11-25-2024

I'm not sure you can get that feedback removed. There doesn't appear to be anything in what they said that breaks any of the rules. Buyers are entitled to their opinions and your buyer certainly voiced theirs.

I would NOT suggest you respond to it unless you can do it in a polite and professional manner. No finger pointing, no name calling, nothing hostile. Otherwise you will be doing more damage to your feedback that what the buyer wrote.

I would however advise you go to the buyer's feedback page. View their feedback Left For Others. Do you see the buyer doing this a lot or on other sellers? If you do, that could be a reason to have yours removed, but the reason would be Feedback Abuse and that is what you would tell Ebay. Plus bring to Ebay's attention the emails they sent you and your responses.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999