Getting tired of reporting "reviews" that are really feedback about the transaction

[electrola_man]

I sure wish Ebay could help get the word out about the distinction between Product Reviews and Feedback.  It seems quite simple.

Product review:  A review of the item itself as manufactured - how well or poorly it is designed for its intended purpose, how easy or difficult it is to use, how aesthetically pleasing it is or is not, and such things.  The star rating should be a summary rating of the combination of these things in the specific reviewer's mind.  A Product Review should not refer to the condition of the specific example of the product received in any particular transaction; i.e. "Really clean and nice," or "Beat up piece of junk."  It should not reference how the seller handled the transaction; i.e. "Took long time to arrive but was packaged well." 

(Seller) Feedback:  A brief review of the transaction with the seller from the buyer's perspective.  It typically has nothing to do with what was purchased, but rather, how well, or how poorly, the seller handled the transaction.

I see so many "reviews" that are really comments about the transaction or about the seller's performance.  I see a lot of one-star reviews that do not belong there, but even five-star ratings can be done completely incorrectly.  Fortunately we are able to report those since they have to show up in our listings.  I have seen some disappear, but it would seem that some help is needed in guiding buyers in writing reviews.  Maybe when a review is started, some guidelines could show up to provide help, and point out what belongs in feedback vs. a product review.

[slati_2013]

And why would eBay even allow the reviews on a sellers page?  I say find a better way to implement the product review, like bringing up another page where the reviews are. Many buyers think it is a review of the page of the seller or they see the bad review and refuse to buy the item. Most of these one star reviews are left by disgruntled buyers and are almost always aimed at whomever sold them the item as opposed to the item itself. 

[lookng2015]

Yep I've seen some 1 star 'product reviews' on this year's 'hot toys' saying such as FAKE! Not the real thing!

Yet the item page they're shown on is the real deal.

(Not to mention the ones who use the product reviews to whine about eBay sellers wanting more than the toys go for retail (if you could find them that is))

[buyselljack2016]

Yup, and I live with one of those reviewers feedbackers

Wife just got a prompt from eBay for a review about a DVD that she purchased. She responded that she never got it thinking that it was the seller asking.

Now starts the fun.

[electrola_man]

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@slati_2013 wrote:

And why would eBay even allow the reviews on a sellers page?  I say find a better way to implement the product review, like bringing up another page where the reviews are. Many buyers think it is a review of the page of the seller or they see the bad review and refuse to buy the item. Most of these one star reviews are left by disgruntled buyers and are almost always aimed at whomever sold them the item as opposed to the item itself. 

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Yes!  I'm just apalled when I look at the reviews on some of the products I have for sale.  I typically just look at the stars first, because that's likely what most buyers look at, and if I see a star rating that looks too low, I'll dig into the actual reviews and often find one-star ratings and complaints about specific purchases.  That's where I see that a lot of the five-star ratings are all wrong, too, but at least they don't make the overall star rating look too low.

[newnewnewmann]

Even many sellers are not aware or are confused as to why those "reviews" show up on their listings and above their name, as seen on this board.

Ebay fumbled this one. I am a seller that had a one star review as well as dozens of other reviews, that were placed into my listing by ebay. ALL of the reviews were for other sellers, not for me. Some reviews spoke of the condition of the item, not my item, and that varied widely and some were for the sellers performance or lack of.

Since I found that the reviews cannot be removed from listings, I no longer sell any item that will attract these unwanted and intrusive statements. I don't like disparaging or one-star ratings next to my seller name that were meant for another unknown seller. Thanks ebay! Fortunately for me, I don't sell much that qualify for these reviews but many sellers do.

I like these reviews even less that the 2 or so rows of other sellers stuff that ebay places on top of and before you even see my listing. I also will not police these reviews for ebay, not my job, unless ebay wants to pay me.

I vote with my feet.

[lookng2015]

Then they wonder why sellers will use 'does not apply' to avoid the reviews on items with a UPC

[newnewnewmann]

I didn't even know that worked. The review showed up after I listed my sale...automatically, it was an old coin; maybe just the name of the coin triggered the review classification, so I deleted the listing in seconds, re-listed, and it was still there. I thought it was a glitch back then, but now I'm wiser, I hope!

[castlemagicmemories]

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@electrola_man wrote:

I sure wish Ebay could help get the word out about the distinction between Product Reviews and Feedback.  It seems quite simple.

Product review:  A review of the item itself as manufactured - how well or poorly it is designed for its intended purpose, how easy or difficult it is to use, how aesthetically pleasing it is or is not, and such things.  The star rating should be a summary rating of the combination of these things in the specific reviewer's mind.  A Product Review should not refer to the condition of the specific example of the product received in any particular transaction; i.e. "Really clean and nice," or "Beat up piece of junk."  It should not reference how the seller handled the transaction; i.e. "Took long time to arrive but was packaged well." 

(Seller) Feedback:  A brief review of the transaction with the seller from the buyer's perspective.  It typically has nothing to do with what was purchased, but rather, how well, or how poorly, the seller handled the transaction.

I see so many "reviews" that are really comments about the transaction or about the seller's performance.  I see a lot of one-star reviews that do not belong there, but even five-star ratings can be done completely incorrectly.  Fortunately we are able to report those since they have to show up in our listings.  I have seen some disappear, but it would seem that some help is needed in guiding buyers in writing reviews.  Maybe when a review is started, some guidelines could show up to provide help, and point out what belongs in feedback vs. a product review.

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Good points, OP, but I don't understand why there is this misunderstanding about what a product review is in the first place.  I have seen reviews where the comments were clearly about the seller, and they were not good, so they tainted every seller of that item as well.  

There was a post on the Buying Board from buyers who mistakenly saw reviews on another site, and they were price "warnings" so these posters thought that sadly, Ebay does not offer this "message board" where buyers can warn other buyers of "overpriced" items.  They not only did not know ebay offers product reviews, they did not know how they worked or what they were actually for.

[janet9988]

And ebay wonders why sales can tank. This is a big one.

The buyer will see this on every listing of the same thing and think eBay is full of scamming sellers and go to a different site.

No sense reporting them...more just pop up.