Is "Seller Protection" a complete lie?

[matneum_15]

Still waiting for this mythical "Seller Protection", I am now in my second case of eBay blatantly not following their stated measures to protect sellers. 

First negative came from a buyer who did not read the item description, admitted to receiving the products described in eBay messenger system, attempted feedback extortion in eBay messenger system, and yet I am stuck with the negative and he is allowed to continue purchasing on the site. 

Second negative was recently received from a buyer, for which it turned out they provided a wrong address, tracking shows delivery was attempted and eventually returned. They left me a negative before even contacting (as the package was just being sent back with USPS), and opened a case claiming no delivery. 

Can eBay please allow us to leave bad buyers negative, if we can't get unfair feedback removed (which impacts our seller limits/ratings + impacts sales) we should at least be able to warn other sellers about the bad apples. 

[rosszonebricks]

Are you just hoping eBay removes the negative feedback for you or have you contacted them to get the negatives removed?    If you haven't contacted eBay on this, then it can take some time for the 'automatic negative feedback removal' part of Seller Protection to kick in.

If you have contacted eBay, and a rep told you they couldn't be removed, try again.  Not all reps are consistently trained, it seems.  So you it may take a few tries to reach one that knows what they are doing.

[mtgraves7984]

Don't worry about the bad buyers... take care of yourself! Have you contacted eBay? From the Help page:

We automatically remove defects in certain situations, including where we find the buyer was at fault, if the problem was caused by an eBay site issue, or if there was an issue outside of your control like shipping service delays, or items being delayed because of an extreme weather event.

If you've had a defect removed for any of the reasons mentioned above, please note it can take up to two days for your ratings to be adjusted.

[gracieallen01]

"Is "Seller Protection" a complete lie?"

I think it may depend upon from which point of view it is taken - the sellers or ebay's.

[u_cant_take_it_with_u]

Seller Protection is not synonymous with *eBay will flip over on its back, with all 4's up in the air*.  Anytime I wanted it to work for me, it was an uphill battle and I had to fight tooth and nail with eBay to see my seller side of it. So in answer to your question, and based on my personal experience, I would say it CAN work for the seller, but it's no stroll in the park. If a seller is going to receive any deserved protection from eBay, they are going to have to be diligent. Some CS agents are going to be more compliant than others.

[papermoneyforme]

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@matneum_15 wrote:

Still waiting for this mythical "Seller Protection", I am now in my second case of eBay blatantly not following their stated measures to protect sellers. 

First negative came from a buyer who did not read the item description, admitted to receiving the products described in eBay messenger system, attempted feedback extortion in eBay messenger system, and yet I am stuck with the negative and he is allowed to continue purchasing on the site. 

Second negative was recently received from a buyer, for which it turned out they provided a wrong address, tracking shows delivery was attempted and eventually returned. They left me a negative before even contacting (as the package was just being sent back with USPS), and opened a case claiming no delivery. 

Can eBay please allow us to leave bad buyers negative, if we can't get unfair feedback removed (which impacts our seller limits/ratings + impacts sales) we should at least be able to warn other sellers about the bad apples. 

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In one word:

YES

[southern*sweet*tea]

The only seller protection Ebay has ever promised is protection from item not received claims when you have tracking that states delivered.

That's it. Nothing else has ever been promised or guaranteed.

All the rest is puffery - Ebay may...Ebay might...in the end, the call will always go to the buyer, because that's where the money comes from.

As to warning other sellers about bad buyers - what good does that "warning" do if the seller never sees it? Sellers don't see buyer feedback until AFTER the buyer purchases.  By then it's too late. 

Negs for buyers runs off GOOD buyers who care about their feedback. Bad buyers don't care about their feedback.  I'd rather cater to the good buyers than run them off trying to avoid the bad ones.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

I like all your likes but would add one. Id really like for the company making money off my back to run off the bad buyers. Or protect me from them. Or in the ver very very least....i wish ebay would not promote, assist, and protect those bad buyers. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@cashvaluerecovery2011 wrote:

I like all your likes but would add one. Id really like for the company making money off my back to run off the bad buyers. Or protect me from them. Or in the ver very very least....i wish ebay would not promote, assist, and protect those bad buyers. 

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Oh, I agree.

But until Ebay implements actual blocks (not just ID blocks) and actually limits buyers to X number of returns/refunds like Amazon does now,  it will all continue. Serial returners (being nice here) need to be banned by name, address, IP, financial info...all that stuff, not just by an ID.  Anyone can create a nice shiny new ID - the good, the bad, and the ugly will all be the same.

Ebay can instantly ban a suspended seller who creates a new account, but somehow can't figure out how to block a buyer with multiple IDs who scams on all of them? Yeah, right.

I get that any third party retail website needs buyers.  Buyer protections are needed to keep buyers happy and safe, because let's be honest - there are A LOT of sketchy, shady and irresponsible sellers out there.  BUT..seriously how much bad luck can a single buyer have? If there are buyers with 10, 12, 20 returns a year, that tells me two things: either they are refusing their responsibility to properly vet their sellers OR they are scammers. Either way, both need to be shown the door. 

In 17 years as a buyer, I've filed a total of three cases against sellers - one an INR that eventually arrived over a month after it was mailed (yes, I repaid the seller), one broken item that was improperly packaged (a gold Hamilton watch that was mailed in a bubble mailer wrapped in tissue paper, no box) and a not as described (I ordered a loveseat cover and was sent a chair cover).   THAT should be the norm, not constant problems.

Right now we have to deal with the REALITY that other than INR protection, we have to protect ourselves. Nobody else will do it for us.

[firalasa-0]

I believe you want to learn how to address your buyers concerns professionally and respectfully, fighting with buyers is never a good idea even if you are 100% correct.

[gwzcomps]

It is worth noting you aren't TRS and don't accept returns.  So yeah basically no protections unfortunately.  Also eBay doesn't enforce the buyer related rules  Those are just for show.

[mam98031]

It doesn't appear you are participating in your thread.  There are some very seasoned Ebayers here ready to help you, but you need to participate in the process.  We can't help you if you aren't willing to help yourself.

Your older negative FB is likely too old to have anything done about it because of its age.  But your more current one you could get removed, however it isn't automatic, you do have to follow the process to get that done which starts with contacting Ebay with the issue.  But if you wait too long it will be too old and Ebay won't help you then.

What seller protection are you speaking to?  Specifically what portion of the policy do you feel Ebay did not adhere to?

Your expectation that with one infraction, if it is an infraction, that the buyer should be prevented from purchasing again is pretty unreasonable.  I would hate to see Ebay go in the direction of one infraction means the end of your privilege to use the site.  We would lose so many buyers as well as many sellers.  We are afterall human and we do make mistakes.  Having such an unforgiving rule would certainly have a significant and negative impact on the site as a whole.

Publicly shaming of buyers isn't the answer.  That is an emotional response and these are business transactions.  Negative FB for buyers is BAD BAD business and will reflect badly on all sellers along with chase away plenty of very good buyers.  Which is why it isn't allowed here nor is it allowed on similar sites. 

[1tuna]

............general reply.................

hope this works but here is proof that ebay is cutting me some slack,it shows all the lateness and it also shows how they took care of 27,  looks like  they still have 11 more to go  but give it  time and they will also turn to gray.

ebay said back in March they would take care of this and they recently reiteterated that position with the recent update.