Isn't Negative feedback supposed to be removed when buyer's abuse & break policies?

[profitweb]

Buyer was trying to extort me.  Left negative feedback admitting it. 

I made a request to eBay to remove feedback.  They removed the Buyer's extortion message but left the Negative (that was even worse).  Buyer did not use profanity in their feedback or anything like that.

eBay's Decision:

"We reviewed your request and the buyer’s feedback content will be removed, but not their rating. The feedback content goes against our Seller performance and feedback policy and our Seller protections policy, however there was no violation found in the rating. Please know that this won’t affect your seller performance. We know how important your reputation is as a seller and appreciate your understanding as we work to keep our marketplace fair."

So, if a buyer extort a seller, they get to leave negative feedback when we don't do something they want, even if it violates eBay's policies?  That doesn't seem right and I don't know if I can/should contact eBay to dispute this outcome.

I just had another buyer try to extort me, reporting an issue 45 days after receiving item, refused to send images, and wanted it shipped to different name and address (that was a drop ship warehouse).

Do we have any way to get Negative feedback removed (the rating, not content)?  So far, my initial requests to remove are denied (doesn't seem like they look into it very hard).  Can the decision be appealed?  If so, how?

Update:  FILED AN APPEAL Feb. 1st, 2024

Are they passive aggressive or just don't read the issue?

The negative rating is still there... it amazes me how CS seems so thrilled that the comment was removed (that made the buyer look crazy and removing the comment content didn't help us one bit).

[sumsum70]

Ebay policies mean absolutely nothing anymore and it seems they are getting really stupid with feedback lately. I have an EIS neutral that should not be there, but is. 

But if you were certain large sellers, negatives would be swept under the rug on a regular basis, valid or not.

[meme6253]

They don't seem to want to do anything about it anymore & It's Infuriating!

[stainlessenginecovers]

The policy is:

they MIGHT remove the Feedback- does NOT mean they remove the actual neg, just the verbiage. 

You can try the reps at facebook as they have more ability to do things...but not sure they will remove it. 

[mtgraves7984]

Please know that this won’t affect your seller performance.

@profitweb 

True that it won't affect your Metrics, but still disheartening to see a red donut for a year. Try the facebook route...

[profitweb]

I feel like Negative feedback hurts me more than a ding on my performance, just because I've only gotten 1 performance dink, but the negative feedback shows to everyone for year.  

[sumsum70]

                              Please know that this won’t affect your seller performance.

Perhaps, but does anyone here know if eBay's garbage search algorithm considers things like feedback, recent negs, etc?  If so, then sellers who have negs that would normally be removed are getting the shaft.

I have a recent neutral that should have been removed immediately. I have two negs that I could care less about. eBay gives me the lowest quality buyers of any platform - on a percentage basis that is, the majority of buyers are decent.

[inhawaii]

@sumsum70 

I'm sure you tried to have it removed.

May I ask how many times?

Maybe it's just a matter of getting the right CS agent?

Seems like a no-brainer.

You don't deserve that feedback for a EIS order.

[sumsum70]

Multiple times over three days, until eBay for Business replied that it should be removed someday. eBay for Business' reply, if true, should be a warning to everyone that disgruntled EIS buyers can leave non-positives and they will be stuck on your feedback page for a period of time.

The eBay removal requests and chat help gave replies that were 100% garbage. My final chat with eBay is posted here: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Contacting-ebay/m-p/34261955#M2348777

Even though this was supposed to be an eBay "agent", I'm not sure that is true. The replies were so nonsensical and inaccurate, I'm not sure eBay isn't using chatbots and calling them agents.

So, I've removed EIS. That is one more way I won't sell things here anymore. 

[kabilab]

Kim

On 01/10/24,  a new & sealed video game I sold was delivered. A few days later, the buyer gave me a RED NEG with the statement the game did not work. Said buyer did not contact me, so I was puzzled. I have been selling games since 1992 and have neither ever experienced nor heard of a factory sealed game being defective, but it is possible. When I checked the feedback he had given others, in 5 1/2 weeks on e-Bay, it was 42 NEGS out of 43 sales.

I sought advice and then contacted e-Bay on Facebook. The attendant, Daniel quickly shared he would not be able to remove the NEG, as it did not violate a rule, BUT, he agreed, after checking the buyers page, that something was definitely wrong and my concern would be forwarded to a RISK dept.

When, after a few days, I again checked the buyers feedback for others, the number had been reduced to 37 NEGS out of 41 sales. I then screenshot what I saw. Today, the number has again been reduced; it is 35 NEGS out of 39 sales.

The NEG he gave me is still on my Seller Hub, so perhaps someone is wading through this situation.

It is my opinion, the scales of equality on e-Bay are so heavily slanted toward buyers that very little justice exists for sellers. I am in the process of exploring alternate avenues for my future in eCommerce.

[iamalwaysright]

Hm,

If ebay recognizes the and confirms the extortion, the entire feedback should be removed. I'm assuming you used the ebay Help section to request the feedback be removed right? According to their reply in what you pasted, I would assume they agree there's a violation in the comment but not in the extortion (which would result in the rating being removed). Interesting.

Would you mind telling us exactly what the feedback verbiage was that got removed? Maybe who ever was reviewing your request was only fixated on comment violation and overlooked the extortion. Also you didn't give us details on why you acknowledged your issue as extortion, can you tell us? I agree a lot of it is common sense, but ebay has a history of never using common sense and being overly strict in labeling an issue as extortion. Sometimes don't even want to connect the dots from a clear threat of "Your feedback will reflect if you give me what I want" to extortion. I recall many agents saying the buyer MUST use the "if/then" statement and the words "negative feedback" in their threat to deem it as extortion. Something many buyers know how to easily dance around and still get their point across.

[luckythewinner]

Isn't Negative feedback supposed to be removed when buyer's abuse & break policies?

Here is the eBay policy about feedback removal: 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy/seller-performance-def...

I do not see the situation you mentioned as one where feedback is "supposed to be removed".

[sumsum70]

OP's situation should technically call for FB removal.

If the buyer sent messages to force or intimidate and eBay took action against the buyer for violating Abusive Buyer Policy, which you could say eBay already did when they removed comments OP describes as an extortion attempt or retaliation for not being extorted.

[profitweb]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

@sumsum70 

I'm sure you tried to have it removed.

May I ask how many times?

Maybe it's just a matter of getting the right CS agent?

Seems like a no-brainer.

You don't deserve that feedback for a EIS order.

---

I only tried once... seems impossible to get ahold of anyone to try again. 

Any suggestions?  The "Chat" service seems to block me because this was decided once.

[sumsum70]

You could try the "eBay for Business" on facebook. 

They didn't solve my specific problem, not yet anyway, but I am reasonably certain I was typing to an actual human who was capable of not acting like a moron. (unlike each and every person or chatbot I have interacted with via ebay.com)