Negative Feedback without a customer's message

[warnerpetproducts]

I have been selling on ebay since 1998. How long will it take Ebay to make it fair for sellers and use a simple procedure that will stop buyers from leaving negative feedback without sending you a message. If you made a mistake shipping an order, you don't know if the customer never messages you. We have had over 100,000 transactions. Let face it, we make mistakes from now and then. I simple procedure that a customer cannot leave negative feedback if they don't message you first. If you don't do the right thing and correct the mistake, then you deserve the feedback. All Ebay has to do is look at your messages and see that the customer never messaged you and remove the feedback. How simple can it be.

[Anonymous]

eBay doesn't have time to review messages, which is why the abusive, etc. message reporting system was removed.

Also the buyer could just message you "YO!" just to bypass the requirement and then leave neg feedback. You're back at square one...what good would that do?

[lamber9347]

It wouldn't work because not every situation is the same and not every seller is a good seller like you are. I have had several bad experiences where I messaged a seller because of an issue. I most often receive immediate accusations of:

being a scammer (that's a very popular word for sellers to throw at a buyer),

of being (insert any of these or other similar terms= dumb, stupid, illiterate, moronic),

of being a horribly impatient person even though my item is two weeks behind schedule and well past the estimated date of delivery,

and even being called a thief because the item arrived damaged.

I also always send photos and still receive those types of replies from highly experienced sellers. All of those numerous incidents have caused me to stop messaging a seller when there is an issue and such a requirement would only mean I would stop purchasing on this platform. 

[wrong66]

That will never happen. The buyer could just send a message saying "Hi".  It would be pointless. And many sellers might not even respond, which would be equally pointless.  I'm sure there are tons of buyers who already contact a seller before leaving feedback, hoping for some kind of resolution. Just hasn't happened to you, maybe?

[ebooksdiva]

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@warnerpetproducts wrote:

I have been selling on ebay since 1998. How long will it take Ebay to make it fair for sellers and use a simple procedure that will stop buyers from leaving negative feedback without sending you a message. If you made a mistake shipping an order, you don't know if the customer never messages you. We have had over 100,000 transactions. Let face it, we make mistakes from now and then. I simple procedure that a customer cannot leave negative feedback if they don't message you first. If you don't do the right thing and correct the mistake, then you deserve the feedback. All Ebay has to do is look at your messages and see that the customer never messaged you and remove the feedback. How simple can it be.

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Buyers seem think feedback is a way of communicating with the seller. They either don't know how to use messages or they don't want to send one. 

eBay does have something in place or used to, it's a message that pops up just prior to leaving negative feedback. It says something like try to work with your seller before leaving feedback. Buyers chose to ignore it. 

I don't know if it's still there or not.. I haven't had an experience where I needed to leave a negative.

[fashunu4eeuh]

@lamber9347@lamber9347  wrote:

“…and even being called a thief because the item arrived damaged.”

Terrible. This lack of courtesy when dealing with a buyer who has an issue is one of my pet peeves. Taking a buyer’s word at face value will serve a seller better in the long run, as opposed to automatically believing its fraud.

Most people are honest, and sellers sometimes make mistakes. Besides, one can count on the scammer to tip their hand, revealing their fraudulent efforts. 

A bit of patience can generally tease the fraudster out, so they can be dealt with appropriately. In the meantime, while investigating the buyer’s issue, one is not actively insulting their paying customer. 

[luckythewinner]

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@warnerpetproducts wrote:

 If you don't do the right thing and correct the mistake, then you deserve the feedback. 

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So a buyer who had a negative experience ... 

Who does not report his negative experience a second time ... 

Should not be allowed to report that negative experience? 

That makes no sense to me. 

[panengine]

I agree with @warnerpetproducts .  Give the seller a chance to fix whatever it was that went wrong.    If the buyer is not happy with the sellers response, at least they tried.  Now the negative feedback is deserved.  I hate it when I read a negative feedback of "wrong item sent".  Specially since sometimes it is the right item, they just don't know it.  But, seriously, what good does leaving that kind of negative feedback do?  Are they going to get the correct item?  Their money back?  It solves nothing.  As mentioned, nobody's perfect.  If I sent the wrong item, how can I fix it if I don't know?  On the flipside, inform me of the error and you most likely will end up with the item you wanted or your money back or an explanation how the item you received is what you ordered.  It's a win-win.  No one wins the other way.

Hopefully, the majority of the sellers aren't how @lamber9347  describes.  And you won't know which one you're dealing with until you try.   Thing is, if they turn out being one of the nasty ones, you simply cut communication and hit them with that negative feedback.  But if you never gave them a chance, then you could be slapping some negative feedback on one of the good ones that may not deserve it.

[mam98031]

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@Anonymous wrote:

eBay doesn't have time to review messages, which is why the abusive, etc. message reporting system was removed.

Also the buyer could just message you "YO!" just to bypass the requirement and then leave neg feedback. You're back at square one...what good would that do?

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@Anonymous 

I'm sorry you have not been able to report abusive messages to Ebay, but the reporting system does still exist.  It may be different than what you remember, but you can still report a buyer or a seller for bad behavior if the opportunity arises.  

[downunder-61]

When a buyer attempts to open a claim [other than INR] they are advised to ''contact seller'' for resolution first, there is not much more eBay can do really.

When a buyer is using FB as a communication tool or through ignorance on the MBG, then eBay has no way of knowing that, but on appeal you should be able to get a neg removed if the buyer made no attempt to contact for resolution or bothered to open a case.

[dhbookds]

As you say..........sellers have been asking for that for years...........no reason to think Ebay will ever do it.

But, we, as sellers can be proactive......include messages in packages........"if there is anything wrong.....blah, blah"........I know some do.  Also know, it won't help with some buyers.........but it may forestall some problems, negs.