Question Came Up In a FB Group Today...

[northeastauctions]

Question Came Up In a FB Group Today...Will Ebay remove a buyer negative comment if they say that the shorts she just bought were supposed to be a size 8, they werent, they're too small, dont fit, etc etc? Someone in the group claims that buyers cant leave comments that arent fully factual and if they do ebay will remove them. Now i know about profanity, anything personally identifying someone, etc etc. But we've all seen or received plenty of feedback that said something we felt was not true. Ebay doesnt go around and fact check stuff like that. Its subjective mostly, if you have what you believe to be a negative expierence, you can leave a negative comment. "I thought these shorts were ugly"! So if i prove you were lying and thought they were pretty then ebay will remove it? Come on. I think hes pulling my chain, right?

[caldreamer · Accepted solution]

EBAY will NOT remove negative feedback (this is just customer's opinion).   EBAY does not "fact check" comments to see if they are true or not.

[natoman777]

The only time eBay will remove feedback is when it is abusive, or if their was a case involved in which you win and then they leave a negative.  Pretty much...the buyer can say whatever they want and eBay doesn't care.  You can respond to idiotic feedback (which i recommend doing in a clear concise and non idiotic fashion)

[popblox]

---

@northeastauctions wrote:

Someone in the group claims that buyers cant leave comments that arent fully factual and if they do ebay will remove them. 

---

Buyers can leave as many false comments as they want, unless a seller can prove an entire statement is false. Here are a few scenarios that I've been through that might clarify things. Let's say the item is a shirt - buyer can choose either long sleeves for $20 or short sleeves for $10.

Scenario 1:

 *Buyer purchases the short sleeved shirt for $10

 *Buyer leaves negative feedback that says: "Not what I ordered! I paid for a long-sleeved shirt and seller sent a short-sleeved one!"

 *eBay will remove the negative because the statement can easily be proven to be false.

Scenario 2:

 *Buyer purchases shirt for $10

 *Buyer leaves negative feedback that says: "This color is disgusting! It looks red in the picture, but it's obviously orange! "

 *eBay won't remove the negative because the statement is based on opinion.

Scenario 3:

 *Buyer purchases shirt for $10

 *Buyer leaves negative feedback that says: "This shirt smells like mildew! Tried contacting the seller and they didn't respond! "

 *eBay won't remove the negative because SOME of the statement is based on opinion. This actually happened to me - eBay could see that the buyer never tried to contact me, but they still wouldn't remove the negative because only half of the comment could be proven to be false (FWIW, the package was stuck in a USPS warehouse for a month). 

[eleanor*rigby]

---

@northeastauctions wrote:

Question Came Up In a FB Group Today... Someone in the group claims 

---

I belong to a couple of those Facebook groups. I've never seen such lousy advice/information in my life--and I exaggerate only slightly. 

Well--I might see worse advice dished out in a couple of my horticulture Facebook groups.

Take all that junk you read in those groups with about a ton of salt, unless someone provides a link to some legit source that will support what they're saying. And keep in mind not all of those members (in my groups, anyway) are selling on ebay.com.

[mr_lincoln]

@northeastauctions   That member in your FB group is wrong ... eBay does not fact check anything, they never see the item so they can't have an informed opinion.  The Feedback system is subjective to be sure ... it relies on the honesty or dishonesty of Buyers ... in 2008 eBay stopped letting Sellers leave less than Positive FB for Buyers ... so in effect they created a tool Buyers can use against Sellers as unspoken leverage to manipulate them ...

[northeastauctions]

Thats what i thought, but some of these people in the FB seller groups SWEAR they have had every negative removed that wasnt 100% factual. I even asked where did they hear that, cause its not true, and no answer of course. Some people just want to argue and tell you your wrong. IT came up because this person was giving bad advice to a new seller stating it will get removed because she sold a pair of shorts and the buyer left a  comment stating that they were not size 8 and didnt fit her, even though they were new with tags that showed they were size 8. I said they wont remove that, they wont even look at that. I was pretty sure i was right, but wanted to see what you guys thought. Thank you, good to hear from someone who uses facts and doesnt answer everything with emotion and unprofessionalism. Is that a word? If its not i just made it up, lol.

[northeastauctions]

Thats true, some sell on Mercari and Posh, etc etc. But I agree, most have no clue what they're talking about. But it gets aggravating when they give such horrible advice to new people and swear that its ebay policy, but yet wont link to anything. I think its because they didnt expect someone to call them on it.

[northeastauctions]

I agree with almost everything you said, except one part, which might be exactly related to what im stating. A seller sells a size 8 new with tags pair of shorts to a lady, she tries them on, doesnt fit, goes and leaves a negative stating "these are not size 8" and im not sure what else she said if anything. They were size 8 according to this seller and showed the new tags in the auction photos, so the believes it should be removed and one guy was telling her it would be. My argument is that ebay will not remove that, as they've told me before, the buyer had a negative experience, and left a negative comment, done and done. Ebay isnt going to step in unless the comment had profanity, disclosed personal information about the seller like where they lived or their real name or something threatening, etc. They will not remove this neg just because the buyer believes they are not size 8, regardless of what the tag says. Now i could be wrong, and it would be interesting to find out a more concrete policy about this exact situation, instead of the usual, "well it depends on who you get on the phone", as they will all say something different.

[mr_lincoln]

---

@northeastauctions wrote:

I agree with almost everything you said, except one part, which might be exactly related to what im stating. A seller sells a size 8 new with tags pair of shorts to a lady, she tries them on, doesnt fit, goes and leaves a negative stating "these are not size 8" and im not sure what else she said if anything. They were size 8 according to this seller and showed the new tags in the auction photos, so the believes it should be removed and one guy was telling her it would be. My argument is that ebay will not remove that, as they've told me before, the buyer had a negative experience, and left a negative comment, done and done. Ebay isnt going to step in unless the comment had profanity, disclosed personal information about the seller like where they lived or their real name or something threatening, etc. They will not remove this neg just because the buyer believes they are not size 8, regardless of what the tag says. Now i could be wrong, and it would be interesting to find out a more concrete policy about this exact situation, instead of the usual, "well it depends on who you get on the phone", as they will all say something different.

---

@northeastauctions   I believe you are right here ... while it is really not fair to the Seller in this case the Buyer's FB does not violate policy so a regular rep is not going to have it removed or recommend it for removal. 

[fab_finds4u]

Well all I know is feedback about an ugly shirt isn't supposed to be a product review. It's supposed to be if you got what was in the picture, if the seller gave accurate measurements, did they ship on time, etc. 

If you saw the picture you can tell if the shirt is ugly or not. If you went on to buy what you thought was an ugly shirt and then complained it was ugly I'd block you. And I believe other sellers here would block you, too.

[fab_finds4u]

eBay will remove feedback that has profanity. They will also remove feedback that says the seller didn't ship when tracking shows they shipped on time and it's been delivered. 

[popblox]

---

@northeastauctions wrote:

I agree with almost everything you said, except one part, which might be exactly related to what im stating. A seller sells a size 8 new with tags pair of shorts to a lady, she tries them on, doesnt fit, goes and leaves a negative stating "these are not size 8" and im not sure what else she said if anything. They were size 8 according to this seller and showed the new tags in the auction photos, so the believes it should be removed and one guy was telling her it would be. My argument is that ebay will not remove that, as they've told me before, the buyer had a negative experience, and left a negative comment, done and done. Ebay isnt going to step in unless the comment had profanity, disclosed personal information about the seller like where they lived or their real name or something threatening, etc. They will not remove this neg just because the buyer believes they are not size 8, regardless of what the tag says. Now i could be wrong, and it would be interesting to find out a more concrete policy about this exact situation, instead of the usual, "well it depends on who you get on the phone", as they will all say something different.

---

As frustrating as that sounds, as I mentioned, those comments are opinions and eBay won't remove opinions. However, they will remove "false claims" that can be easily verified with facts. 

I have a few specific products that I've sold for many years - one option is about $7, and the other about $20. About 3 times a year I get negative fb removed because kids/inattentive buyers routinely purchase the cheap-o option, then leave negative fb because I didn't send them the high priced option. I can assure you that the response from eBay is quite consistent on this.

I'll clarify. Customer orders a size 8.

"These are not a size 8" is an opinion. eBay will not remove the neg fb. There's no way to prove what you sent, if the item is 'true to size', and/or what the customer received.

"These are a size 8, I ordered a size 10" - it's a well documented fact that the customer ordered a size 8 (not a size 10). eBay will remove the feedback.

**Side Note: It is imperative that you first report a buyer for "making a false claim" before ever asking CS to remove negative fb.**