klhmdg • Volunteer Community Mentor
Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
Buyers do not have to contact you 1st.
Hopefully the buyer will take you up on the return for refund.
Even if they do return the item, the buyer does not have to revise the FB.
@sapphire_studio wrote:If you can get them to return it and you are a top rater seller with buyer pays for free returns, than as a seller protection you can get the feedback deleted. Unfortunately you cannot make them open a return.
I suggest next time you reply to a negative feedback sound more upbeat and less mad. Like rewording what you said to "I am very sorry that your sound card is not working for some reason. Next time reach out to me first and I would be happy to refund you for your damaged item."
That is not a perk of TRS. It is simply a rule all sellers. If the buyer files an item not as describe claim, the buyer returns the item or the seller refunds it without requiring a return. Then the FB will likely be removed.
You do not have to have Free Returns to be TRS. That is for listings to qualify for TRS+ / the 10% FVF discount. A listing must the 1 day handling time and offer free returns [in most categories, there are exceptions]. But a seller can be TRS without having even one listing being TRS+.
I didn't say you had to have free returns I said you had to have free returns OR buyer pays returns and be a top rated seller to for sure have that seller protection. I'm not sure if others can also get it easily removed if they handle a return right, but it's specifically in the rules that you can definitely get it removed if you are a top-rated seller and you offer returns.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protections?id=4345
 
@thebricktank wrote:Would not broadly state that in feedback response, you are inviting future buyers to screw you.
I agree, saying you would have refunded in the response is an invitation for others to do as this buyer did.
@bill.purvis2012 wrote:What I would have done: Contacted buyer and offered to pay for return. Used one of my feedback revision requests and mentioning in it that you offer free returns to buyer. It would have been removed. Now, that you replied to feedbacik, I'm not sure Ebay will remove.
Replying to FB does not prevent a removal. That is only a rumor that has never been proven as far as I know.
That may be what you meant to say, just not how it came across when you typed it out. That happens to all of us from time to time. What you actually said was "If you can get them to return it and you are a top rater seller with buyer pays for free returns, than as a seller protection you can get the feedback deleted."
Part of what you posted was "...with buyer pays for free returns..." which I assumed you mis-typed and put buyer where you meant to put seller as we often do around here, because a buyer doesn't "pay" for a free return. Or you meant the FOR word to be OR.
If you take a moment and read the protections for ALL sellers that are NOT below standard, they basically have this same protection.
If a buyer reports that an item isn't as described
If the buyer reports the item didn't match the listing and requests a return, you are protected from negative and neutral feedback if you offer free returns, accept the return, and give a refund.
The only thing that is additional coverage for a TRS is the potential to get up to a $6 credit for return shipping.
The TRS Rule.
A buyer falsely claims an item was not as described
If the report qualifies:
- We will subsidize the return shipping label cost up to $6.00 per return for any false claim filed by a buyer that an item was not as described
- The subsidy will be credited on your monthly invoice
- For transactions to be eligible you must report the buyer
- Credits will be applied where we determine the buyer made a false claim
- We will also automatically remove negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics
The Reports Qualify link above refers to this.
Eligibility for protections
If you do any of the following you are not eligible for any seller protections:
- Operate with a false identity
- Not follow through with your service promises (such as not honoring your return policy)
- Have a history of serious policy violations, such as selling counterfeits, using prohibited forms of drop shipping or taking sales off eBay
- Misuse the protection, such as excessively reporting false 'Item not as described' requests or unfairly deducting too much from the buyer's refund
To be eligible for Top Rated Seller protections you must:
- Be a US Top Rated Seller at the time of the protection
- Reside in the US (including US territories) or Canada
- Offer 30 day or longer returns
- Only deduct from the buyer's refund to recoup the actual lost value of the item when it is returned in a different condition than the original item
- Only report buyers for opening false item not as described returns where you correctly described the item
- Not be rated 'Very High' in Service metrics
@mam98031 wrote:
@bill.purvis2012 wrote:What I would have done: Contacted buyer and offered to pay for return. Used one of my feedback revision requests and mentioning in it that you offer free returns to buyer. It would have been removed. Now, that you replied to feedbacik, I'm not sure Ebay will remove.
Replying to FB does not prevent a removal. That is only a rumor that has never been proven as far as I know.
@bill.purvis2012 @mam98031 is correct, I can confirm, as I have personally had FB removed that I had already replied to. More than once. Also another popular rumor is that NEUTs can't be removed. Again, have had it done.
