Seller Protection ~ Negative Feedback Policy for Buyers

[one_collector_to_another]

I hope that in the future... That eBay can somehow encourage Buyers (at minimum), to contact Sellers (at least once) to report and resolve any issues that they may have with their order/purchase/item(s), prior to leaving negative feedback. So that Sellers are at least (at minimum), aware that an issue exists, and given the opportunity/chance to resolve any issues.

Since Sellers aren't able to leave negative feedback for any reason at all... Maybe Buyers shouldn't be allowed to leave negative feedback unless they (at minimum), contact the Seller at least once to report any issues, And/Or, after the purchased item(s) have been returned to the Seller? I think this would not only be fair, but a reasonable thing to ask on behalf of eBay Sellers.

Just my thoughts...

[emerald1830]

It's never going to happen again....There's no other site where buyers are "rated"...we had that before and there was a lot of retaliatory feedback for buyers..this spooks buyers away...

[gramophone-georg]

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@emerald1830 wrote:

It's never going to happen again....There's no other site where buyers are "rated"...we had that before and there was a lot of retaliatory feedback for buyers..this spooks buyers away...

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Unlike the borked search and constant glitches?

[mam98031]

Your idea is a good one.  For many years Ebay has asked for the ability to try and resolve an issue with a buyer before they are allowed to leave negative FB.  For a brief period of time Ebay did have an extra step in the posting of negative FB and the buyer was asked if they had contacted their seller prior to trying to post the FB.  But it was short lived, never to be heard from again.

I would love it for Ebay to require that a buyer at the very least send an email to their seller with a minimum of 24 hours to respond before they can leave negative FB.  But I don't think we will ever see it as lots and lots of sellers, to include myself have asked for some type of help on this specific subject.

As for negative FB.  I'm not a fan of publicly shaming of buyers.  That will only drive buyers away, even some good ones.  Just not a good business decision.  Even snarky responses to FB by a seller aren't a good idea.  No matter how true they are, it is always in the seller's best interest to keep it polite and professional.

[one_collector_to_another]

Love your motto 😄

[one_collector_to_another]

Thank you! I appreciate your kind words, support, experience, and wisdom on the matter!

It just seems so unfair that Sellers aren't given a simple chance or opportunity to resolve issues. In all honesty, I not only think the situation is unfair to Sellers, but down-right abusive at times.

Especially when Buyers leave negative feedback, making false claims or complaints about item(s), yet they keep/never return the item(s)... Even when FREE returns are offered! While all along... Sellers have no clue that an issue even exists. Sigh 😕

I am grateful for your response, as It's nice to see some positive and enlightening advice... Thank you. I appreciate it!

[tunicaslot]

In this day and age of technology - there is no reason why a buyer must at least try to contact a seller before leaving poor feedback - but Ebay is not up on the newest technology as we've experienced in the last few weeks.

[mam98031]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

In this day and age of technology - there is no reason why a buyer must at least try to contact a seller before leaving poor feedback - but Ebay is not up on the newest technology as we've experienced in the last few weeks.

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While I can't speak for every similar site out there I can say with confidence that Etsy and Amazon also don't have a policy in place for this either.  I have no idea if any of it has to do with any type of "technology" but just some simple programming.  Either way.  None of the sites I've ever dealt with similar to Ebay has anything close to what the OP describes.  So Ebay is NOT the only site.  

@tunicaslot 

[tunicaslot]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@tunicaslot wrote:

In this day and age of technology - there is no reason why a buyer must at least try to contact a seller before leaving poor feedback - but Ebay is not up on the newest technology as we've experienced in the last few weeks.

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While I can't speak for every similar site out there I can say with confidence that Etsy and Amazon also don't have a policy in place for this either.  I have no idea if any of it has to do with any type of "technology" but just some simple programming.  Either way.  None of the sites I've ever dealt with similar to Ebay has anything close to what the OP describes.  So Ebay is NOT the only site.  

@tunicaslot 

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I believe once again you are reading something into my post that WAS NOT said. I never alluded to other sites having this configured into their system. What I do know is that I do not deal with buyers who do not contact me on any of the other sites if there is a problem with their order. 

[one_collector_to_another]

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it, but I must say that I'm a bit confused myself about your initial reply, as I perceived it in the same manner.

As far as technology is concerned, I'm sure that eBay could implement restrictions on leaving feedback for Sellers until Buyers attempt to resolve any issues and/or return the item(s), in the same manner that they already restrict feedback for Sellers and Buyers in particular categories, such as shipping, communication, etc.

As far as your statement that there's "no reason why a buyer must at least try to contact a seller before leaving poor feedback," I'm not sure how that relates to "this day and age of technology." I would like to think that no matter what day and age it is, or what communication platform is used, that people have the decency to show a little kindness and simple common courtesy. Especially in situations where resolution can be so simple.

A little communication, courtesy, and problem solving skills perhaps? Instead of imposing harm without even making an attempt to resolve an issue. Personally, I think that's like saying its okay to punch someone in the face if you have a problem with them... Who cares whether or not they're even aware that an issue even exists.

Just my thoughts...

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

You don’t appear to have any recent negatives on this ID? Is this from another ID?

often times bad feedback can be mitigated with a calm follow up that reassures future buyers that you take selling seriously. You also have five or more feedback revisions a year if the buyer is open to updating their feedback.

[eleanor*rigby]

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@one_collector_to_another wrote:

Since Sellers aren't able to leave negative feedback for any reason at all... Maybe Buyers shouldn't be allowed to leave negative feedback unless they (at minimum), contact the Seller at least once to report any issues, And/Or, after the purchased item(s) have been returned to the Seller? I think this would not only be fair, but a reasonable thing to ask on behalf of eBay Sellers.

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@one_collector_to_another 

A couple of months ago, I (along with dozens of other buyers) ran into a bogus seller. Perfect (and recent) feedback, consistent sales, absolutely no red flags to discourage making a purchase from him/her.

Well, as soon as we all made our purchases, the negative feedback started rolling in. No one received their items. By the time my estimated delivery date came and went, it was obviously pointless to contact this seller, since there were dozens of negative feedback comments already posted and their rating was now down to around 60%.

So, under your proposals, I would have had to contact the seller anyway before leaving negative feedback? And I surely never received an item to return to him/her before leaving my negative feedback comment--which I did, BTW, even though it felt a little like piling on.

It's always a good idea to think through all the possible scenarios before coming up with ways you think it could work better. In my case, your suggestion(s) would have made it unable for me to leave a negative feedback comment for a deadbeat seller (who's now NARU'd, thankfully). Just statistically, there are probably thousands of these kinds of transactions across eBay every day.

[one_collector_to_another]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it.

I completely understand the scenario that you shared because like you, I have experienced multiple purchases from bogus Sellers with misleading feedback, profiles, etc. Can you believe that I even purchased an empty USPS Priority Mail Box for $200! Yet, I've had the common courtesy to contact Sellers if an item didn't  arrive on time, arrived damaged or defective, etc.

There's all kinds of scenarios that can take place... A Seller could have been in an accident, passed away, experiencing rough times and committed suicide, had a family emergency, or simply forgot to turn on vacation settings prior to departing, etc. Additionally, items can be lost or damaged during transit, or stolen from a porch after delivery. Even scenarios similar to what you have shared where "accumulated" evidence clearly suggests that Buyers were mislead. All types of issues happen in many shapes and forms, but I think that most people in general will evaluate each issue and respond accordingly.

I understand that we don't live in a perfect world... but on the same note, I think that asking for a little fairness and common courtesy is not only reasonable, but just.

Trust me when I say that I've certainly thought things through prior to posting, and I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing ideas for some type of solution.

The goal and intent of my post is most definitely not about bashing Buyers or Sellers, inviting rants, or to point fingers at anyone. Whether or not its a long shot... The goal of sharing my thoughts are to simply provide ideas on helping to make the eBay community a better place by integrating a little fairness when it comes to feedback policies.

I can understand and relate to your concerns, but what's your idea(s) for a solution?

Just my thoughts.

[yuzuha]

And sometimes the seller has already proved through the transaction itself that contacting them would be pointless.

My friend purchased a small top hat to use as a part of her Halloween costume.  The seller shoved the hat into a poly mailer and shipped it that way with no padding or protection or anything whatsoever... and of course by the time the hat got to my friend, it was completely crushed and mangled.  In a situation like that, what good would contacting the seller do?  They obviously did not give a single hoot about the buyer, because if they did, they would have shipped it properly.  Alternatively, they were lazy and/or cheap, neither of which speaks well to how they would react to having these facts pointed out to them by saying "Uh, hey, so this thing was totally destroyed when I received it..."

Rather than get into what would no doubt be a contentious back-and-forth that would hold up the refund, my friend just opened up a case so that she could get her money back and go buy another hat for her costume that would hopefully be shipped properly.

[zmoz]

There are so, so many things ebay could do to make things more automatic and proper, but they won't. They're making billions now so why do they need to fix anything? Really there is no reason for buyer feedback what so ever. No other website does this. It serves no purpose. It's just a leftover from ebay 20+ years ago when people didn't know how the internet worked. It's hard to believe, but the "stupid buyer problem" was much worse 20 years ago.

A few days ago somebody opened an item not received case against me because I had not yet shipped the item, it was still well within the handling time. Ebay software should notice that it is still within the handling time and tell them they must wait to file this case - and in fact if they do, it's a violation of ebay's abusive buyer policy. It would be SO EASY for ebay to do things like this! BUT THEY WON'T! AND THEY NEVER WILL!