eBay

mac-parts-usa · ‎09-20-2018

HI,

I need to know if I have a right to ask eBay to remove this negative feedback or not. So I am asking my fellow eBayers here for their input because I am very frustrated and I think it was totally unjust and eBay doesn't care.

Someone purchased a part from me on eBay. Couple of days later he started a return refund process claiming that the part we sent him was defective.

I replied and asked if he had purcahsed the right model, etc, he replied and said yes he has. So I accepted the return. This last Sunday, we got an email notification from eBay stating that the item has been returned and to refund the customer.

I looked at all my eBay emails but there was not a single email with returned tracking. I called eBay and they said they don't send tracking. Just email notifications. We were closed on Sunday so I send one of my techs to our warehouse first thing on Monday to go look for the package.

We finally found it and tested it to see if it was defective. It wasn't. There was nothing wrong with the part. I tried to call the customer on Tuesday with the phone number they had provided to eBay for their contact info. The number was disconnected so I started looking online to see if they have another number for their business. I found another number and I called and that number was also not working (majic jack number).

By this time I noticed he had given us a negative feedback.

After looking all over the web I finally found their correct website and called all their locations until I found the one where the owner was. I explained the situation to him and he agreed to remove it. He asked me to send him a feedback revision request and I did and I gave him a refund immidiately even though there was nothing wrong with the part and now I had to sell it as used and take a loss on it (about $80).

I waited until next day and saw another email from eBay saying that the buyer had rejected the feedback revision. I was very upset at this point. I called eBay and explained everything and they said they can't do anything about it. I called the buyer and he said one of his employees saw the revision request and accidentaly denied it so he called eBay and eBay told him there is nothing that they can do either.

I have sold over $100,000 on eBay in less than two months and no one is willing to help me even though I have done nothing wrong.

Thanks,

RN

orangehound · ‎09-20-2018

On eBay, the rule is to refund without challenging the customer ... if you are upset, you should be venting to customer service.

The negative feedback says that eBay had to get involved. So, I'm guessing that you refused (or objected to) the refund because you were upset that you had to pay return shipping as the result of your belief that the customer was not honest.

I get it. If you sell enough on eBay, it will happen ... customers lie in order to avoid paying return shipping costs.

The proper course of action is to call eBay and tell them that the buyer abused the Money Back Guarantee by circumventing the return policy. They will likely tell you to go ahead and refund the money, and then sometimes/often they will cover the return shipping costs. ... even if they don't, it isn't worth the seller defect and loss of fees that you will suffer when the case gets decided by eBay.

Do you have a right to object? Sure. Will eBay remove it? Maybe ... you can appeal the decision with eBay and see what they will do for you.

@mac-parts-usa wrote:
I have sold over $100,000 on eBay in less than two months and no one is willing to help me even though I have done nothing wrong.

Just to be clear, you did do something wrong in the eyes of eBay .... that is, you refused to refund the money in a timely manner. eBay wants top-notch customer service from its sellers.

mac-parts-usa · ‎09-20-2018

Thank you for your reply. I am not sure if you read the whole thing but I didn't refuse. This is not about refusing refund or return shipmetns, etc. I immidately gave him a refund after I got in touch with him and I did call eBay support multiple times and vented to them. My whole point of this situation was that no matter what I did, I still got a negative feedback even thought I was not at fault in any shape or form and the buyer agreed to remove the feedback but something went wrong.

1. there was nothing wrong with my part

2. I gave refund immediately after I found the guy and talked to him

3. The guy agreed to changed the feed back after I sent him revision for feedback

4. One of his employees made a mistake and declined the feedback revision

5. He claimed he called eBay and eBay told him there is nothing they can do

6. I called eBay multiple times to explain and eBay kept saying there is nothing they can do.

Since this post I recieved a call back from eBay and the 4th person told me that I have to get a reply back from the buyer saying that he HAD agreed with the removal of feedback but that his employee had a made a mistake (in writing through eBay email system). I have done that but nohting back from the buyer yet. So eBay support said they will call him to see if they can talk to him. Still NOTHING.

Thanks,

RN

mac-parts-usa · ‎09-20-2018

I am not going to give immediate refund to someone when there is NOTHING wrong with a $345.00 part that now I have to sell at a loss because it is used. Why would anyone in their right mind do that?

Why would I give a refund to someone and then have NO CHANCE to get my money back? I have explained in my policy that we will test every part that is returned for functionally first before refunding.

I am sorry but I am not selling socks or pots and pans. This is a very expensive part that had nothing wrong with it. The buyer didn't know what he was doing so he assumed the part is defective. I already paid for return shipment and only had 2 days to find the guy that had wrong contact information on eBay and I couldn't reach him.

annasunicorns · ‎09-20-2018

I think you can reply to the negative. I would try to consider how a futurebuyer would take it. I mostly buy here. Rarely I sell. When I see a negative, I look for a reply. If I see a calm and reasonable response (sorry you were disappointed next time please contact me first to let me resolve the problem before leaving feedback, etc), I still buy.

cubano4u · ‎09-20-2018

Sorry but you're just not getting it. You do not have a stand alone retail store, you are selling via a third party which is eBay. That means you have to abide by their rules.
EBay wants all sellers to immediately refund without eBay getting involved. You have admitted repeatedly that you refuse to do that, therefore you are in violation of eBay's seller policies. It's very simple.
You are the one who chooses to sell very expensive parts, and not socks or pots and pans. That is your choice. You choose to sell on eBay so you have to follow their policy. You chose to handle this situation the way you wanted, which was waiting to track down the buyer over two days. The buyer expected his refund the moment his return was delivered. You chose to hunt him down first.
Frankly you've been very lucky with this buyer. Someone else could easily have been offended that you called them over this. He agreed to change the FB (which he has no obligation to do so) then when it was accidently deleted, you still want to call him and have him now write eBay with explanations as to how this occurred? Wow.
It just doesn't sound like eBay is the best way for you to sell your expensive items. You should look into finding another venue where you have more control over returns and refunds. Also check out other threads on FB, it's not as important as you are making it out to be. You should be fine moving forward with this one neg. Good luck to you....

orangehound · ‎09-20-2018

@mac-parts-usa wrote:
I am not going to give immediate refund to someone when there is NOTHING wrong with a $345.00 part that now I have to sell at a loss because it is used. Why would anyone in their right mind do that?.

My friend, I think I now realize what is going on. I looked at one of your listings, and you have a 60-day return policy with the following language down in your listing:

"Buyers can return this item if they have received a defective or wrong part."

Here is the problem:

When you selected "60-day returns" for your listing, you selected an eBay standard return ... ebay has 5 different types of returns, and each type has its own set of rules. With this type of return, a buyer can indeed return their purchase to you even if "there is NOTHING wrong with it".
I assume that you are thinking because you had language in your listing that says "Buyers can return this item if they have received a defective or wrong part." , then they can only return it if it is defective or the wrong part. That's the wrong assumption. Because you selected eBay's 60-day returns option, they can return it if they change their mind, don't like the color, its the wrong size, the wrong part, doesn't fit, it is snowing outside, or their baby sneezed on it, and ... of course ... if it is defective. This is how 60-day returns work on eBay.

@mac-parts-usa wrote:

Why would I give a refund to someone and then have NO CHANCE to get my money back? I have explained in my policy that we will test every part that is returned for functionally first before refunding.

You give him the refund because that's how returns on eBay work. Now, because you are offering "free 60-day returns", you invoke another power. If the buyer returns the item in a condition other than what was sent, you can deduct up to 50% of the refund to compensate. The guidelines that eBay wants you to follow for reducing the amount of the refund are found here: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handling-return-requests?id=4115

@mac-parts-usa wrote:

I am sorry but I am not selling socks or pots and pans. This is a very expensive part that had nothing wrong with it. The buyer didn't know what he was doing so he assumed the part is defective. I already paid for return shipment and only had 2 days to find the guy that had wrong contact information on eBay and I couldn't reach him.

On eBay, you have a limited window in which to complete the refund. If you don't do it, eBay steps in and does it for you. And, if eBay has to do your job for you, they may (will) punish you with seller defects, loss of ebay/PayPal fees and other uncomfortable things.

Rarely is there a need to talk with a customer once a return has been received ... you just need to execute the refund.

plumbingspecials · ‎09-21-2018

Accept the return, refund the buyer and report him for abusing MBG. When you refund, you can always report "problem with buyer" too. The more reports he has, the more on ebay's radar as an abusive member he will be and eventually will be shut down. Reply to the feedback by stating that the "buyer abused MBG".

plumbingspecials · ‎09-21-2018

OP says: "I immidately gave him a refund after I got in touch with him and I did call eBay support multiple times and vented to them."
You definitely should not have contacted him, especially going through the lengths you did to find his active phone number.
In the future - fight after you have resolved the case, not before and not during. Always report policy-abusing buyers, so ebay can shut them down if they're habitual.

aliensandangels · ‎09-21-2018

You think we ALL don't have "eBay screwed us Royal" Stories?
You are whining because you lost about $80, when you made over $100,000.00 in 2 months?
Are you BRAGGING or COMPLAINING?

No one will help you?

Well get used to it. eBay isn't here to make "US AMERICAN SELLERS" happy. You should know that by now.

YOU as a SELLER HAVE NO RIGHTS. You cannot even LEAVE A NEGATIVE FEEDBACK for a BUYER. No more "**bleep** for TAT."

You can leave a comment under the Negative they left you ONLY ONCE & you can't change it once you click DONE! AND choose those 80 CHARACTERS wisely. Try telling THAT STORY in 80 CHARACTERS.

Check out your buyers PAST RECORD for "Feedback left for others." See if he is a Habitual NEGATIVE FEEDBACK leaver. If he IS - that will only make your GUT BURN HOTTER! How Dare eBay allow such a thing.

I'd say you are doing pretty good if you have sold over $100,000.00 in 2 months & only have 1 Negative.

I cannot understand how people become sellers on eBay and expect that they will be treated FAIRLY.

Don't you GOOGLE & do research? Sellers - especially American Sellers get it up the WAZOO. There are Tens of Thousands, maybe more "Sad Sop Stories" like yours... only WORSE.

Some Sellers have lost hundreds & hundreds of dollars from SCAMMERS on eBay. Thousands of truly Stupid Americans are buying FAKE DESIGNER PURSES, CLOTHES, JEWELRY, PERFUMES, etc. and I am one of those Stupid Americans in several of those categories over the years. NO ONE HELPED ME EITHER.

It is almost like eBay encourages the huge out of country Business by all the discounts they give HUGE BUSINESSES, as well as the RIGHT to Gouge & Shill & Shaft their way through every eBay listing Category there is that we purchase from. ;>)

I have turned in many Sellers abusing eBay Policies for FORGERIES & SHILLING & several other serious offenses. EBAY DOES NOTHING.

EBay makes millions & millions of dollars yearly off their final value fees & all the other fees they pay, way too numerous to mention... from these Sellers from out of Country selling Fakes & Forgeries in hundreds of categories.

Just TRY TURNING ONE OF THEM IN. We have to jump through hoops of fire just filling out all the **bleep** eBay requires to issue a complaint & PROVE our POINT & STILL eBay DOES NOTHING.

After a while, you'll be like the rest of us & realize that it isn't worth the trouble any more to report ANYONE for ANYTHING (unless they are USA SELLERS) and eBay will yank their account faster than you can say... PREJUDICE. PayPal will FREEZE an account & leave people broke & unable to pay their Rent or Mortgage or buy food in a heartbeat... but NOT TO FOREIGNERS!

GOOGLE - GOOGLE - GOOGLE - READ - READ - READ all the Horror Stories about eBay & PayPal & then Thank your Lucky Stars all you might have lost was $80.00.

And BTW - Those of us that have been shafted more than you have been so far, are laughing at you. Not in a mean or disrespectful way - but the kind of laugh that means, "YOU AINT SEEN NOTHIN YET FELLA!"

mr.tomany · ‎09-21-2018

sold that much and your worried about $80 bucks?? Have a (159) - Number?? yeah right ,,giving me a headache ,,,Please

chicboutique31 · ‎09-22-2018

Just be thankful you got the item back in working condition. it sounds like you are doing very well selling here on Ebay so i wouldnt worry about 1 negative feedback. The situation could be a lot worse..

tlcochran47 · ‎11-26-2018

I sold a book to the winning bidder of 21 bids. Buyer intially "would not pay my postage charges" and I explained that I insure the item for full value, my packaging & handling ,shiping pri 01 2nd day. Rather than argue I canceled the order. Seconds, later he paid me. Then later said he did not receive the book, as it was canceled & refunded. He gave me my only negative feedback ever on EBay, as I cancel his order and then seconds later he paid me. I refunded immedately. I'm a seniopr citizen and a handicapt woman and I did not expect this from EBay not to correct situation. However, today I shipped him the book at "no charge" hoping he will retract his negative feedback...no luck on that either except a thankyou for sending him my book at no cost. Go figure. We cannot give a Buyer negative feedback on EBay, maybe that needs changed! As I can sell the same items on Amazon, but rather stay wth EBay. I did leave a positive comment on his feedback "Buyer didnot want to pay postage, Canceled order & refunded. In his negative feedback he say's "Don't Trust Seller, Won bid & paid, then he cancel & resold at higher price"...Actually I relisted to next bidder as a "2nd Chance Bid" and the next bidder accepted my offer. This Bidder paid the postage...