Wacky negative feedback

[thriftgnome]

Got my first negative feedback after 1.4k items sold - buyer was mad he couldn’t use his gift card at my store. Provided no other information other than his gift cards didn’t work. I asked eBay to remove this nonsense and they declined claiming it didn’t violate any of their policies. I also reached out to the buyer and politely asked him to remove the feedback or change it. Left a response under his feedback. What else can I do to get this removed?

[chapeau-noir]

Ugh - maybe it's online illiteracy, but your buyer appears not to know the difference between contacting a seller/eBay about a problem and a simple review system.

Your reply was fine - anyone reading that will understand that you had nothing to do with this.

You can keep pestering eBay about it, but they've been pretty clear that they're no longer changing feedback.

[inhawaii]

Welcome to the wacky neutral and negative feedback club!

BTW I think you handled the reply perfectly.

I would have no hesitation buying from you.

[thriftgnome]

Haha, thanks! And yeah I try to keep emotion out of it though I put a lot of heart in to my little shop. 

[thriftgnome]

I had a weird neutral feedback recently too! Buyer claimed the vintage German stoneware stein he bought was actually metal. As in metal dipped in ceramic somehow magically. We argued about it, I told him this technique doesn’t exist, and I offered a free return which he declined. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[inhawaii]

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@thriftgnome wrote:

I had a weird neutral feedback recently too! Buyer claimed the vintage German stoneware stein he bought was actually metal. As in metal dipped in ceramic somehow magically. We argued about it, I told him this technique doesn’t exist, and I offered a free return which he declined. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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One of my neutrals was from a buyer who was expecting a "steel" widget when in fact it was "metal".

I didn't know the difference until this incident.

Now i know.

All steel is metal but not all metal is steel.

[epowerbargains]

I agree your response to this unfair feedback was very professional. I must add that eBay's apparently new hard line about refusing to remove absurd, unfair - flat out clearly wrong feedback is just one more reason that selling here is becoming .....discouraging.  

[mam98031]

@thriftgnome 

This really is beyond ridiculous and it does most certainly break policy.  Ebay in recent weeks have been treating its sellers extremely badly in regards to getting FB removed.  It does not appear at this time that Ebay is willing to comply with their own rules.  Now we as sellers much comply to all rules, but Ebay clearly isn't.  And that is a breach of their duties towards sellers.  This is a serious problem.

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

The feedback, no matter how ridiculous, will not be removed.

The feedback doesn't matter, because no serious buyer will think twice about that feedback, so it didn't harm you at all.

You left a great, simple response.

Any buyer who sees 99.7% feedback and is scared off and doesn't bother to read to see what the negative(s) was/were, aren't worth selling to in the first place.

Wear your negative like a badge of honor. Can't please everyone.

If you haven't gotten a negative before, you just haven't sold enough yet.

[tinsoldierunderground]

Your buyer is an absolute A$$... you handled  it as best as possible.  Block this ignorant SOB, and move on.

[brightlightbookseller]

I agree with others that it only makes the buyer look unhinged and illiterate, but doesn't really reflect poorly on you.  We had 100% positive feedback for a while, and now we're at 99.9%, and it hasn't affected our sales one bit that I can tell.  Your 99.7% probably won't either, and no one would be put off by seeing that negative or your response to it.  You should have been able to get it removed, of course, but seeing this may be the new normal, I would just tell you not to worry or spend any more time trying, unless you only reached out to customer service and didn't use the automated tool (I'm thinking you did use the tool, but just in case, that's the only way they're even considering removing feedback for now).

[ittybitnot]

buyer was mad he couldn’t use his gift card at my store

@thriftgnome 

I got a similar red donut once from a buyer who complained that I "advertised PayPal Credit, and then wouldn't let him use it."   That was the day I really understood that "the seller is responsible for the listing contents, even if it is eBay that posts junk to the seller's page." 

Presently, it appears that feedback removal is now controlled by some bot that is stuck in denial mode, and customer service is no longer allowed to intervene: 

eBay for Business

We’ve recently standardized the process to have all feedback appeals submitted through the Seller Help Dashboard to better align with our global process and maintain consistency for all users. This would be why any support member you talk to though phones, chat, email, or social media would be unable to assist with the removal. We understand that changes can sometimes be challenging, but we believe this adjustment will ultimately create a more streamlined experience. Thank you for your understanding.

[ittybitnot]

Now i know.

All steel is metal but not all metal is steel.

@inhawaii 

For future reference, stoneware pottery is never metal (or steel).   Some steins have metal mounts (handles or hinged covers) but they are usually pewter.  

[ittybitnot]

This really is beyond ridiculous and it does most certainly break policy. 

@mam98031 

I would assume that eBay will simply change the policy.  This feedback business is just a time and monetary drain on eBay's resources/customer service.  Remember when it was against policy to copy another seller's photos/text?  Now plagiarism is A-OK.   

[atlasesattic]

That's so ridiculous that ebay wouldn't remove that, so a buyer was having technical problems because his card didn't work? What does that have to do with you? Such baloney...instead of a dumb bot making that decision  I would go to Facebook and talk to a real person, this buyer giving negatives over something that has no bearing over an item , where is our protection over these stupid and false negatives?