Was left false negative feedback. eBay denied removal?

[spanishlullabyevintage]

A buyer left me a negative feedback saying a dolls hair was cut. In my item description, i clearly say that the dolls hair may have been cut. Her hair was quite messy and I'm not familiar with her original hair style so I provided photos from every angle. As well as a close up of her bangs. The buyer leaves me negative. Since I can't call eBay customer service, I filed online for negative feedback removal and my claim was denied. How do I appeal eBays decision. Would it be worth it to sue the Buyer for defamation?

[dippitydoo]

Howdy!

Sorry about your negative/positive feedback.  You could send in a written request through Ebay messages asking it be removed.  Or you could reply to her feedback with something polite and simple such as: "Listing clearly indicated possible hair cutting, buyer never req. to return".  It's super annoying when a buyer does this without asking you for help, or trying to work it out...it's unfair to just drop that on your record.  Best of luck!

-Dippity

[luckythewinner]

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@spanishlullabyevintage wrote:

A buyer left me a negative feedback saying a dolls hair was cut. In my item description, i clearly say that the dolls hair may have been cut.

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I see nothing in eBay's feedback policies that suggests that eBay will remove that feedback. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-policies?id=4208

I received negative feedback that I don't think is fair. What can I do?
You can respond to the feedback and tell your side of the story. As a seller, you can also send a limited number of requests for buyers to revise their feedback."

[spanishlullabyevintage]

This isn't a case of me FEELING its unfair. It is in FACT a false claim made by the buyer. A defamation. 

[vsknkv_0]

I am going to suggest leaving it be, learn from it and wear it like a battle scar.

Piece of advice:

When describing an item there is no such thing as a maybe...

If you think it is, say it is.

For example if you can't prove it works, describe it as not working.

No such thing as it may not work, that is not a clear description and it will cost you.

When taking pictures make sure to focus on the defects and put those out front and center.

Buyers need to see defects, everything that is wrong with it needs to be clearly shown, zoom in even.

Happy selling.

[mtgraves7984]

No, no, no... you don't sue the buyer for defamation.

I have to admit that I'm on your side regarding the feedback issue... your listing did  mention the possible haircut and you did  photo the hair. The feedback says you did not  disclose and photo the hair... that makes it 'false'. I think it is 'removeable' at its base.

Allow me to bring you back to Earth.

'No Returns' and 'no refunds' are two different baby dolls beasts entirely . 

If your buyer chooses to open a 'Not As Described' claim, your buyer would win. Then you'd have to refund the buyer and you could only hope to get this little ragamuffin back.

Good luck!

[koinonia215]

Unfortunately, many buyers do not read the description area and this has been a long standing problem on ebay. While it is indeed a false claim, if the buyer didn't read the description then in their eyes it is not. It's not, however, defamation and you'd be wasting your money trying to sue them and most likely wouldn't even be able to find an attorney to take such a case. I would do what another suggested and nicely reply that this was clearly mentioned in the listing. Don't write anything negative.

Probably no one is going to pay attention to this negative feedback and if they did, all they have to do is click on the listing and they'd see for themselves that it wasn't factual. Ebay doesn't use your feedback in rating your performance anymore.

[chapeau-noir]

I disagree and think it's at least worth a try:

The listing states:  Her hair needs to be combed and I'm not sure if it's been cut or of it's layers from her original hair style. See photos. She is sold as is, as shown.

I find the buyer's complaint that this was not disclosed false, and the accusation that the photos were carefully staged to hide it disingenuous - there are four close headshots of that doll which can be enlarged.

I say worth a try - you did not misrepresent. All that can happen is that they say "no" and you end up putting a businesslike reply that assures your future shoppers.

ETA: Forgot this - NO - don't bother suing anyone - it's not defamation, it's funky feedback.  Just see if you can get it removed and if not, as I say, give a professional reply.  I've gotten some ridiculous FB in my day - it happens unfortunately.

[spanishlullabyevintage]

As a frequent eBay shopper, I care about negative feedbacks on sellers pages. If I see two similar items around the same price, the deciding factor is usually between which of the sellers has a better rating. The ability to click on the listing disappears after a certain amount of time. It's incredible frustrating because I spend all day trying to take the best photos I can, and typing up descriptions, only to then have some buyer (who clearly lacks reading comprehension/communication skills) leave a false negative, makes me want to cry. I am so completely sick of terrible people. 

[spanishlullabyevintage]

I would be suing for the sheer principle of the matter. Not for money for damages. I don't even care if it gets dismissed. This buyer didn't even bother to contact me before leaving feedback. If she was so unhappy, why not message me? I just want her to have a wake up call. To have her see that its unfair to damage something that someone worked very hard for and depends on for their livelihood. 

[chapeau-noir]

I see your claim was denied for removal - you can always try again if you can get someone on the phone.  If even a phone call doesn't work, then come back here if you want some ideas on a good reply. 

Sorry, got on a tangent that no one needs to read so erased it.

[koinonia215]

No one is going to take a defamation case for something like this. It simply doesn't fit the description of defamation. And if an attorney did, it would be because they needed easy quick money and you would be providing it.

[koinonia215]

I feel for you and understand. The one thing I did notice was that the mention of the hair (and other things) was not found under the condition area, which is where ebay wants it to be. (Mentioning this, I am not excusing the buyer for not reading the description area.)

Also, you may want to consider removing the statements and threats of not refunding from your listings. While you can write whatever you wish, the only thing that matters is ebay's stated policy. So if someone files an SNAD case, you will be required to refund and no one will have to wait for a postal investigation to receive one as ebay will force it on you. They also do not have to contact you in 48 hours as ebay gives them an entire month after receipt and PayPal much longer. I would strongly suggest removing your entire last paragraph. You could be losing some sales because of it.

[wesk_36]

Libel, is extremely difficult to prove in court. You would have to prove, among other things, that the defamatory statement was intended with actual malice, with the intention to cause harm.

How would you prove that unless it was someone you know who acts vindictively, or a competitor who said that they wanted to damage your reputation, something like that.

You have to prove that something already happened as a result of their feedback, like a drop in business, the court would not act on what might happen.

You have to prove that the libel ruined your reputation.

As for the buyer, they can just say, that's my opinion, black hair on black background, hard to see anything, looks like they were hiding damage, seller was vague in description said maybe maybe not...
Case dismissed.

Your terms for the buyers, most of the description, are mostly unenforceable and rather redundant, mostly not true at all, a not as described case and your terms are out the window. ...in my opinion.

[vsknkv_0]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

I disagree and think it's at least worth a try:

The listing states:  Her hair needs to be combed and I'm not sure if it's been cut or of it's layers from her original hair style. See photos. She is sold as is, as shown.

I find the buyer's complaint that this was not disclosed false, and the accusation that the photos were carefully staged to hide it disingenuous - there are four close headshots of that doll which can be enlarged.

I say worth a try - you did not misrepresent. All that can happen is that they say "no" and you end up putting a businesslike reply that assures your future shoppers.

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A wise man once said you can't save your tail and your face at the same time.

In this case the option to leave a reply can easily backfire if done in the OP's original frame of mind, I am not sure even now it would be a good idea to reply to that feedback because no reply is still better than an incensed one... Remember you don't have to look good in front of other sellers, you have to look good in front of your future buyers and you can't do that if you tear into the buyer's statement by basically calling the buyer a liar (even if it's true, it will make the seller look bad to his / her future customers).

The hardest thing to remember about replies to feedback is that it's not about this transaction anymore...

When replying to feedback it is about looking good to future buyers!

And we can't do that when we attack the buyer's words.

Let me put it another way...

A seller with thousands of feedbacks and 100% positives is also doing something wrong.

Mostly because sellers can't please everybody all the time.