Whacky whacky feedback removal system

[iamalwaysright]

I got a negative from a buyer who never messaged me before. The comment said the figure they bought broke when they stepped on it. I filed for a removal in Seller Help with reason “out of my control” and it got denied because “the comment in the feedback doesn’t violate policy.”

Well of course I’m not claiming that the comment violates policy. I’m claiming the issue was out of my control. For example, if an item got lost due to severe weather and a buyer leaves a negative saying “item didn’t arrive”, that feedback will get removed despite the comment not violating policy. 

[wastingtime101]

As I've said before, I think they switched FB removal requests through Seller Help to AI. I don't know for sure, but it definitely seems that way. This is why FB that should qualify for removal is left untouched.

The good news is anybody reading FB that says the buyer broke the item when they stepped on it will dismiss it.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Truth is not a requirement for feedback

For legal liability reasons, Ebay, Amazon and other marketplaces do not remove feedback which is untrue. Doing so would make them liable for lies they did not remove.

The critters in Congress have wrestled with these liability issues for social media which are identical, and have not agreed on any changes.

[hartungcards]

Did your listing have a warning that the figure would break if you stepped on it?

[iamalwaysright]

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@hartungcards wrote:

Did your listing have a warning that the figure would break if you stepped on it?

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Sadly no. But it also didn't say in the listing that it won't break if stepped on. So we can rule out SNAD here 😀

[ittybitnot]

As I've said before, I think they switched FB removal requests through Seller Help to AI.

@wastingtime101 

I think it is the same "brand" of AI that eBay is presently using when someone reports a listing.  The one that replies back that there were no policy violations found or some such.....on a listing that has the "seller's" business name, phone number, email address, and tells the buyer to NOT bid, but contact them to pay for the product.    eBay should file SNAD on that AI purchase...machine learning that doesn't learn?

The comment said the figure they bought broke when they stepped on it. 

@iamalwaysright 

Though I hate to make light of the 'inappropriate' feedback that the bots won't remove, I have to say that personally, if it were me,  I would leave that red donut right there, and craft a totally "professional" response. I would not be inclined to use the "ignore it and don't bring attention to it by responding" stance. This is especially true now that eBay has this new "relevancy" format in displaying comments from the last five years, and post them front and center.    I would be glad to help you think of something to write, but presently I am just at a loss for words!!! Maybe there is a AI topic generator that could craft something and leave out expletives running through my brain at the moment.   It ranks right up there with "the figure fell apart when my dog chewed it to bits while I was in the bathroom"?  

I am basically blind without my glasses.  Ive stepped on them and broke them many times over the years simply because I can't see.  LOL...should have left a negative review because they broke?  LOL.. Truly sorry for your aggravation. 

[chapeau-noir]

This is like Amazon-creep. People on Amazon leave the stupidest feedback - there are sites devoted to collecting up these little gems. 

[mam98031]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

As I've said before, I think they switched FB removal requests through Seller Help to AI. I don't know for sure, but it definitely seems that way. This is why FB that should qualify for removal is left untouched.

The good news is anybody reading FB that says the buyer broke the item when they stepped on it will dismiss it.

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What they want is for sellers to first try the Seller Help online option of FB removal.  After that is tried, the seller is free to contact Ebay and try to get the FB removed.

[jerseyboymusic]

Meanwhile here in Ohio, something we ordered got sent to Chicago (confirmed via tracking) and all the seller had to do is refund us and voila! Our neg we left was removed...

Even though the dropshipper seller claimed we wanted it sent to some random address in Chicago. 

[iamalwaysright]

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@jerseyboymusic wrote:

Meanwhile here in Ohio, something we ordered got sent to Chicago (confirmed via tracking) and all the seller had to do is refund us and voila! Our neg we left was removed...

Even though the dropshipper seller claimed we wanted it sent to some random address in Chicago. 

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That’s weird, I wonder how the seller even did that. Sounds like they called eBay and the agent was like “oh you refunded them? Okay everything’s good, you did your duty so here’s your feedback removal.”

Sounds like your seller got super lucky as I highly doubt that wasn’t automated. If it is, dude I want in 🙂

[iamalwaysright]

So let me now add some updated developments to this issue. Originally I forgot to mention that the buyer messaged me immediately before they left that negative and basically said the same thing that the item broke when they stepped on it. That’s all it said. The message didn’t ask or request for anything like a return. Typically I would still reply promptly offering a return. But given the nature of the broken item and how it broke combined with the fact that he had already left me a negative for that which I was waiting for the removal response, I just blocked the guy and didn’t bother to reply.

Today I notice the buyer left me two additional multiple negative feedbacks. I checked and found out this guy’s original purchase was for 3 items. I wasn’t aware of this. Three different variations (A, B, C) of the same item, and he used the other two feedbacks to reference that same one variation A mentioned in his original negative. One of the additional feedbacks says the same thing, “variation A broke when I stepped on it.” His last negative says that he contacted me but I didn’t respond. But that message to me was referring to variation A, not B or C which didn’t break. So basically his feedbacks reserved for variations B and C were negatives that refer to variation A. Isn’t this a policy violation?

I checked the feedback misuse page and it only says “Feedback should only be related to the transaction.” But it doesn’t say anything about the multiple items within the same transaction and feedbacks had to be related to their respective variation. Had the buyer purchased all three variations separately then I can easily refer to that removal policy, but they were all purchased in the same transaction. Do I have any ammo for removing these latter two negatives?