eBay Policies , Guidelines regarding Feedback and its misuse -Is seller protected?

[rare_arts]

My topic is just a sharing with like minded seller & attempt to catch attention of eBay concern authorities to look within mirror to check overall environment causing threatening to a Safe & secured marketing platform . It must not be considered as simply a loss to seller or his business.

eBay is a platform or group of business communities , all participants are skill businessman . Problem is not with honest seller or honest buyer , it is not even with a honest buyer who got suffered due to any mischief of seller or unwanted situation since he is well protected / covered and supported even he is on innocent fault.

I do not think , any seller has any objection under such circumstances and in fact he prompt to honor even he suffer losses and respect buyer outcomes.

Problem is , When a honest, Sincere and hard to work seller is being made sufferer by dishonest and cunning buyer to deliberately misuse & enjoy his constitution right to assign feedback .

I accept, eBay is not silent to this, there are years back policies to numerate situation where eBay intervene and support seller from inappropriate buyer action. 

Is all sufficient in today scene, where business norms and cost changed drastically ?

Why it is happening ?

eBay does not have auto review system of Negative feed back  assigned by buyer even to a seller having thousands star and a long association and tracking records of seller ? Why ? When millions of buyer rely on feedback system ,why eBay itself do not care about it ?

Just check , What is happening.

Buyer wait for opportunity to trap a buyer ( finding a reason to question without giving a chance to hear seller ) and leave a Negative Feedback .

Seller communicates with buyer to resolve the dispute , offer as he advised .

Buyer promises and assure to amend feedback but he takes all benefit but never complete his promise .

Seller seek help, Contact eBay customer support and learns that he can not appeal , whatever has happened.

My question & Suggestion is;

Buyer must not be allowed to leave negative feedback prior to open a dispute through resolution windows. It will help to seller to answer in writing and it will help eBay to have sufficient record to understand history of facts and protect to buyer as well as seller.

Hope , It will help to create strongest market place without disputed questioning .

Thanks

[mam98031]

It isn't likely that Ebay would create a bot to auto review seller's FB to look for things that can be removed.  Even if they did, as a seller, I would not want to wait around for what could take weeks for a bot to catch up to something I see as a problem on my FB.

It would and is much easier just to call the call center when you run across a problem.

Participating in the claims system is not a mandatory function for a buyer.  Ebay isn't going to force a buyer to file a claim before they are able to leave FB for a seller and that is not something I would ever want Ebay to do.  It is important to remember that claims are counted against sellers no matter the outcome.  So you are only hurting yourself by having a buyer force into opening a claim.

I agree that it would be nice for buyers to write to a seller and explain they have an issue.  Give the seller an opportunity to look and see if there is something you can do to help the buyer.  That would be great.  We have long suggested that happen before a buyer can leave negative FB.  But Ebay just doesn't agree.

Now if you are writing this because of the one neg you got.  Did the buyer actually receive the item, or did it remain undelivered?  If it was delivered and you have tracking to show that it was delivered before they left that FB, you can call Ebay and get that FB removed.

If the item arrived to you buyer shortly after they left that FB.  You could politely write your buyer and ask if they would be willing to change the FB.  If they agree, then you can let them know they will receive an email from Ebay with the instructions and links so they can change the FB easily.  And remind them that it has a short shelf life.  

You can only send it once to you buyer, so make sure they know it is coming and they have agreed to change the FB.  Don't send it out blind.  You have a limited number of these to use per year and they have a short 2 or 3 day life.  If they aren't used in that time frame, the buyer can't access the links.  To change their FB after that, they would have to call Ebay.

[fern*wood]

It sounds like you tried to blackmail the buyer by refunding if they would change their feedback.  Maybe I'm wrong in what you did, but that is what it sounds like and that is worse in my book as them not changing it.  Just as there is no requirement to contact you before leaving feedback, there is no requirement to change feedback if paid off.

With all the returns and cases being filed and harming sellers these days, I can't believe you want to make that a requirement in order to leave feedback (which doesn't count against us currently).

Mam left you a very nice response, which you should carefully read.  I just gave a less useful one based on emotion.

[gemas_86]

Can you prove that the buyer got the item? Then eBay may remove the feedback. However, using extortionist tactics to get the buyer to change feedback rarely works for the seller.

[castlemagicmemories]

You are assuming that correcting the issue before feedback is given means you deserve a positive.  It doesn't.  Resolving the problem only means you fixed something that went wrong; it doesn't mean it was a positive buyer experience just because the problem was fixed.  A buyer can leave a negative for you even if you addressed and corrected the issue.  You should address any problems anyway; that doesn't mean you have earned a positive.

So to reiterate, it is indeed possible and in many cases, likely that a buyer will leave negative feedback when a transaction had problems.  This is not wrong.

Negative feedback is the buyer's opinion of the transaction and they are entitled to post what they feel is warranted.

Do your best to see that no problems exist before you ship.  Best way to solve your feedback issue.

[luckythewinner]

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@rare_arts wrote:

My question & Suggestion is;

Buyer must not be allowed to leave negative feedback prior to open a dispute through resolution windows. It will help to seller to answer in writing and it will help eBay to have sufficient record to understand history of facts and protect to buyer as well as seller.

Thanks for summing it up at the end; there was no way I was going read all that.

I think your idea is terrible.

IMHO a buyer should be able to walk away from a terrible seller without having to engage him further or jump through hoops and wait for eBay to review the "history of facts" ... because ebay has no firsthand knowledge of what the seller shipped or what the buyer received anyway. 

The buyer should have the option of warning other buyers and getting on with his life. 

[gamersbaystore]

Sellers who have good track records with ebay can and do get negative feedback removed, only if requested. I've had negative feedback removed after calling and complaining. 

One thing to note, ebay reps have no control over the amending of negative feedback. The computer systems either tells them they can remove it, or that they can't, an dits always based on your seller ratings.

But in some situations, you really do have to beg the buyer's to remove the negatives. I had a buyer leave a negative once over a game, stating it didn't work. My response, why didn't you just contact me and let me know to begin with? Sellers are people too, we're not psychic.

Its usually brand new buyers who leave the most negatives. My advice to them is always the same, contact the seller and attempt to resolve your situation first. Leaving too many negatives will get you blacklisted by any seller who sees your feedback. That being said, the negatives actually hurt the buyer worse than they do the sellers sometimes.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Sellers who have good track records with ebay can and do get negative feedback removed, only if requested. I've had negative feedback removed after calling and complaining. 

Yes, that is known and others have stated as well.  You are not alone, it's just not something that everyone can admit to.

One thing to note, ebay reps have no control over the amending of negative feedback. The computer systems either tells them they can remove it, or that they can't, an dits always based on your seller ratings.

But in some situations, you really do have to beg the buyer's to remove the negatives. I had a buyer leave a negative once over a game, stating it didn't work. My response, why didn't you just contact me and let me know to begin with? Sellers are people too, we're not psychic.

While Ebay suggests that a buyer contact the seller, some just don't.  They may think feedback will inspire the seller to action, or they just want to post feedback and move on.  If they contacted a seller before and were abused, they may decide not to do that again.  Sorry that happened to you, though.

Its usually brand new buyers who leave the most negatives. My advice to them is always the same, contact the seller and attempt to resolve your situation first. Leaving too many negatives will get you blacklisted by any seller who sees your feedback. That being said, the negatives actually hurt the buyer worse than they do the sellers sometimes.

Yes, it's very easy to tell buyers to leave negs, as some sellers do, to warn other buyers, but everything doesn't warrant a neg, sometimes you can choose to leave no feedback at all.  Leaving negs indiscriminately can enable sellers to point to your pattern of negs left to get theirs removed, even if every neg in that "pattern" was justified.  I suspect those who exhort buyers to leave negs would sing a very different tune if they actually received the supposedly "unjustified" neg.  But maybe not, relief might be a phone call away.

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[tunicaslot]

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Sellers who have good track records with ebay can and do get negative feedback removed, only if requested. I've had negative feedback removed after calling and complaining. 

One thing to note, ebay reps have no control over the amending of negative feedback. The computer systems either tells them they can remove it, or that they can't, an dits always based on your seller ratings.

But in some situations, you really do have to beg the buyer's to remove the negatives. I had a buyer leave a negative once over a game, stating it didn't work. My response, why didn't you just contact me and let me know to begin with? Sellers are people too, we're not psychic.

Its usually brand new buyers who leave the most negatives. My advice to them is always the same, contact the seller and attempt to resolve your situation first. Leaving too many negatives will get you blacklisted by any seller who sees your feedback. That being said, the negatives actually hurt the buyer worse than they do the sellers sometimes.

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Sellers who have good track records with ebay can and do get negative feedback removed, only if requested. I've had negative feedback removed after calling and complaining. 

One thing to note, ebay reps have no control over the amending of negative feedback. The computer systems either tells them they can remove it, or that they can't, an dits always based on your seller ratings.

But in some situations, you really do have to beg the buyer's to remove the negatives. I had a buyer leave a negative once over a game, stating it didn't work. My response, why didn't you just contact me and let me know to begin with? Sellers are people too, we're not psychic.

Its usually brand new buyers who leave the most negatives. My advice to them is always the same, contact the seller and attempt to resolve your situation first. Leaving too many negatives will get you blacklisted by any seller who sees your feedback. That being said, the negatives actually hurt the buyer worse than they do the sellers sometimes.

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As far as I know - the computer does not tell a CS rep whether or not the feedback can be removed as often time they have also removed feedback after reading what has been said in messages between the seller and the buyer but we can ask trinton or one of the guys to clarify that for everyone.

@Anonymous

[castlemagicmemories]

IMHO a buyer should be able to walk away from a terrible seller without having to engage him further or jump through hoops and wait for eBay to review the "history of facts" ... because ebay has no firsthand knowledge of what the seller shipped or what the buyer received anyway. 

The buyer should have the option of warning other buyers and getting on with his life. 

I agree.  Devising ways to deny a buyer, who may have been put through the wringer already, a chance to express what happened is not a good idea; if they want to warn other buyers and get on with their life, that is their perogative.

[moo*cow*corner]

Buyers can leave a red donut without ever contacting a seller. 'Tis true.

However, I don't see how anyone can say a buyer is being 'put through the wringer' when if they do open a request, it's the seller who ALWAYS has to take it in the shorts. That's ebay policy.

The auto-accept makes the emotionally over the top rhetoric completely outdated and unnecessary. Sellers can't even try to work things out anymore. It's send a label and wait.

If a buyer wants to wrangle in messages before opening a return request, well, that's still not being 'put through the wringer'. It's a choice. They could open the request without a word.

Ebay does recommend that if a buyer is unhappy, they should contact the seller to work things out. If a SNAD return is requested, the seller MUST accept the return and pay for return postage.

If a buyer goes straight to the neg first rather than use the system ebay has in place, I certainly can and will block them. If they will do that to another seller, they will do that to me.

[Anonymous]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Sellers who have good track records with ebay can and do get negative feedback removed, only if requested. I've had negative feedback removed after calling and complaining. 

One thing to note, ebay reps have no control over the amending of negative feedback. The computer systems either tells them they can remove it, or that they can't, an dits always based on your seller ratings.

But in some situations, you really do have to beg the buyer's to remove the negatives. I had a buyer leave a negative once over a game, stating it didn't work. My response, why didn't you just contact me and let me know to begin with? Sellers are people too, we're not psychic.

Its usually brand new buyers who leave the most negatives. My advice to them is always the same, contact the seller and attempt to resolve your situation first. Leaving too many negatives will get you blacklisted by any seller who sees your feedback. That being said, the negatives actually hurt the buyer worse than they do the sellers sometimes.

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Sellers who have good track records with ebay can and do get negative feedback removed, only if requested. I've had negative feedback removed after calling and complaining. 

One thing to note, ebay reps have no control over the amending of negative feedback. The computer systems either tells them they can remove it, or that they can't, an dits always based on your seller ratings.

But in some situations, you really do have to beg the buyer's to remove the negatives. I had a buyer leave a negative once over a game, stating it didn't work. My response, why didn't you just contact me and let me know to begin with? Sellers are people too, we're not psychic.

Its usually brand new buyers who leave the most negatives. My advice to them is always the same, contact the seller and attempt to resolve your situation first. Leaving too many negatives will get you blacklisted by any seller who sees your feedback. That being said, the negatives actually hurt the buyer worse than they do the sellers sometimes.

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As far as I know - the computer does not tell a CS rep whether or not the feedback can be removed as often time they have also removed feedback after reading what has been said in messages between the seller and the buyer but we can ask trinton or one of the guys to clarify that for everyone.

@Anonymous

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Hi @tunicaslot, happy to clarify! We do not have a system that reviews feedback and instructs an Customer Service agent if it is or is not removable. While resources are available to our agents to assist in feedback removal decisions, these are essentially just a series of questions the agent must answer themselves to eliminate/identify removal reasons.

Ultimately, the agent reviewing the feedback would review and determien if the feedback is eligible for removal. The resources we provide internally are detailed and specific, ensuring as much consistency as possible. Our goal is only remove feedback when absolutely necessary, and we do not scan for removals proactively. There are some automatic removals such as when an eBay Money Back Guarantee case is closed  in the seller's favor, when selllers impacted  of a widespread weather event have been identified, or when a buyer is removed from the site soon after registration and all of their feedback are removed. These are some example and overall these would be uncommon occurences. 

If Customer Service is contacted and the agent expresses that the feedback cannot be removed, this is an indication that the feedback is not eligible for removal or that the feedback will be automatically removed for one of the previously mentioned reasons. Additionally, we do not remove feedback at the buyer's request unless they very clearly left feedback for the wrong item and have since left the same feedback for the correct item. A seller can use the feedback revision process to have a negative or neutral feedback changed, but the buyer would have to agree to this and go through the steps themselves. 

[tunicaslot]

Trinton - thanks for your reply! I know bots can do a lot these days but I was sure that the feedback removal process has always been handled by CS.

[mam98031]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

Trinton - thanks for your reply! I know bots can do a lot these days but I was sure that the feedback removal process has always been handled by CS.

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Yes and I hope that @gamersbaystore is around to see Trinton's explanation too.  

[vintagecraze50]

If buyers were not allowed to leave their opinions about transactions prior to contacting the seller they could fall prey to a bad seller.  The main point in allowing the buyer to rate the experience is to keep SELLERS ON THEIR TOES, giving the most excellent product and service they can provide. It is a quality control measure. Without it, this place would be a mess.