eBay unwilling to remove negative feedback even though it was spiteful and malicious

[thejurassicparkguru]

I need some help and perhaps eBay will see this to help remove the negative mark on my account.

I want to first start by saying that all of my shipping is incredible. I have perfected my own way of packaging items so they cannot be damaged unless ran over by a car.

I sold an item and the buyer never paid for the purchase. I messaged the buyer multiple times with no response. The final message I sent explained that I would be cancelling the order. Once I cancelled the order I received a message from the buyer accusing me of not giving him more time. I apologized (not sure why I did that but I feel Customer Service is first and foremost next to my shipping practices) and offered to relist the item and waive the shipping to show good faith.

The buyer bought the item and was very happy.

I then get a message two days later that he received the box and it was crushed with a "stamp" from the Post Office stating they damaged the box.

He further explained that the item inside was damaged and showed pictures of the damage but never gave me a picture of the "stamp" from the Post Office. I asked the buyer to please provide a picture of the stamp so I could file a claim with the post office. 

The buyer immediately got upset and said that I was accusing him of damaging the item. I explained that I want to help him but I need more information and that the process is to file a claim first. I said that I would refund a portion of the money until the claim was filed but I still needed the stamp picture.

The buyer then said, "forget it, keep your money and I will keep the item and I will leave you some negative feedback so people can see what a horrible seller you are and that your customer service is **bleep**".

I have never been spoken to like this before and this is the worst experience I had ever had as a Seller.

I reached out to eBay and they gave me the runaround. After calling several times an eBay Customer Service Agent said they could remove the comment but not the mark on overall feedback. 

I did everything I was supposed to and I have been selling for over 20 years on eBay and this is how I am repaid. I hope someone can help me.

Thanks,

[rebell45]

The first one always hurts, but I wouldn't sweat it. Means nothing without a comment.  As a buyer it won't bother me at all. Just don't forget to add him to your BBL.

[stuff4divas]

I don't see a comment next to the negative, you can leave a follow up comment tho

[thejurassicparkguru]

I know, but I have made a business out of this for over 20 years and I know eBay has the ability to help me. My reputation is everything. The buy only has 77 feedback and I am well on my way to thousands. 

There has to be something that can be done.

[thejurassicparkguru]

The eBay Agent I spoke with removed the comment but said they "cannot remove the feedback mark". I spoke with another agent and they said it can be done. 

I sent an email to the CEO, I hope it get's noticed. I just want to keep selling and I don't want to have to resort to other modes of selling. I am an eBayer for life.

Can you help me?

[eleanor*rigby]

I agree with @rebell45, and I'm a buyer who always looks at a seller's negative feedback. The fact that there's no corresponding comment renders the negative essentially harmless.

I would not recommend responding to the negative at all. First, there's no point, and second, it usually just makes things worse. Please keep in mind that your audience for that comment would be future buyers. It doesn't hurt that buyer, and other sellers can't see it on his/her feedback page (except with Best Offer or auction bids).

It's a case of "the less said the better."

[city*satins]

I realize this is probably something you don't want to hear but it would have been smarter to just tell the buyer to open a RETURN REQUEST.  Sellers no longer get defects from eBay for returns, even AT FAULT returns, unless they fail to respond to them or escalate them and fail.

A buyer isn't obliged to cooperate with a seller's carrier insurance, and by insisting that the buyer provide you with that USPS stamp before you'd fully refund him, you put yourself in the wrong, since that's not a tactic that eBay allows in the on-eBay return process.  

You basically taught the buyer here that next time he has a problem with a purchase, he shouldn't bother contacting the seller but should just proceed with the on-eBay Return process - it's simpler and easier and less prone to ill will.

The normal RETURN process for (damaged/not as described) is that the seller must respond by choosing either RETURN (seller pays for return postage), REFUND (buyer keeps), OFFER PARTIAL REFUND (without return, buyer isn't required to accept the offer) or ASK EBAY TO STEP IN.

If you'd got the item back it would have cost you the return postage but you could have filed your insurance claim with USPS without the buyer's cooperation.  Perhaps costlier, but not prone to bad feelings and the negative feedback that you received.  

[dogchow747]

I have another account similar to yours with 1000+ and (1) negative.

Years ago I had a dispute from a international buyer angry over postal issues.

Still drives me crazy thinking about it.

I would let the rest of your feedbacks speak for your reputation rather than one dissatisfied weasel.

Move on and make more positive.

[stuff4divas]

---

@thejurassicparkguru wrote:

The eBay Agent I spoke with removed the comment but said they "cannot remove the feedback mark". I spoke with another agent and they said it can be done. 

I sent an email to the CEO, I hope it get's noticed. I just want to keep selling and I don't want to have to resort to other modes of selling. I am an eBayer for life.

Can you help me?

---

You can contact eBay via social media with a private message:

https://Facebook.com/ebay

AND-OR

https://Twitter.com/askebay

Ebay customer service is superior on those sites.

[thejurassicparkguru]

So I would have lost out on the amount for the item and received a damaged item that is worthless to me and this guy just gets away with it. 

I never got the picture of the stamp so how could I have filed a claim anyway?

The seller just loses out I guess. Plus the fees...it's bad business.

[donsdetour]

Mistake was canceling the order and not going with non paying bidder...

[thejurassicparkguru]

Thank you, let's see if they will help 🙂

[thejurassicparkguru]

Thank you for the peace of mind message. I have emailed everyone I can. Let's hope I can let it go.

[city*satins]

You could have asked the buyer to return the item including the original packaging.  But even so...

Remember, not every damaged item gets a USPS stamp on the package - in fact most don't.  That stamp would have been placed due to visible damage on the packaging or being noticed at the moment it was damaged.  A stamp isn't the be-all/end-all

People successfully make USPS damage insurance claims all the time based solely on the fact that the item arrives broken.

By the way, you no longer need to cancel a sale yourself for non payment - eBay now does it automatically after 4 days.

Finally - you say you did everything right but requiring that the buyer assist you with a USPS claim by providing an image of the stamp is not doing everything right.  eBay doesn't require it and also does not permit sellers to make a refund contingent upon it.  So no - you didn't do everything right.  Sorry.

[dariudaudery_0]

I have 2 negative and 1 neutral.

Negatives are both from Partial refund fishers, eBay refused to remove 1st negative even thought fella was using feedback trying to extort full refund without even opening a case....

2nd negative fella trying to get more than half of the whole transaction - again no open case, not even trying to return the item and demanding i use french (said he won't use google translator).

Currently have not yet tried to have 2nd negative removed because ebay Customer support sucks.... Have no doubt they won't help.

Don't think i care about feedback anymore as negative feedback cannot be removed even thought in both cases its a false one from refund fishing. ebay has been going downhill on many things and negative feedback extortion is going wild...