@ed8108 wrote:I don' t know of any risk of a potential penalty for a buyer leaving a seller with a neutral or neg feedback.
The seller protection policy states, under "unusual rate of complaints or returns":
"We employ several measures to identify when a buyer leaves a lot of negative or neutral feedback or opens a lot of claims or returns. In these situations, we may take action to prevent a buyer from starting a return or a claim and we will remove feedback and defects"
Last November, I had to file two INRs. One item was in USPS limbo for more than a week but eventually arrived. The other was simply mailed out a week late, without the tracking I'd paid for. Tracking would have meant an automatic late shipment demerit; cheaping out with a PWE burdened the buyer to report the delay. Which can be done through the feedback form -- but the system is set up to penalize justified red/gray feedback and delete green feedback with critical comments.
While waiting for my overdue items, I received a lot including several items with damage that had been hidden by skillful overlapping in the listing photo. I clicked on Not As Described and was told: "We've noticed unusual returns activity on your account. You can return this item, but you're responsible for all return shipping charges and fees."
At that time, searches for "unusual returns activity" were coming up empty. Now I'm getting hits for community forum threads from December. There definitely used to be penalties for invoking Buyer Protection. I want to know if that's still the case.
Whatever customer service says on the telephone is insignificant. I want clear written policy. If buyers get two but not three money-back guarantees every so many months or so many purchases, I can work within those parameters.
I don't expect eBay to be so forthcoming. But if enough community members share their experience, those parameters can be deduced. Thus my inquiry.
