eBay feedback

[Conquest10]

I won an item about 2 weeks ago and to my amazment, the item I got was not the one pictured in the auction. So I am trying to email this guy. First off it takes two and a half days just to get a reply from "him". Then refuses to answer my problem. So I fire off an email asking if I was going to get feedback since I paid for the item already. A couple of hours later, I get this

We understand how important feedback score is. However, we have company policy that we must follow. We can not leave feedback without feedback being left on us first. Once feedback is left, we will automatically issue feedback.

I just sent another email teling him that he has not completed his part in this. I offered to leave negative feedback since I have not gotten the right item and he will not fix the mistake.

The problem is if I leave negative feedback, he will do so too in retaliation. Is there anything eBay can do about this?

[Doramius]

Contact eBay. I don't think they can place a "POLICY" not to leave feedback until a cutomer leaves their feedback. You completed you end of transaction, so they can leave feedback.
Once they complete their side of the transaction properly, you can leave your feedback. This is how it is supposed to work.
-NOTE: Feedback is not required to be left for another party-

Notify eBay and they will flag it if negative feedback is left. You can also opt. not to leave feedback which means they will not leave feedback for you either. Keep their email, and if they leave negative feedback and you have not left feedback for them, then they are against their own policy and eBay will favor your side to remove it.

Is there something in the description that says item received would not be the same as item pictured? If it is a used item, they need to make that specific note. However, If it's just because you wanted a red unit and they sent you a blue one, I'd just let it go.

[smearbrick1]

Supposedly, Ebay has a policy against retaliatory feedback... then again, ebay also has a policy prohibiting the sale of pirated items and we all know how well that's enforced. I think you did the right thing. You contacted the seller to let it be known that you had a complaint. If you don't see any attempts to resolve your issue, I would file a complaint with both Ebay and Paypal (if you used Paypal) they will attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation. Most of the time, this works. Occasionally, you'll get someone who will just un-register from Ebay.

On a side note: The whole feedback thing is just ridiculous. These days, it is next to impossible to post negative or neutral feedback without fear of the other party posting unwarranted negative feedback. The whole thing is just a kick in the sack.

[MackemX]

this is how messed up it is

I won an item yesterday and I was offered positive feedback even if I didn't want and pay for the item. The guy wanted roughly the same in postage costs as the item. I sent him an email as he lives in the same town as me and it's 10 minutes for me to get to most places even less if I'm out and about

I got an email back saying he only posted items but if I'm not interested he will relist the item and put positive feedback for me. Obviously I want the item as it's rare but seeing as he will be within 10 minutes of me and it's a rare item I thought he'd just let me pick it up as I said I still don't trust the mail due to lost parcels before. It's only a couple of old newspapers so it's not as if I'm going to go and kill him if they are faulty

but what surprsied me is that he was presuming I'd leave positive feedback for him though by saying he'd leave it for me

[Conquest10]

The only thing in the listing is that the buyer should educate themselves on what they are bidding on. Its not like they are using stock images either.

What I hate about the eBay stores is that there are many people answering the emails. When I first stated I had a problem, the person who repsonded knew exactly what my problem was. Right now, I got a reply askng if I had a problem and what it was and they had completed their part by sending me the item. Then suggested that we not leave feedback for each other.

I guess its not worth it as it was just $7. Just their whole attitude pisses me off.

[MackemX]

I'll save zzyzzx a post and ask what was it that you bought Conquest10?

[Doramius]

The only thing in the listing is that the buyer should educate themselves on what they are bidding on. Its not like they are using stock images either.

What I hate about the eBay stores is that there are many people answering the emails. When I first stated I had a problem, the person who repsonded knew exactly what my problem was. Right now, I got a reply askng if I had a problem and what it was and they had completed their part by sending me the item. Then suggested that we not leave feedback for each other.

I guess its not worth it as it was just $7. Just their whole attitude pisses me off.

There's like a waiting period of so many days that you can leave feedback for someone. Wait out the days and in the last 1 or 2, post negative feedback. By the time they see this they can't send any back. I think it should work, but never done it before.

[waheed]

As long as the listing didn't say anything like "pictures are for illustration purposes only" then you should have received what was pictured.

I dont think there is a policy on leaving feedback. Its up to the seller and buyer whether they want to leave a feedback at all. Ive sold a couple of things on ebay and was never lefdt a feedback even though i requested from the buyer.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

This is one more reason why Ebay Sucks.

There should be a rule stating that the seller ALWAYS should insert feedback first. The website should allow ONLY the seller to input feedback first, and then the buyer should be able to insert his.

This way you buy something, pay, the seller is forced to insert feedback since you already paid (or not), then the buyer receives the item and leaves feedback. Everybody is happy.

[Doramius]

This is one more reason why Ebay Sucks.

There should be a rule stating that the seller ALWAYS should insert feedback first. The website should allow ONLY the seller to input feedback first, and then the buyer should be able to insert his.

This way you buy something, pay, the seller is forced to insert feedback since you already paid (or not), then the buyer receives the item and leaves feedback. Everybody is happy.

What happens if the buyer buys an inane piece of junk that they got exactly what was advertised, knowingly, but still posted negative feedback when the seller did no wrong?

Good sellers would get low ratings. Feedback is something that should be purely optional. If someone requires that someone have more than 100 transactions AND have more than 95% positive feedback, you're gonna cut a lot of good potential bidders out. I know people who've had their account for 4+ years and they still haven't passed 75 transactions. They are good and honest. You just refused to sell to them and they would have been willing to pay substantially better than the winning bidder.

Fraud happens in this day and age. You need to deal with it appropriately and move on. If someone is being a dick, you report it or don't use eBay. However, I think eBay is looking to do a special auction setup soon.

A guy who runs an auction store for people to place items on eBay was telling me about this, though it's only on the slate currently. It's supposed to be Auction only, though there will be a similar BUY-IT-NOW setup that will somehow mirror or sister it separately (meaning you either do a buy-it-now or auction, but not together on the same item) but later down the road. Power sellers are limited to how much they can put on at one time. It can increase if the feedback is good and they are selling their items (no relisting of item 10 times when it doesn't sell and can't list more than 5 of identical item). The cost to use these services will be a little higher. The seller will be required to put their feedback first, but will have the ability to amend their feedback. Buyer won't be able to amend to the feedback other than make general comments. The sellers amendment can either go positive or negative. If the Buyer left a negative feedback and the seller left positive, the seller can leave a negative amendment and the Buyer would receive a neutral from the Seller. If the Seller leaves a negative and the buyer then leaves a positive, the seller receives a neutral. If there is a double negative, the seller or buyer can issue mediation according to normal eBay policy. Mediator will determine appropriate feedback score for both seller & buyer.

The only thing is it won't be called feedback score. It'll be something else. But it will relate to your actual feedback score. Again I don't know when this will roll out for eBay, or if it will actually happen, but they do have something in the works.

[hech54]

Negative feedback on Ebay is not the end of the world guys. You can respond to a negative feedback and blast the *******(tell the truth) as to the scenario that caused the negative.
Sure the negaitive will still be there but any Ebayer who knows "what is what" will seek out your negative feedback to look for a reason as to why it happened BEFORE they bid on your item. If the negative feedback is from some twit complaining that the postage stamp was upside down on the package he received.....it's pretty safe to say the seller would have received a negative from that buyer no matter what happened.

[MackemX]

that's what gets me about eBay, you can't just look at negative feedback

I thought you could but I can't see how you can do it now. You can only view the feedback left for others or left by others or both

if you could split positive and negative you would be able to check someone with a high feedback easily. What if all his negative feedback was in relation to the circumstances of you buying his item?. Should you have to search through 100's if not 1,000's of comments to check?

stupid

[hech54]

that's what gets me about eBay, you can't just look at negative feedback

I thought you could but I can't see how you can do it now. You can only view the feedback left for others or left by others or both

if you could split positive and negative you would be able to check someone with a high feedback easily. What if all his negative feedback was in relation to the circumstances of you buying his item?. Should you have to search through 100's if not 1,000's of comments to check?

stupid

Yea that is dumb.

[Conquest10]

Two years ago you used to be able to sort it so you only see negatives. Weird that they took that off.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

in most online places, you can sort the reviews on Positive Comments and Negative comments... they should implement that again, to see if there is a pattern in the complaints.

[Doramius]

I remember when eBay did that. I do search through the negatives. If I see someone consistently over a period of time does bad shipping or has problems, I won't bid. Selling is a bit different, but If you only get one person say something like, " I don't think he was a good seller." and the rest are, "He's the best and I'd do business again." Chances are you'll be fine to sell. You can also refuse a person's bid.

[MackemX]

I thought you could do it before but I wasn't sure if you could and thought that it was another bidding site that had it . They probably took it out as it's too useful for people as I think it will affect few bidding. It's completely stupid that they took that feature out

[Doramius]

eBay has received a lot of email on this and may bring it back. It wasn't their intention to remove a valuable tool. They thought the newer way would be easier as to see what the feedback for selling and buying was as they may be a good seller, but a poor buyer. However, they're looking at ways to incorporate the positive, negative view of feedback.

[waheed]

Concernig the ability to view negative feedback only, I sent ebay an email and this is the response I recieved:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to eBay's Customer Support. I appreciate the
chance to answer your question in regards to view only negative feedback
out of the total feedback.

The number you see next to your User ID is your "eBay Feedback" score or
rating. Please understand that it is not possible to see only negative
feedback. You can find it only by clicking on the feedback score. If a
user has a very high feedback score, in that case, I can suggest that
you can find "Complaint" by using find option. This will help you to
find only "Negative" feedbacks.

To see more information about feedback on the eBay site, click on the
"site map" located at the top of every eBay page. Then locate the
heading "Feedback Forum" in the center column where you'll find a list
of helpful links

Or, you can simply see the link below:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/services/forum/feedback.html

I trust that this information has been useful to you. If you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,

Susan Smith
eBay Customer Support

[MackemX]

nice one waheed but is she saying using the IE/FF find option to look for the word "complaint" as I don't see anything on eBay that allow you to search like that?

if that's the case then that's nothing different to what I do anyway and a great lot of help that was . The irritating thing is that you can only look at 200 ratings at a time plus they could be anywhere

I still think they do it on purpose for their benefit and not the users

[hech54]

Someone want to explain this to me in English please?

The number you see next to your User ID is your "eBay Feedback" score or
rating. Please understand that it is not possible to see only negative
feedback. You can find it only by clicking on the feedback score. If a
user has a very high feedback score, in that case, I can suggest that
you can find "Complaint" by using find option. This will help you to
find only "Negative" feedbacks.

I must be slow today....WTF is she saying?

[MackemX]

I don't know but I can't see how searching for the word 'complaint' can really help you. It certainly isn't in every negative comment in the feedback listings so that's not it :mellow:

I can't see it anywhere else either

[hech54]

WTF does she see a "find" option anywhere on the page that lists a person's feedback?

I love Ebay(the company) but they are chocked full of idiots(the employees).

[waheed]

IVE GOT SOME GOOD NEWS. It looks like you can sepearte the negative feedback from the positive, but only for a maximum of the last 12 month period. Here is the further reply I got demanding clarification:

Hello,

Thank you for writing back to eBay. I understand that you wish to filter
out negative feedback from the positive feedback. I apologise for the
previous miscommunication and will be pleased to assist you in this
situation.

Please note that you will be able to filter out negative feedback from
the positive feedback. You will be able to access a new drop-down menu
labeled "period" on the Member's Profile page. After choosing a time
period, special rating filters will appear. You will get link of
Positive, Negative, Neutral and Withdrawn feedback. If you click on the
link Negative, negative feedback of the member will be displayed.

I trust that this information has been useful to you. If you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,

Rich Shaw
eBay Customer Support

And it works too. Ive managed to seperate the negative feedback.

[MackemX]

thanks for the info waheed

[hech54]

Yes...thank you indeed waheed.
You must tell us one day how you got an actual human to respond.

We can can make a guide perhaps....

[enstg8er]

There should be a rule stating that the seller ALWAYS should insert feedback first. The website should allow ONLY the seller to input feedback first, and then the buyer should be able to insert his.

This way you buy something, pay, the seller is forced to insert feedback since you already paid (or not), then the buyer receives the item and leaves feedback. Everybody is happy.

a policy i strictly adhere to. i never leave feedback as a buyer until i receive feedback from the seller. it makes my feedback total far less than i could have, but it is genuine. i regularly get emails from sellers notifying me they would leave me positive feedback as soon as i left it for them.

i always return e-mail them telling them i don't negotiate or exchange feedback. i only leave feedback once the seller does. my feedback my be few in number, but it is all earned. if they are dis-satisfied with my payment then they should notify me of leave appropriate feedback. if they are happy with my payment, they should leave appropriate feedback. i as the buyer leave feedback based on delivery and accuracy of the item discription.

padding feedback dishonestly based on prior negotiated feedback only serves to de-value the usefullness of feedback. they never respond.

a buyer that trades his feedback for higher numbers makes his total more meaningless.

[hech54]

IVE GOT SOME GOOD NEWS. It looks like you can sepearte the negative feedback from the positive, but only for a maximum of the last 12 month period. Here is the further reply I got demanding clarification:

Hello,

Thank you for writing back to eBay. I understand that you wish to filter
out negative feedback from the positive feedback. I apologise for the
previous miscommunication and will be pleased to assist you in this
situation.

Please note that you will be able to filter out negative feedback from
the positive feedback. You will be able to access a new drop-down menu
labeled "period" on the Member's Profile page. After choosing a time
period, special rating filters will appear. You will get link of
Positive, Negative, Neutral and Withdrawn feedback. If you click on the
link Negative, negative feedback of the member will be displayed.

I trust that this information has been useful to you. If you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,

Rich Shaw
eBay Customer Support

And it works too. Ive managed to seperate the negative feedback.

OK...still dumb I guess.
I looked high and low for a new drop-down menu
labeled "period" on the Member's Profile page...I don't see it.

[waheed]

Circled in red:

[hech54]

Yea I know...this guy has all positive but this is how all of them look on my screen.