Buyers Beware!

[Kallie Girl]

Why? Where is it written that we should expect a neg., when we have done nothing wrong?

The seller has left a neg. purely for retaliatory reasons; not for anything the buyer did wrong.

That puts the seller in the wrong for a second time.

In the same situation as the buyer, I may also have chosen to not neg. her; as I understand that life happens and that the seller may have given the scarf away, thinking that no one would buy it. But in reality, many people neg. for far less than this and the seller should have acted like a grown-up and taken the, deserved, neg. on the chin and not made a further fool of herself by retaliating.

Whenever I see retaliatory negs like this, it makes me think very badly of the seller - because not only are they unethical in their business practices, but they have also made themselves appear petty and childish.

Very well said. I do the same... if I see a hateful reply from a seller, I stay away from bidding on their auctions. I don't want to have to deal with a hothead or someone who gives negative feedback for no good reason.

If they are gracious and polite even if they got a negative, then I will give them a chance, as long as authenticity isn't an issue.

 

[Melissa71]

EXACTLY. And in fact, if you ask most long-standing good sellers, they'd first tell you that they would never do this, and secondly if for some reason it happened by mistake, they would have expected the neg and not retaliate. THAT's that a good seller's standard should be.

I completely agree with that. The seller definitely deserved the negative they received.

 

[chloehandbags]

This incident just underscores how flawed the entire system is at ebay. How many more buyers have had problems with this seller, but those problems were never made light of because of fear of retaliation? One does wonder.

Good question.

I won't petition ebay to mutually remove the feedback because she deserves the feedback she got from me, even if it, unfortunately, means an unwarranted blemish on my otherwise sterling record. I did reply underneath her feedback to me saying it was retaliatory and reiterated that she listed an item she had given away.

Good for you!

 

[chloehandbags]

Very well said. I do the same... if I see a hateful reply from a seller, I stay away from bidding on their auctions. I don't want to have to deal with a hothead or someone who gives negative feedback for no good reason.

Absolutely.

Thanks, BTW! :shame:

If they are gracious and polite even if they got a negative, then I will give them a chance, as long as authenticity isn't an issue.

Yes, same here.

 

[latigresse]

Very well said. I do the same... if I see a hateful reply from a seller, I stay away from bidding on their auctions. I don't want to have to deal with a hothead or someone who gives negative feedback for no good reason.

If they are gracious and polite even if they got a negative, then I will give them a chance, as long as authenticity isn't an issue.

To be honest, I went back and forth for quite awhile trying to decide whether to give the seller a negative or not. It wasn't a visceral knee-jerk reaction or an impulsive decision. I considered her experience, her previous positives, her reputation.

I decided to go with the negative in the end because I felt that as an experienced seller, she should have acted more responsibly and that if I just kept quiet, what would be the point of the whole feedback system if people are too scared to tell the truth? I had an obligation to other potential buyers to make them aware of this seller's behavior.

 

[Megs]

I'm not going to even label who is right, or wrong, because that does not really matter.

But if this continues to become personal, with personal attacks, I will have to close this thread . We are REALLY trying not to have to close tons of threads, and let people keep one another in line, but this seems to be on a big roller coaster ride!

 

[latigresse]

Good question.

Actually, if you've been reading through some of the earlier posts, you'll see there are people here who had similar problems with this seller, but they didn't leave any feedback. I'm not criticizing them for not doing so, though I rather wish they had. I know some of them had their own valid reasons for doing so, and I do understand that.

But this is yet another flaw in the ebay system, and has made me lose any faith or confidence I once had in the whole ratings set-up. I'm rather disinclined to buy anything anymore from ebay after this.

 

[latigresse]

My apologies, Megs. I do understand.

Thanks for indulging us and not passing judgment.

I'm not going to even label who is right, or wrong, because that does not really matter.

But if this continues to become personal, with personal attacks, I will have to close this thread . We are REALLY trying not to have to close tons of threads, and let people keep one another in line, but this seems to be on a big roller coaster ride!

 

[chloehandbags]

if the buyer left a neutral which i think would be appropriate, she wouldn't have gotten a neg back.

How do you know that?

i think the initial neg. fb was retaliatory in itself.

Pardon?

Retaliatory for what?

On that basis, leaving a neg. for a fake item, an item in SNAD condition, or no item sent at all, would also be retaliatory!

Retaliatory feedback means leaving a neg. or a neutral, purely because someone has left one for you.

It doesn't mean leaving a neg. because you are, understandably, annoyed that the seller no longer has the item you have bought and paid for.

i'm sorry. i know i'm in the minority but that is how i feel. She could have left a neutral to let everybody know what happened. why leave a black mark (neg.) if you are not harmed materially? She didn't take money and run and even tried to help rectify.

It's fine to say that you think the buyer overreacted, but to suggest it was retaliatory of the buyer to leave a neg. is completely inaccurate.

 

[chloehandbags]

Actually, if you've been reading through some of the earlier posts, you'll see there are people here who had similar problems with this seller, but they didn't leave any feedback. I'm not criticizing them for not doing so, though I rather wish they had. I know some of them had their own valid reasons for doing so, and I do understand that.

Yes, I know.

This is nothing new, of course, this has always been a fundamental problem with Ebay; many people (including me, in the past) are too afraid of retaliatory feedback and/or nasty emails, to be honest.

But this is yet another flaw in the ebay system, and has made me lose any faith or confidence I once had in the whole ratings set-up. I'm rather disinclined to buy anything anymore from ebay after this.

Yes, well I can understand why you would feel like that. Especially at the moment.

 

[latigresse]

Yes, I know.

This is nothing new, of course, this has always been a fundamental problem with Ebay; many people (including me, in the past) are too afraid of retaliatory feedback and/or nasty emails, to be honest.

I've been ebaying 8+ years and this is the first time I ever had a problem like this, though I am certainly aware that there are problems galore and I've heard enough horror stories. I guess I've been fortunate until now.

 

[chloehandbags]

I could of understood negative if there was a scam or money lost etc etc but there was not. and its obvious people return a slap with another slap which equals nothing but negative

But eBay are very clear on this - I can't remember the exact words they use, but feedback is supposed to be used responsibly, for judging the transaction itself and the attitude of the seller/buyer before, during and after that transaction; not in retaliation for the feedback one is given.

If the buyer felt negative about the transaction and/or the seller's attitude, then a negative feedback was the correct response.

Just because most people would have let it fly, it doesn't mean that most people are right and that the buyer is wrong and it certainly doesn't make the seller right for retaliating.

 

[Lushbaby]

I think the seller borrowed a lot of trouble when she first listed this scarf.

Either she knows she going on vacation or it was a last-minute decision.

Either way, the seller was in control of when her auction ended.

If she was going away on a planned vacaction, why did she list at all, when she must have know the listings would be ending while she was away?

And if it was a last-minute thing, then she should have ended the listings before leaving.

As for the part about giving away the item while running a listing on it, what is up with that? So seller packed it thinking I'll give this to so-and-so, but doesn't think the end the listing?

The neg was deserved. The retalitory one wasn't.

 

[chloehandbags]

I've been ebaying 8+ years and this is the first time I ever had a problem like this, though I am certainly aware that there are problems galore and I've heard enough horror stories. I guess I've been fortunate until now.

Yes, from what I've heard and experienced myself, I think you have been lucky (and/or savvy!).

 

[SOLIDGOLD2]

just thought you might find this interesting

[SIZE=-2][SIZE=+1]Australian Judge Deals with 'Deadbeat' eBay Seller
[SIZE=-1]By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
August 03, 2007 [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]eBay sellers cannot change their mind once an item has sold on the site, a court in Australia has ruled. A judge ruled against the seller of a $250,000 vintage plane after he refused to follow through on the transaction, wanting instead to sell it to someone else for more money. The court ruled that eBay transactions are binding contracts. The case was reported in Australian newspaper The Age, which has more details.
[URL="http://tinyurl.com/2b726a"][COLOR=#0000ff]http://tinyurl.com/2b726a[/COLOR][/URL]