posted on May 28, 2001 09:31:24 AM
You have to be careful leaving negative feedback like that. Ebay frowns upon actions like that; see their policy regarding leaving feedback. The transaction was completed and thus really doesn't warrant a negative feedback. I hope Ebay admin is not looking at your post. I only leave negative feedback from Lingerie*By*Jenal if the transaction was not completed, i.e. the bidder did not pay. Being vindictive in this manner might warrant an investigation from Ebay into your actions if the bidder decides to complain. You could have left a neutral feedback rating maybe stating slow pay or response to e-mails. After 7 days from the date your auction closes, Ebay allows you to file a Non-Paying Bidder Alert. From the date of NPB, Ebay allows 10 days for payment. If they haven't paid by then, then get your Final Auction Fee refunded and move on. File a negative feedback if you must. However, make sure your terms are listed in your description so everyone is on the same page and knows what you expect.
[ edited by lingeriebyjenal on May 28, 2001 09:35 AM ]
[ edited by lingeriebyjenal on May 28, 2001 09:45 AM ]
[ edited by lingeriebyjenal on May 28, 2001 09:46 AM ]
posted on May 28, 2001 10:17:13 AM
I don't think many of you are getting the point, or maybe I'm not. From what I understand, the Negative feedback was not left soley based on the buyer's behavior before payment was received. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE, AND SHOULDN'T BE! It should be based on the overall satisfaction of the seller regarding the transaction. THAT IS WHAT THE FEEDBACK SYSTEM IS ALL ABOUT. The buyer left neutral feedback without playing by the rules and trying to work the matter out with the seller first. When contacted for an explanation, they did not answer. Therefore, the seller was NOT satisfied with the transaction, OVERALL. She had every right to post negative feedback because she was not satisfied. It doesn't matter whether the buyer's neutral feedback was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
For those of you that believe a buyer deserves Positive feedback simply for paying on time, I sure hope you never get a dishonest buyer who holds your feedback hostage while they make numerous unreasonable post-payment requests.
posted on May 28, 2001 10:56:53 AM
I agree with Ecom's actions. The same thing happened to me. I had 119 positives, ship my items out immediately, always notify the buyer that I've received their payment, and let them know the item is on the way. I had run a dutch auction for some boxes of balloons. One of my buyers left me a neutral that read "difficult performance with item." He did not email me with any problems, I offer a money back guarantee on all of my items. I was appalled and also a bit amused. How does someone have difficulty with the performance of a balloon? LOL
I haven't done anything to the buyer, in terms of feedback, but in my opinion, he does deserve a neg. I also noticed that he left neutral feedback for a few other sellers in the same manner. Other sellers should be warned that this new ebayer has this "problem" with leaving unfair neutrals, which in my opinion look just as bad as a negative.
Would it have been so hard for him to email me to let me know that he wasn't satisfied with his item? I think that negative and neutral feedback should only be used by a buyer if all other avenues have been exhausted.
Our feedback is like our "business credit report". That neutral may end up costing me money in the long run. It was totally undeserved, everyone else left glowing positives about that product.
I think what eCom did was just fine. And I never leave feedback until the buyer leaves it for me. I used to always leave positives upon receiving payment, but I've reconsidered this and found that the transaction certainly isn't complete when the payment is received. I do have the option of leaving this joker a negative and I just may do it.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:17:30 AM
I can see your POV. I sent this buyers item two days after receiving his money order and he left me a neutral for slow shiping! I left him a neutral for being a pain in the ___. It's a nice check and balance when used properly to leave a retribution.
posted on May 28, 2001 11:56:17 AM
Well, the way I look at it, ALL feedback is retalitory. Its all left in retaliation for something. You're either retaliating for non-payment, for non-shipment of goods, or for your buyer being a jerk. Whatever the reason, its in retaliation.
posted on May 28, 2001 05:23:53 PM
We never leave negative feedback. If we receive payment on the items we sell, then we call it a positive transaction. After all, getting payment is what counts, right?
We file NPB's faithfully when required, and if this still doesn't squeeze the money out of deadbeat bidders, we file the Final Value Fee Request. Negative feedback is one thing, but if you get enough NPB's, you get suspended, right? So we find this an effective way of controlling any problems.
I've had auction winners hold out on sending payment for 60 days, and then phone me frantically with credit card number on the last day I've told them I'll accept payment. Hey, I got my money, they get positive feedback.
Of course, our auctions on Ebay is not our sole source of income, and we aim to direct potential customers to our site through our auctions (don't know if we'll keep Ebay-ing after the 31st), so we don't want to make any potential customers angry, by negging them.
As long as I can file against the non-payers, I will keep my cool and continue to give positive feedback to those who pay up...no matter how long it takes.
posted on May 28, 2001 06:45:07 PM
Hi Folks: I was enjoying the holiday with my family, instead of being on the computer. So let me respond to some of you now.
engelskdansk: what would you have done differently? I wasn't satisfied with the overall transaction. I wrote the buyer and they didn't respond. I waited a week to post feedback. I don't think its fair for someone to offer less than positive feedback without giving the seller an opportunity to correct a problem (per eBay guidelines). And to make the situation worse, they wouldn't tell me why they left it in the first place.
lingeriebyjenal: I checked and eBay encourages you to leave feedback based on the overall transaction. Payment certainly doesn't constitute the buyer's sole responsibility and obligation. Maybe this buyer shared your feelings and figured they were "safe" to leave whatever feedback they wanted, since they had paid for the item.
revvassago: Of course it was an expression of retaliation. I was unhappy with the way I was treated in this transaction. But it was considered, which was the point of the thread.
kengraham: Unfortunately, your actions may be part of the problem. Honest feedback is important for us all. We learn from it and hopefully get better at what we do. And I'll bet this buyer will think twice before they post neutral feedback for another seller without an explanation or an attempt to fix it.
posted on May 28, 2001 07:27:07 PM
This thread has changed over the past few days. When it started, it seemed as if ecom was almost proud of the fact that he/she could leave a neg. just because someone dared leave a neutral for them.
Now that it has been explained more, I can see why you left a neg. I would not have handled it that way, but that is why I am selling my items and not yours. My feedback is left immediately after payment is received. This is how I let bidders know I have received their payment. I feel that waiting to see if they like the product they bid on is not really something to post feedback on. If they don't like it, so be it. I will offer a refund. If they post a neg. before contacting me, I will refuse a refund. Plain and simple. But I still disagree with responding to unfavorable feedback with more unfavorable feedback.
ecom, you still haven't answered my question: If they would have left you a positive, what would you have done then?
If they had left a postive feedback, then I would definitely have left them a positive. They paid late, but they paid, and were pleasant in the transaction up to the point of receipt. No surprises, no problems. I'd have no reason to believe their actions and motives were anything but honorable.
What really got to me was that they decided, unilaterally, that they didn't like something and wouldn't say what they didn't like. Strike two was they never gave me a chance to make it better.
Finally strike three was the flippant nature of the comment, neutral: neutral. It wasn't meant to communicate anything specific.
So, for poor communication and bad etiquette, they got a negative feedback.
Like I said before, if I had known then what I know now, based on the emails from this buyer, they would have gotten an over-the-top negative.
And by the way, they obviously don't have any problem communicating their displeaure in real time after the negative was posted. Five separate emails that day.
posted on May 28, 2001 08:53:47 PM
LOL, that is great! Poor communication, bad etiquette, and lack of emails. But you are right, eCom. This person certainly deserved it!
posted on May 29, 2001 09:59:48 AM
Why on earth would you hope that no one leaves him feedback in the future? This person that left neutral feedback for him did a sneaky thing and never alerted him that there was a problem. He still doesn't know what the problem was. The bidder deserved a negative for their poor communication! A negative or neutral feedback on a sellers record may cost the seller money on future sales. I believe that negative and neutral feedback should only be left in situations where all other avenues have been explored first.
posted on May 29, 2001 10:16:02 AM
I just received my first negative feedback out of 616 positives. Customer bought 2 lots of craft books for 12.99 each and paid by PayPal on 3/22/01. We shipped using media mail rate on 3/23/01. We were never aware of a problem until the end of April when we received a message from PayPal that the transaction was being looked at due to non-delivery of the item. Today the customer left negatives on both lots. We have the receipt from the post office showing they were mailed and wrote to PayPal stating this. What should a seller do when this happens? The customer did not pay for insurance (none was offered, though). We've had a couple other items take a month or more that were sent by media mail but since it is so much cheaper our customers like using it.
posted on May 29, 2001 01:31:19 PM
Hi danilynn71: Strangely, they never did tell me why the they posted the feedback they did. Five foul emails about my feedback, before I blocked them, and they never said.
posted on May 29, 2001 01:42:14 PM
I had a customer recently, not a bad customer, but kind of a pest. The kind that sends 10 emails, every day "did you get my payment, when will you ship." After the transaction, he sent a "where's my feedback?" email. I replied, as is also stated in my EOA notice, that reciprocal positive feedback is automatically left via Vrane.com.
So the guy leaves a neutral (at best) feedback disguised as a positive: "Praise: Slow shipping, poor email response." Yeah right, duh. Still no big deal.
Then a few days later, I get another email. "Where's my feedback?" (And a few choice words about my lousy service, and how he should have left a neutral. I have to admit, by that time he was beginning to grate on my nerves.
posted on May 30, 2001 09:31:34 PM
I use to not give negatives as I was scared to death of receiving the dreaded "retalitory neg". But after I received my first negative after almost 600 positives. It is no longer the case. I had a buyer ruin my perfect record by a admited mistake, she was sending email to the wrong email address and got mad when I didn't answer it. After almost getting sick from this first blemish I decided that a neg here and there is not as bad as I thought. I now have over 1300 positives with 2 user ID's and 3 negs, the one mistaken one and 2 retalitory from deadbeat bidders. If a business can have only 3 disatisfied customers out of over 1300 reporting, that is a very, very small percentage. I will not worry about a deadbeat leaving a neg again and after the shock of your first neg you will also see that this is not the end of the world, but a wake up to the REAL world. To leave a neg just because someone left you a neutral is pretty petty. Save the negs for the deadbeats to warn all other sellers (or buyers) of the truly deserving.
