posted on April 2, 2001 01:46:25 PM
I was chatting the other night with an online aquaintance. He knows I buy and sell on Ebay and we got into the discussion of feedback.
He feels that the only type of feedback that he has to leave is a negative, that if a seller "does his job" and delivers the merchandise as promised and in the described condition, he should not feel compelled to leave positive feedback. He feels he should not have to "stroke the seller" and tell him what a good job he did if he did it correctly.
NOW, before everyone starts throwing flaming sticks at me, I know that this is his right, but to me it sure is in bad form, isn't it? He says basically he could care less if anyone leaves feeback for him either, so I guess he's not really expecting anything in return.
Your thoughts?
Sue
[ edited by sshayler on Apr 2, 2001 02:39 PM ]
posted on April 2, 2001 02:40:37 PM
Sounds like his mama didn't teach him much about common courtesy......
Seems to me that on eBay you can look for an item (usually not available at retail stores), pay for it online, get a GREAT price, and have it delivered to your door. IMHO that warrants the VERY small amount of time it takes to leave feedback for a seller whose online reputation depends on it. You don't even have to give "strokes" in feedback--a simple statement like "Item as described, arrive safely" simply acknowledges a successfully completed transaction.
posted on April 2, 2001 03:04:12 PM
As it happens , this last month I've had 70% sales to non-feedback leavers. Some of them have over 300 FB !!
I guess they like the stuff O.K....I guess..then again , who knows?
I guess it arrived OK , was well packed , was as-described , it fit , it matched their decor, was mailed within 48hrs. at the lowest shipping rate , or was insured , labelled fragile , sent in time for the anniversary , cleared customs , gift wrapped , sealed against moisture , carefully dismantled and packed in cotton balls to prevent crating charges or damage , was expressed , was washed and ironed , buttons resewn , each moveable part wrapped in tissue / bubble wrap and labelled, extra photos of requested parts e-mailed , unpacking instructions hand-written , and even a hotel room booked and treated to dinner at the best local restaurant when one bidder came in person to pick -up a very fragile , and costly , museum piece....
......
did I miss anything..?
But why should I worry , I know I did my job? !
'Thing is ...how does anyone else?
posted on April 2, 2001 03:12:40 PM
Next time you are chatting, ask him some questions. How does he decide from whom to buy on ebay? Does he look at seller feedback?
If he does, ask him how the !@#@ he thinks that feedback gets there...the feedback fairy?
posted on April 2, 2001 03:25:26 PM
Succinctly put eventer.
Whereas I can appreciate that it's not mandatory to leave feedback , I personally feel that it's bad form to absolutely refuse , especially if one takes the time to leave negatives !
My personal feeling is that I resent building a user's fine reputation for them if they are too blase' or arrogant to consider providing information or courtesy to other users.
I'm refering to those who buy , and sell , quite frequently.
Many sellers check a bidder's feedback as an indication of how smooth or fast a transaction to expect ; or responds to e-mail , packs well , or frequently " changes their mind".
It can make or break a seller's decision whether to cancel a bid on a high-end item too. Some sellers will not sell to a bidder with less than certain feedback , or will not accept their personal check .
I feel disinclined to assist users who have attained that good reputation solely on the backs of other users.
posted on April 2, 2001 03:43:37 PM
I have discovered another ebayer who has an item that I had wanted to bid on. The item is somewhat unique and not found being sold by many sellers.
The problem is that while the seller currently enjoys a positive feedback of 509, due to the kindness of their buyers, they have NEVER LEFT ANY POSITIVE FEEDBACK FOR ANYONE! They have left 21 negative feedback for the people they consider to be "IDIOT", "TRYING TO BULLY SELLER", "PERSON CANNOT READ NOR COMPREHEND". In one of the feedback entries, this person has even posted the bidders name and contact information including phone number. I believe this is against ebay's FB guidelines. Maybe they can not read or comprehend This person represents the very worst of ebay sellers, in my veiw.
I still might bid on this person's auction, but I want to protect my 180 positive feedback from the rath of this angry personality. To do this, I have set up another account for buying only. So if this person gets up on the wtong side of the bed, my main account won't be affected.
posted on April 2, 2001 03:56:02 PM
When I first started selling I would e-mail to see if buyers had got their packages or not if they hadn't left feedback.
These were the days before Billpoint, etc. so quite a few buyers would call our shop with their CC#. One buyer called and we had a pleasant conversation. He asked me about the weather and my location and was a nice guy to do business with. I left him positive feedback and after a few weeks I went back to the auction and checked to see if he was leaving feedback for anyone.
He had left feedback but only neutrals and negatives. What was scary was that almost all of the sellers he had done business with had received one or the other from him. So I considered my "no feedback" a big positive.
posted on April 3, 2001 05:56:59 AM
IMHO..I feel that if you did your job as a seller or buyer..you should get your brownie points (pos. feedback)..The only time I wont leave any feedback on a buyer is when the communication was poor or payment took too long..he doesnt deserve a positive but since he paid..I dont leave a negative either.
As far as the seller side...I personally send feedback reminders through Auctionwatch. I dont think there is anything wrong with reminding people who may have gotten busy or forgot etc. My feedback rating is alot higher using these reminders.
posted on April 3, 2001 06:47:58 AM
Didn't his momma teach him "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything"? Why is he ONLY saying the nasties? What happens if he buys something and a week later he discovers a problem? As a seller, I try to weed out the buyers who sound like they might become a problem. If I get stupid questions, emails that sound demanding or threatening, I tell them not to bid on my stuff. Sometimes I don't find out until after the sale has gone through. Then I want to get it over with as quickly as possible.
A buyer calls me with a problem a few weeks or so after the sale. I can either a) get involved and replace the item or contact my distributor for him and work out a replacement or b) tell him to contact the manufacturer and leave me alone. If the buyer can't be bothered to leave feedback (and I do remind them) which answer do you think I will give him? If the buyer feels that their responsibility ends when they send payment, then the seller's responsibility ends when they send the item. Fair is fair.
posted on April 3, 2001 07:21:27 AM
If you smoke you have a good chance of not receiving feedback.
THAT is a factoid told to me by several buyers early on at Ebay.
If they opened a box that had smoke odor, they are compelled to clean the thing and feel no feedback is justified.
So there you have it.
posted on April 3, 2001 08:50:23 AM
I have several transactions from the past few months that come up when I access my "feedback comments to be left" screen, where I wish the option was "Leave NO feedback on this transaction". These are ones where initial contact from seller took a week and 3 emails from me, but things went well from that point on or bubble wrap and box reeked of smoke (but ad didn't say non-smoking home) or there was a hidden handling charge of $1 or so. The transaction wasn't quite bad enough for me to feel comfortable leaving a neutral, but it wasn't positive. I personally believe these are what neutrals are designed for, but I've seen far too many posts from people crying that their impeccable feedback has been despoiled with a neutral to do this. I'd rather leave none at all. Which brings me to my point.
Everyone brings their own understanding to feedback. Some people think a neutral "ruins" their record. Others could care less. Some only leave positive feedback. Others only leave negative feedback. If we took a poll, I don't think we could get agreement as to what kind of feedback should be left in a given situation. There are many threads on this board where someone describes a situation and asks for opinions. The results run the full range of options "Neg them", "leave a neutral", "do nothing", "did you get the item/get paid? then leave a positive - the seller/buyer completed their end". We all have our individual philosophies on feedback, and under the current system, all philosophies are equally valid.
I would like to see eBay go to a dropdown menu, select a pre-written comment type feedback system. I think this would eliminate much of the emotion from the current system, which can only make it more professional.
posted on April 3, 2001 10:32:10 AMrca001-I couldn't agree with you more! About 6 months ago, I began "suggesting" just that to eBay. At first they would reply to my comments "thanking me" for my suggestions. Then, they stopped. After about a month of no responses I gave up! Even though they say they listen to their users and value their imput, I suspect they will continue to do exactly what they want.
