posted on May 24, 2001 02:08:08 PM new
I'm still (after three+ years) confused about the use of (and perception of) Neutral feedback. I have received two - one of them as a buyer because, although I acknowledged my winning bid and sent the money promptly, I was, in the opinion of the seller, "a routine customer, not outstanding." Yikes!
The second, recently dumped on me as a seller, was from a buyer who had somehow missed the AW WBN and used the Neutral feedback "to get my attention" so he could send his money. He says he has done this five times and it has been "successful" each time.
I tend to overlook Neutrals because I don't see many of them, but these two, especially the most recent, worry me. Any thoughts on this? Should I be using Neutral feedback for those "routine but not outstanding" customers who require some nudging before they pay but don't deserve a Negative?
My policy has been to just not leave feedback if it's a moderately unhappy transaction, leave the Negatives for the total deadbeats, and not use Neutral at all. Am I missing something here?
denisv ("mrvee" on eBay but currently on vacation until July)
posted on May 24, 2001 02:19:56 PM new
Well I usually only leave Postive or Negative, but I left a neutral once to a guy that I won one of his auctions and he was trying to change the shipping agreement. He finally saw it my way and I paid exactly what was stated in the auction. But I think Neutral feedback it something to be left whn you did not receive really good customer service, but you received the item in the stated condition at the stated time frame.
*~*Amanda*~*
posted on May 24, 2001 02:28:49 PM new
I rarely use neutral.
Recently I used one for a non-paying bidder who slipped through. I had sent her reminder e-mails, and never heard from her. I forgot about it, and when I remembered, it was too late to file for fees. Rather than leaving her a neg I left a neutral. Less chance of a retalitory neg that way.
So, 60 or so days past the auction I gave her a neutral saying I never received payment, or contact from that bidder.
Another one was a multi bid winner. Said she could not pay due to family problems. I filed for my fees, and left a neutral on ONE auction saying "Multi-bid Bidder could not pay due to family problems" Normally, I don't believe those "family problem" stories, but I contacted other sellers, and they were told the same thing. The bidder had ceased bidding on items. So, I thought she was being honest. BUT I still have 3 other auctions I can leave feedback on if it should warrant it.
Normally, if it was an "ehh" transaction, I just don't leave feedback at all.
I got two neutrals myself. Both from "newbies". One because it would "be great if I accepted paypal" and another because she did not like the product, but never contacted me. I e-mailed her and told her I was sorry she did not like it, but I would have gladly refunded if she had contacted me.
posted on May 24, 2001 04:35:38 PM new
I think before leaving a neutral or negative for a buyer or a seller, the "leaver" should give the other party a chance to correct any mistakes. I don't use neutral but I do leave negatives after the other party has been given ample opportunity to correct their mistake and has failed to do so.
posted on May 24, 2001 05:58:18 PM new
[b]But I think Neutral feedback it something to be left whn you did not receive really good customer service, but you received the item in the stated condition at the stated
time frame.[/b] huh?????? What is wrong with receiving the item in the stated condition at the stated time frame? Sounds pretty dang positive to me!
posted on May 24, 2001 06:10:54 PM new But I think Neutral feedback it something to be left whn you did not receive really good customer service, but you received the item in the stated condition at the stated time frame.
And your definition of good customer service is?
A positive would be in order for the above referenced item. Item is in stated condition (can't ask for more) and received at the stated time frame (great seller-ships when promised).
I don't leave neutrals, but I had one left the other day. I had pictures in the auction, good concise description, and the bid was only $2 with $2 shipping. I shipped it Priority Mail with insurance and paid the difference. That was never even considered by the selfish bidder (feedback of a whopping 5) who stated it "wasn't what I expected, but thanks." HUH? What did she expect? She saw the photo, read the description, I paid the difference in shipping and paid for the insurance. Did she expect gold in the box too? I had left her a positive too. She never once emailed me to tell me she was unhappy. I would have refunded her money.
Neutrals should be banned! Negatives should be allowed only when all other avenues have been exhausted and only with approval from ebay.
posted on May 24, 2001 06:51:29 PM new
Don't ban neutrals!
I have over 800 FB, all pos but for one neutral. After oneof my auctions ended I found I mis-listed an item and couldn't deliver. I explained to the high bidder, he understood, and left me a neutral.
posted on May 24, 2001 06:59:54 PM new
Ok, ok .. I'll make sure ebay listens to me and never ever bans them LOL! Wish I could make the rules . . .
They do have a place such as in your case, and I guess my newbie bidder could have left me a negative instead of a neutral. So perhaps they aren't so bad after all They don't take points off your feedback total and we can respond to everything now.
posted on May 24, 2001 07:02:00 PM new
I agree with mtnmama. Neutrals serve no real purpose. They are wishy washy.
I had one left recently by a buyer just ONE hour after the auction closed, "it looks like I am the high bidder, could you let me know. Thanks" That's no reflection of the actual transaction. And who's going to know that he did it in an hour?? Is good customer service sending out the EOA within minutes??? Does a buyer who finally pays after numerous e-mails and a FVF refund warning merit a wishy washy neutral? Really, most folks don't read neutrals. Heck, most don't check FB until it's too late. And it seems that a lot of people are afraid to leave a justified negative. So all I know is I won't leave a neutral.
posted on May 24, 2001 07:30:24 PM newThe problem with a neutral...
The problem is, the receiver of the neutral is going to feel just about like he was negged, so unless you are willing to burn that bridge as if you gave a neg, don't do it. If you do leave a neutral, you'll end up with the reaction a neg would bring, so you're basically paying the price without any of the satisfaction.
My "neutral" is actually no feedback at all. If I feel strongly enough about poor service, I will leave a neg.
As you indicated, it's really unusual to either give or receive neutral feedback. I had one case in which a buyer left fatastic feedback in words and then clicked neutral.
posted on May 24, 2001 07:41:39 PM new
I just had a newbie {2 feedbacks} leave me a nuetral because she couldn't contact me--said my email was invalid--when in reality my server was down for 3 days. I had even contacted her immediately after the auction ended telling her that I needed her address to calculate shipping { before my email went down. } She even contacted Square Trade { all w/in 5 days of the auctions close, including the weekend.} So anyways, when my email was back up and running, I emailed her and told her I did not appreciate that fact that she left me a nuetral for circumstances I could not control { I had no nuetrals or negatives before this.} She emailed me back and apologized and said she tried to leave me a positive but it didn't work. Go figure.
posted on May 24, 2001 08:19:47 PM new
I once got a negative meant for another seller. She apologized and apologized, but never asked ebay to remove it. It was a great transaction too! Arghh!
Gotta love those new bidders though. They have deep pockets.
posted on May 25, 2001 01:15:25 AM new
i have a buyer and keep thinking i should leave a neutral for him every time i go to the 'see all pending feedback' page.
he won, i sent eoa, he replied with his address and said he'd send out a m.o. i waited for several weeks. emailed again. nothing. emailed 5 days after that. nothing. filed npb. nothing. until a little less than a week later, the m.o. arrives, priority mail. i sent the item. he's only got 3 feedbacks, all positive. since he did pay, i think he deserves a neutral, yet i still hesitate.
Sounds like you didn't deserve any of those neutrals.
Unfortunately, I don't think banning the neutral feature would stop people from misusing the system. Those same people would just leave negatives instead.
I've left neutrals before. Two of them come to mind:
1. Seller stated in auction and in EOA notice that shiping would be Priority Mail. Instead, he shipped the shipping tape Media Mail in a Priority Mail box covered over with a white Tyvex envelope and marked it "Book". Sure, I got the product promptly in good condition. But he lied about the shipping method, misused postal materials, and refused to refund the difference in postage when I pointed out that since he pulled one over on the post office and didn't stick to his TOS, I should be entitled to the difference in postage back.
2. Seller shipped a windbreaker jacket Priority Mail in a clear plastic bag wrapped in a layer of newspaper. The newspaper was torn open and the jacket was exposed, fortunately undamaged. Seller knew about free Priority Mail supplies also because she had taped the newspaper with the free tape. Again, product arrived promptly, but emails from seller indicated that she had shipped it that way on purpose, not out of ignorance of available materials. She was actually pretty proud of herself for recycling that way.
I can't recall leaving a neutral for my buyers. Either I get paid or I don't. So it's either a positive or a negative.
And kittykittykitty, I do leave negative feedback for deadbeats at 30 days. Yes, I do also file for FVF. Once I received payment the very day I'd filed for FVF. Well, too bad for the buyer. Can't be removed, but he shouldn't have waited more than 30 days to pay, that's all. I did let eBay know he'd paid so they reversed the FVF. I will do that. So your buyer would probably have already gotten a neg from me, so I wouldn't be pondering whether or not to leave a neutral.
posted on May 25, 2001 06:22:32 AM new
I mainly agree that Neutrals are kinda worthless. A transaction is going to be either Positive or negative and then comments are added. Although I personally wont leave negatives (due to fear of retaliation)..I will only say something nice (leave a positive) if the transaction was pretty much painless, got paid in a timely manner(or recd item in a timely manner)and feel the person deserves the praise.
posted on May 25, 2001 10:09:13 AM new
Thanks BJGrolle for your examples.
As a buyer, I look at the feedback profile to evaluate the seller. I typically don't read the positives, I just look at the total #. I read the negatives and the neutrals (thanks vrane! ). If another buyer wants to use the feedback forum to convey any information to me about a seller, he needs to leave either a negative or a neutral, 'coz those are the only comments I'll be reading.
A negative should of course be given when the deal is unsatisfactory -- item not received, item not as described, extra charges added that were not specified in the TOS, and when the seller has not adequately addressed these problems when they're brought to his attention.
I like to see a neutral used in a situation such as BJGrolle has described -- not to indicate dissatisfaction with my own transaction, but to leave information for other buyers to use when evaluating whether they want to enter into a transaction with the seller -- i.e., I got my item fine, but it was really just luck and not due to any particular skill of the seller, here's something to watch out for.
They don't take points off your feedback total and we can respond to everything now.
