posted on August 18, 2005 07:36:49 AM
I want to leave negative feedback for someone but do not want a retaliatory neg posted on me. (she really does deserve this I am not just being nasty) I understand that we have 3 months from the close to do this. Is it 3 months to the second that the auction itself closed OR 3 months to the day. The auction closed at 10 pm eastern do I post at 9:59 pm eastern OR 11:59 pacific?
posted on August 18, 2005 07:49:36 AM
From what I understand, it is a great urban myth that you can leave neg with impunity right at the 90 day mark. I believe that eBay allows you AT LEAST 90 days to leave feedback, but there are no guarantees that you won't be able to do so on day 91, 92, etc.
posted on August 18, 2005 08:21:59 AM
BJ: I'm glad you asked this question. This summer I've had a couple of deadbeats and have filed for FVFs. But the unsent feedbacks just s it there on my feedback page and I was trying to remember how long we have.
If I don't want to leave a feedback, is there a way to erase the undone ones from my "leave feedback" list? Anyone?
posted on August 18, 2005 09:31:11 AM
i'm not positive, but i think that once you leave the last-minute/90-day type feedback, it opens _another_ 90-day window of opportunity for the person you left the fb for. why chance it?
posted on August 19, 2005 05:30:43 AM
Yeah - be careful! I just pulled up an auction that ended March 20 - and there was no dispute on it...pretty sure we both could still leave feedback if the auction is still shown on ebay.
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posted on August 19, 2005 05:41:37 AM
I'm sort of glad that you can't really avoid feedback by the other party this way. I've been tempted myself to do this, but I applied the "what if someone did it to me" rule.
There have been a number of times where someone wasn't happy, and neither was I, but we seem to have decided, without discussing it, that we would just leave well enough alone. I would really be bummed if I found that our unspoken agreement was broken at the last minute by the other party, with no recourse by me.
The ability to leave negatives, by either party, without a chance for the community to "hear" the other side's view would not be a plus overall. It might be satisfying once, but it is bad for the overall community.
The unfortunate thing, of course, is that eBay is not very good about removing retaliatory negs. If they did that, it would be best overall.
posted on August 19, 2005 09:03:33 AM
Now I'm back to my old question! Is there a way, if I choose not to leave any feedback for a rotten buyer, to remove that listing from my "feedback to be left" list? I have two right now, right at the top of the list, and they give me negative thoughts every time I see the danged things. I don't want to leave positive or neutral FB, and I'm afraid to leave the negs they deserve because of retaliation.
posted on August 20, 2005 05:46:08 AM
Thanks for all your thoughts. I am going to call ebay on Monday and see if I can get a straight answer about this question.
I know that leaving a neg without her chance to reply is not "nice" but what she put me through isn't either. She is by far and away the nastiest rudest most out of reason person I have EVER had to deal with on ebay since 1997! I made a mistake in shipping on an auction this summer. It posted as free shipping, I amended the auction as best as I could without stopping it and relaunching. In other words in the "new" description was the notice that the shipping was not free and I would calculate after the close. She only choose to see FREE. It weighed 20 lbs and after a lot of hoo haa went to Calif from New Hampshire FREE after much venomous hate mail. I did not say one nasty word to her no matter what she said to me.I tried to explain and asked her to read the entire auction. To no avail.... well the bottom line is I will never let it happen again .....I will close the auction and notify the (8) bidders of whats happening and of the relaunch #.
I have her emails in a save box and when I think about the names she called me,I want to punch her in the face... this coming from a life long pacifist! I know its just the how dare you say that to me... in me that wants to post a hateful neg AND have the last word even though its not very Christian of me... but I do so want the last word! I will let you know what ebay says.
[ edited by bjboswell on Aug 20, 2005 05:53 AM ]
posted on August 20, 2005 08:00:08 AM
"but i do so want the last word..."
let it GO! think of all the emotional energy you're consuming thinking about this.
you did make the mistake of leaving the "free shipping" phrase in the auction...and it was really up to you to honor that since you left it in the auction rather than end the auction
posted on August 20, 2005 08:21:10 AM
BJ: Will you please let us know any reply you get from Ebay?
Vintage: The emotional energy bit is exactly why I'd like to be able to erase auction items in feedback that I don't ever want to deal with. Wish someone had an answer for that.
posted on August 20, 2005 07:57:46 PM
Not feedback timing but related...
Several days before an auction ended, I placed a bid on the snipe website I subscribe to. It was for a quilt and two shams. I ended up winning and when I was printing it out, I saw where the seller had added to the description that there were NO shams included. Her description was added AFTER I had placed my snipe bid and had I known, I wouldn't have bid near as much. So I emailed and explained to her what happened and thankfully, she let me off the hook.
I gave this a great deal of thought afterwards and it is my opinion, if the seller makes a MAJOR change to the description, in fairness to bidders, the auction should be ended.
posted on August 20, 2005 08:37:13 PM
It used to be that 60 days, to the minute, was the absolute limit that Ebay would keep a closed auction on their servers. It would be deleted at the exact second the auction had been ended for 60 days. You could leave feedback at 59 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds and they wouldn't be able to respond. A couple years ago they changed it to "at least" 90 days before deletion. The phrase "at least" is significant, in that 90 days is all they guarantee. They actually delete the auction when they feel like it. I was shocked to find out, after reading this thread, that I still have a couple auctions that closed in February that still are accessable on Ebay's servers. Feedback can still be left on these. If you feel the need to warn other sellers about this person, you have two alternatives: Leave a neg and warn everyone on Ebay and risk a neg in return, or, post her I.D. here and warn the Vendio users so we can block her, and to hell with the sellers who won't visit Vendio. Let them find out the hard way. And yes, leaving a neg will extend the time that auction remains on the servers. I had a jerk in January that left me an out of the clear blue sky neutral at exactly 60 days. He thought the old 60 day rule was still in effect. I left him a neg the next day. The auction stayed on Ebay's servers until the end of April.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on August 21, 2005 05:21:50 AM
bjboswell
I, for one, don't think you did anything wrong by not closing your auction. After all ebay allows you to revise or add to the description.
I do however see where dixielou is coming from too. My snipe program emails me 8 or 9 hours before the close so you can go back and check for changes. Great idea.
I think what should happen in cases like this is that ebay should email the highest bidder if something is added to a listing. That seem to be the fairest way to do it to me.
posted on August 21, 2005 05:58:22 AM
Dixie, The moral of the story for me is that if I make a mistake like that in the future I WILL close the auction. Not only did I loose money by having to pay for shipping,I had to endure being called alot of very ugly names which then as now .... most sincerely... hurt. Thin skined... maybe.. coming in the middle of the worst month and summer I have ever had on ebay .. or personally... well it hit at the wrong time. It won't happen again!!!! CYA I will let you know what ebay says.
posted on August 24, 2005 08:17:39 PM
Well as promised I called ebay and as we all suspected.... Auctions are kept for 90 days KINDA he said most of the time their master brain drops auctions at 90 days to the second but not always. I asked if I left feedback at the last second does that open it up to another 90 days for a reply? He didn't know. Why, with all the computer power this company must posses can't they have a simple program that is succinct.. this is the lengh of time, this is how it works, PERIOD??
I have decided to let sleeping dogs lay she hurt my feelings, made me so mad and sad I cried but it ain't the end of the world and its over SO onward and upward.
posted on August 24, 2005 08:58:05 PM
You'll feel better and sleep better if you leave her a big fat neg
Seriously, I know how something like this can upset a person. There are so many people out there that are looking for a way to dip their hand into your pocket, that 90% of selling is a constant effort to CYA. It's a whole different ballgame today than it was in 1998.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on August 25, 2005 07:17:41 AM
"It's a whole different ballgame today than it was in 1998."
AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!!!! I swear I have had more NPB's and just plain ugly nasty rude "buyers" this summer than the first 8 years I was selling on ebay! What's up are folks taking their ... the world is a mess and stressful mess at that,energy... out on strangers?
Your right about the neg making me feel better but a retalitory neg would not! So the dogs are down and I learned a good lesson.. stop the auction and rewrite it OR pay!
posted on August 30, 2005 04:06:37 PM
Oh Dear.
I too have endured my first ever negative feedback. And nasty is putting it mildly.
We went to eBay arbitration...but he ( the buyer) wouldn't agree to arbitrate( then wrote on my feedback page that eBay voted me 'in the wrong'.NEVER!!) So I went to Square Trade. And agreed to pay for a mediator. Nope...the nasty guy wouldn't go for that either.
So more hurtful accusations ( to which I replied....can't keep quite when falsely insulted..right?).
Still unresolved. And all this meaness happened while I was out of the country for 2 months and had very limited access to a computer. Which I wrote and advised him when I saw my feedback a month after he left it!!
Wrote to the guy AGAIN, now that he has returned the item and offered to pay him bid price ONLY after he goes to Square Trade and has this whole matter removed.
Haven't heard a word from him.
But I too feel a pang every time I see those mean spirited words on my feedback page.
By the way, it runs over another comment that says " you are the best of the best on eBay"!!
So the moral of the story is: Be glad you are not on Katrina's flooded list...and smile and get on with life.......
