eBay : Is there any way to have unfair negative feedback removed?

[JWBlue]

Sold a watch. Dropped it off at a Village PO (Shell Gas Station). They don't scan packages when accepted.

Village PO misplaced it. I issued a refund. Village PO found package week later and shipped it before I could pick it up.

Buyer claims I never dropped it off until after refund issued and claims I was trying to sell the watch for more (doesn't really make sense). I did sell it a week later for same price.


100% Feedback b4.

[prospectorgems]

Unfortunately I don't think you will get any ebay rep to reverse it for you. They will just tell you to work it out with the person that left the feedback to reverse it. Doesn't sound like that will happen either.

[shrevecity]

Sounds like a legit neg. You are responsible for the shipping of the item. If your local po is not scanning them if you request you need to make them. It's their policy they are required to scan them. If they won't report them or go to a different po otherwise this can happen again and again.

[JeffG1954]

I don't think eBay will do anything for you, but maybe if you could get whoever is in charge of the post office to write a note explaining what happened, scan it and send it to the buyer.....maybe the buyer would have a change of heart and reverse the neg.....long shot, but a shot.

[premium1981]

I don't think eBay will do anything for you, but maybe if you could get whoever is in charge of the post office to write a note explaining what happened, scan it and send it to the buyer.....maybe the buyer would have a change of heart and reverse the neg.....long shot, but a shot.

It isn't worth that effort. A negative feedback isn't the end of the world. I would learn from the mistake and do better in the future. I agree, that this one seems accurate. You messed up, and you happened to have a buyer that wanted to hold you responsible for the mistake.

[shrevecity]

Op does not make sense anyway..

Says he dropped it off then it was shipped after refunding then buyer claims it was shipped after refunding and op sold it a week later. Some info is missing or need a better layout of the timeline.

Sound like op refunded as soon as buyer said there was an issue. Did they open a claim? Never refunding right away if you truly shipped.

Story is not very clear.

But as it is presented the neg is legit. The biggest thing a neg hurts is the sellers feelings.

[premium1981]

Op does not make sense anyway..


I was actually thinking the same thing but I chose to leave that part out.:p

[shrevecity]

I was actually thinking the same thing but I chose to leave that part out.:p

It's pretty muddled. Don't think it will change anything.

[thenightman]

Sold a watch. Dropped it off at a Village PO (Shell Gas Station). They don't scan packages when accepted.

Village PO misplaced it. I issued a refund. Village PO found package week later and shipped it before I could pick it up.

Buyer claims I never dropped it off until after refund issued and claims I was trying to sell the watch for more (doesn't really make sense). I did sell it a week later for same price.


100% Feedback b4.

Call eBay and explain the situation calmly, respectfully, and rationally. Explain to them that you take selling on eBay seriously and you would never jeopardize your standing in such a way.

[DynaEtch]

Not much to add except I agree the story doesn’t make sense as presented, if OP wants to clarify anything (was package intercepted?).

As for the neg, i won’t say they make no difference- as a buyer on more than one occasion I have passed up an item, even buying the same exact item at a higher price from a different seller- simply because the seller of the first one had negs such as ‘item not shipped in 7 days, stuck in pre-shipment’, or ‘item not received’ and didn’t want to deal with that. So they lost out on my business…did it make a difference? Possibly. If the item remained unsold or they had to lower price even more. But that’s typically if multiple negs and a pattern. A one-off isn’t really an issue at all for most. I would post a reply on the feedback in a very calm and professional tone describing the PO mix up, buyer was refunded in full, and customer satisfaction is always a priority, something like that- probably the best way to deal with a neg like that.

[shrevecity]

Not much to add except I agree the story doesn’t make sense as presented, if OP wants to clarify anything (was package intercepted?).

As for the neg, i won’t say they make no difference- as a buyer on more than one occasion I have passed up an item, even buying the same exact item at a higher price from a different seller- simply because the seller of the first one had negs such as ‘item not shipped in 7 days, stuck in pre-shipment’, or ‘item not received’ and didn’t want to deal with that. So they lost out on my business…did it make a difference? Possibly. If the item remained unsold or they had to lower price even more. But that’s typically if multiple negs and a pattern. A one-off isn’t really an issue at all for most. I would post a reply on the feedback in a very calm and professional tone describing the PO mix up, buyer was refunded in full, and customer satisfaction is always a priority, something like that- probably the best way to deal with a neg like that.

With negs you have to read it and sometimes a response from seller can help. Other times if seller seems to make it personal or unprofessional it's worse than the neg itself. Like say dcssports I can look at their negs and with little effort see that half or sometimes more are not the seller but the buyer who is the issue.

You sell long enough you are going to run unto buyers who look for any reason to neg and cause a seller grief.

Overall I have fallen to as low as 98.6 and never noticed a real difference in sales. Now did get an increase in buyers trying to game system using negs on other items as leverage

[smanzari]

OP - from what I can read, this one may have been deserved; you will more than likely not get eBay to take it off, but maybe you can respond in such a way as to get the buyer to delete it (this actually has worked really well for me in the past; most guys don't know you can see they've left it from their profile)


As for the neg, i won’t say they make no difference- as a buyer on more than one occasion I have passed up an item, even buying the same exact item at a higher price from a different seller- simply because the seller of the first one had negs such as ‘item not shipped in 7 days, stuck in pre-shipment’, or ‘item not received’ and didn’t want to deal with that. So they lost out on my business…did it make a difference? Possibly. If the item remained unsold or they had to lower price even more. But that’s typically if multiple negs and a pattern. A one-off isn’t really an issue at all for most. I would post a reply on the feedback in a very calm and professional tone describing the PO mix up, buyer was refunded in full, and customer satisfaction is always a priority, something like that- probably the best way to deal with a neg like that.

I'm right there with you - there's actually a comic sitting on eBay I want so stupid bad, its an OK price and the first one I've seen in 5-6 years that I can actually afford. The seller has ~10,000 positive feedback, but also like 4-5 negatives that said it took them forever to ship or never actually did -- That book continues to sit in my watchlist (and has for like 4-5 months)

[shrevecity]

OP - from what I can read, this one may have been deserved; you will more than likely not get eBay to take it off, but maybe you can respond in such a way as to get the buyer to delete it (this actually has worked really well for me in the past; most guys don't know you can see they've left it from their profile)



I'm right there with you - there's actually a comic sitting on eBay I want so stupid bad, its an OK price and the first one I've seen in 5-6 years that I can actually afford. The seller has ~10,000 positive feedback, but also like 4-5 negatives that said it took them forever to ship or never actually did -- That book continues to sit in my watchlist (and has for like 4-5 months)

Sorry but 4 or 5 out of 10k and they are for slow shipping i would pull the trigger. Likely ebay would remove those if they push the issue as long as certain conditions are met. There are legit reasons for late shipping where eBay will not cover sellers. So that is not a big deal for me

As a buyer you are 100% covered if it's a rare item at a good price. I would pull the trigger. You have a 99.996% chance of it going good.

[nam812]

Yes as I was reading it I thought he was going say that the buyer now had the money back and the watch, but after reading it a second time I just assumed he meant that the PO shipped it back to him since they knew he was inquiring about its whereabouts. It's a stretch, but that explanation put a nice bow on the end of the story in my mind. lol

[jamcas997]

This is why in December of 2020 I started printing FC scan sheet from EBAY to give to USPS counter person to scan instead of putting FC bbl mailers in Blue Box. Yes waiting in line some days sucks, but saves a head ache. ESE are the only things that I dump in blue box anymore.

[RL 1953]

if the gas station shipped the package to the original buyer after they found it, then you sold it again, what did you ship, a box of air?

[JWBlue]

It is not the full story. Too long (of course people are going to read as me being as a scammer).

I will copy and past what I sent to the buyer.

The reason the package was active after the refund:

I issued the refund (email from eBay screenshot attached). After I issued the refund I called the Shell Station hoping it was somehow misplaced. It was the third time I called actually and was hoping someone else could find it. Sure enough a different employee found it. It was misplaced under the counter. I said I would pick it up in two days. Before I could get to the Shell Station they shipped it.

I did sell the watch without it in my possession. The 1st buyer sent it back as Return to Sender. I then forwarded it to new buyer.

I explained the scenario to the second buyer and he was ok with it. I shipped it yesterday.




I sold it for the same price as before. I showed the buyer this with the past sales function and he is still fighting me. It clearly is a battle of wills with him. He accused me of selling it for more (not true). Accused me of never shipping (not true). Said eBay issued the refund and not me (not true. I showed him the email confirming this.) He won't give up.


Bottom line. USPS lost the package and I receive negative feedback.

[JWBlue]

Oh...he also accused me of shipping the watch to him after the refund was issued. It doesn't make sense but it is just another thing to accuse me of.

The Shell Gas Station does not scan packages when accepted. The first scan is when the mail carrier picks it up.

[shrevecity]

Oh...he also accused me of shipping the watch to him after the refund was issued. It doesn't make sense but it is just another thing to accuse me of.

The Shell Gas Station does not scan packages when accepted. The first scan is when the mail carrier picks it up.

You need to find another place to drop them or it can happen over and over. If the acceptance scan is not made or is late you lose nearly all your protections.

[JWBlue]

You need to find another place to drop them or it can happen over and over. If the acceptance scan is not made or is late you lose nearly all your protections.

Learned my lesson here.

[shrevecity]

Bottom line. USPS lost the package and I receive negative feedback.

You as the seller are responsible for the item until it is delivered. Even if it had been scanned and not delivered if it never got delivered you are still responsible.

You got lucky you got the item back you made it to where he could have kept it and you would have very little to stand on.

Never refund if you have shipped until ebay forces you to do so. Otherwise you lose the possibility of getting your money back

Never relist an item like that until it's in your possession. You could have easily ended up with 2 negs and if that delay caused you to miss your handling time you got worse than a neg for it from ebay

[shrevecity]

Just a thought if the tracking shows it was refused that might be a means to get it removed.

[JWBlue]

Just a thought if the tracking shows it was refused that might be a means to get it removed.

Sure does.

[JWBlue]

Definitive evidence the package was misplaced.

Email received on June 14th that I issued refund.

First tracking is on 16th.

Why on earth would anyone issue a refund and then drop package off at PO like buyer accused me of? :cry:

[shrevecity]

Definitive evidence the package was misplaced.

Email received on June 14th that I issued refund.

First tracking is on 16th.

Why on earth would anyone issue a refund and then drop package off at PO like buyer accused me of? :cry:

It has happened. I have refunded buyers and still shipped the item. I noticed an error on it its of no value to me but they still want it, if its cheap to ship I will do it for the goodwill. 5.00 loss for shipping gets me a future repeat customer.

None of that matters to Ebay per Ebay for you to be protected item must be marked acccepted within your stated handling time. If its a day late and the item shows delievered Ebay can still force a refund.. I have had it happen to me.

The only real chance I think you have is to convince Ebay the item was refused and hope they don't look into other details.

[newcokeandtaco]

The timeline of events is still not clear.

Did the PO return item to you or did the original buyer?
Did you contact the original buyer after the item was found?
Was the found item ever offered to the original buyer (even after the refund)?
Why were you communicating with the original buyer after the item was resold to a new buyer?

Nobody has called you a scammer in this thread.

[shrevecity]

Just a bad transaction where seller made multiple errors and buyer did not get what they paid for. Thus a negative transaction for them.. neg is deserved but could be removable on a technicality