Feedback is a Joke

[polybear]

I've just had a non-payer on a non-railway related item; the item was clearly collect only and really impractical to post.  Despite this, the winning bidder (located 85 miles away for a 25 quid item) still thought it a good idea to bid.  Alarm Bells started ringing as soon as I saw her address; however, she still promised to make payment four days after the auction ended "once she'd got paid".  Dream on.

 

After checking her feedback I thought it strange that a couple of sellers had left a Positive Feedback rating, yet with negative comments (yep - failed to pay, what a surprise....).

 

So I've just been thru' the "Report non-payer malarkey";  I then went to leave negative feedback.  Guess what?  You only have the option of leaving positive feedback or going thru' the "report bidder" route (just done that).  So even though this silly cow fails to pay up she still has 100% feedback.  Am I missing something here, or is the system complete and utter B*****ks?

 

I ended up giving a positive rating, but with a polite but honest comment (in Capitals) that it was definitely negative feedback cos' she fails to pay up as a habit. 

 

It seems that Ebay are completely un-interested - the last thing they want to do is put people off bidding or suspending accounts cos' it'll affect profits. T*ssers.

 

Rant over.

[rdr]

I completely agree with your rant, some bidders assume that you will change your mind after the sale is done.

Ebay are in the business of providing a sales platform and want that to be as effective a money earning platform as they can attain, so anything that upsets this will be filtered out. They will side with power sellers over the occasional buyer every time there's a dispute, even going to the depths of changing policies mid way through a dispute. 

[choo1choo]

On the subject of feedback it really annoys me that I always give buyers/sellers feedback but so often ,even after a gentle reminder, people  just can't be ars*d to bother. End of my rant.

[njee20]

Why didn’t you see out the process of reporting the bidder and then leave a negative once the required time has elapsed?

[Spitfire2865]

Why didn’t you see out the process of reporting the bidder and then leave a negative once the required time has elapsed?

My understanding is Ebay have done away entirely with "negative scores".  

[polybear]

Why didn’t you see out the process of reporting the bidder and then leave a negative once the required time has elapsed?

 

That's exactly what I did, but......

 

My understanding is Ebay have done away entirely with "negative scores".  

 

Yep - no option for negative feedback anymore in certain circumstances such as this.  It seems that it's only possible to leave negative feedback on purchases/sales that have gone thru' to conclusion, and not been cancelled or refunded.  Hence purchasers that fail to pay, or sellers that fail to deliver still appear with perfect feedback.

[andyman7]

The system changed many years ago now - part of the problem in the early days is that if you left a buyer a negative, they would just leave you as the seller a negative too. Much as it is frustrating, I wouldn't leave a negative comment against a positive rating - a zero feedback on a buyer is much more of an alert than 2 or three apparent positives that aren't.

 

By way of an anecdote several years back I saw an (extremely rare) record that I wanted listed by a seller with a minus 7 feedback. It turned out that the guy selling it was using a friend's account and had no idea just how offputting the rating was. Long story short was that I paid him a visit and we did a deal for cash, we were both very happy with the outcome.

Edited June 19, 2018 by andyman7

[Quarryscapes]

By leaving feedback you are part of the problem, Very few people read comments it's all about the numbers. You cannot leave negative feedback for buyers, it's as simple as that, you have to report them, which also gets you a credit for your fees so you are not out of pocket.

 

It was a move designed to foster buyer confidence which seems to have worked as eBay grew very rapidly to being the biggest online retailer, although now overtaken by Amazon. 

 

As a seller I don't like it, but I either lump it ad sell on eBay or go elsewhere and sell nowhere near the volume I do. 

[eastworld]

Feedback has always had a low value on Ebay simply because it can be bought/manufactured. Take everything with a pinch of salt.

 

Stu

[John M Upton]

Indeed.  There are certain charlatan dealers who buy dormant accounts with good feedback records and sell them on to the less scrupulous sectors of society's associated pond life.

[Il Grifone]

omis

 

  Am I missing something here, or is the system complete and utter B*****ks?

 

omis

 

 

Yes, it is!

 

It's heavily loaded against sellers, so much so that that I no longer sell anything on it.