Getting an unfair negative feedback removed?

[tulagirl]

Yea I had no idea they were compressing the descriptions tab.  I  still refuse to use my phone to handle business because of Identity Theft.  So, I use my computer at home.  I think they did this to make navigating the ebay app easier, but I know I am not the only one that missed it.  Now I just see a bunch of ebay auction items and a bazillion photos of other things on the auction page.  It is very distracting, but I am getting use to it.

[Lancer]

I can say this.  I read things in every auction. I comb over what the seller says, but recently I didn't realize that ebay collapsed their auction's description tab.  I didn't realize I would have to click on it in order to see it.  I actually did not notice this change and bought something from a nice seller. I figured there was no description so I just studied the photos.  I thought they looked fine.  When I got it there were some problems with it. I contacted the seller and she stated she mentioned the flaws.  I went back through the auction with my stronger glasses on and realized there was a tab I never saw before and that was where her Description was.  I apologized to her and explained that I didn't not know this was going on and it would take me some time to get use to the change, but I was not concerned at all about the flaws and not to worry.

This was not laziness on my part, I have problems seeing and ebay has so many ads and junk on pages not it is very overwhelming and distracting for me.   I am not saying that is what this buyer did at all...it was just something I thought about.

I think some of us as buyers make mistakes like this that normally we would not make.  I am an older person, not a senior citizen, but just older.  My eye sight is really bad now and I can see how I accidentally missed this. 

I wanted to mention is because its so easy to get upset with buyers when they do seemingly ridiculous things like leaving feedback before contacting sellers and missing descriptions tabs.  Sometimes it is just an accident and sometimes it isn't.  Not all buyers mean to cause so much upset, and I do think many on ebay don't know ebay feedback etiquette either which doesn't help.

Glad it worked out for you.  I am not taking any sides just talking about something recently I did that was kind of embarrassing for me actually.  I have also been the seller with the odd buyer too.

I've not experienced this problem so I admit it's not something I had considered.  The difference is you did the right thing by contacting the seller instead of chucking a negative feedback at them without speaking to them first.  Even after I politely contacted this buyer to point out her error, she never replied to me.   I also think something as obvious as a missing tail can be seen in a photograph (well, definitely in this particular case).  I'd give her the benefit of the doubt but I'm disappointed that she never even replied to my message.

Maybe I'm wrong to make assumptions about people.  I suppose I'm always haunted by the first ever negative feedback I received (although now it's so many years in the past, it makes for a funny story to tell at parties!) where I sold two dinosaur toys.  With the 80 character title limit, I managed to get the manufacturer of one in the title but not the other so it said something like "2x Vintage 1980s Toy Dinosaurs - Stegosaurus, Natural History Museum Iguanadon".  Looking at that title now, I suppose it could be misleading.  Basically the Stegosaurus (or whatever it was) was made by Carnegie, and the the Iguanadon was made by Natural History Museum.  I thought the comma made that clear - I was quite new to eBay and wasn't prepared for all the aggro.  In the description, I wrote very clearly what each dinosaur was and who it was made by.  There was also a clear photo of the pair of them so any collector should have known what they were buying.

Guy in the USA buys them (meaning shipping was too much for him to return the items for a refund), receives them and slaps a negative on me because they're not BOTH Natural History Museum.  I messaged him and pointed out that the description clearly stated what they were, and there was a photo.  He says it doesn't matter, my title made it "quite clear what he was getting" and he "didn't feel the need to read the description"!  I've never forgotten that guy, and maybe I jump to conclusions about other buyers because of him.  I wish I'd contacted eBay and tried to get that negative removed now, but I wasn't as experienced in those days so I just accepted it.  Oh well, as I say, it's a fun story when I tell people about my adventures selling on eBay!

[tulagirl]

Yes those kind of experiences do really affect a seller.  I have been through that too and other things.  I think being cautious is much better than being vulnerable as a seller.  Anything is possible.  So, I think it's fine for you to make assumptions and be concerned or see warning signs that suggest something might be up.  It is good to be open to the idea it may not be the case.  You are 100% right though in the fact that your buyer should have contacted you before leaving feedback and, they should have communicated.  Whether this was a lack of etiquette,  immaturity, a way to get something for nothing or plain rudeness; it is a difficult thing to deal with.  The fact that ebay has set things up where buyers can act like the one your described is very frustrating. I will validate the fact that when these really difficult buyers come a long and do these things, it makes a seller more nervous in the future.  It is hard to shake those really bad experiences.  I still remember one in particular that happened to me that really was quite awful.  It is so nice that some buyers and sellers never have problems with ebay buyers and sellers.  It is quite a different story when you have a list of issues you have had that have made selling or even buying a little daunting at times.  You did nothing wrong at all Lancer.  PS I love your siggy by the way!!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

if she refuses to answer you, that is a red flag to avoid dealing with her in the future!  You may want to warn others   I was hoping it would resolve itself but I am glad Ebay saw the unreasonable nature of her feedback.

[Taffeta]

Yea I had no idea they were compressing the descriptions tab.  I  still refuse to use my phone to handle business because of Identity Theft.  So, I use my computer at home.  I think they did this to make navigating the ebay app easier, but I know I am not the only one that missed it.  Now I just see a bunch of ebay auction items and a bazillion photos of other things on the auction page.  It is very distracting, but I am getting use to it.

The difference with your situation was that you contacted the seller and didn't just slap on a negative .

The only way I find to get the live chat is to go along the route of the closing account option, when the live chat window appears. But I have taken them to task a couple of times about it being discriminatory for people unable to use the phone. I did get a written apology about the inconvenience but it's still set up this way. In any case, the live chat is there, if you are willing to dig it up. That's on UK Ebay, anyway. Just a heads up since this case related to UK Ebay

Lancer, I totally relate. I hate the telephone and so much is so based around 'call me'. In my PIP assessment the assessor even told me to call the DWP if I had questions even though in my assessment I'd made it clear the problems I have with using the phone. Ebay really ought to make it more accessible, since sending an email means waiting for a response and dragging out the agony.

[bluerose9978]

Lancer, your story reminds me of a seller I had. They were selling a lot of ponies and in the title it stated "free shipping." But they also had their calculator on. So I figured maybe they had accidentally copied over a template and when they sent me an invoice they would send it with free shipping if I won. After all, it said free shipping in the title. I won and asked, but the seller refused to honor the free shipping. I still bought the lot, but I didn't give them positive feedback. I think I gave them a neutral.

But I find a lot of people use the app over their computer. Unfortunately, eBay doesn't make it as user-friendly as it should be. I think pictures are important, but eBay shouldn't hide the details and descriptions because they are just as important. I have found as a seller I can't do nearly as much as I would like to do on my app and it's annoying, so I do most of my eBay stuff on my PC.

[NightGliderSA]

If I were the buyer and the pony arrived without a tail and with lipstick that I had not been expecting I would have first gone back to check the listing description to see if I had missed anything. Which this person very clearly did. I am so sorry that they left the incorrect feedback and I hope that it gets resolved properly!

Post Merge: April 02, 2018, 07:49:56 AM

Just re-read my post - what I meant to say was that this person clearly MISSED your description and didn't bother going back to check what you had written.