Grrrr... ebay feedback rant....

About 2 weeks ago I bought a rather large item off ebay. I'd guess the box was about 30 inches long. I just received it. Because the seller offered "free shipping" I was not allowed by ebay to comment about the shipping speed or quality, so I gave her positive feedback and said it was a "good transaction" and also commented in the box that the shipping was a bit slow but understandible with a larger item. I think you only get 50 characters or so to say something. I thought I was being honest and fair but I got a nasty note from the seller about my feedback for her.

She didn't leave me any one way or the other...

I GAVE HER A POSITIVE SCORE!

I really dislike ebay!!! I still get things on ocassion from there but I have been burned several times when buying some antiques

Originally Posted by Lyrajean

About 2 weeks ago I bought a rather large item off ebay. I'd guess the box was about 30 inches long. I just received it. Because the seller offered "free shipping" I was not allowed by ebay to comment about the shipping speed or quality, so I gave her positive feedback and said it was a "good transaction" and also commented in the box that the shipping was a bit slow but understandible with a larger item. I think you only get 50 characters or so to say something. I thought I was being honest and fair but I got a nasty note from the seller about my feedback for her.

She didn't leave me any one way or the other...

I GAVE HER A POSITIVE SCORE!

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Huh? I don't understand. I use eBay a LOT. What you must mean is the shipping area of the 5-star feedback. As you received free shipping, you can't click on a star; but you certainly can give neutral or negative feeback on the written feedback area (and mark the rest of the stars down, if appropriate). I believe you have 85 characters in the written area.

As of a couple of years ago, SELLERS can't leave negative nor neutral feedback for BUYERS. Buyers can still do so; in fact, I have several times.

That is what I hate about Ebay. Sellers hold feedback over your head. As a buyer I expect positive feedback since I pay immediately for my purchases. The sellers won't give feedback until you leave a positive for them. I get emails all the time from sellers saying they will leave positive feedback if I do the same first. Sorry, but that is not how it works.

Originally Posted by zohdee

That is what I hate about Ebay. Sellers hold feedback over your head. As a buyer I expect positive feedback since I pay immediately for my purchases. The sellers won't give feedback until you leave a positive for them. I get emails all the time from sellers saying they will leave positive feedback if I do the same first. Sorry, but that is not how it works.

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This does happen, which is wrong (if spite is the motivation for the seller's witholding feedback). However, I know some sellers who do this, not for childish reasons, but because they wait for your input before considering a transaction "final" (in other words, you're happy; there have been no problems with the item, shipping, etc. that can be worked out with the seller). On the other hand, some sellers state they, once you complete checkout, have a system that automatically leaves you (positive) feedback--which doesn't make sense to me, even as a buyer. Problems do arise on both ends; and I don't consider the transaction truly completed untill I receive the item, and I'm satisfied with both it and the service.

I have sold and bought off of Ebay and have never had a problem. I will always leave positive feedback if I am happy, which normally I am. I have only had many 2 issues with what I bought. One was a router that did not work, but since it was the same brand as the one I had, I just used the electrical cord to replace the one that Rusty chewed through . The other was a pair of those converter boxes for TVs. One of them did not work but the other did, sorta.

When I have sold items, I wait for the feedback to be sure that they got the item. I know they did because I use tracking, but a couple of times, they never gave any feedback. This was for some rings I sold.

A few years ago, I sold an old Xbox (it was about a year old) for more than it was worth! There had been a bidding war on it. LOL

All the above are reasons why I dont use Ebay for anything I probably could find better deals but Ive had one issues in the 3 yrs Ive been using another site and it was something dumb. I bought a phone case that had one picture on it and didnt realize it was the same seller I bought the one I didnt like...well sure enough I got the same case I didnt like which was a completely different case from the one pictures. It was .79 free shipping...not even worth the hassle of writing feedback. Now I just have that seller info saved to NEVER buy from again.

My friend was just gripping about Ebay. She sold a few things on there for some extra cash but they (EBAY) won't release her money to her paypal acct. till she has 2 positive ratings. She sent everything immediately, etc....but one person just hasn't given feedback. Money is tight for her family; she NEEDS her money....she has even e-mailed the person she sold to and no reply. What is she supposed to do? You can't make someone leave feedback!

I don't leave feedback until I receive the item, or after they've left a comment about my payment, so I never have this problem.

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

My friend was just gripping about Ebay. She sold a few things on there for some extra cash but they (EBAY) won't release her money to her paypal acct. till she has 2 positive ratings. She sent everything immediately, etc....but one person just hasn't given feedback. Money is tight for her family; she NEEDS her money....she has even e-mailed the person she sold to and no reply. What is she supposed to do? You can't make someone leave feedback!

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I haven't sold anything on eBay since Paypal, but DH has, and this seems to be their very silly policy. I think it's unfair. I suppose PayPal holds it so they can reimburse the buyer, should there be trouble from the seller (?). I'm not sure how the reimbursing works, even though PayPal has done this many times for me (as a buyer) recently.

Originally Posted by MargeCat

I haven't sold anything on eBay since Paypal, but DH has, and this seems to be their very silly policy. I think it's unfair. I suppose PayPal holds it so they can reimburse the buyer, should there be trouble from the seller (?). I'm not sure how the reimbursing works, even though PayPal has done this many times for me (as a buyer) recently.

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Yep and it does make sense. But it's been over a month now and they still haven't left any feedback. It's been a while anyway....

Can she contant Ebay about the fact that she has tried to connect with the buyer about leaving feedback and they havent left any or responded to her emails? If I were in her shoes Id be flipping a lid on them about that situation. Its not like its her fault.

She was on old with paypal waiting for a supervisor because the regular CS associate wasn't able to do anything he said; when her phone cut her off. At least we think it was her phone because I also got cut off trying to talk to her. She was having one of those "ya just can't win!" type of days it seems. I haven't heard if she got her money yet. I hope so.