I can't warn others

George_Bray

I recently bought a hi-fi amplifer which was advertised as in good condition to look at but it needed a simple repair, like maybe a single electronic component. A 'question to seller' just reinforced this view.

I did manage to repair the item but the repairs needed were extensive and complex. It met my needs, I was on my guard and didn't pay too much.

BUT this fairly new seller is seemingly prone to exaggerating the condition of his items. I'd give him neutral feedback at best. But I can't, because he will probably give me negative feedback in return.

Better to stay silent but there is no way of warning others.

What can you do? Other good sellers would have said 'doesn't work, reason unknown, sold for repair or spares'.

angelcake

Why hasn't he left feedback for you yet? ...he knows he has done wrong and is waiting for you first! you could be really sneaky and email him asking for him to leave feedback as you have paid promptly etc....then if he does this....pounce with your neg and block him from any of your bidder lists etc.... ;D ;D

Perhaps email him and explain that he will get kicked off ebay if he "falsely" advertises or get done for fraud etc...that you are lucky to know about this sort of thing and could fix yours but others won't be so lucky....

I don't really know what I would do though!

VH

If you feel you have been duped then report him to EBay. And you should leave negative feedback if he deserves it.

The reason that so many scamsters and non-payers operate on EBay is that people are more interested in protecting their own feedback then warning others away from dodgy EBayers. If you are a responsible EBayer then you should warn others. Yes you may get negged in return but as long as you state the facts - i.e. retaliatory feedback, your ability to buy and sell will not be damaged.

I currently have a feedback rating of only 75 percent because of 1 non-payer. When I negged him to warn others (and he did deserve it) he just negged me back out of spite. I later found out that he had not paid for items before, and other sellers had done nothing. If someone would have warned me I would never had dealt with him.

Although I have a big red neg on my account, anyone with half a brain can see that it is retaliatory. If they don't have the intelligence to see this then I would rather not deal with them anyway.

George_Bray

Why hasn't he left feedback for you yet? ...he knows he has done wrong and is waiting for you first!

I think you're right. I payed by Paypal within seconds. I asked if he could leave feedback when I collected the item in person and said I hope to leave good feedback too, which I normally do. Feedback is made useless when this sort of thing happens. It's strange. Am I pleased with the item? Yes. Do I want my money back? No. But his description was so far from the truth that I know other people will be fooled on other items.

There should be a website where one can leave honest feedback on eBay sales like this for other people to check against. Like a black list. I know it would be hard to control and guard against legal action.

As for leaving true feedback anyway, what thanks will I get in return for the expected negative response? I did it once. Never again.

George_Bray

If you feel you have been duped then report him to EBay. And you should leave negative feedback if he deserves it....If you are a responsible EBayer then you should warn others.

I know you are right but have to admit I'm too selfish to want to blacken my near-perfect feedback record. My only other neutrals were retaliatory from a single seller.

Because this is 'soft' crime I don't think eBay would do a thing. It's his word against mine. He'd say I did more work than needed (absolutely not true) and all that was needed was a single resistor, fuse, capacitor or suchlike, as he claimed. In fact there was loads wrong with the amplifier in multiple regards.

I've had only one or two other dodgy purchases and dozens of successful ones. Another woman sent me an item that was only slightly fragile. The packing was OK, but when it arrived it was broken. So I claimed from the Royal Mail, leaving the situation that she had my £75, I kept the broken item and got my £75 back as well, direct from the Royal Mail. Subsequent work on the item has convinced me that the damage was deliberately engineered ahead of posting. Let's pretend it was a washing machine. If the control knob was smashed in transit (or ahead of posting) it means you can't try out the washing machine. So you probably will not discover that the motor was burnt out long ago. The item was described as excellent condition in full working order. The damage was not commensurate with a knock or drop. The packaging was not dented or anything.

bleugh

neg him, then file for his neg to be removed

everyone will see his neg is retaliating, and you can comment on your feedback also to give a better idea of what went wrong!

what was the item number?, i'm a powerseller on ebay and will ask those in the forums for advice

George_Bray

Bleugh

Thank you for your offer but I don't want to reveal the item on this occasion. It's not like it's a serious scam, just frustration over the inadequacy of feedback.

Do you think eBay would really remove negative feedback? I assumed they would very seldom get involved unless a Court order is received.

Regards
George

Rex_Mundi

The feedback system on Ebay really can be a pointer to the type of person you are dealing with. That is untill there is a problem. If you are honest and give bad feedback, there is too much chance of receiving bad feedback from retaliation even if you have done nothing wrong. I really feel that this throws the feedback system out of kilter. Can you really be sure that a 100% positive is deserved, or are people giving undeserved positives through fear of receiving a neg on their own record?

I've just had a non paying buyer. I sent 7 emails with no reply. I reported him as a non paying bidder to Ebay, waited a week, then claimed my credit. We have a 100% feedback score, I was a bit disappointed about the system. I really felt it was my duty to leave him bad feedback, fully expecting him to come back and ruin our good record. I left the feedback......his name is megacapper (be careful if he bids on your auction).................Well you could of knocked me down with a feather when I saw his response. He gave us a positive with the comment 'patient, flexible'

It really is about time Ebay did something about this situation. Although it ended up OK for us, it must happen time after time that the 'proper' feedback is not left, leaving the feedback system wide open to abuse.

George_Bray

...If you are honest and give bad feedback, there is too much chance of receiving bad feedback from retaliation even if you have done nothing wrong. I really feel that this throws the feedback system out of kilter. Can you really be sure that a 100% positive is deserved, or are people giving undeserved positives through fear of receiving a neg on their own record?....It really is about time Ebay did something about this situation. Although it ended up OK for us, it must happen time after time that the 'proper' feedback is not left, leaving the feedback system wide open to abuse.

I agree entirely. It suits eBay to leave it like this because it makes everyone look good. M&S don't have a public notice board at the entrance to every store giving details of all the people they have convicted for shoplifting. Bad news is kept out of the squeaky clean shopping environment.

For nearly everyone to have 100% superb feedback with glowing comments is a bit like everyone in a school getting A+ for every test and exam, before nearly 100% of them go on to graduate with first class honours. Or every member of staff getting the very top grade at the time of annual appraisals. No, you get a reasonable distribution. On eBay this would probably mean lots of neutrals for perfectly adequate but hardly exceptional service.

angelcake

neg him, then file for his neg to be removed

everyone will see his neg is retaliating, and you can comment on your feedback also to give a better idea of what went wrong!

what was the item number?, i'm a powerseller on ebay and will ask those in the forums for advice

You can't remove a neg without the other persons consent!! To ebay its just a "domestic" Set your reminder to 89 days after the auction when they can't apperently leave a neg after this time then sting him! lol

royalsteve

I recently bought a hi-fi amplifer which was advertised as in good condition to look at but it needed a simple repair, like maybe a single electronic component. A 'question to seller' just reinforced this view.

I did manage to repair the item but the repairs needed were extensive and complex. It met my needs, I was on my guard and didn't pay too much.

BUT this fairly new seller is seemingly prone to exaggerating the condition of his items. I'd give him neutral feedback at best. But I can't, because he will probably give me negative feedback in return.

Better to stay silent but there is no way of warning others.

What can you do? Other good sellers would have said 'doesn't work, reason unknown, sold for repair or spares'.

you can neg...i do....but just stick the facts and these cant disputed and he would look a fool if he did....

i have been on ebay a long time and i dont just go by peoples feedback rating....i check to see what theyve been selling....one person had a feedback rating of 100% and 139, but had only sold links to websites, so id dint bid on his stereo....another guy had a 90% rating and 9 of 10 were posutive the other was a neg from a neg rated pillock....i bid on his item and won it and alot cheaper than everyone elses.