Leaving negative feedback without contacting seller

ilikewatch

When you leave negative feedback for a seller you receive the following message:

"Before you leave this Feedback, please contact your seller to see if anything else can be done to make your experience positive."

Do people think that it is acceptable to leave negative feedback without contacting the seller if you don't consider that they can do anything to make the experience positive? Would eBay consider removing the feedback if the seller contacted them and stated that they hadn't been contacted and given the opportunity to put things right?

highjewelgreen

I have just started a very similar post to this one:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4825700

Drives me mad :-)

Avoriaz

Why do you think a negative is deserved?

Why do you not contact the seller to express your dissatisfaction?

I have only ever left two negatives and on both occasions I tried to resolve the problem with the seller before completing feedback.

theonlywayisup

OP I wouldn't contact them and "state[d] they hadn't been contacted.." that's a bit of a telling off and if you sent that to me I wouldn't be changing anything anytime soon.

Perhaps drop them a message with profuse apologies and asking what you can do to remedy.

campdave

The same message isn't displayed on mobile devices, which is where I reckon most problem feedback come from as that's where I get buyers not looking at the description or buying several items in separate transactions.

A survey posted on the powerseller forum was ebay sounding out the idea of non-positive feedback being ringfenced for a period to give the buyer and seller a chance to resolve the situation, which seems sensible.

I've had a buyer leave neutral feedback for INR, which seems daft as they lost money and I got duff feedback, so we both lost out. Despite two messages, they never replied so the situation was never resolved - this was from a buyer with 400+ feedback, so not a newbie either.

highjewelgreen

Tweaker wrote: »

Personally I think that ebay should remove any negative left for a seller if the buyer has made no attempt to resolve the problem first.

Me too. I completely agree.

ilikewatch

Avoriaz wrote: »

Why do you think a negative is deserved?

Why do you not contact the seller to express your dissatisfaction?

I have only ever left two negatives and on both occasions I tried to resolve the problem with the seller before completing feedback.

I'll give an example of type of transaction I'm referring to:

It is Monday, I want to buy a specific design of 60th birthday card, and several are listed on eBay as BINs, however I need the card by Saturday and only 1 seller (the most expensive) promises same day shipping and offers 1st class postage. I order the card and receive a notification a few hours later that it has been dispatched.

The card doesn't arrive until the following Monday - the post label shows that it was actually been posted 2nd class on the Friday.

At this point I feel the transaction deserves negative feedback because:

• I lost a bargain (other sellers were cheaper)
• The seller mis-described their shipping time.
• The seller mis-described their postage method.
• I have had to spend further money and time driving to town to buy a replacement card which cost considerably more money in a "bricks and mortar" store.
• The card which was delivered late is now useless to me - I don't know anyone else who will turn 60 for a long time.

Now in this situation, why should I contact the seller before leaving negative feedback? The only way they could make the situation better would be to adequately compensate me for my loss of bargain, wasted time, fuel costs etc.- they're never going to do that, and even if they did, I feel that deliberately misleading me about postage type and shipping time easily deserves the negative feedback.


I would of course also raise a case to try and reclaim my wasted money, but I can't see that any response would change my mind about leaving negative feedback.

ilikewatch

Tweaker wrote: »

Personally I think that ebay should remove any negative left for a seller if the buyer has made no attempt to resolve the problem first.

But if the buyer doesn't consider that it is possible to resolve the problem, why should they waste their time communicating with the seller?

An example would be when I know that a seller has deliberately and knowingly mis-described an item. Under these circumstances how could the seller convince me that a neg wasn't justified? I would expect a full refund as a matter of course, but no amount of "customer service" will turn this transaction into a positive one.

campdave

ilikewatch wrote: »

But if the buyer doesn't consider that it is possible to resolve the problem, why should they waste their time communicating with the seller?

An example would be when I know that a seller has deliberately and knowingly mis-described an item. Under these circumstances how could the seller convince me that a neg wasn't justified? I would expect a full refund as a matter of course, but no amount of "customer service" will turn this transaction into a positive one.

There is a spectrum of negative feedback - some could be avoided if the buyer contacted the seller before leaving negative. There will always be a portion that cannot.

likelyfran

ilikewatch wrote: »

When you leave negative feedback for a seller you receive the following message:

"Before you leave this Feedback, please contact your seller to see if anything else can be done to make your experience positive."

Do people think that it is acceptable to leave negative feedback without contacting the seller if you don't consider that they can do anything to make the experience positive? Would eBay consider removing the feedback if the seller contacted them and stated that they hadn't been contacted and given the opportunity to put things right?

I actually do think it's ok to leave a neg without contacting the seller.

As an occasional clearout seller, someone could 'do that to me' and I would then commence communications to see what could be done etc., but as a buyer, I think it's the buyer's right to leave f/back however they want to (within the bounds of decency etc.).

For instance, if someone sends me out an item of clothing that is stinking and visibly dirty, I think they darn well deserve a neg. and I shouldn't have to jump through hoops about it! Then I'll just boil wash it in the machine.
And if it's just binnable, I'll contact seller first and start talking about refunds or whatever. As for me sending it back? Don't think buyer should have to go thru that hassle, for no fault of their own, and seller shouldn't expect them to when they themself are in the wrong - that's my opinion anyway! (And how I operate as a seller, or would do if it was my fault, not theirs).

As an honest person and honest buyer, you notice the different types of responses from sellers (and vice versa) - the times something's been wrong with something I've bought I've either had as a response:

1) the 'ya, very sorry and all that, please send it back for a refund [no mention of who pays for rtn postage]' type response - very casual-sounding. Annoys me as they have sent me the wrong thing or something faulty, and expect ME to do this that and the other now. And don't even bother to communicate fully about the process.

2) the 'so sorry about that, just keep it and I'll send you the right one out'.
Sellers like that accept losing the very occasional fiver, and know about good customer service..