Defect but positive feedback

charlies_mum

Been given a 3* for item as described, despite the item being scanned so the buyer could see exactly what they were buying

Buyer has left positive feedback with the comment "very happy". Thought getting this one removed would be easy, but no. Apparently I need to "reach out" to my buyer to see what the problem is.

I said I thought some buyers thought a 3* was fine, and don't realise the damage it does. The CS reps reply was that it may have been like that once, but fabulous sellers like me have been proactive with their buyers to explain the problem !

Shouldn't EBay be the ones educating the buyers ?

JoW123

I feel your pain. I got a 3* defect last week because the buyer thought the item was a variation of the colour I had put e.g. mauve instead of lilac. I had listed it as the colour that was actually stated on the internal label! Because I was already having a bad week I decided to e-mail them and ask why. I got a long and apologetic response...buyer assumed 3 stars was positive and gave me that because she didn't agree with the colour description and had no idea of the defect system etc. Maybe was all need to send printed forms with our goods stating 'anything less than 4* will give me a defect, please contact me if you are unhappy'......


She then went on into a long description of all the reasons she thought Ebay was ridiculous and has thus stopped selling herself.....!!

charlies_mum

You're not allowed to mention defects as this apparently may put pressure on the buyer to give high stars

My buyer has said she didn't mean to leave a 3*, but as my message mentioned that I now had a defect because of it, EBay say she may feel under pressure to say that.

I give up, I won't even bother phoning EBay about defects any more

soolin

charlies_mum wrote: »

You're not allowed to mention defects as this apparently may put pressure on the buyer to give high stars

My buyer has said she didn't mean to leave a 3*, but as my message mentioned that I now had a defect because of it, EBay say she may feel under pressure to say that.

I give up, I won't even bother phoning EBay about defects any more

I was told that we can question our buyers specifically about why they left a defect star- and in fact I now make a point of emailing them to explain that the star they left has given me a defect, and was there anything I could have done to make the transaction better for them.

charlies_mum

soolin wrote: »

I was told that we can question our buyers specifically about why they left a defect star- and in fact I now make a point of emailing them to explain that the star they left has given me a defect, and was there anything I could have done to make the transaction better for them.

I got a slap on the wrist from EBay for explaining to the buyer that she had given me a defect which could affect my seller status

The CS rep actually asked how I had found our who left the defect and I had to explain it was in the DSR report. She also queried why I had contacted the buyer as it us all supposed to be anonymous !!

Like I said, I give up. In ebays eyes the buyer is always right even when they're wrong.

soolin

charlies_mum wrote: »

I got a slap on the wrist from EBay for explaining to the buyer that she had given me a defect which could affect my seller status

The CS rep actually asked how I had found our who left the defect and I had to explain it was in the DSR report. She also queried why I had contacted the buyer as it us all supposed to be anonymous !!

Like I said, I give up. In ebays eyes the buyer is always right even when they're wrong.

I got into trouble about 18 months for contacting a buyer about a defect, but since then have clarified that now stars are visible and not anonymous we can ask. I fully suspect though that with my policy of contacting buyers about low stars that I will get a warning at some point- that's the trouble with ebay, you can be told categorically in writing that something is possible and then get restricted for it later.

Frankly I never expect the buyer to do anything, but it is surprising how many are shocked to know that stars are not anonymous. About 4 months ago I had someone accuse me of hacking their account as I asked them why they left a 1 * for item description and dispatch when they had specifically stated in their feedback that delivery was fast and item perfect. Nothing ever came of that. Then more recently I asked someone about a series of 1* and they apologised and said it was an error and contacted ebay, as did I but ebay refused to do anything at all despite me phoning several times. Then suddenly one day a few days later, that feedback just disappeared and the defect was removed!

JoW123

I don't know how Ebay expect us to sort this out. They don't inform buyers that low stars and feedback cause a defect, and yet supposedly we aren't supposed to contact them to inform them either?! My buyer was completely unaware and actually thanked me for letting her know as she buys a lot on Ebay and will bear it in mind in future before leaving stars. It's ridiculous!!

soolin

JoW123 wrote: »

I don't know how Ebay expect us to sort this out. They don't inform buyers that low stars and feedback cause a defect, and yet supposedly we aren't supposed to contact them to inform them either?! My buyer was completely unaware and actually thanked me for letting her know as she buys a lot on Ebay and will bear it in mind in future before leaving stars. It's ridiculous!!

Actually buyers do know- they just pretend they don't when I contact them. I have just left 3* for item description for a seller who was rude and unhelpful when I reported an issue to her. You get a warning on the screen before you confirm that this indicates an issue with the transaction and asks whether you have contacted seller and if so whether you want ebay to intervene- and gives a link to the resolution centre. No one could assume that means they are leaving 'positive' stars. That's why I contact these buyers, not because I believe they will do anything, but I want them to realise that we sellers know when they leave us a defect so this sneaking around maliciously trying to take down seller accounts is seen by us.

JoW123

soolin wrote: »

Actually buyers do know- they just pretend they don't when I contact them. I have just left 3* for item description for a seller who was rude and unhelpful when I reported an issue to her. You get a warning on the screen before you confirm that this indicates an issue with the transaction and asks whether you have contacted seller and if so whether you want ebay to intervene- and gives a link to the resolution centre. No one could assume that means they are leaving 'positive' stars. That's why I contact these buyers, not because I believe they will do anything, but I want them to realise that we sellers know when they leave us a defect so this sneaking around maliciously trying to take down seller accounts is seen by us.

Blimey, thanks for this. I had no idea that was the case because I have never left poor stars for anyone. I just assumed by the buyers response that they weren't warned. I'm far too trusting...!

theonlywayisup

charlies_mum wrote: »

I got a slap on the wrist from EBay for explaining to the buyer that she had given me a defect which could affect my seller status

The CS rep actually asked how I had found our who left the defect and I had to explain it was in the DSR report. She also queried why I had contacted the buyer as it us all supposed to be anonymous !!

Like I said, I give up. In ebays eyes the buyer is always right even when they're wrong.

The rules about discussing what stars the buyer left was removed when the defect system came in.

It stopped being anonymous at the same time.

charlies_mum

theonlywayisup wrote: »

The rules about discussing what stars the buyer left was removed when the defect system came in.

It stopped being anonymous at the same time.

We all know that, shame some of Ebays CS reps don't