eBay Feedback - Seller Wants It Changed
March 6, 2015 1:49 PM Subscribe
About a month ago I bought a dress on eBay UK. I wasn't happy with the actual item, so I left neutral feedback - now the Seller has contacted me offering me a gift if I witdraw the feedback. Isn't this bribery? How do I proceed?
I bought a dress thinking it'd be a cute vintage-looking 50s 'tea dress', but the actual dress was made out of what looked like cheesecloth with a crude, garish print - a world away from how it had looked in the photos. The fit wasn't great either. I left a neutral review - while it won't do as the wedding party outfit I had planned, I'll wear it as a (very) casual summer dress.
Now the Seller has contacted me offering a gift in exchange for me withdrawing my feedback. Isn't this bribery? I have failed to find anything useful in the eBay helping guides and most google hits I get are Sellers discussing how they are being scammed by Buyers. I am not trying to scam anybody - just wanted warn other buyers against buying this product. I don't want a random gift. So, what do I do?
I bought a dress thinking it'd be a cute vintage-looking 50s 'tea dress', but the actual dress was made out of what looked like cheesecloth with a crude, garish print - a world away from how it had looked in the photos. The fit wasn't great either. I left a neutral review - while it won't do as the wedding party outfit I had planned, I'll wear it as a (very) casual summer dress.
Now the Seller has contacted me offering a gift in exchange for me withdrawing my feedback. Isn't this bribery? I have failed to find anything useful in the eBay helping guides and most google hits I get are Sellers discussing how they are being scammed by Buyers. I am not trying to scam anybody - just wanted warn other buyers against buying this product. I don't want a random gift. So, what do I do?
Leave the feedback as is --- you were honest, you left it to let other potential purchasers know what the item really is, and finally: yeah, that's an attempt at a bribe all right.
posted by easily confused at 1:56 PM on March 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by easily confused at 1:56 PM on March 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: This is 100% against the TOS. Sellers are not allowed to pressure buyers into giving positive feedback. Ignore, or report if so inclined.
posted by Hermione Granger at 1:59 PM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Hermione Granger at 1:59 PM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
eBay's repercussions for negative or even neutral feedback can end up being pretty severe for small-time sellers. Just one blip can be a major problem. I say this as a small time seller.
If you don't feel like the item's description was in good faith, you should have gotten eBay involved if the seller wasn't responsive to a return. If it was in good faith, you should have tried to return it. If the seller had a "no returns" policy, you could either have tried anyway or let it go as a poor purchase.
You don't say whether you thought the listing was dishonest, and either way it sounds like you never gave the seller a chance to make it right. I don't know eBay's policy on them asking you this, but it sounds to me like your feedback was unwarranted in the first place.
But, yes. It's a bribe.
posted by cmoj at 1:59 PM on March 6, 2015 [10 favorites]
If you don't feel like the item's description was in good faith, you should have gotten eBay involved if the seller wasn't responsive to a return. If it was in good faith, you should have tried to return it. If the seller had a "no returns" policy, you could either have tried anyway or let it go as a poor purchase.
You don't say whether you thought the listing was dishonest, and either way it sounds like you never gave the seller a chance to make it right. I don't know eBay's policy on them asking you this, but it sounds to me like your feedback was unwarranted in the first place.
But, yes. It's a bribe.
posted by cmoj at 1:59 PM on March 6, 2015 [10 favorites]
"I appreciate you wanting to take the effort to make right what you got wrong, but no I will not be removing an honest appraisal of your selling practices. Take care."
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:17 PM on March 6, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:17 PM on March 6, 2015
I am not trying to scam anybody - just wanted warn other buyers against buying this product.
Is the seller offering multiples of this dress? Because EBay feedback is more about the seller than the product, so negative feedback is most helpful when you feel the seller has done something like intentionally deceived you or taken forever to ship. As cmoj noted, a little bit of bad feedback can be very damaging to small-scale sellers, not least because eBay bases feedback percentages on only the last 12 months of activity, so someone who sells relatively few items can have their feedback rating crashed by one non-positive entry, and that will cost them on every sale for a whole year. That's not to say that your seller is following the rules, but I can understand why they'd be upset about an incident like this. I have 15 years of perfect feedback, but I still get anxious about the possibility of one neutral or negative.
posted by jon1270 at 2:21 PM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is the seller offering multiples of this dress? Because EBay feedback is more about the seller than the product, so negative feedback is most helpful when you feel the seller has done something like intentionally deceived you or taken forever to ship. As cmoj noted, a little bit of bad feedback can be very damaging to small-scale sellers, not least because eBay bases feedback percentages on only the last 12 months of activity, so someone who sells relatively few items can have their feedback rating crashed by one non-positive entry, and that will cost them on every sale for a whole year. That's not to say that your seller is following the rules, but I can understand why they'd be upset about an incident like this. I have 15 years of perfect feedback, but I still get anxious about the possibility of one neutral or negative.
posted by jon1270 at 2:21 PM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The seller isn't a small seller - the seller has 10,000+ feedback and sells multiples of this particular item. I chose this seller particularly on the strength of feedback, figuring that since this dress (and many similar ones) is sold on a near daily basis, I could be sure of the quality.
posted by kariebookish at 2:22 PM on March 6, 2015
posted by kariebookish at 2:22 PM on March 6, 2015
I would absolutely either ignore this or report them to ebay.
I would not let the fact that "ebay's repercussions for negative or neutral feedback" being "a major problem" sway you in the slightest - because the consumer needs to be protected as well. You ordered something, the item was different than as described, you were asked your opinion on the transaction, you gave it. You did nothing wrong.
And I say this as an ebay buyer who was once harassed by a seller who got mad that my positive review mentioned the fact that the dress she sent me was REEKING of Febreeze. I was asked my opinion, I gave it. You were asked your opinion, you gave it. Period.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:23 PM on March 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
I would not let the fact that "ebay's repercussions for negative or neutral feedback" being "a major problem" sway you in the slightest - because the consumer needs to be protected as well. You ordered something, the item was different than as described, you were asked your opinion on the transaction, you gave it. You did nothing wrong.
And I say this as an ebay buyer who was once harassed by a seller who got mad that my positive review mentioned the fact that the dress she sent me was REEKING of Febreeze. I was asked my opinion, I gave it. You were asked your opinion, you gave it. Period.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:23 PM on March 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
The seller isn't a small seller - the seller has 10,000+ feedback and sells multiples of this particular item.
In that case, I absolutely concur; ignore the request.
posted by jon1270 at 2:41 PM on March 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
In that case, I absolutely concur; ignore the request.
posted by jon1270 at 2:41 PM on March 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
In the past, I've followed up with a comment to the feedback outlining the bribery, when this has happened to me. Trying to game the feedback system like this is not OK.
posted by Solomon at 3:02 PM on March 6, 2015
posted by Solomon at 3:02 PM on March 6, 2015
I'm an eBay seller who recently asked a buyer to change NEGATIVE feedback (I'd have been fine with a neutral because of the hassle of fixing the problem which was out of my control). I did everything I could do make it right (including a full refund) and they changed it to positive.
However, if you reasonably think the listing was inaccurate and that the seller hasn't done enough to rectify the situation, I think negative (let alone neutral) feedback is fully warranted. I'm also a buyer and there's no excuse in that situation.
posted by oceanview at 6:31 PM on March 6, 2015
However, if you reasonably think the listing was inaccurate and that the seller hasn't done enough to rectify the situation, I think negative (let alone neutral) feedback is fully warranted. I'm also a buyer and there's no excuse in that situation.
posted by oceanview at 6:31 PM on March 6, 2015
I will say as someone who sells shit on ebay, (though not a large seller) if you have an issue with an item it's better to contact the seller before you leave feedback. Give them a chance to make it right; if they fail to deal with it then leave poor feedback.
posted by Ferreous at 6:31 PM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 6:31 PM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: I wholeheartedly disagree with these Ebay sellers trying to make you feel bad for leaving (neutral!) feedback. This is what feedback is for -- unsatisfactory transactions. It's not on you to try to make the situation better by contacting the seller.
posted by crazy with stars at 7:23 PM on March 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by crazy with stars at 7:23 PM on March 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
What the hell? So, if you go to Home Depot and bring something home and there are parts missing from the box or it's the wrong thing for the job, you should just say, "well, Home Depot is a terrible place, I'm never going back and neither should you" rather than returning it?
OP shouldn't "feel bad" for anything. OP doesn't mention whether or not they felt that the description was meant to deceive or if they gave the seller a chance to take the item back. Those are the two salient facts about the situation. She does mention that she kept and will use the dress, though.
posted by cmoj at 6:34 PM on March 7, 2015
OP shouldn't "feel bad" for anything. OP doesn't mention whether or not they felt that the description was meant to deceive or if they gave the seller a chance to take the item back. Those are the two salient facts about the situation. She does mention that she kept and will use the dress, though.
posted by cmoj at 6:34 PM on March 7, 2015
OP doesn't mention whether or not they felt that the description was meant to deceive
Sure they do -- they say the actual dress was "a world away from how it had looked in the photos." Hard to determine the seller's intent, of course, but either way the original description was inaccurate.
or if they gave the seller a chance to take the item back.
This is the crux of our disagreement -- I feel the buyer has the right to leave feedback regardless of whether they contact the seller for a return. In fact, even if the seller does offer a return, I would still feel comfortable leaving a negative review if the original description was fraudulent.
In your Home Depot example, if Home Depot sold me a product with missing parts, I may or may return to the store for an exchange or refund, but either way I would feel totally fine about criticizing the store to my friends.
posted by crazy with stars at 2:43 PM on March 11, 2015
Sure they do -- they say the actual dress was "a world away from how it had looked in the photos." Hard to determine the seller's intent, of course, but either way the original description was inaccurate.
or if they gave the seller a chance to take the item back.
This is the crux of our disagreement -- I feel the buyer has the right to leave feedback regardless of whether they contact the seller for a return. In fact, even if the seller does offer a return, I would still feel comfortable leaving a negative review if the original description was fraudulent.
In your Home Depot example, if Home Depot sold me a product with missing parts, I may or may return to the store for an exchange or refund, but either way I would feel totally fine about criticizing the store to my friends.
posted by crazy with stars at 2:43 PM on March 11, 2015
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posted by rainbowbrite at 1:54 PM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]