An eBay case: I throw myself at the mercy of the SF jury

[Gibonius]

Originally Posted by Ravi

You sound like some ball busting loser who needs to get a real life. Ebay is made up of stupid kids and amateurs and you should know that. I would Never buy anything on ebay.And who the hell buys used clothes outside of some homeless person? Even they probably get them free

Until looking at this "style forum" I never realised how many low class losers are in the US. Used shoes? YUCK! It's disgusting to even think about and used suits are even more filthy. You probably have bedbugs now

You're sure to be a valuable addition to the SF team.

 

[jrd617]

Originally Posted by Navi

holy **** you whiny little ******

+1

Wow

 

[Benzito]

Originally Posted by Mute

That was a half-assed apology. What exactly does "sellers like you" mean? It sounds more like an insult than an apology.

Jeezus, you bash the guy for his first ****-up, then you bash him when he *tries* to apologize. He's learning. Slowly.

 

[A Harris]

Its easy to maintain a good seller rating: honestly rate your stuff, take responsibility when you muck it up, respond quickly - especially to problems, and be polite even when someone is upset.

You would hope, but all those things mean nothing unless you are doing a lot of volume. No seller can make everyone happy, so eventually the really good but low-volume sellers will get a few 1's or 2's which ebay is only too happy to **** them over. I can think of several sellers whom I have personally done business with for 10+ years and would recommend to anyone, but who are on ebay restriction, and others that are straight-up crooks who are highly rated.

Ebay's feedback system is designed to force volume and I suspect also to eliminate sales of used items. The OP's experience( when he tried to have his feedback removed) reveals how much ebay cares about feedback as it relates to actual customer experience.

 

[LatinStyleLover]

A Harris totally nailed this!

Last year I was helping my dad out with his Ebay stuff because he was having some health problems. He sold a pair of shoes to a guy in Japan. The price that was quoted for shipping was just under $40. It turned out to be $84. My dad absorbed the loss because it was his mistake, not the buyers. The buyer loved the shoes, but left my dad a 1 on DSR's for shipping costs! When my dad inquired as to why he did this he said that other sellers offer "free" shipping so he felt my dad should have, too. My dad explained that free shipping is calculated into the final price by those sellers and that, in this case, he had gotten the shoes for much less than he would have if shipping was calculated into the price and offered as "free." He also explained that if the buyer would look at the metered label from the USPS he would see that actual shipping was $84 and that he had been charged less than $40. He also reminded the guy that USPS shipping charges were known up front and that if he had a problem with shipping costs, or any other condition of sale, my dad's item description asked him not to bid. It made no difference to this guy.

Two others did this to my dad, interestingly, all three were from Japan. He lost his Top Rated Seller status, even though he still had 100% positive feedback, and with it the 20% discount on fees. That really hurt him. And before someone says "how do you know who left you what on DSR's if they are hidden...." it is quite easy when you are a low volume seller. If you check your DSR's every time someone leaves you feedback and suddenly they go down, it is quite easy to calculate what they gave you. This entire DSR thing is just a gimmick for Ebay to charge higher fees while making it look like they are giving discounts to "good" sellers. No, they are punishing low volume sellers, even if they are good, and rewarding high volume sellers, even if they are lousy.

If it was about fairness and doing the right thing then when the OP called Ebay, said he made a mistake and wanted the feedback changed they would have gladly done it. They didn't, and that has been my dad's experience with them, too. One customer of my dad's inadvertently left a poor rating. She called Ebay, wrote Ebay, sent a letter to my dad apologizing for the error and told him he could use the letter with Ebay to try and fix it at his end because they would not assist her at her end. Ebay told my dad they could not do anything to fix the error.

Just today I received a nice leather jacket, one that RJman had recommended. I paid $30 for “expedited shipping.” I made the purchase on May 11 and got it today, 16 days later. It was shipped via Parcel Post for $15.94. I was quite pissed as not only was this not “expedited” but I was overcharged. I sent a message to him regarding my displeasure with the overcharge on postage and less than promised service. This guy probably deserves a 1 or 2 rating on shipping time and shipping charges. I told him about my dad’s DSR experiences. I told him that I would NOT be leaving him any feedback because I would not participate in this DSR sham that Ebay is running. I did think he would at least refund the overcharge on shipping, but nothing. I suppose I could give him “honest” feedback, but in the end the jacket is beautiful and I got it at a bargain price. Yeah, it is “used” but when I can get a more than $2k leather jacket for less than $200 I really don’t care. The jacket is amazing, I am happy, and Ebay can go screw themselves. If I cannot leave someone 5 star DSR’s then I won’t leave anything. I am not going to assist Ebay in screwing over other sellers, as my dad has been, so they can make even more profits.