Non-Paying Bidders Can Leave Negative Feedback on eBay
How can this possibly be fair? This situation happened to me a few weeks ago.
1) Customer purchases $85 item.
2) Customer does not pay.
3) Unpaid item dispute opened.
4) Customer still does not pay.
5) UPI closed. Final value fee granted. I can’t leave negative feedback – sellers are no longer able to.
6) Buyer leaves me negative feedback.
What is wrong with this picture? How can this happen? Here is eBay’s policy on non-payers and feedback:
“Enhanced protection for Unpaid Item: In addition to removing Feedback left by buyers who fail to respond to the Unpaid Item process, we now also remove Feedback when the buyer responds but it’s clear they did not complete the transaction—for example, if they state they bought the item elsewhere or had a family emergency. Sellers don’t deserve negative or neutral Feedback in such cases, and we now remove it.”
So, I am wondering if and when this will happen. In my opinion, I don’t think non-payers should be able to leave any feedback at all. They did not earn the right to leave feedback since they didn’t pay for their item. What do you think?
[Image Source: Flickr, eBay Coach Photos]
That seems weird. I can’t say that I’m a big ebay user, so I don’t know how the site works (specifically), but what you describe sounds like a problem that needs to be fixed. Did you talk to their customer service department? What did they say if you did?
I am so fed up with the feedback policy. After about three weeks of no feedback left for me, I had a stray feedback show up. My shipping rating lowered with this feedback. I went back to see how much shipping the person was charged and found that it was 5.35 on a very fragile item. My actual cost was 6.80…which did not count the cost of the shipping materials. I wish this star reporting would go to the moon.
Sellers not being able to leave “honest” feedback is totally wrong.
I actually had a seller file a non-paying bidder on me after he refunded my money from a item not as described claim. The auction stated CD and they sent a floppy. They filed the NPB AFTER they gave a refund. What is up with that?
Hey, nice tips. I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that person from that forum who told me to visit your site :)
Seems too strange to be true, doesn’t it? Just happened to me today…a non-paying bidder on ebay leaves me a negative because he lost a Non-paying Bidder Claim with me.
Since he didn’t pay, he has never even seen the product or experienced my customer service, so why does ebay give him the right to leave feedback of any type?
Another moronic policy from the world’s worst run company (I know that’s a strong statement for a profitable company, but they would have 10x the profits if they had the 1st clue how to treat their Power Sellers).
eBay is desperate to boost fast-slipping Buyer numbers so it’s bending itself into a pretzel to accommodate Buyers at the expense of Sellers. The thinking is that the Sellers are always going to be there no matter how much they’re mistreated and abused, but Buyers have more options and will quickly flee if even slightly perturbed.
I just dealt with a Buyer who filed a “Not As Described” dispute on new clothing for which he initially left very positive feedback, then filed a complaint 40 DAYS later. PayPal immediately froze the disputed funds and investigated. This “investigation” lasted nearly a month. They found in favor of the Buyer since eBay’s official return policy is 45 days! Yes, 45 days. Try that at your local boutique. Apparently I am responsible for whatever this Buyer did to the clothes in the 40 days he had them.
Of course it’s all a crock, but if you wish to Sell on eBay, you bend over and take it.