Ebay – feedback extortion?
I sold an item on ebay, a small collectable ornament. I sold several from the same line, packaged them and sent them. All arrived fine and intact apart from one. The buyer messaged me to inform me, I replied saying that I would fully refund on receipt of the returned item.
she said she wouldnt waste her time and money, it was no good to anyone and if I did not refund (without any proof the item was broken), then she would leave neg feedback. I reported incident to ebay with header and copys of the emails.
Do they do anything about it?
She has since threatened to leave bad feedback 3 times since I posted this Q, without actually leaving bad feedback. I have also since recieved a reply from ebay support stating they would investigate and possible outcomes including a warning, suspension, etc.
Date: September 15, 2010
Time: 9:22 am
Extortion is illegal
If you’re really that bothered, call the police or maybe a lawyer
Date: September 15, 2010
Time: 9:32 am
They *should* do something about it, but whether they will or not is a different matter. She might still leave feedback, but ebay could remove it if they think it was left unfairly. You are not expected to refund without proof that the item was broken. In fact, if the item was broken in transit, I don’t think you’re expected to refund at all, but most do out of courtesy.
Date: September 15, 2010
Time: 10:06 am
Yes they do, we auctioned our old car off ebay and stated everything that we believed was wrong with it. We had a buyer who came to collect it, upon arrival he pointed out other things that were wrong with it and refused to pay for it, which was fair enough, we were unaware of the amount of work.
So we reposted the advertisement and stated everything we stated before AND what the previous buyer had told us, just so we could let people know exactly what they were paying for. We even stated that it may need to be towed away and would probably just be better being sold and used as parts.
Well, the previous buyer decided that because we had ‘wasted’ his time he would email one of the bidders on the new auction and tell them it was a death trap (bearing in mind everything that was wrong with the car had been stated on the ad), between them they decided they would make sure that the ‘bidder’ won the car and then start asking Q’s,Q’s that had already been answered in the ad after the auction had closed,so no one else could bid on it – something that Ebay frowns upon.
He then refused to pay and sent us emails with pretty pathetic spelling and language.
We reported them to Ebay who dealt with it quickly and swiftly, the mans account was deleted.
On ebay, unless a faulty item is returned – the seller does not techinically have to refund the buyer. I mean how are you to know that the item was infact faulty. If you two could come to an arrangement, where by she takes a photo of the damage and sends it to you – maybe that could work?
Unless you see proof that the item is faulty, I would definitely not give a refund and Ebay will definitely remove that negative feedback if she doesn’t cooperate.
Hope I helped!
x
Date: September 15, 2010
Time: 10:25 am
It happened to me as a buyer a few months ago.
I got myself a porcelain apothecary hand model and it got smashed during shipping. The seller was really nice and just requested a photo of the broken good.
Sent him a pick and he refunded me the next day. He didn’t want it back so I kept it and ment it !
Simple as simple. No proof of breakage, no refund. She is in the wrong on that one !
Date: September 15, 2010
Time: 11:24 am
I have dealt with this before. In the nicest form possible, ask for a snap shot of the product. In your judgment, if you think this was in fact your fault (due to bad packaging or no insurance) then it would be best to just refund the money. Go to pay pal so you can get your fees back.
If this is extortion, let ebay find out. You are not obligated to return the item. But this is your business, either in person or online. If you as a seller, are not competent, you will have bad buzz about your practices. Usually you will win. but if you don’t, brace yourself with a negative feedback. Most regular users know of how bad customers are and one bad feedback will not completely affect you if you have lots of positive feedback. If you do get negative feedback, write back telling your side of the story in a respectful way.
There is only a handful of problem buyers. But remember that your practices as a business owner will truly affect how others think of you.