Buyers should NOT be allowed to leave ANY feedback after being refunded in full in reasonable time

[lasernode]

Jebus I tell you what, where is my seller protection??? I've had a number of dippers recently who buy items, then read the description and find out it's not what they want, then request a refund, so I do the refund, and then the dipper HAS THE OPTION OF LEAVING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK??? For f's sake come-on, this is a joke... Anyone refunded within a reasonable time should not be able to wreck a seller's reputation. I try hard to maintain a 100% feedback but realisitically, I realise this may be simply impossible over time due to ebay allowing negative feedback to be left for a seller after a buyer is refunded. Yea, yea, i know the ebay chant, "the buyer leaves feedback to reflect their opinion of the transaction", but in all my cases, the buyer has requested a refund via ebay message and saying they bought the wrong item... now before anyone says I should describe items clearly, I have BIG TEXT on the main pictures, and also in THE VERY FIRST LINE OF THE DESCRIPTION and also in the item specifics stating "Procuct type:this type(for example a service, files, whatever)" that clearly says what is on offer and I have done this to try to stop these types of purchases happening but it's a fact of lift that there is a percentage of idiots out there who buy and then read about what they bought(or even better, i have had a number of buyers who have NEVER READ THE DESCRIPTION.... can you believe this???).

So I have done my best to make it clear what's on offer for my items, and then some dipper comes along, buys it, then realises they bought the wrong thing, requests a refund, so I refund them in full within a short time, and they can then leave me negative feedback???

THIS SHOULD SIMPLY NOT BE ABLE TO HAPPEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lasernode]

imastawka

oh i forgot to mention, yes you're right no business can be trusted 100%, just look at the Dick Smith collapse... but sometimes if you want something you have to take the risk, right?

[lasernode]

padi*0409

that's a funny pic..

[imastawka]

OK....colour me dumb and stoopy

[davewil1964]

It's for people who want to hot their car up.

And void the manufacturer's warranty as you have changed the entire engine dynamics.

[lasernode]

davewil1964

Manufacturers warranty is not void with this device under certain cicrumstances, it goes deeper into how the device works so i won't get into that here but the fact is that yes, people who use this device realise that it is mostly performance orientated (although it can also be used the opposite way, as a fuel saving potential) and therefore the risk of losing the factory warranty does exist, but doesn't stop a LOT of people as many people anyway use it...

[lasernode]

imastawka

no prob, eveythings fine... i appreciate your input

everyone

ok i got a bit mad towards the dipper that prompted this FB rant, i have calmed down now... lol...

yea look i probably do place too much emphasis on trying to keep my FB at 100%, i hate having to cater to every dipper buyers whim and demand just on the off chance i might upset them and get neg FB if i refuse...

this sort of stuff doesn't happen in bricks and mortar business, try walking into a K-Mart and demanding some of the stuff people on eBay expect and see how far you get..

oh K-Mart you didn't give me a refund for this half-used roll of toilet paper, so i'm going to leave a big negative cross in bright red paint on your main front store window... yea right... just because it's online doesn't mean it should be like this, it should still be able to have some resemblance of operation to a normal walk-into-a-shop experience...

In a real walk-in store, the store has pretty much all the power and you have very little as a buyer, right? ok so we have AU consumer laws etc to protect buyers and that's good, but right there at the point of sale, you are at the mercy of the store, right?

on eBay it's the total opposite, the buyer has most of the power and the sellers have very little... am i wrong? ok yea there are protections for sellers etc, but any buyer who demands a refund, is pretty much going to get it if they open a case etc...

paypal pretty much told me this when i called them once, paypal said in any dispute, usually the best option is for the seller to recieve the item back and the buyer to be refunded, their reasoning for this is that the seller can then resell the item and the buyer remains happy...

[davidc4430]

the problem is ebay wants happy buyers cos happy buyers buy more stuff so ebays bottom line at shareholder meetings are a great big love-in.

thats why we just got 1,000 free listings a few days before the regular 40 kicked in. they want a lot more sales before the next meeting of shareholders so they can do the happy dance while throwing dividend cheques around.

[lasernode]

i can see why happy buyers would be important if eBay wasn't a monopoly, but since the only unhappy buyers of a transaction that was "as described" and "received"  would be a minority of dippers that probably shouldn't be on eBay anyway, why cater to these minority dippers?

eBay is so big now that this minority shouldn't make any difference to eBay's stranglehold on online shopping? Or is it that the directors/shareholders are just interested in making as much cash as possible and to hell with everything else?

I can understand greed as much as anybody, but not at the sake of everything else including your morals, or do they not have morals?

[digital*ghost]

---

@lasernode wrote:

yea look i probably do place too much emphasis on trying to keep my FB at 100%, i hate having to cater to every dipper buyers whim and demand just on the off chance i might upset them and get neg FB if i refuse...

---

That's just it, though, and the main point I'm trying to make - you don't. 

That's one thing a seller has a choice about - to let the fear of a negative dictate how they manage their buyer's, and consequently their business. I came to the realisation a few years back that if I let the fear of a possible neg affect how I dealt with a problem, I was allowing someone else (i.e. the buyer, who may be unreasonable, rude, lying, or any of the other undesirable behaviours) have more control over my business than I do, and so I came to the decision that I simply won't allow that to be.

I've had buyers threaten to leave me a neg if they didn't get what they wanted, and I always reply the same way "you are welcome to leave whichever feedback you feel is most appropriate". And the rest of my message reaffirms exactly what they are (or are not) entitled to / offered. That lets them know straight away I simply won't be cowed by the threat of a red dot and bad comment, that it doesn't get them what they want. Sometimes the buyer realises it has no effect on me whatsoever and they leave it at that, some came out swinging intially due to bad experiences with other sellers, and when they see that I am being firm but fair, and am more than willing to help where appropriate, they apologise and things end amicably.... a couple were just p***ks, left their neg, and I either got it removed, or left a calm, factual reply intended for any and all potential buyers in the future. 

Having 100% FB is great, but I think you're wrong about buyers having all the "power", negs only have as much power as sellers give them as I tried to point out before...  In other areas, buyers have a pretty decent advantage, or handicap if you will, but eBay and PayPal decisions can be just the beginning, for anyone unwilling to allow (for example) a scammer to get something they're not entitled to - consumer laws, and laws in general, apply to buyers just as much as they apply to sellers, and sellers have rights that they can enforce, even if eBay / PayPal don't do so initially. PayPal probably would have told you that getting the item returned and refunding the buyer is the best option because that's what's easiest for them (i.e. they aren't forced to make a decision, and potentiall have to pay out if it's successfully appealed). 

Also, social media and review sites are awash with negative feedback for larger companies. 😉