I purchased $80 worth of one type of plant but was sent a totally different species. I went to leave negative feedback and a message popped up saying: Feedback error Buyers are not allowed to leave a neutral or negative feedback for a qualified seller within 7 days from the end of the transaction. 2 questions. Why? And can I leave negative feedback after 7 days after I paid or after the item was sent or after it was delivered?
Look at the message kopenhagen5 posted and you might understand, also I’m not fibbing as you put it. I can post screenshots of the messages if you like
I consider feedback the least important aspect of an eBay purchase.
I buy items that I want to buy, at a price that I am happy to pay, with terms of sale that satisfy me, and a warranty that is my right under Australian consumer legislation when the type of item warrants it.
As far as feedback is concerned, I give feedback (in the majority of cases) once I've not only received the item but ascertained (through use, through examination, etc.) that it is as described, genuine, without any faults that I can detect. I do not feel the need to whip out feedback like a dominatrix in a scarlet chamber, eager to get on with the matter of inflcting paaaaaiiiin, paaaaaiiiin, PAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNN!
If there's an issue, I try to sort it out with the seller. I haven't given many negatives, and would have preferred not to give any. The last negative that I gave was when the seller didn't respond to my several communication attempts after I received the wrong items (readily available Chanel nail colours instead of the rarer ones for which I'd paid - much higher price), and the seller was abruptly showing as deregistered. The one before that was when an item never arrived, and the seller never responded, and the seller was also suddenly showing as deregistered. The third was a similar situation (item never arrived, seller didn't respond, seller suddenly deregistered.) That's it. No other negatives.
That's not to say that all of my eBay purchases have been trouble-free, but the great majority have been fine.
At least two items arrived damaged. Excellent remedy for one, and adequate remedy for the second.
Sometimes items arrived with inadequate packaging that somehow didn't result in damage, and via a postage method not reflected in the high-ish postage cost. Overall price had still been acceptable to me, and since a miss is as good as a mile, I had no actual complaint.
Sometimes items arrived some considerable time later than the date of payment. Sometimes items were so late that they were presumed lost in transit, only to to turn up later after inexplicably long time in the ether. (Longest wait was more than 4 months! I really wanted that item, and was just glad that it did arrive.)
On one occasion I wasn't 100% sure that an item hadn't been eked out with another product. Given that I had only a small vague suspicion, and in every other respect the transaction had been fine, I let it go.
On a handful of occasions (I think it was twice) the wrong item arrived, but the seller was quick to send the correct item once informed.
All of the above were given positives.
On two occasions the item was not posted until at least a month after payment. (Neutrals given on both of those occasions and I think both of those sellers were deregistered shortly thereafter.)
@plant_hoarder,
Is it possible that your seller got his/her back up at the tone of your communication? Tone goes a long way towards establishing the groundwork in buyer-seller communications, and in my experience it is unusual for a seller to take umbrage at a polite communication saying something like, ❝Thank you for the item [xxxxx]. This is to let you know that it appears that an error has been made. What I received looks like a [plant species name] rather than a [plant species name] as ordered. (I should mention that I am a horticulturist... and I also checked with two other individuals with similar experience in case I was having a brain freeze or something of that sort! Both confirmed what I myself concluded.)
Is it possible that a despatch mistake was made? I include a photo of the plant that I received for your information.
How best should we handle this? Please let me know if you think the best way forward would be for me to return the incorrect item and for you to send me the correct plant. I know these mistakes can happen!
Best regards,
[name]❞
If however you communicated the error with all guns blazing, you might have made the seller feel defensive and outraged. That might well make the seller shoot back in an aggressive or accusing way.
@plant_hoarder wrote: There is no need to be passive aggressive. It is professional factual feedback. I’ve been a horticulturist for 17 years. I also took photos and sent them to 2 people. They both came back with the same answer and I never mentioned what I thought that plant was
Just saw this comment.
Plant hoarder, I was explaining the reason a TRS has this in place as a general remark, not personally at you.
I doubt I even read any of your feedback at the time.
I even put a wink smiley so you wouldn't get the wrong idea but you did anyway.
So don't accuse people of doing something they haven't done, there is a word for that.
