Bad buying experience. Nasty retaliation feedback comment by seller.

[bella_belle_bells]

I have had a bad experience with an eBay seller. Please bear with me this is a bit of a saga. I purchased a perfume total cost with shipping was $72. The perfume was shipped in manufacturers packaging (thin cardboard) surrounded by bubble wrap and placed into a loose fitting satchel, wasn’t marked fragile. Not surprisingly the perfume arrived damaged. The box was squashed, the perfume lid dislodged, the nozzle damaged and the perfume had leaked approximately ¼ of the volume.

I emailed the seller immediately and she told me to return it. I did send photos to prove damage. I wasn’t sure about sending a leaking item through the post so I contacted Australia Post via phone for instructions eg. how to package and they said they would not knowingly accept a leaking item as it is contaminated furthermore they said perfumes are prohibited items (due to containing flammable ingredients) and can only be sent through the mail under certain conditions (must be a business that deals in fragrances then apply for approval, sent via eparcel post and road transport only). I am not eligible to post because I don’t meet the criteria and it turns out neither was the seller she sent registered post.

After many emails the seller suggested she have someone (I assume a friend or relative) come to my home to collect the perfume (we both live in different states) and get them to sign something to say I had returned the perfume. Firstly I wasn’t going to have a stranger come to my home and secondly I would have no recourse to get my money back.

Obviously as a buyer having brought an item that was supposed to be new and not getting what I received I want my money back. I don’t think I am an unreasonable person so I asked if the seller would be willing to compromise on a partial refund as I could not legally return the perfume to her, she offered a ridiculously low amount and then emailed saying she didn’t think she had done anything wrong and told me she contacted Australia Post herself and that they told her I could send it back. I then took the perfume to my local Australia Post shop, they refused to accept it and told me the same thing as the phone operator I spoke to so I feel she was dishonest about contacting Australia Post.

The seller stated she couldn’t be held responsible for anything damaged by Australia Post and refused to compromise reasonably so I filed a dispute and with the evidence I provided paypal found in my favour within a very short period of time and I was refunded.

The seller then proceeded to leave a very nasty false positive feedback comment calling me a liar etc. I contacted eBay and the sellers feedback was promptly removed. I left a negative for this seller and her reply comment is not very nice this was the reply comment “worst experience. got perfume for free and a refund wouldn't return it she lied” It’s not that I wouldn’t return it I couldn’t legally do so. Is there anything I can do about this follow up comment?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@lena_james wrote:

I am not in any hurry to leave any comments follow up or otherwise I try my best to not make impulsive decisions because they can turn around and bite you. joethenuts is right my original question was more along the lines of I don't like it there and was asking what my options are like eBay removing it or having to live with it.

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option 1 - leave it alone and the nasty feedback remains on their feedback page and hardly anyone you have dealings with will ever see it

OR

option 2 - provoke the seller and have the exact same OR WORSE comment on your feedback page for everyone you have dealings with to see it, even potential buyers of your items, FOREVER.

lena, your seller receives enough feedback that the nasty comment will be off the first page of their feedback page in one month.  Most people who poke around feedback rarely go past page 1 or view feedback at more than 25 per page.  Here is the bottom of your seller's first feedback page.

lena, joeth admited in a post that he is confused, he can't see what I am getting at and you have more empathy for what he posts than what I post.  i know it is not a contest, but if I haven't been able to convince you then go ahead, poke the beast and unleash his wrath upon your own feedback page.  I have tried, but when you come here and agree with joeth and keep posting in contradiction to the advice I am trying to give then I GIVE UP.

[jensmanchester-australia]

Lena - I understand how frustrated you feel as it is not nice to be accused of something which is not right but it does happen to most of us on ebay at some time. See how you feel about it in a few days and if it is still really bothering look at your options then.

[joethenuts]

your right not that important ,but to the op it is , anyway she is going to use another account and that will solve her problem,  even though the comments are on feedback left from the buyer , to her its still here , and she is not happy with it,   so good luck in the future  op.

[joethenuts]

i had not said i disagree with you and i have never told the op what to do , she wants help , she wants those coments removed if you dont know the answere thats fine   she is worried about the comments and now she has come up with a perfect answere just use one of her other Ids to sell her few things , I am glad she has come to her senses and will use an old Id, 

[bella_belle_bells]

k1ooo-sir-sales I have read all your comments and I certainly didn't mean to offend you I completely see where you are coming from. Let me reassure you I have absolutely NO intention of leaving a follow up comment at this time. In one of my early posts I said I have already contacted eBay about the offending comment I just haven't heard anything back yet to see what their response would be as these things take time to investigate.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@joethenuts wrote:

i had not said i disagree with you and i have never told the op what to do , she wants help , she wants those coments removed if you dont know the answere thats fine   she is worried about the comments and now she has come up with a perfect answere just use one of her other Ids to sell her few things , I am glad she has come to her senses and will use an old Id, 

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edit: lena, you have not offended me, not one bit.

joeth, I have not said you disagree with me . . . . I said you can't see what I am getting at.  There is a difference.  I also posted that you admitted you are confused, and that the OP has more empathy for what you have posted.

I understand that the comments on the seller's feedback page are hurtful, but they would be much more hurtful on her own feedback page.

lena, there is no need to stop using the lena ID.  There is no need to do anything.

lena, I am not diminishing the hurt you feel over the comments, but if you can't move on things will probably get much worse.  I have seen many buyers come to these boards complaining about followup feedback left by sellers that remains on their feedback forever and eBay say something like "the feedback is the seller's opinion of the transaction and does not fit the criteria for removal" because it was a followup feedback and not the primary feedback.

[bella_belle_bells]

Also I find some of eBay's policies difficult to understand which is why I started this discussion to get help from other eBayers. I have never had anything like this happen to me before. It had always been my understanding that buyers should leave honest feedback about their trading partners without fear of retaliation and in this instance it is not the case. I absolutely hate leaving negative feedback as just about anything can be worked out with out needing it but when someone does something like what was done to me the eBay communtity should be warned that the seller is not good if there is a problem.

I have sold a number of items on my other eBay account and have been lucky enough to have only a couple of problems in both cases I apologised to the buyers and either replaced or refunded without hassel. I suppose as I provide top service I expect top service when I buy.

[joethenuts]

fair enough

[bella_belle_bells]

PS I have been very lucky to get good buyers there are some buyers that are not happy no matter what you do.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@lena_james wrote:

Thanks everyone. I have emailed eBay to see if they can remove the sellers comment. I made an error in my negative feedback and mentioned that paypal refunded so my comment was removed I have seen this so many times on other people's feedback I didn't realize I couldn't mention this so i know now. If eBay can remove the sellers nasty inaccurate and childish comment I will let the whole matter go and if they can't I will have to leave a reply and not mention anything about eBay or paypal.

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lena, when I read this earlier post it didn't seem like you were in a waiting mood.

Leaving a reply is akin to poking the beast.  Not a good thing.  They would likely send you messages via eBay that contain much worse comments and you will get upset and think about abandoning eBay forever because they are too slow to act or do not act.

OR

Let it go . . . . . . . . and have great experiences on eBay for many years with a great number of fantastic sellers.