Beware of seller; <Removed>

[gpx5000]

After buying an item from <Removed>, it took me 20 phone calls, lots of messages, I was told lies, given false tracking numbers, then finally got a refund.

I left <Removed> neg feedback, only to find Ebay removed the feedback i left, the seller was back on 100% positive.

I contacted ebay saying that was my honest opinion of the trade with <Removed>, to be told <Removed> has a managed account, and any neg feedback can be removed...........is this legal?

Naturally, ive been watching<Removed> they have 7 neg feedbacks, all of which have disappeared and think-out are back on 100% 

So, in my opinion, Ebay are allowing feedback and score manipulation, which is against Ebay policy, so Ive been told many times on the phone by the liars in "customer care".

So now i dont leave feedback because theres no point, if the seller can just get it removed.

Has anyone else experienced this Ebay CON?

[lyndal1838]

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@gpx5000 wrote:
Yes they are con merchants, open a dispute with eBay and PayPal, they will get you your money back.

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Any member who takes this advice is guaranteed NOT to get their money back.

You cannot open a dispute with both ebay and paypal at the same time.   You can open a paypal dispute after a failed ebay dispute but not the other way round.

[gpx5000]

I got my money back after opening disputes with both, it worked for me and I stand by my claim, they are con merchants and eBay endorse their behaviour

[freddysbook2014]

I've been refunded the money I paid the seller in question. The earliest I could open a dispute through ebay was today and I was refunded by ebay customer service within 15 minutes.

Very happy I got my money back, but I don't understand why the seller in question keeps getting their negative feedback converted to neutral. If ebay is essentially protecting this dodgy seller by manipulating the feedback rating system to ensure a 100% positive feedback level, it's undermining my confidence in ebay quite profoundly

[freddysbook2014]

It seems that the seller in question does not like it when he tries to rip someone off (me) and is forced by ebay to refund.

Now he has uploaded a fake tracking number to the ebay transaction. I have attached screenshots of the tracking details as provided.

Note that the tracking details list the item  as 2kg dead weight.

My order was a 33kg "12 VOLT 130AH DRYFIT BATTERY AGM DEEP CYCLE DUAL PURPOSE CARAVAN 4WD" Nice try

Also the ebay listing page for the item has 

"We Sell Fresh Stock Only

Fresh stock arriving April 17th All Orders will be shipped on April 18th 
Limited Stock - Don't Miss Out  - Best Price & Warranty"

In big red letters.

Item was shipped 31MAR? A lie

Item was delivered 05APR? Another lie

These guys seem desperate to get ebay to reverse their decision to refund me. Rip off artists.

Why am I even posting this? I'm documenting this particular scammer's playbook for the benefit of any future victims of this seller. A google search of the seller's username brings up this thread which is how I initially found it.

[lyndal1838]

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@gpx5000 wrote:
I got my money back after opening disputes with both, it worked for me and I stand by my claim, they are con merchants and eBay endorse their behaviour

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Did you open your dispute with ebay and paypal at the same time or did your ebay claim fail and then you did a paypal claim?

You cannot open both at the same time.

[freddysbook2014]

A few days ago I had looked at the seller in question's feedback profile and noticed there were two negative feedbacks. These negative feedbacks have since been converted to neutral, presumably as part of the "managed account" agreement. Crazy stuff.

I thought it might be a good thing to document how this happens, so when I checked the seller's feedback at 0830 this morning they had had one negative feedback applied as per the attached screenshot (redacted to comply with rules against naming sellers on these forums).

We shall see how long it takes before said negative feedback is converted to "neutral". 

Note that I have not yet left feedback for this seller. But no doubt I will.

[freddysbook2014]

Well, the negative feedback above doesn't appear to have been converted to neutral. Instead it's been deleted.

There is a new negative feedback as of 12:24pm from a different dissatisfied buyer - see redacted screenshot.

I shall check back later and see what happens to that one...

[freddysbook2014]

And... the negative feedback has been deleted.

[freddysbook2014]

4pm and another negative feedback has been applied to this seller.

Let's see how long it will take to be deleted...

In other news, I could not contact ebay customer service by email using the "Decision on your case" form, - everytime I submit the message it brings up a screen informing me that "We're making some updates and will be back soon. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, please use our A-Z index of help topics."  so I sent them a new message using the standard "report a seller" contact form.

Here's a redacted version of the message I sent:

 "Hi,

Thank you for refunding my $239.99 after seller "<removed>"  failed to honour my order of Item #<removed>.

I noted when I went to leave negative feedback for this seller that he has now uploaded a tracking number for my order, no doubt trying to get ebay to reverse the decision.

Said tracking number is fake. Pasting the number into the Couriers Please Ezy Trak page (https://www.couriersplease.com.au/ezytrak) shows an item which was delivered to someone on the 4th of April.

These batteries were not even available by the seller on the 4th of April as they were expecting the shipment on the 17th of April as per the item listing.

In addition, the dry weight of the item tracked is listed as 2kg. The battery I ordered weighs fully 33kg.

These people are attempting to defraud ebay by attempting to have the decision to refund me reversed. A request to Couriers Please about which delivery address they have for the listed tracking number should dispel any doubt since it won't be my address.

Please keep an eye on this. I am sure I am not the first person they have tried this on.

Also I will be applying negative feedback to this seller's feedback profile, but I have noticed that two instances of negative feedback left for this seller by others over the past 24hrs have been deleted, presumably by ebay. Please advise why this is so?

When I leave negative feedback for a bad seller on ebay I want it to remain as a warning to other potential buyers so they do not get burnt as I have.

I have screenshotted both instances of negative feedback on this seller's profile which I have seen thus far and will continue to do so until they begin to "stick".

Is it ebay's "Managed account" policy to delete negative feedback? This seller is dodgy in the extreme and deserves any and all negative feedback received. Manipulation of the feedback system is forbidden under ebay's own policies so I am at a loss to explain how this could even happen unless an ebay employee is the one doing it. Are they doing this as per an internal ebay policy or are they receiving inducements from the seller?

Thanks."

I will update if and when I receive a meaningful reply from ebay customer service.

So what do you guys think? Is the practice of removing negative feedback from the feedback profile of "managed" sellers an internal ebay policy, or do you think that the ebay employee who is doing the "managing" is being paid off somehow by the seller? We all know how desperate some of these sellers are to retain their 100% positive feedback score.

[freddysbook2014]

And... as of 5:46pm the negative feedback has been deleted.