Can't give feedback after only 5 days have passed? Really??

[madexa]

I've bought a software license code on eBay on the 2nd of August. The seller sent me the code the same day, I activated my product and it works.

As I can't be entirely sure if the code is legit or not, I decided to wait a few days and see if it would get blocked by the software company (they block stolen license codes really fast).

Today is August 7th, so just 5 days later. I decide to give positive feedback but eBay says I can no longer give feedback for this item?!

This is just ridiculous and hurts both the seller and me (obviously I won't get any feedback now eiher).

I know some of you don't give a hoot about feedback but I think it's important to show others if sellers/buyers are trustworthy and providing good service.

Now I can't do that...

Isn't the feedback timeframe normally supposed to be like 60 days or something? Or does it have to do with not being a physical object being sent to me?

Either way, it's pretty ridiculous and kind of reminds me why I don't buy much on eBay anymore these days. There's always something bad going on it seems.

I often buy from a large, well known website which I won't name here but they give you a lot of time to confirm receipt and give feedback quite some time later (I think up to 2 weeks or so).

You can even ask the seller to extend the timeframe.

That's a WAY better system IMO. Maybe eBay should start thinking about doing this is well...

In the end the seller sold something, got his money, and I've received what I paid for so not a huge deal but there's definitely room for improvement here. Then again, I've always felt eBay doesn't care about user experience so... meh.

[madexa]

Tried the .com one but I'm getting the same error.

Thanks for the tip/help though.

I'm going to assume it has to do with being a 'digital' item. In a way it makes sense as you receive a digital item by email so there is no need for transit time.

Then again, I should be able to properly test it before giving feedback I think.

I'm not sure if that's it but I'll leave it at this.

[papermoon.lady]

I have never bought a digital item on eBay and their help page about leaving feedback does not mention digital items: 

When can I leave Feedback?

You can leave Feedback for up to 60 days from the date you received your item or from the expected delivery date, whichever comes first. If no expected delivery date is provided, you have up to 90 days from when you completed your purchase to leave Feedback for the seller.

You must have had your account for at least 5 days to be able to leave Feedback.

I agree that it is better to wait a few days to see if a code is blocked, so if it is not a glitch it is indeed weird... Did the seller have many listings when you bought your code? If his listings suddenly disappeared, he might have been temporarily suspended, but as far as I know you should still be able to leave feedback if the suspension is only temporary and the account has not been deleted.

[madexa]

Hmm, seems I should have 60 days then? Strange.

No, the seller only had this one listing at the time.

At the time of writing, none at all, so maybe he has been temporarily suspended?

He does have a total of 322 sales and has been a member since 2020.

As said earlier, he sells codes every now and then but not continuously. He seems to have 1-3 max listed at any given time (usually just 1 listing from what I've seen).

[papermoon.lady]

It is also weird because after 60 days (when you can't leave feedback any more) the button to leave feedback disappears, but in your case it is still there and the error message only occurs when you click on it.

You could try eBay live chat if you want to find out why, but ask to talk to a supervisor, as most normal CS representatives probably have no idea.

[madexa]

I was going to leave it as it is but I'm actually curious as to why this is happening...

I'll contact eBay directly.

I'll update if I have a reply.

Thanks.

[sugar249]

You need to look at the feedback rules for the site that you purchased via.  Sounds strange, but although you may be on the Australian site, if the item is listed on the site over there, than the rules for that sites feedback apply.  Not the Australian site.  I tried looking up the help on feedback for the Belgium site (ebay suggested that for lithuania), but I couldnt get translate to work for it.

[papermoon.lady]

I just looked it up and it is exactly the same (I understand French):

Quand puis-je laisser une évaluation ?

Vous avez jusqu'à 60 jours à compter de la date de réception de l'objet ou de la date de livraison estimée, selon la première échéance, pour laisser une évaluation. Si aucune date de livraison estimée n'est fournie, vous disposez de 90 jours à compter de la finalisation de l'achat pour laisser une évaluation au vendeur.

Vous devez avoir créé votre compte depuis au moins 5 jours pour pouvoir laisser une évaluation.

(from https://www.befr.ebay.be//help/buying/leaving-feedback-sellers/leaving-feedback-sellers?id=4007)

[madexa · Accepted solution]

Contacted eBay support and it appears to be a technical issue with some accounts. They're looking into it.

I think they've basically copy pasted an answer sent to someone else as the name in the email (addressed to) wasn't mine. It also appears to be mixed up with a bit of internal messaging, most likely as my Dutch request was translated to English and sent to HQ support.

Hello [...],

Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Support regarding the issue you faced leaving feedback. My name is [...] and I am happy to help you out with your concern.

[...], I can understand that you are unable to give feedback.. I regret for the inconvenience this has caused to you. Let me check the details.

In order to help you, I checked the details and I discussed this issue with our technical team. Here, I would like to inform you that this is a temporary technical issue on eBay site and other users are facing same issue.

Here, I would like to assure you that your account is absolutely fine and there is nothing wrong from your side. To resolve the issue for you, I have immediately forwarded your account detail to our technical team and it is under review by our technical team. . Currently there are a number of eBay members affected by this and we're attempting to isolate the problem based on reports, like the one you sent.

I understand how important this is for you. Please be assured that our technical team is working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible so that you can have the best possible experience while using eBay.

I would like to assure you that you are a valuable eBay user. We will surely assist you till your concern is resolved. Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated. Have a nice day and stay safe!

Kind regards,

[...]

Now, let's hope that's what it is and will be resolved soon. I haven't read any other similar complaints despite multiple people affected. Then again, maybe they've just contacted CS instead of posting in the forums.

Since I now have a definite answer, I'll leave it at that.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this topic!

[countessalmirena]

madexa,

That is indeed a cut and paste reply. However, it’s cut and paste in a worse sense then you realise.

eBay CS staff have pre-written templates that are designed for them. The sole purpose of such communications is to silence complaints or requests. To that end, these templates include soothing fluffy bits of nothing — such as “rest assured we are blah blah”, “forwarded to our technical team” — “escalated this” — “highest priority” — “working hard” — and other such phrases. They all sound as though the problem is noted and is being fixed and the right people know about it.

In actuality, while it’s possible that it is a quite widely reported problem that is being fixed, I wouldn’t bet on it. I’d bet even less on the CS staff member having contacted anyone in the tech department.

This is just the grim reality of problem reporting today in a large corporation or organisation. CS staff are there to form a moat filled with platitudinous piranha between you and the execs, fixers, and other denizens of the “castle”, not to lower the drawbridge and raise the portcullis for your easy access to get legitimate complaints heard.

(If the tech department were genuinely tasked with fixing this, it wouldn’t be difficult code to isolate, check and fix. Let’s see what happens within the next two days…)

[arctoph_49]

Yes, I doubt they will do anything about it. It is what the Countess said, and it blows my mind they didn't even make the effort to change the name!