Is a seller allowed to offer a refund conditional on feedback revision?

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Can a seller offer a refund conditional upon revising negative feedback? They're asking for it to be revised before refund.  

[kopenhagen5]

As DG mentions it's considered extortion.

I would message the seller saying, eBay considers it feedback extortion and advise to receive refund first before revising feedback.

[davidc4430]

easy answer............NO NO NO

there is no whay the seller can ask demand request a change of feedback for any reason when dealing with a return/refund

buyer is in the driving seat as long as he/she follows the return/refund rules.

seller can either be a willing participent in the process or ebay/PP wil just refund regardless.

its much better for the seller to be proactive, work with the buyer to get a good outcome all round.

seller going on attack mode just ends with seller losing more than they were going to lose in the begining.

[springyzone]

Fixwear; do you really think that public takes any notice of the negs 

Yes, I think many people do, but a lot depends on how they are written. If they just sound vindictive a buyer may discount them, if they are informative/factual, a buyer may take them into account. I certainly do.

But that doesn't mean no one will ever buy from that seller again. It just means some buyers might shy away.

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As for whether a person should revise feedback prior to getting a refund. Obviously the money back should be a priority, rather than worrying about what feedback you wrote. However, as others have said, there is an element of doubt about whether this seller would follow through and actually give a refund after the feedback has been revised.

The money comes first, so go after the surer bet with an ebay or paypal claim.

[*tippy*toes*]

I for one DO read a sellers negs. If I can see they are all stupid reasons, like the item arrived one day after the estimate, or a corner of the sticky tape was folded over, then I usually go ahead and buy. If I can see they are legitimate reasons, lots of NAD's, lots of broken items, lots of non arrivals, seller being disgustingly rude in their replies, then I'll have second thoughts.

I have bought from sellers who've got hundreds of negs and not bought from others who've only had 5. The reason I didn't buy from the one who only had 5 was, each reply they left for the buyer was rude, vulgar, disgusting, abusive. The reason I did buy from the one with hundreds was because you could see that they had done their best to rectify it with the buyer. I want to know that in the rare event there is an issue, the seller will be responsive. I don't want to buy from a seller who is going to abuse me because my item didn't arrive, or it arrived smashed.

I did make an error in my first reply to the OP, if you're going to open a dispute, do it through eBay, not PayPal. That way if the seller wants the item back, they have to pay the postage costs.

[padi*0409]

Like Tippy I'll look at a sellers negs and neuts and make an informed decision from that, but I also look at revised feedback which most likely means negs revised.

With this seller there is quite a high level of revisions so I would tend to be cautious with them, I also note the 99.4% rating which is right on the borderline of high-volume sellers that many members here see as an risky seller to deal with.

[*tippy*toes*]

I tend to look at revisions in the opposite way to you. I see revisions as the seller resolving the issue to the buyers satisfaction, which increases my confidence a bit. If they're happy to resolve someone else's problem, then they should hopefully be happy to resolve mine if one arises. Theoretically anyway!

[digital*ghost]

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@padi*0409 wrote:

Like Tippy I'll look at a sellers negs and neuts and make an informed decision from that, but I also look at revised feedback which most likely means negs revised.

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Just one thing to keep in mind re: revised feedback count, it is the total number of FB that has been revised for the seller, ever, rather than just the last 12 months, so they can often be deceptively high in comparison to the 12-month FB count. 

[black*poppy]

Actually it is possible to have feedback revised/removed contigent on refunds.

I've told this story on the boards before.. a couple of years ago I bought a white bunk bed and the thing arrived in about 11 packages, 3 of which were natural wood colour rather than white.  This was when I was moving interstate and I needed the bed to arrive at my new address by a certain time so my parents could set it up before we arrived with the kids.

So when dad found the wrong parts we messaged etc etc.. no response at all.  It was pathetic.  Two weeks rolls by, we needed the bed so it was built. and I end up with a multi-coloured  contraption that looked pretty rank.  It was only after I left a negative - I was pretty p****d - that any action happened.  

After we received the right parts, I was offered a $60 refund in exchange for revising feedback.  I felt the compensation was justified given we had to build that damn bed twice which took forever.  Heck, I reckon it should have been more.  I just had to state in writing that I agreed, got the refund, and the next day the feedback was completely removed without me doing anything.   

I'm pretty sure that ebay removed that feedback under some arrangement that company had with them.  They've since gone under anyway, the dream rider one.  Pfft good riddance. 

The moral is, refunds conditional on feedback revision is something that is made permissable and even assisted by ebay, whatever our opinion of it is.  I reckon if the buyer put in writing "I agree to revise this negative feedback for the offered refund of $xx" then ebay might even do it for the seller.

[springyzone]

That's an interesting story, poppy & I agree you deserved the compo. Just appalling that the company didn't respond at all to your messages till they got a neg.

[letscleanupmycupboards]

I didn't set out to get a refund. The product itself, a phone battery, is fine. The screwdriver included to fit it was **bleep** and didn't fit the screws. I had to go out and get one or sit my phone aside for 5 or 6 days waiting for seller resolution. That wasn't an option. 

I messaged the seller and said the screwdriver was **bleep** and they asked repeatedly if the battery was faulty and did I want to return it. Told them no, just a dodgy screwdriver. They offered to send a replacement set of tools. I said no point as I'd already bought a screwdriver locally and fixed the phone. Their reply was would I like to return the battery. Aussie based seller with clearly no grasp of written English. This went on for 5 or 6 messages until I got fed up and left appropriate feedback. So I don't really need or deserve a refund. Sure I'll take it but I'm not inclined to revise my original feedback based on that. I just found it strange that the only time I get a straight answer was when I neg the seller. I hardly ever give negative feedback, most sellers are very helpful and I never find it necessary.