Asked by seller to remove negative feedback; offered a full refund and keep the item.

[mwiltshire776]

Hi all,

I was asked by a seller to remove a recent negative feedback that I gave them due to an item I received being of very poor quality. In return for removing the feedback, I was offered a full refund and to keep the item I recieved. I plan to decline.

My question is, would this kind of offer be against eBay's terms of service? As a whole it seems unethical to be for a seller to be asking this to remove and bad mark for selling a bad quality item.

Let me know what you think. 

[kopenhagen5]

Feedback extortion is not allowed.

You can however agree but only after you have the refund.

Then decide if the seller has been fair n honourable, revising or not revising feedback.

[shoppingbag*]

Did you contact them with your complaint before leaving feedback? Or did you just fly off the handle and leave feedback without contacting them?  Was the item described as "excellent quality"  Did they make the item and are therefore reponsible for the quality?  I have seen buyers complain about a 20 cent item from China being poor quality. Sellers would prefer any complaints be directed to them before you leave feedback, so they may have the opportunity to try to solve the problem.  It is very likely this seller would have given you a full refund, if you had contacted them first.  It is unfair to ruin a seller's reputation without trying to resolve the issue with them first. I don't know why you would refuse a full refund, in return for removing feedback. It appears the seller is trying to make amends, surely getting the item for free is the best they could possibly do, why punish them further for something that is probably not their fault in the first place?

[lyndal1838]

It is very odd feedback left for an Australian seller.   Genuine item but not OEM?  What does that mean.?

I think you have had a very fair offer from the seller.....why would you refuse a full refund if you are not happy with the item?

Just accept the refund and do not leave any feedback at all.

[go-tazz]

It did not state OEM in the listing,(Original Equipment Manufacturer).

As they didn't state an MPN or UPC then you should've realized that it wasn't an OEM,(so buying the keyboard

without those stated means it wasn't an OEM product).

Accept the refund and when revising the feedback just leave a dot or similar.

Totally unfair to trash someones feedback because you mucked up and you aren't out of pocket when you get the

refund,(but their selling could be badly affected because you feel wronged).

They've sold over a 165 of those keyboards in the last 90 days and yours is the only "complaint").

You expected a keyboard produced by the OEM but if you had read the add correctly you would've have known

that it wasn't and because you mucked uo you are blaming the seller,(trying to destroy a seller rep because

you got it wrong is never a good look and that negative feedback actually makes you look foolish and you may

be blocked by sellers that see it).

[shoppingbag*]

There is always a lemon even amongst the best items.   Seeing as other buyers were happy with the same product, this would seem to be the case.  You could have contacted the seller regarding this.  Most likely the seller would have told you to keep the existing one and they would just send another at no cost to you.

[4channel]

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@mwiltshire776 wrote:

Hi all,

I was asked by a seller to remove a recent negative feedback that I gave them due to an item I received being of very poor quality. In return for removing the feedback, I was offered a full refund and to keep the item I recieved. I plan to decline.

My question is, would this kind of offer be against eBay's terms of service? As a whole it seems unethical to be for a seller to be asking this to remove and bad mark for selling a bad quality item.

Let me know what you think. 

---

This could be looked at with two possibilites.

* The first would be that the seller wants to do the right thing and also thinks  to ask you to remove the negative is a fair thing. If that's what it is then that would be fair.

* Another possibility is that the seller did the wrong thing and wasn't prepared to make it right. Then, when you put in the negative, they have now stood up and have tried to negotiate with you. Well, in that case, you have to make that call on what you feel is the right thing. Negatives are there to warn buyers about the bad practices and bad quality control of some sellers. I have personally been ripped off badly by dishonest sellers. I have also dealt with sellers, who, while not dishonest as such, are too lazy or will not take responsibility for their mistakes.  Buyers have to be warned about this as well. If we didn't have the feedback system, people would be ripped off left right and center.

Now, if you tried negotiating with the seller and just got a brick wall in front of you and it only came down after the negative was given then maybe you will know where you're at. 

I hope all future dealings for you will be good.

[padi*0409]

Did you read go-tazz's reply to the OP 4channel? 

The keyboard was never described by the seller as an OEM item in the first place. "Genuine" yes, OEM no.

[4channel]

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@padi*0409 wrote:

Did you read go-tazz's reply to the OP 4channel? 

The keyboard was never described by the seller as an OEM item in the first place. "Genuine" yes, OEM no.

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There was nothing in the OP's post to say the item was a keyboard padi*0409 . Thinking now, bviously go-tazz had checked out the OP's feedback for others and seen the negative comment. I did too but couldn't find a link to the auction. Anyway, you're probably right but then again, how was the auction page set up?

A  few times I have purchased dvd and cd that are actually DVD-R- and CD-R. Sometimes the seller doesn't state that. Sometimes they do but they have the mention of DVD-R & CD-R in a place of the page where the eye doesn't focus because the page is deliberately set up with some bling to distract. Once I purchased some DVD paper sleeves (Dick Smith brand). Nice photo showed 2 packs, side by side with each other. When I got the parcel and opened it, there was just one. Annoyed, I checked the auction page and it said Pack. But, on a snap it up buy it now, you don't scan every aspect of the page. I have also had similar with other items. 

So, is it possible that even though the seller is covered, the design and set up of the auction page gave the OP the impression (or influenced OP to think)  that the item was OEM?

[lyndal1838]

You need to go to the seller's feedback to be able to see the listing.....nowhere does it say OEM, just genuine.