How do I get genuine help about my seller level being dropped?

[best.mx.shop]

My seller level has been dropped because of some returns I have had. I didn't pay attention as I didn't realise the importance of the way eBay marked the return cases. 

I have one case that was not evaluated properly and the seller attempted to use an item that was totally incorrect for what he needed, and then said my item was wrong. Despite me selling 5 of the items without issue and getting proof that the item the buyer required was not what I had listed.

I have another case where I contacted the buyer and asked them to confirm if they were happy with the outcome of the case. They got back to me and said they wer however eBay is not willing to remove the case from my defect report.

I have another case I didn't follow up on where the buyer returned an item because they felt like it and eBay refunded them. Becasuse I didn't follow up on it eBay marked me down.

No I have had 3 people return items recently because they changed their mind. Rather than messing around trying to get them to pay postage I have sent them the labels and refunded them the full amount and followed the procedures asked by eBay. 

However the defect rate has not changed and these cases if they couted would bring my seller level back to above standard. I have contacted eBay customer support today and they just keep repeating the same thing saying the seller level cannot be evaluated untill the 20th of next month and it is now the 25th. So eBay wants to continue to charge the extra 5% for almost another month rather than evaluating my cases and seller level properly. 

I feel like this is almost criminal if not definately criminal. Does anyone have any help on how I can get legitimate support from eBay? Or have any advice on how I can get this solved?

[katistrophik]

Ok, not a seller here, but if you have this listed on your items:

Returns:

Return policy

Item must be returned within 30 days after the buyer receives it

The buyer is responsible for return postage costs.

You must return items in their original packaging and in the same condition as when you received them.

doesn't that mean you accept change of mind as a reason?? If so, I would remove that.

It is not a requirement of eBay and certainly not required under Australian Consumer Law

[jellybirddesigns]

Life is busy for everyone! Sorry, but not an excuse.

We've just taken in a 17 year old teenager from a bad home situation as an emergency and have been running around for all sorts of things for her for the last month. I still check on my shops a couple of times each day to respond to messages, sew up orders that have come through, pack, run to the PO, do the shopping and laundry, stay on top of household finances, create new listings, search for new fabrics and ideas and do a million other things that occur in the course of day to day living.

This shop is one of three that I run which puts food on our table and pays the bills.

I would NEVER do anything to ever compromise that, especially since hubby went on to JobKeeper last year.

[katistrophik]

We've just taken in a 17 year old teenager from a bad home situation

Kudo's to you, that is amazing and so good this poor kid has someone to rely on - much respect and admiration.

Shows there is humanity left in this sometimmes unfair world

Spoiler

 Need more people like you

[jellybirddesigns]

@kat - thanks, it's been hectic for sure.

Poor kid didn't even have shoes and was wearing clothes from when she was 12 as her father stopped paying for her food, clothing and medicine.

I just wanted to convery to the OP that life is crazy and unexpected for everybody. A month ago I would never have imagined that we would suddenly have a teenage girl in our home (we only have 1 boy) and now we are a household of 4 people, which comes with all sorts of new routines, expenses and responsibilities. We've had to purchase her appropriate clothing, take her to doctors and other medical appointments and get her sorted with TAFE, all which has taken up a lot of time that I was not expecting.

But I still have to make a living and I'm grateful to Ebay and the other platforms that allows me to continue selling as long as I follow the guidelines.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@best.mx.shop wrote:
Maybe instead of being patronising you could spend your energy trying to help people.
Yes I have let some cases go but I am very busy.

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Busy? Really? Not our problem. If you are so busy, maybe stop listing on eBay. You seem to have a ridiculous amount of disputes and returns, compared to most, that you are clearly not able to manage, so I would suggest that eBay is not the place for you. Maybe you should try Facebook Marketplace, where you can have items listed for years with no one seeing them. No issues with returns or disputes there.

If you are too busy to attend to disputes, then don't come crying to us when you get defects and restrictions on your account. It's your loss, not ours.

[best.mx.shop]

Really, so when cases aren't reviewed properly by eBay as being resolved - even when the customer has got back to me and said they are happy with the resolve, the fact they have been marked as closed without resolve is my fault?
So that isn't a case of eBay not looking at the way the case was closed.
I don't need to answer to you tippy toes, your user name says it all and the fact you've set up an account on her with zero feedback just to stir things up and making sure nobody can see what is going on with your business says it all about you and your character. So don't bring your patronising ways around here without expecting to hear some home truths. I would never go onto a forum and talk down to someone unless they were like you and need to be told to have some manners. You don't know or understand the situation fully here because you've not looked at it properly. Patronising means when you try to make out you are helping someone but in actual fact you are just saying something to try and get a sense of superiority over someone and have no intention of helping them. Which is exactly your first comment saying I should be more responsible, when in actual fact the way my cases have been marked down is wrong, but I wasn't aware it was going to make such a difference and didn't chase it up as I have always done the right thing with customers. I'm fairly certain the way they have started to mark seller level down has changed recently too.
I've issued returns and helped people out when they want to keep half of the item, when they have brought the wrong item and tried to make out it wasn't the right item, when they have changed their mind.

[countessalmirena]

@best.mx.shop,

I can understand why you perceive the downgrading as unfair. eBay has its own playground and its own rules, and those rules are of course to its own advantage. Many a seller has summariliy found their account permanently booted off eBay, for what seem like ridiculous and completely arbitrary reasons. I don't think I've heard of a seller in that situation being able to have their account reinstated, even when there's no apparent justification for the ban.

That means that you'd do well to take on board the suggestions here. Bluntly expressed, or given with lashings of kindness, the bottom line is - what is going to help you in the long term?

This is just something you are going to have to take on board. You're a seller on eBay. It is to your advantage to be aware of the policies and procedures governing selling on eBay so that you don't end up with what you perceive as unfair impacts to your seller level. Don't let yourself become so distracted that you fail to take mitigating action before a problem reaches the point of "ding".

In the long term, you are going to have to make yourself au fait with eBay's Help (policy) pages, and take note of any change in those policy pages. Posting on these boards - and taking the advice given, even if it's not to your taste - will in many cases give you advance notice of things that are changing on eBay, and also how to manage best while complying with eBay's requirements.

I'm sorry that your seller level has been pushed down. Just bear in mind that eBay's timeframes for you to act when there's a problem are VERY rigid, and you must resolve issues swiftly. Try not to let yourself be so overwhelmed with being busy that you can't keep on top of problem resolution; that's insane. Your stress levels must be off the chart, which cannot be helping. Are there things that you can stop doing, or pass along to someone else to do?

Best of luck.

[digital*ghost]

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@best.mx.shop wrote:

Cases closed without resolution 0.38% as is currently. I contacted another customer and they said they they were happy with the return process and refund ammount. When I contacted eBay they would not remove it because it is over 90 days.

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Cases closed without seller resolution should only occur when a buyer doesn't get a satisfactory response from the seller and they escalate the case to eBay for review. 

While I do have empathy for your situation and understand the margin of error provided by eBay is very low, if that is what happened with enough cases and your seller level dropped because of it, unfortunately the "I didn't realise it would affect me negatively, so can it please not affect me negatively", is not very likely to work with resolving the issue with eBay. 

And I'm not saying that to be insulting, I'm saying that so you can recognise what it comes across as from eBay's perspective - i.e. the policies are there and being unaware of them doesn't mean they're not applicable. 

If, on the other hand, the case closed without seller resolution defects have been applied in error, then you have a much more compelling case to put forward. 

INAD cases can affect your level as well, and in eBay's eyes it doesn't actually matter how or why the cases are opened, none of those are eligible for removal - eg if a buyer accidentally opens an INAD case and closes it themselves within minutes of opening it, it's still counted. I'll be the first to say it's disgustingly unfair, particularly as this metric can result in eBay applying the higher FVF rate to your sales for as long as the standard is listed as "very high", but therein lies the rub - eBay has a financial interest in counting as many cases as possible towards this metric, regardless of whether they were valid cases, or whether they were resolved satisfactorily. 

Re: being busy, you can actually set it up so that any buyer who opens a case against you is automatically refunded - if you are too busy to attend to cases, then this would be the best option to ensure no more are escalated to ebay and become another "case closed without seller resolution".