Seriously, I am so upset for John, I have tears streaming down my face, it is totally unbelievable that they could do this to him.  You are so correct, the words to describe what has occurred would have us all banned !  This bs needs to stop !

Sorry to harp on about a comment I have made several times, both here on the boards and in messages to eBay, the Defective Rating system has to be clearly spelt out to Buyers as they leave their Feedback - not in some convoluted automated useless general message that they will probably never read anyway.

Buyers need to be made very clearly aware that a 3 is NOT NEUTRAL, which is what they are still being told, it is NEGATIVE

Out of curiosity, I just went to an item I am yet to leave Feedback for to see what actually appears if I try to leave 2 Stars and 3 Stars.

I'm no good at trying to copy and paste to these posts, (however I have attached a copy - I hope) but in essence : -

The only time you are alerted to consider your Feedback is if you attempt to leave 2 Stars for item as described !

There is no alert for leaving 2 stars for anything else

Enter your feedback about the item

Rate details about this purchase

How accurate was the item description? Very inaccurateInaccurateNeither inaccurate nor accurateAccurateVery accurate

Two Star Rating Inaccurate

Why weren't you satisfied with the item description?

Item was not received

Quality did not match item description

Item was damaged

Item was a counterfeit, replica, or an unauthorised copy

Wrong item

Other

How satisfied were you with the seller's communication? Very unsatisfiedUnsatisfiedNeither unsatisfied nor satisfiedSatisfiedVery satisfied Unsatisfied

How quickly did the seller post the item? Very slowlySlowlyNeither slowly nor quicklyQuicklyVery quickly Slowly How reasonable were the postage and handling charges? Very unreasonableUnreasonableNeither unreasonable nor reasonableReasonable

Three Star Rating

No mention anywhere this is Negative - Still they imply it is Neutral

In my opinion, unless a Buyer is also a Seller, they have little knowledge, interest or concern for this pathetic system.

In actual fact, without detracting from the severity of John's situation, putting oneself in the Buyers shoes, leaving Feedback in the situation John was in, if I were not also a Seller, I could see easily how a Buyer might leave positive comments but with a 2 for item description - Item not Received - I mean, how can they say it was As described if they didn't get it.  That would be the sort of logic I would apply as a Buyer.  I would leave positive Feedback, because I would be happy the Seller contacted me and offered Refund, but could not honestly say Item was as Described, I also couldn't/wouldn't say 'Item Posted Quickly', so I guess that would be another Defect.   The alternative to being questioned in the first place - is of course to leave a 3 Star - if only the Buyers knew !

Slightly off track, but just to make the point, I had a Buyer Pick Up an order this morning and we got chatting, she has/had no idea how the system works, and I would think the majority of Buyers don't (unless of course they are also Sellers) She had no idea of Final Value Fees on both the item and the Postage, PayPal fees etc.  She assumed of course there were fees, but did not know the details.  Let's face it, Buyers are here to buy, not to read all the long winded, often confusing policies.  So the only way, imo, for  the Defective to make any sense to Buyers is to spell it out when they actually leave Feedback - maybe a 3 Star Rating needs to be removed altogether - so it's either Negative or Positive !

Sorry guys, rant over