PromoTheRobot Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 I just had something interesting happen to me on eBay. A purchase that went bad for me vanished from my list of purchased items. I bought a replacement laptop battery from what appeared to be a US based seller but must have been from elsewhere. China is my guess. First battery was defective. Sent it back. Second was defective as well. Asked for a refund and got it. Okay, at least they made good on refund but I'm still out $13 in postage sending those defective batteries back. I decided I would leave a "neutral" feedback. But when I went into my account the record of my battery purchase was gone, as if it never occurred! So is this how large eBay sellers keep their 99.9% positive ratings? By deleting sales that go bad before someone can leave a negative feedback comment? PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 I just had something interesting happen to me on eBay. A purchase that went bad for me vanished from my list of purchased items. I bought a replacement laptop battery from what appeared to be a US based seller but must have been from elsewhere. China is my guess. First battery was defective. Sent it back. Second was defective as well. Asked for a refund and got it. Okay, at least they made good on refund but I'm still out $13 in postage sending those defective batteries back. I decided I would leave a "neutral" feedback. But when I went into my account the record of my battery purchase was gone, as if it never occurred! So is this how large eBay sellers keep their 99.9% positive ratings? By deleting sales that go bad before someone can leave a negative feedback comment? PTR I have been on E-bay almost since the beginning. Back then you could actually buy very cool things especially vintage, collectable, etc. at great prices. They morph their business model constantly. As you probably already know feedback is now just a rolling 12 month deal. So sellers getting a few negatives see them disappear 12 months later. Also, in the past if you did say 40 deals with a seller only the first feedback counted. And, for any reason a seller could give you a neg if say you didn't leave them positive feedback. Those days are gone. I think in your deal. In the end you never actually completed a transaction since you got the refund. That little thingy is right in their software model and is automatic. The reasoning is you were out NO cash even though they sent you crap twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Like BPA, I've been using eBay since almost day 1. Nowdays though, I almost never use them and would never sell anything of value on the site. Why? The rules flipped so far from favoring the seller to favoring the buyer that buyers are now ripping people off. True story: I had a really nice negative scanner I sold on eBay for about $1200. Tested it before shipping, it worked perfectly. I shipped it to the guy who mails me a week later and says it doesn't work. I tried troubleshooting with him, but it was obvious that he was just stalling. He told me that the scans came out with a line down the middle, so I asked him to email me an example -- he took a picture of the picture from his screen. Mmmmkay. When I asked him to email me the actual photo, he said he didn't know how. A day before the one month timeline was up, he asked for a refund, went through the dispute process on eBay, and shipped it back to me. The thing worked perfectly, he was just renting it for a month. When reading up on eBay's rules, I found that it's a common scam - and that I actually was lucky to get the product back, because many people were scammed by getting a box of rocks back. As long as the buyer can prove they shipped SOMETHING back to you (and that you signed for it), they get all of their money back and the seller has no recourse. The guy made one mistake - he forgot to get delivery confirmation. I was so tempted to screw him over and say I never received the package, but I decided to take the high road. Never again will I sell anything of value on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 No, not at all. I used to work for eBay. Someone did something... Report it asap..if u need help lemme know... I still know people I just had something interesting happen to me on eBay. A purchase that went bad for me vanished from my list of purchased items. I bought a replacement laptop battery from what appeared to be a US based seller but must have been from elsewhere. China is my guess. First battery was defective. Sent it back. Second was defective as well. Asked for a refund and got it. Okay, at least they made good on refund but I'm still out $13 in postage sending those defective batteries back. I decided I would leave a "neutral" feedback. But when I went into my account the record of my battery purchase was gone, as if it never occurred! So is this how large eBay sellers keep their 99.9% positive ratings? By deleting sales that go bad before someone can leave a negative feedback comment? PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I just had something interesting happen to me on eBay. A purchase that went bad for me vanished from my list of purchased items. I bought a replacement laptop battery from what appeared to be a US based seller but must have been from elsewhere. China is my guess. First battery was defective. Sent it back. Second was defective as well. Asked for a refund and got it. Okay, at least they made good on refund but I'm still out $13 in postage sending those defective batteries back. I decided I would leave a "neutral" feedback. But when I went into my account the record of my battery purchase was gone, as if it never occurred! So is this how large eBay sellers keep their 99.9% positive ratings? By deleting sales that go bad before someone can leave a negative feedback comment? PTR I have to agree with BPA. You say it disappeared as if it never happened. Well seeing you don't have the battery and got refunded it never did happen. I used eBay a couple of time back in the day. Not worth it to me. No, not at all. I used to work for eBay. Someone did something... Report it asap..if u need help lemme know... I still know people Someone's gonna get whacked. Awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Something is not right and eBay should allow you to comment that the battery was bad. I do not use eBay for any item over $80. If I do, it is from a daily deals and I only buy new in the box...and that is RARE. Maybe, once. But, often times, I go look at the best deals they provide and can find them at NewEgg, Best Buy, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) I have been buying and selling on EBAY for about 15 years. I can honestly say, in all that wheeling and dealing (I have a 3700+ rating) I have had less than 10 transactions that have had problems. My biggest beef with EBAY, it is tilted completely in favor of the buyer these days. And, their fees have gotten so high (20% on high dollar items, plus a % of your shipping charge, and a PAYPAL fee...also owned by EBAY), in estimation, it really isn't worth selling cheaper items on EBAY these days...I make out much better as a buyer than a seller. PTR- I had something a little similar to you, happen last summer. I purchased a copy of Madden 13 for PS3 for a mere $30 (+ $5 for shipping)..most were selling it for about $50-65. The item was listed as a "USA" seller... So, it took about a month to get the game....it came from China, not the USA. What I got was a "bootleg" of the game with a poor reproduction of the cover art for Madden 2013, and the artwork for Madden 2012 on the disc. No instructions for the game, only an index size card with instructions, in poor English, on how to "rip" my PS3 player to play the game. I didn't follow the instructions...I didn't even try. I reported it to EBAY...my money (including postage) was refunded immediately, and the seller, I learned, had been barred from EBAY. I actually received an email from EBAY, right after I made the purchase, warning me that the seller might be fraudulent. I didn't have to mail anything back to the seller, my money was refunded right away. When I went to leave negative feedback for the seller, the transaction had completely been deleted from my account...I am guessing, as others have said, I am not out any money (just frustrated), and EBAY would like to keep negative feedback to a minimum...bad for advertising. As a seller I can tell you (not saying this is you PTR, your item was defective), pretty much any problem I have had with a buyer has been the result of them not paying for what they agreed to purchase, or from them not reading the listing. What sucks is, a buyer can leave you a negative feedback at their leisure, but the seller has no recourse. Not long ago, I sold a heavy, box-set of the Sopranos series to a guy in Brooklyn. This thing was massive, and weighed about 15 lbs. The guy took a few weeks to pay, I mailed him the item (he paid about $70 for the set, plus $10 for shipping...shipping was actually closer to $25), and gave me very emphatic instructions on how to pack his item....it was returned to me, as there was nobody at the address with his name. I asked him to verify his address...he gave me a completely different address (not the same as the listed on his EBAY and PAYPAL accounts)...he complained about how long it was taking....never acknowledging that he never gave me the address he wanted the item sent to ("I buy stuff all the time, have never had this problem" he claimed, though his feedback showed that he hadn't purchased anything in EBAY in over a year)...the guy was a complete dick....but knowing, as a buyer, I am !@#$ed if the transaction goes bad, I sent it again...so I paid close to $50 in shipping for something that I I only got $80 for...subtract the EBAY/Paypal charges I ended up making about $15... a complete waste of time...the guy got a great deal... Edited July 28, 2013 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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