Received negative feedback very unfairly

[infinitigor]

I am an ebay seller of used blackberry cell phones.

I started selling used verizon phones that have bad ESN numbers,, which means they cannot be activated on verizon, but can be unlocked to work on the GSM network.

In my ebay ad i wrote that the phone may have a bad ESN number and to make sure to email me prior to bidding. This buyer didn't read the auction, went ahead and bought my phone, emailed me that they were unhappy and wanted their money back, waited no more than 12 hours for my reply and just went ahead and left negative feedback without even a response from me! Below is the link to my feedback profile.

I have tried contacting the buyer many times with no response, even offering a refund if they return their item and remove the negative feedback. And for those of you that know anything about Fraud, none of the elements off fraud were present in my auction.

Let me know what you guys think, thanks!

[feedback.ebay.com...]

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

That's what happens on ebay. If you want to sell there you have to live with it.

[dpd1]

I wouldn't worry about it. I know it's hard to let it go, but that's one neg. You've got plenty of positives to cover it. The guy used all caps and it just screams that he's a nut. You got your reply in, so that clears it up. You can try writing ebay, but from what people have said lately, sounds like they don't give a s**t about sellers anymore.

[infinitigor]

yea.. i know my reply does clear it up. It just over all these years I had all positive feedback, this one will not stop bugging me out.

The buyer lives about 3hr drive from me in D.C, and I was planning a visit there sometime soon anyway, might need to have the courts involved with this one. <---yes this is how upset I am about this neg. feedback

[dpd1]

Speaking as a person who has let that kind of stuff get to me and then shot myself in the foot because of it... I would strongly suggest just leaving it alone. If you want to bother having a lawyer try and send something to ebay, you can give it a shot. Myself, and I'm sure other people, would be interested to hear the results. I guess they could claim that it's defamation or something, I don't know. But I advise against doing anything more yourself. People like your guy can make it their life long project to screw with you. I have a guy who STILL to this day has a giant bunch of negative BS about me posted on his site... 8 years later. The guy went to jail twice and it's still there. All because I emailed him and spoke my mind.

Sometimes it's just best to leave it alone.

[cien]

Try to respond to the feedback, if allowed, and post the url to your site somehow so people can read your side of the story. I haven't sold nor bought anything there for years now. That place is a cesspool. E.ay's CEO is pulling some crazy s..t over there on sellers even the devil would go "DUDE!".

[piatkow]

The buyer lives about 3hr drive from me in D.C, and I was planning a visit there sometime soon anyway,

That sounds as if you are thinking of confronting him personally. DO NOT, you would probably end up in a police station trying to explain why you were "threatening" him after he complained about you selling a "dodgy" phone.

[jecasc]

I would not leave it alone. I would write him an polite email and threaten legal action for his defamatory statement. Write something like this:

Dear customer,

I am very sorry you are not satisfied with your purchase. Our auction text clearly stated that you should contact us before biding if you need a phone with working ESN for Verizon because this can not always be guarenteed. However you choose not to contact us and ignored our attempts to resolve this issue. Instead you have left a defamatory feedback on ebay. Please contact us until [insert date] if you are interested in resolving this matter in a cordial manner. Otherwise we will have no choice but to sue for libel in order to protect our reputation.

Best regards,

And if this does not help, get a lawyer involved if you think your reputation is worth it.

You could also try to contact ebay. Calling you a fraudster may violate the ebay TOS. Don't expect too much, but at least contacting them does not cost you money.

[pages.ebay.com...]

Don't know if it will impact sales, but I don't think so. Usually people are smart enough to know what to think about FEEDBACK IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

[Luxoria]

yeah, sounds like it really does need to be dropped. just keep selling and getting positives. 99% vs 98% pos feedback is not a big deal. unless that one negative dropped you down to 87% in that case well...

If a buyer is looking for a bad ESN phone I don't think the buyer is going to care about some nutjob screaming about the phone having a bad ESN.

Whenever I take the time to look at feedback I notice when there are negatives the buyer sounds like a 14 year old child with daddy's CC not getting the green power ranger when he wanted the pink and cry like a baby over it. Other than that the seller replies stating he offered a refund or whatever but the buyer refused or stopped communicating.

Besides, you do not know who is behind that buyer. I think you imagining things that are not there. After you spend thousands of dollars in lawyer money and a few hundred on medication for stress you are probably going to find a ignorant kid or person that is not free from mental deficiency.

Now I am not dismissing your anger, just reading about it gets me heated, but work it off. Or hire a PI get his address beat the hell out of him and go to jail over electronic who gives a @$#%.

[infinitigor]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Really insightful information here.

piatkow- When i wrote I am 3hrs away from him, it wasn't in a threatening manner. I simply meant if this had to go to court, then I would have no problem taking a trip down to D.C. to deal with this situation.


jecasc- your template email for me to send this person is very informative and helpful, and will most certainly be used!

[Jane_Doe]

99% vs 98% pos feedback is not a big deal.

As a buyer I agree. Most of the products and merchants on Amazon that have a lot of reviews usually have at least a few bad ones. It actually makes things seem more real sometimes. I didn't buy the top rated product for a purchase on Amazon this morning because the reviews seemed too artificially over-rated and manipulated.

you are probably going to find a ignorant kid or person that is not free from mental deficiency.

Yeah, the review could have been made by this guy or someone just like him -

Man shot wife, stepdaughter and three neighbours dead over ‘cold eggs’

[metro.co.uk...]

Or, the bad review may also have come from a competitor.

[leafgreen]

I agree with @cien and others that eBay is a dysfunctional mktplace for sellers.

After 11 years (!) of selling on eBay with ZERO negs, I got two this year with about the same volume. I was crushed. I think it has something to do with the foul mood of the American consumer this year.

Plus with the second, lost my 20% TRS discount and PowerSeller status! So I considered suing, then added up the cost/time versus $ from lost discount. Also considered simply selling a lot of some inexpensive item to increase the rating back to the threshold, and computed that I would need to make 400 more sales with all 5 DSR stars. Decided to just wait until the first neg drops off in six months to get my TRS discount back...

However, if the numbers work for you to sue, here's some info I found: You can get valid service in Santa Ana (or whatever it is where eBay is) County by simply sending a certified mail, ret. receipt req. letter. Name JD as the defendant. The venue is your county, small claims court. eBay won't be showing up and you'll get a default judgment. But if they do, then be prepared to make your case about libel, damage to reputation, and loss of discount. Most small claims courts require you to claim monetary damages. After you get your judgment, send it to eBay and they'll remove the feedback and deposit some lost discount $. Good luck.

[MrHard]

Just as in life customers are not always fair, welcome to the real world. One negative review in the past year is nothing to whine about.

Bad ESN? I think those get deactivated when reported stolen, but am not certain.

[Essex_boy]

DOnt worry about it, I now refudn a customer and refuse to deal with them If I think they are going to a problem, volume of emails generally warns