Blocked Buyer

[super_sunny_sales]

In March I had a buyer buy some items from me.  They received them with no issues.  Beginning of April they buy some more items from me.  I get a message from the buyer after they received the items saying that they were very upset and disappointed because 2 of the items were not what they were expecting.  I sell DVDs CD, Books  and 2 of the DVDs they ordered were "DISC & CASE ONLY".  This is very clearly marked on the listings and it is mentioned a few times in the listing that there is no artwork.   I even list these items in Acceptable condition.  They were upset because they didn't know they were disc only.  I decided to just refund the buyer without trying to argue with them.  And after seeing the tone of their message and checking the feedback they left for others I decided to block them from buying from us again.  BIG MISTAKE!

A few weeks later I guess they had tried to buy from us again because they left feedback on the first order they placed in March , (not sure why they picked that order). They had bought 10 items so they left negatives on all of them.  They said I was a toxic seller, buy from someone else and said I banned them because they contacted me etc..   

I contacted Ebay to see if they would remove the feedback.  They only removed 4 saying the other 6 didn't violate the guidelines.  All the Feedbacks said a variation of the same thing.   I have contacted Ebay customer service 2 times about this but they said they can't do anything and repeated that the feedback doesn't violate guidelines.

I am pretty sure this affected our sales because they have basically ground to a halt..  I have contacted the buyer and asked if they can revise the feedback but I have got no response.

I just think it sucks that the one thing Ebay sellers can do to protect ourselves, blocking people, can backfire on us.

[inhawaii · Accepted solution]

Sorry this happened to you.

The only advice I can give is KEEP TRYING.

Sometimes you get different results with a different customer service person.

Have you tried asking ebay for feedback removal online? Sometimes that works. It's worth a try.

Good luck to you. 

[super_sunny_sales]

yes that is what I initially did.  I used the Ebay feedback removal .  They only removed 4 of the 10...

[super_sunny_sales]

I understand that  feedback can't be removed if it doesn't violate guidelines but why did 4 violate them and not the other 6 when they all said the same thing.  Customer service couldn't seem to answer that question..

[asset_liquidators]

One I think wasn't removed because it is a neg but has no comment. The other five it may be because you had already responded to the negs? (I am taking a guess at that because I thought I had heard some time ago that if the leave a reply they don't remove them).

Either way, the feedback is not affecting your sales (it is coincidental). You have good feedback and the replies you did left were professional and to the point. Your buyer on the other hand comes off looking childish with a sense of entitlement.

[dqdistribution]

Did you go to all the listings and 'Report Buyer'. I'd say it's a misrepresentation. Not sure if that does anything. Sometimes different things like this go to different departments outside of customer service where someone could see the abuse.

[super_sunny_sales]

No, Ebay removed the words on that one but left the negative feedback.  Also I left replies after Ebay didn't remove the feedback and after I contacted Ebay customer service the first time.

[super_sunny_sales]

yeah, I did report buyer and explained why feedback should be removed. 

Also the first customer service person I talked to said they would open a report about the buyer but still insisted that the feedback couldn't be removed, claiming that it was the "buyers experience"...   (No, the buyer was just mad they got blocked and decided to retaliate...)

[inhawaii]

General reply.

Some people/sellers say/think that once you reply to a negative feedback it can't be removed.

This is not true.

It can.

[super_sunny_sales]

The customer service people made it sound like the decision was final and that nothing can be done...

I am essentially being punished for blocking a buyer.   I brought that up with customer service and they didn't respond to that...

[dqdistribution]

I can confirm this.

I have given apologies on multiple negative feedbacks that were ended up removed.

[soh.maryl]

What would they report the buyer for?  

[lightlily_arts]

I'm only speaking for myself.  When I read a seller's feedback and see that there are multiple negative complaints from one buyer I tend to ignore them simply because I know that buyers will retaliate.   Especially when the rest of the seller's feedback is positive. The likelihood that all of their purchases were problematic is highly doubtful.  Moreover, the fact they stated they were banned is a  good indication the seller had a bad buyer.  Nonetheless, I would still try to get their feedback removed since they didn't return all those items and it's clear the feedback was  abusive.

[dqdistribution]

Technically they went and gave feedback on transactions that had no negativity at all. Message transcripts can prove that, and the buyer did not attempt to return the product.

So I could see the reason : Buyer made a false claim

Since the feedback doesn't represent the transaction accurately. Now I'm not saying this will have any impact, I was just giving an option suggestion that might help remove the feedback. 

[super_sunny_sales]

yeah I did report the buyer on the items they had an issue with from the other order.