I received negative feedback on eBay! What do I do!?!?

by Robert Leavitt

If you have been selling on eBay for any length of time it's bound to happen sooner or later.  Eventually a user will not be satisfied with the product you sent them and leave you a negative feedback.  It doesn't matter what you are selling.  If you were selling gold bars for a dollar, I guarantee that somewhere along the line there will be a buyer who says something like "My gold bar for 1 dollar wasn't gold enough" or perhaps "My gold bar should be twice this size, I mean after all, I sent you a dollar!"

   by  B Rosen 

Well I too received my first negative feedback at eBay today.  To make matters worse, the person said that the product was "covered in mud splotches" and "reeked like pot".  I find this a little bit comical as no one in my house smokes pot.  In fact, no one has EVER smoked pot in this house at any time.  So, I did what any other person with an untarnished reputation on eBay would do..... I panicked.

I called customer service to demand that it be removed as there is no basis for these accusations, and I found them to be completely crazy and in no way shape or form substantiated.  So they transferred me to the "elite" section of eBay customer service where they have the authority to handle such matters.  After a few minutes of being on hold and listening to various advertisements I was connected with a customer service representative.  I was promptly informed that they would not take it down, and that it was between me and the buyer and it was not eBay's policy to intervene.  I was also informed that I should contact the buyer to see if they would retract the comment and that I also had the option of "responding" to the feedback so my other customers could read that response (have yet to find where that button is).

   by  Janitors 

So I sat back and thought...now I know that negative feedback and unhappy customers are just part of the game.  I understand that this is part of doing business.  I don't understand how someone could make up whatever they wanted and put it on there and that eBay is not responsible for helping me maintain my "stellar" record of outstanding customer service, products and prices.  They sure intervene when it's time for them to take out their seller fees.  I am waiting for a response from my disgruntled buyer who obviously just wants to be an ___hole.  One can see from his other feedback sent to other people that he's enjoys getting people upset.

Has this happened to you?  Leave some comments and tell me about your experiences.

Sigh..


UPDATE:
After a couple of tries with customer eBay customer service, I got an OUTSTANDING rep, who went ahead and got the horrible feedback removed for me!  I was very happy.  Most of the customer service call center for eBay is outsourced to another country, which can be frustrating and I have not had a great overall experience with the cust. service department.  However this was addressed and is proof that it pays to be persistent.

You can learn more about Robert Leavitt on his Google Plus page.