Starting to hate Ebay.

This is probably a bit of a rant, and I use ebay a lot and find it provides a useful service much of the time. But god some things about it really annoy me.

The negative feedback system, to name one gripe, when if you leave a neg feedback for example becuase you recieve something that was broken, you get retaliatory neg feedback and can do nothing about it. Given the hippy esq philosophy about the creation of a happy clappy customer driven service i do feel that they treat their customers like :*** much of the time, much worse than Amazon for example.

Does anyone else find this to tbe the case?

With hindsight I suppose this is a link and should be moved, sorry. However I am really grumbling about some members of the ebay generation and not the site itself.

 

I have only bought a few times though ebay and gotten some really bad sellers. some that sent me the wrong stuff, and then made me pay to resend there mistake. Ihave gotten stuff over 3 weeks late. But I have also gotten really nice ppl. I still use the site, and just hope I dont get the bad ppl again

 

Yup I must admit this is one of my pet hates too. Why is it the customer has to pay for the sellers mistake?

 

ebay will always be ebay..ive only used it about 10 times to buy some PSP accessories and have never gotten anything late or damaged. Maybe its sheer luck that I avoid the bad sellers, but i have heard some weird stories about people getting ripped off, damaged goods, the wrong item, paying for items and never recieving them, and many more.

 

I started using Ebay in 2001 and for the first few years it was great, but now I am reluctant to use it.People want 'brand new' items for next to nothing. Ebay is mainly for 2nd hand items (or it was) and as often happens a few bad apples have given it a bad name. Lots of genuine sellers/buyers who do their level best to conclude the sale are being ripped off or worse given negative feedback.
When a potential bidder sees that you have negative feedback they are reluctant to use you. I am lucky that I have a 100% positive feedback rating for over 550 items, but I tend to only deal with 100% users also.!

 

My grandad didnt even know how to turn a pc on 12 months ago, now hes makind big money on eBay! He gets stuff from charity shops and sells it on! Makes a killing!

I saw a boxed JamesBond Thunderball car in a charity shop the other day for £5, I might have a go at it myself! Im sure that would be worth a bit, what you think?

I found a funny ebay song/video on the net the other week, couldnt find the original again, but this is the same song with a different video:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYokLWfqbaU

 

I don't get mad so much at problems like these, since I've had all good experiences with the site. It's the bid wars that break out some times. That's why I only use Buy it now.

 

Unjust negative feedback ? Don't tolerate it. Instigate legal action against eBay and the person who left the comment. That's what I did and it works.

 

Wayne - I will give you £5.99 for the James Bond Thunderball car!! LOL
How much for P+P though??

 

wow, how did you do that?

 

I know about the Dispute Console which does work - ebay can strike off any member who abuses the system, but not about taking action against Ebay.

I am surprised that you were able to take action against Ebay - You can't hold Ebay responsible for the actions of a member.

 

Actually thats not true a number of cases have been brought against ebay rather than its members, let us not forget the Rowling v Ebay row. the question appears to be not whether Ebay is liable for the material it lists, but to what degree it is liable and so how effectively should it police certain areas. A good current debate is the widespread and largely illegal sale of archaeological artifacts and human remains on Ebay, but counterfeiting and software piracy are also all valid examples.

 

I use ebay alot now to buy cheap eletronic accerories for my PSP and cell phone and i've always got good deal, must be luck i guess.

 

I don't use eBay a lot but until now I never had a complaint. Everything always came as posted and working order.
This last item I ordered came with nothing was in the package but installation cd and book on the item.

 

I only have a problem when I deal with 18yo kids that just don't care about feedback, sending you your product on time, or sending over their payment. Also when they think they can scam the system by saying they never got an item, even when I have delivery confirmation information as proof. I have my profile set up to block bidders with little to no feed back and bidders who have gotten an unpaid item strike. I haven't had any problems since. I also don't leave feedback unless I receive it first. It prevents anyone from leaving a negative without worrying about retaliation.

 

My wife recently (around Christmas) ordered something from an eBay entity - paid by credit card (she opened a pay-pal account, thank God). Did not receive the item when promised. After waiting a few days she tried contacting the seller (more then once), who never did respond. The item was never received - we did get the money back after following the procedures for lodging a complaint.

This was the first problem either of us have had with eBay. I have bought a lot of used computer parts and have had no problems at all. I think this was her first purchase, though - Like Bladesofhalo said, perhaps it is just luck of the draw whether or not you get a bum deal.

I do agree the feedback system is hinky . . . but I can't imagine how else it could be done. Overall, I think it is at least a good indication of what the Seller's/Buyer's standing is in that venue. I checked the Seller on her item, and there was NO feedback at all - it was a new account. I told her I wouldn't have risked buying from that Seller.

 

I dont understand why sellers do this. For me the feedback process works like this.

item sold. Buyer pays for the item which once paid for, the seller leaves feedback for, because this is the buyers ONLY role on which he should be judged.

item sent. Buyer recieves item and leaves feedback to let the seller know it has arrived and in what state it was.

for me if a seller does not leave feedback after payment I tend not to deal with them again becasue it just looks, justly or not, like they have something to hide. I mean if a seller assumes they are going to get retaliatory feedback what does that say about a sellers faith in his items?

One of the ways I would modify the feedback system would be by not allowing buyers to leave feedback until a seller had. Well its a thought...

 

There has never been anything wrong with the items I sell. My main problem comes from young kids, with a very low feedback score that think they can trick the system by claiming they never got the the item just to get their money back from Paypal. I sell mostly video games and accessories, so I deal with these people a lot.

I clearly state in the auction that I don't leave feedback until feedback is received. If you don't like that, don't bid on my auction.

I only do this because it's the only way to protect myself. In three separate occasions, I received payment, left feedback, and sent out the item that day. Then the buyer turns around and files a complaint through paypal claiming they never received the item, and leave me negative feedback for the full effect. I even had proof they did receive it, in the form of delivery confirmation tracking, but they still filed the complaint. Ever since I started leaving feedback after receiving it, i haven't had any problems.

 

I dont really have anything to add. For me, a handful of dishonest people should not mean you effectively criminalise the vast majority of the people you deal with. I dont as a seller, and yeah the odd one or two will always try something, well c'est le vie. Anyway there are other ways round it.

I would not and do not buy from people who I know operate this system for the reasons outlined. It might be that although you haven't had problems since operating the system, unbenounce to you it could be costing you customers who are put off by the feedback policy. Anyway just a thought or two

Each to their own.

 

Jeepers what book was that?

 

I'm still making more than if I traded in the games/systems/accessories at a local shop and my system avoids any potential worry I might have when dealing with some people. I'll gladly scare off a few customers for piece of mind.

 

I have used this new system quite a lot and still think it fails. It leaves you open to retaliatory feedback for no reason although it does do more damage to the seller than it does the buyer in this respect. However, it is a miniscule step in the right direction. Still much prefer the Amazon way of doing things.