Ebay, removing feedback

Does ebay have any honor? I bought a box of bolts described as new. A325 1/2x13x1-1/4 - 7/8 Hex Head Carbon Nuts & Bolts - 5PCS- $34.99 | eBay and the pic is what I got. Sent the seller a pic and asked if they thought these where new through the ask seller a question. I never said anything like "refund or negative". They never responded. I ended up sandblasting them since I figured they would say pay for return shipping and left a negative and moved on with life. I see that ebay has removed the negative.

What gives? How did they get the negative removed?

Sorry if I missed something, but why did you pay $35 for 5 (?!) bolts? Or was it 5 lots/boxes..?

NM see it was 50, but still doesn't seem like a deal?

Oh you mean 50 pcs...Thought 7.00 ea was a little expensive ..
maybe that salt air got to them...

The 3 bolts in your hand are not the same, 2 look like A325 bolts with the heavy 7/8" head and one is a standard 3/4 head, not sure if A325 come in standard head? Sellers definition of new could mean that a nut has never been installed so the bolts have never been stressed. Not an excuse for sending rusty shit like that though.
Proper new A325 structural bolts like this with the nut usually come with a coating of oil on them also.

The seller is rpmarketing65 They definitely had a few random bolts in the lot to get it to 50. I called ebay and asked why they removed feedback. They literally said "we see that feedback was removed but there is no note as to why"

I suspect seller called customer service and sweet talked them and someone in the oversees boiler room getting paid whatever passes for minimum wage in that part of the world figured what do they care and took it off.

And the price was actually lower when I bought them. Seller raised price when demand went up.

I see that no one actually addressed the question, and I don't know the answer, but I'm sure interested in the answer. Perhaps eBay has a "feedback forgiveness" policy available for a fee...like many other fees they charge sellers. And FYI, I wouldn't consider those bolts to be "new" either.

Note -- guess I was a little slow on my typing...

I suppose the answer in general terms is that Ebay is like many other companies nowadays - they've done their research and are following whatever path provides them with the highest profits. I'm sure that research has shown them that negative feedbacks "hurt us all" and lower their income. There is no right or wrong - only profit.

Was the seller a "Powerseller"? If so, they can do no wrong. No chance of leaving negative feedback on a power seller. That was one of my big beefs against Reliable tool.

Perhaps because you didn't open a case/complaint? It seems like the first action to take now is to open a case, no matter what the problem is. That lets Ebay determine the outcome. Maybe Ebay considered the negative invalid if you didn't notify the seller through Ebay's official complaint channels. PITA, but that's how they do everything now.

The wording of the feedback comment matters too. I had a negative I left removed because I used the word dumbass in the comment. It was deemed "inappropriate".

GregSY said:

I suppose the answer in general terms is that Ebay is like many other companies nowadays - they've done their research and are following whatever path provides them with the highest profits. I'm sure that research has shown them that negative feedbacks "hurt us all" and lower their income. There is no right or wrong - only profit.

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Yeah, I think that is the bottom line, they want problems "resolved" without conflict and certainly no negative feedback, it lessens sales.

I sell a bit of stuff on ebay. I've been buying a lot of stuff, mostly tooling, at local auctions over the last couple of years to round out my shop and I wind up with a lot of surplus. I've also been helping a guy I know downsize his shop,so, what doesn't get passed along to folks I know locally, goes to ebay.

I've been burnt as a buyer in the past and I don't want to be that kind of seller, so I describe things very well, include really good pictures, and note any flaws I find. I've done really well keeping customers happy and have 100% positive feedback.

Recently I sold a South Bend 9b/9c change gear. I had described it completely, OD, tooth count, DP, bore size, and thickness, as well as noting what model it was parted from. I guess the guy who bought it did not know what model machine he has and when it didn't fit his mystery machine, he left some nasty feedback.
I called ebay customer service and they said to contact the buyer to try to resolve the issue. If the buyer would not agree to remove the negative feedback, they would as long as I made a reasonable effort. I contacted the guy, asking exactly what the problem was and what model lathe he had. He responded that the gear didn't fit and that was that. I contacted ebay a few days later and they removed the feedback.

Obviously, this situation is completely different from the OP's, he received junk, but I think it demonstrates ebays attitude. Their people do not have the skills nor the time to determine who is actually right,so they judge things based on a customer's history , willingness to resolve things, and willingness to jump through their hoops.

So order just one more bolt from him and when the deal goes through flame his ass again. This time open a complaint too. Sure it will cost you a few bucks but it might ease that angst you're feeling.

metalmagpie

Ebay is pretty much a whorehouse these days. If you expect a good experience every (most) time you will be sorely disappointed.

Derek Smalls said:

Yeah, I think that is the bottom line, they want problems "resolved" without conflict and certainly no negative feedback, it lessens sales.

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To that point, the transaction I mentioned above was for 3 carbide inserts. A scarce insert that doesn't appear often, so I bought the 3 that got listed. Photos and description were good, good feedback on seller. What arrived were 2 used and damaged inserts, and one possibly new insert. The insert box had sharpie marks on it that were not in the auction photos and the label was torn in a different area. I messaged a complaint to seller. Seller replied that his tool crib guy swore that they were all new so he was sure that they were new and he was "not gonna do nothing" about it. I filed a complaint with convincing photos and documentation, he replied that they were new when they left and he was fine with letting ebay decide.

Ebay refunded my purchase price without collecting it from the seller, described it as a "Courtesty Refund". That was the only time I've heard of that happening, but agrees with Derek Small's post. I left a negative for the seller forcing me to file over $20 of junk inserts which I think makes him a dumbass and said so, that's what got it removed. I'm looking through my feedback left for others now and can't seem to search for feedback over 12 months old, so that's another way Ebay is making failures "go away".

henrya said:

Ebay is pretty much a whorehouse these days. If you expect a good experience every (most) time you will be sorely disappointed.

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Except for the Chinese sellers oddly enough. I've gotten one wrong order out of hundreds and they sent me double the amount of the correct part. Occasionally I get more parts than I ordered.

Strostkovy said:

Except for the Chinese sellers oddly enough. I've gotten one wrong order out of hundreds and they sent me double the amount of the correct part. Occasionally I get more parts than I ordered.

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That's been my experience with Chinese sellers as well. Any problem and you get replacements no questions asked.

I had a problem with an ebay seller and it was serious enough that I left (the dreaded) negative feedback. It was removed.
So I left 'positive' feed back......with the same complaint wording and 'buyer beware' message as the negative feedback, and it stuck. Same effect as negative when anyone reads it. Go figure.

I believe the last time I went to give feedback there was a pop-up stating that there is a built in delay when you leave negative feedback for a seller. I assume that this gives the parties involved additional time to possibly work things out and have the feedback changed by mutual agreement.

FWIW

-Ron

Strostkovy said:

Except for the Chinese sellers oddly enough. I've gotten one wrong order out of hundreds and they sent me double the amount of the correct part. Occasionally I get more parts than I ordered.

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I wonder if whoever monitors online activity in china is tasked with making the exporters toe the line. We are talking about china after all.

Along the same lines of reviews I saw a product on Amazon with a single one star review and a single five star review. Three people had found the one star review useful.

Amazon says the product has a 3.7 star rating.

I still sell on ebay but haven't fooled with leaving feedback for buyers in years...and no one cares. I don't care if I get feedback from customers either. I guess it helps I have 600+ ratings.

I think as ebay tries to turn into amazon they'd rather have reviews of products vs reviews of sellers.