Extortion?

[CountAllVotes]

:hi: you guys!

My girlfriend bought something on eBay and she never heard a word after paying for it. Finally, about 3 weeks later it arrived.

Because she never heard anything and the advertisement said it would be sent out within 2-3 days Priority Mail she left "neutral" feedback.

After doing this, the seller left her Negative feedback and now the seller is trying to get her to retract the feedback she left so that the Neutral feedback that she left will go away.

She wrote to eBay about this (she'd been threatened w/a Negative before it was left by the seller) and eBay told her this was "Extortion".

Now she has a Negative on her record (unjustly IMO) and she has no intention of retracting the neutral feedback (now she says after all of this she is sorry she didn't leave a Negative!).

As it now stands, eBay has not done a thing about this but they sure tossed around the word "extortion" in an email to her.

Any thoughts on this?

CountAllVotes

[grasswire]

1. what is the value of the items this seller is selling?

Sometimes people get in pi$$ing contests over penny ante stuff.

I assume that your girlfriend wants to maintain that neutral ranking so that others won't be waiting three weeks for an item? Is that it?

[CountAllVotes]

2. yes that is it

and it is a Power Seller involved. I don't blame her. She emailed the seller 4 or 5 times asking for the status of the item and never received a reply.

Hence, she left NEUTRAL feedback which I believe was an ok thing to do given the circumstances.

But, for the seller leave her a negative for leaving neutral feedback is unjust IMO.

EBAY called this "extortion" in one letter they sent to her. Is it?

This is my question.

The item had a value of ~$20.00.

[Richard Steele]

3. On the face of it, the only "extortion" there is coming from the seller.

"Extortion" requires that DEMANDS are being made under threat.

She's not using her feedback to make any DEMANDS,
but the seller sure is.

[Longhorn]

4. I think she should reply to the negative rating

pointing out that the Seller is retaliating for her leaving a neutral rating due to late shipping. Most people are smart enough to see it for what it is.

[CountAllVotes]

5. she has not done anything yet

she sent me a note yesterday and it said that they wanted to withdraw the feedback and that they had to leave a negative being it was the only way THEY could get the "neutral" removed.

I hope this bites this Power Seller in the ass! It does not matter "how much" the item sold for IMO. It is the principle of the thing!

I could tell from what she sent me that it was a different person than had left the illiterate feedback.

She is lying in wait and I know she called eBay again yesterday. She has yet to receive a reply from eBay and eBay was the one that was tossing around that word EXTORTION which is exactly what this is.

You can do a search on the seller and you find 45 of these same "withdrawn" feedbacks. That is because this is this seller's mode of operating - to threaten and retaliate if they don't like the feedback left.

:argh:

[Horse with no Name]

6. Actually I was reading this on Ebay the other day

In the old days, they didn't do anything about this. However, it looks like they may start.
I never noticed this on the pages before...hope it helps.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html

[CountAllVotes]

7. thank you!

I have sent this to my girlfriend. She's not really upset about it at this point - more in the FU mode which is certainly understandable.

I hope they take this Power Seller's rating away. It is quite disgusting.

Thanks so much!

P.S. Will keep ya'll posted on this mess. }(

[liberalnurse]

8. PM me with the seller....I'll visit the store...then...

I'll buy something and then leave my festive feedback after they leave feedback on me..

[CountAllVotes]

9. they don't leave feedback

until you do.

Haven't heard anything about this situation btw. :(

I've had it with eBay.

Too damn many "Power Sellers" for the likes of me!!! :grr:

[YDogg]

10. eBay seems less friendly than it once was.

I've been buying and selling on eBay for over ten years. It pisses me off that now - almost without exception - sellers wait to leave feedback until after buyers post feedback. As a promptly-paying buyer, that sucks. As a seller, I've always left feedback the day I ship an item. I am sure this feedback extortion - real or implied - happens much more than it used to.

[grasswire]

11. yes, it is less friendly

I believe that eBay ruined their own nest by moving to mass sellers of new goods instead of the casual marketplace it once was.

[CountAllVotes]

12. I do the same

I have bought & sold on eBay. When I sell, I leave feedback the day I ship the item out and also email the person and let them know it is in transit with applicable shipping data.

I'm in a situation right now (again!) where I paid for something, never heard a word and I had to open a dispute with PayPal for non-receipt of item.

When I wrote to the seller he said that there is no way to track an item shipped via the USPS!!!! :mad:

What a crock! Now said seller is trying to get me to drop the dispute. I just wrote back and said once I receive the item in stated condition, I will drop the dispute. However, I will not do it until I receive the itme (value is over $250.00). This seller doesn't leave feedback either - probably just negative feedback I bet.

Tough cookies is what I say.

Less friendly? You hit that nail on the head!

I doubt I'll be buying much on eBay anymore being I am now getting negative feedback from SELLERS that have been promptly paid in full and fail to communicate with the buyers. Greed is what I call it. :(