The following was published last Tuesday by Jim Griffith:




GRIFF'S IN BOX - Bad Buyer? Or not-so-good sellers? You decide!

I recently received this email with the subject header of: "griff, ebay needs to get rid of this buyer fast. horrible." Upon closer inspection, the case was not what it seemed. Read on...



Griff,

I rarely complain about anything, but this buyer is literally handing out negatives and neutrals on a daily basis and ruining the feedback of almost every single buyer they've purchased from for no reason at all. Why should they be allowed to buy on Ebay when they're doing this, it's horrible. I pity anyone who sells to them.

thanks for at least considering this, it hasn't affected me but other sellers I know,

Moneca

[To protect the privacy of the buyer and sellers, I have deleted the URL to the feedback page provided by Moneca. However, the feedback left by this buyer broke down to the following: Out of the most recent 200 feedback left, 50% were positive, 15% were neutral and 35% were negative. Upon investigation by Trust and Safety, no deliberate buyer abuse was found. - Griff]



Moneca,

You wrote: I rarely complain about anything, but this buyer is literally handing out negatives and neutrals on a daily basis and ruining the feedback of almost every single buyer they've purchased from for no reason at all.

You are making a dangerous assumption (for no reason at all). Unless you were the buyer or seller in these transactions, you cannot know that the negative feedback was left for "no reason at all." In fact, if you go back and check the feedback left for each seller for which this buyer left negative feedback you will see this buyer wasnt the only one who left a negative for almost all of the transactions where he or she did leave negative feedback.

You also wrote: Why should they be allowed to buy on Ebay when they're doing this, it's horrible. I pity anyone who sells to them

Why? This buyer left positive feedback for 50% of their last 200 transactions as a buyer. Are you stating that there should be a quota to the number of bad experiences a buyer should be allowed to register as negative? That we should hold the buyer responsible somehow for the bad experiences he or she has had on eBay? How would that make sense?

Although I can understand the initial reaction some sellers have to seeing all this left negative feedback, I have to say that as a seller myself, I would be asking the opposite question: What type of experience are the sellers who received negative feedback from this (and other) buyers providing to eBay buyers?

Perhaps this buyer is exceptionally picky or discerning. Is that a crime? Should we kick off buyers who are picky or demanding about the products and services they get on eBay? How would we do that? What would it accomplish? Do you think anyone would want to shop on eBay if they knew they had a quota of allowable bad buying experiences, beyond which they would be sanctioned? Would you shop in that marketplace?

If this buyer never left positives, I would agree that your suspicions might have merit. But this buyer left 50% of his or her sellers positive feedback. I confess that, without more detailed information about single transactions (which would have to come from the specific sellers themselves, not second hand), I would pity the buyer, not the sellers in this case.

And in case you are asking, Yea Griff, but would you sell to him (or her)? The answer is Absolutely. I have zero fear of negative feedback. I cannot speak for the customer service levels of other sellers but I am confident enough in the service and products I sell on eBay that I would land firmly in the 50% positive camp for this buyer.

Moneca, I know this is probably not the response for which you hoped or expected and I am the first to jump to the defense of any seller who has suffered actual buyer abuse but the record for this buyer does not indicate abuse or intent. It does however, and sadly, indicate that the buyer has run into a lot a bad experiences as a buyer. I hope that the sellers who have received negative feedback from him have taken the feedback as an opportunity to revisit their customer service practices.

Regards,

Griff