This is sort of a two in one report because I feel an untrustworthy eBay seller needs feedback to let others know how they treat customers and that eBay removed my negative without good reason, allowing the seller to continue looking like a 100% trustworthy seller.
First, the seller sold me an item ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/302011690534?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ) that was incomplete as described (he mentioned one missing piece, but there were more). After a LOT of trouble, I worked this out with eBay and got a refund. I thanked them for giving me the refund, but they removed my negative from the seller claiming it violated their feedback extortion policy ( http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html ), which isn't true. I made the "mistake", in eBay's eyes, of telling the seller (after several days of waiting) that I'd have no choice but to contact eBay and leave a negative if they didn't respond about how they wanted to deal with this.
What I did does not fall under any of eBays feedback extortion rules (decide for yourself with the link above). I simply made a statement of fact (in a message to the seller) that a negative was the natural outcome if they wouldn't tell me what they wanted to do (they didn't). Previously, they made excuses and said they didn't know what I wanted and that they'd prefer I just return the item. I let them know the return shipping wasn't worth it and that I'd prefer a few dollars off the price and an apology (never got one) for THEIR "mistake", but if they really wanted it returned, they'd need to pay the return shipping (only fair), which would cost them more than a few dollars off. I gave them the choice, thinking they'd prefer to lose less money, and waited for a response - nothing.
As an example of what I'm talking about, I was on the "Do Not Call" list some years ago, but a company kept calling. I finally called them back and told them to quit calling or I'd have to call the police (much arguing in between) and she asked, "Is that a threat?". I told her that, "No, this was a fact and a necessity based on their actions" - she hung up. I immediately called back and angrily told the next person what happened, they apologized and never called my number again (they had been calling almost daily).
Basically, this report is about eBay's mistaken idea that I violated any policy and, especially, to give a negative to the seller in the only way I can see to do it. People need feedback (positive AND negative) to help determine if they can trust a seller and eBay taking it away without a good reason undermines this trust.
#2Author of original report
Fri, August 26, 2016
No, in reality I did nothing "wrong" and I've already had this out with eBay - THEY were wrong and couldn't offer any good reason, either. I did not violate their feedback extortion policy or even come close to violating any of the examples of it that were given. Nothing I did could be considered extortion. In eBay's policy, as in "real life", that would be threatening to do something undesirable if they didn't do what I wanted (no, expecting to hear how the seller wanted to proceed wasn't "wanted/demanded" in exchange for certain feedback, it was just plain NECESSARY to proceed). There were no threats, implied or otherwise, only a statement of fact of what would be the obvious outcome, just as I did with the telemarketer - it was so obvious she was trying to trick/trap me into something when she said those magic words.
About the telemarketer, it was so long ago that I can't remember whether I said police, lawyer, newspapers, a combination of those or what - I used "police" here for brevity. In any case, even assuming I DID say "police", that WOULD be public. If the police could do anything, it would be known; if they sent me to an attorney, it would become known. I suppose if someone breaks into my home and I tell them I'm going to record them for all to see IF they don't leave immediately, that would be extortion (it very well may be, but CLEARLY, the point wasn't to extort)? Extortion (including eBay's definition) is about intent. Feedback (positive AND negative - arguably, how a negative is handled is a more important indicator) is what POLICES eBay sellers AND buyers.
This doesn't even address the other, more important half of my report, which is that removing a negative from a dishonest seller, completely undermines trust. Do you think I enjoy doing this? I don't even like to give negatives if I can avoid it (I don't recall ever giving one before, though I've dealt with people sending me bootlegs, etc). I've already gotten a refund, so why should I be going through all this trouble, except that I believe in doing what's right? I've got a lot of problems, but I'm taking extra time to do this.
Anyway, as I said to eBay, I did NOT violate policy and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise. I have to admit, though, that I'll be obeying the UNWRITTEN RULE that you can't say the words "negative feedback" (or similar) in ANY context, anymore - once upon a time you could.
There's an old saying, attributed to Edmund Burke, that I'll use the simple version of here, "Evil prevails when good men do nothing."
Robert
Irvine,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, August 25, 2016
Even though in your mind you did nothing wrong, the fact is that you have violated their policy. But while you haven't posted more than a couple of statements you wrote to the seller, and did not post any details of your actual review. It can be seen that what you wrote could have been considered extortion.
What you did was "threaten" to make this "public" by leaving a negative feedback.
Had instead of saying "you were left no choice but to leave a negative and contact ebay", had you just said "you were left no choice but to contact ebay". You would have not violated the policy and been totally fine.
It is this "public" portion that tends to get more people in trouble. As an example with your telemarketer. You only said you would contact the police. Of course you also admited to "much arguing" so we really have no idea what else was said. Had you said you were not only going to contact the police but post on every social media site you could if they continued to call...then that could be seen as extortion.
FYI, as for your telemarketer. The Do Not Call list has no consumer enforceable actions. That is the best you can do as a consumer is report it to the FCC and hope that some day they get enough complaints to take action. Had you actually called the police they would have told you to call an attorney.