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24 Oct 2008
A disgruntled eBay shopper is facing possible libel charges after posting negative feedback about a seller who sold him a mobile phone.
Chris Read, from Kent, was not satisfied with his purchase of a Samsung phone and posted a complaint on the seller's feedback page saying: "Item was scratched, chipped, and not the model advertised on Mr. Jones' eBay account."
After posting the comments and sending the phone back, Read received a message from the seller, Joel Jones, asking him to retract the comments. Read refused, arguing that the feedback was honest and valid and not malicious in any way.
According to Read, when he refused to withdraw his remarks, he received a formal letter and statement from Jones threatening court action if he did not sign it, adding that he would be liable for court costs of £175 along with " substantial" lawyers' fees.
Jones, who sells goods on eBay under the username 'onsalexuk', claimed that he provided a full refund when the device was returned, and that the comments were therefore unwarranted and are damaging his business as his lots appear further down on search results.
"If you don't like the goods then you get a full refund. Surely that is great customer service and deserves positive feedback," argued Jones.
"I'm losing money by the day and my business could go under because of it. I've been left with no option but to take legal action and I'm sure I'll be successful."
Ebay has come under criticism in recent months following changes to its feedback policies and pricing structure. Many users have said that sellers, particularly smaller traders, are now left with little or no recourse when there are problems with the sale.
"Our feedback system allows buyers to make informed decisions about who they trade with based on the experience of other users," said Richard Ambrose, head of trust and safety at eBay.
"However, on the rare occasion that something goes wrong we always encourage users to contact the seller in order to resolve the matter amicably."
Read is refusing to back down and said he will fight any further action.
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Do you agree?
NO RIGHTS FOR SELLERS - SO LETS MAKE MONEY
...so if we cant have proper rights as a sellers, lets abuse system and became buyers who receiving items not as described or who only buys items where shipping is not recorded so buyer can always say that ''item never received'' and sell item and take sellers money using paypal trick which is opening case ''item not received'' or ''not as described'' ebay is paradise for cheaters, so best way is take some money back and use new rules too, , , good luck to ebay, it will not last 4 ever
Posted by: seller with 5years of exp... 11 Nov 2009
Ebay always sides on the purchaser against the seller!!
We are a small business that recorded over 5 years worth of positive feedback, receiving just 3 negative or neutral feedback comments in this period. However, because of the way ebay's percentage system works, this meant we had our account suspended and were unable to trade. How is that correct? In our experience, if a buyer simply says that he did not receive the item, he can lodge a complaint and ebay, without any research at all, simply takes the buyers side against the seller. The system is therfore open to abuse and this IS being exploited by unscrupulous buyers.
Posted by: Mike G 04 Nov 2009
EBAY Doesn't Care About The SMALL Sellers!
I have sold on eBay for a few years. With all the scams and the changes in the feedback system, I finally had to give up and close shop this year. I think that the suggestion of describing the item better is totally funny. Obviously, these people don't sell on eBay. The problem with eBay is that everyone want to pay nothing for something and the fees have gotten to be horrible in the last few years. With PayPal and eBay fees together equaling 10-15% of gross, if you are only making a 12-15% profit margin on gross (without the fees factored in) then you're doomed. Unless your a BIG seller on eBay (with a 50-100% markup) with high volume or you sell something very unique, then you won't make a profit on there worth living on. I think that suing buyers is a good idea. Maybe that will get eBay to rethink the feedback system if people stop going to eBay for fear of being sued if they use the feedback system to slander (or punish) a seller they don't like.
Posted by: Dinam-tech 17 Sep 2009
EBAY DONT REALLY CARE ABOUT THE SELLERS
I own a shop, have put a lot of time into this just for Ebay to come along and take off listings when they feel like it and without reading the items descriptions, recently I had a listing removed because a company complained it was copy right. The item that was for sell was infact a genuine brand of star lighter, Zippo claimed that it was there's, there was not mention of Zippo, no logo advertised but still claimed it was there's even thou I had the warrently sheets from Star and it had the star logo on the lighter. Ebay say they have to remove the item even without looking at it, its a joke, so even thou the item had nothing to do with Zippo at all, it was not a fake, not a copy in any way, it was a genuine item for sale, I get punished because Zippo claim it's theres, so Ebay jump to there demand and punish the seller. I think this would make a good court case I am sure, but it proves Ebay do not really care about there own sellers, they are to big now why should they care.
Posted by: CARL 07 Jun 2009
Ha ha ha
This seller has in his Terms Of Sales : DUE TO THE MANNER IN WHICH EBAY NOW USES FEEDBACK PLEASE NOTE THE THAT NEGATIVE AND NEUTRAL FEEDBACK SHOULD NOT BE LEFT WHEN:- * ITEM IS NOT PAID FOR * PURCHASES ARE FULLY REFUNDED * PURCHASE IS KEPT * ITEMS BELOW VALUE OF £5 * ITEM IS NOT PAID FOR Ok I understand this one * PURCHASES ARE FULLY REFUNDED If you're not happy & get a refund, you are still not happy. I have bought stuff & got refunds but would have preferred to have received what was actually advertised in the first place. * PURCHASE IS KEPT You might keep an item you're not happy with , because it's too much bother to send back, or it's ok for the price (not exactly what you wanted but will do). * ITEMS BELOW VALUE OF £5 Price shouldn't come into it, if shouldn't matter if you paid £1 or £100, if you're not satisfied & unhappy with the product, you should give negative feedback. This also made me laugh : "IF NEGATIVE OR NEUTRAL FEEDBACK IS RECEIVED WHICH IS UNTRUE, UNFAIR, BREACHES TERMS SET OUT ABOVE OR IS LEFT WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING US IT WILL BE ACTIONED. THIS MAY EVEN RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION" This guy is a complete plank, some of his auctions he just put up pictures he's found on the net & not of the actual item, then wonders why people complain about the condition ?? If he put up pictures of the actual item & put a full description with as much info as possible, he wouldn't be getting nagative feedback. These type of people do make me laugh thou, this guy doesn't seem to have a clue.
Posted by: Andy 27 May 2009
negative feedback as a seller
it works both ways Ebay are useless i listed a motherboard and supplied a picture of it in the listing the buyer left negative feedback because he did not receive a processor dispite the fact their was no processor mentioned in the listing or even in the photograph EBAY are refusing to remove the negative feedback i received for not supplying the buyer with something i had not listed figure that one out i also buy as much as i sell, but i liked the old system best
Posted by: alison mc 28 Feb 2009
e bay seller
an accurate description of the model & condition of the product would have stopped this from happening. perhaps use a grading scale in future.
Posted by: paul 27 Oct 2008
This is a joke
What is the world coming to? This is defying the point of Ebay feedback. If everyone who received negative feedback were to take legal action Ebay would grind to a halt. If a buyer doesn't receive what he bid on he is within his rights to leave negative feedback, if the seller doesn't like it then he should be more careful when describing items he sells.
Posted by: BlackKnight 26 Oct 2008
e-bay negative feedback...
this has happened to me so many times I now just say anything positive..problem is when you pay on paypal you should get your rating star first....thus the seller cannot rubbish the buyer what-so-ever,.. this happened to me over a car £1000. I complained left my e-mail & E-bay removed it instant , as i,ve had a row with these ppl for the last 2 yrs, its in favour of the seller, after all THEY do pay E-bay.......its too one sided,..that cost me £1000 , to find that out.......
Posted by: Stan Hassel 26 Oct 2008
Too Right
So the seller is saying because he gave a full refund for a product that was not as described he should have positive feedback? I don't think so! Too right he should be losing money if he is routinely mis-selling goods.
Posted by: Ben 24 Oct 2008
Ebay sues over negative feedback
This is totally silly. The buyer apparently received a total refund, and quickly. Try getting this level of customer service from the large mail order firms - you won't.
Posted by: Robin 24 Oct 2008
New policies are causing small sellers to run to OLA
Ebay has slowly destroryed the bedrock of their company, the small sellers. Many are moving to Online Auction because of these changes. Their interest the last year & half has been the large volume "china junk" sellers. You have to scroll through hundreds of these junk listing making the real collectors spend time in other venue. Serves the new ebay policy makers right.
Posted by: Rob 24 Oct 2008
This is madness
The bloke sent the wrong item and deserves neg feedback. If he was so worried about his business rep he should have supplied the correct goods in the first place.
Posted by: Rob Kelley 24 Oct 2008
I dont think the full story has been told to his solicitor
If it had he might not have taken on the case. the reason being if you go check the feedback for onsalexuk you can see he has had 9 negatives and 10 neutrals in the last year. So why is he not trying to sue the other 9 buyers who left negstive feedback?
Posted by: Tim Long 24 Oct 2008