Learn How To Dispute Unfair Ratings On eBay. So you’ve done everything you can to keep your buyers happy – but still someone’s left you negative feedback! You don’t think it’s fair, either because you fixed the buyer’s problem, or they never gave you a fair chance to fix it. What can you do?
How To Dispute Unfair Ratings On eBay
1. Communicate.
Tell the buyer that you don’t think that feedback was fair, and give them a list of the things you’ll do in exchange for them withdrawing it. You can offer refunds, replacements, or even to ‘compensate them for their time’ (that means bribe them), depending on how desperate you are. If they agree, you can go through the mutual withdrawal process detailed below.
2. Respond.
Leave a comment under the negative feedback explaining what happened – this at least minimises the damage it will do to your reputation if anyone looks at it. Remember that you can more-or-less write whatever you want, as there is no facility for the buyer to respond to your response – and anything you write will show up on their ‘Feedback Left for Others’ page! If you’re a little devious, you can make them look very bad.
3. Retaliate.
However much you’re not supposed to do it, you really shouldn’t let a buyer leave you negative feedback without leaving them a negative in return. Be polite and factual, saying something like “buyer did not give me a fair opportunity to fix their complaint” (note that this is one of the reasons why you should always leave feedback second, or not at all) (note that this is one of the reasons why you should always leave feedback second, or not at all). This might not be the ‘nicest’ way to do business on eBay, but it’s the only realistic way to protect your flawless reputation.
Don’t worry: retaliatory feedback isn’t against eBay’s rules, despite the fact that it probably should be. Anyway, this isn’t just for vengeance; it’s necessary for the next step.
4. Make an attempt at a Mutual Withdrawal.
You can do a simple “I’ll take away my negative if you take away yours” deal because the buyer is unlikely to want a negative response or feedback comment on their record. This is known as mutual feedback withdrawal, and you can start the process here: https://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? MFWRequest is a type of MFW.
This will cause eBay’s system to send your buyer an email asking if they agree to remove their feedback in exchange for you removing yours. However, you should get their permission before pressing the button because you can only use it once per transaction.
5. Use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
You and the buyer can take your feedback dispute to SquareTrade, where you can both give your side of the story and they will cancel any unfair feedback – they are far more responsive than eBay. Be aware that this costs around $20, but it has the advantage of removing the buyer’s feedback automatically if they do not respond to the process.
Of course, you may encounter a buyer who is even worse than one who simply leaves negative feedback – they may refuse to pay or harass your other customers. We’ll tell you how to contact eBay’s “Safe Harbor” team and what they can do for you in our next email.
