Ruining a Reputation on Ebay

I recently bought a synth off ebay and it was advertising in mint condition, but it is in terrible shape and has a crack and a dent on the side.

My question is, how do I make a complaint? And if I do make a complaint how will this affect the seller? I guess I feel kind of bad ruining a sellers reputation.

And can the seller have a rebuttal? How does ebay control complaining buyers and what they say about sellers?

All your questions are answered in the Ebay FAQ. Did you research the sellers reputation before you bid? Was he a reputabel seller to begin with?

yes he is, he has a perfect reputation, 100%

"Note: Remember that any feedback you leave is public and permanent, so think carefully before leaving feedback. Make sure that comments are fair and factual. If there is a dispute, try to resolve the differences before leaving feedback."

according to this anyone can leave negative feedback and the seller is screwed because it doesn't look like it can be contested. Am I wrong?

The seller will be able to post a public response to the negative feedback.

I must be missing something... If the item was advertised as "mint condition" but is damaged with a dent and a crack (and assuming it wasn't damaged in shipping), why would you be worried about the seller's reputation? I would recommend first contacting the seller and giving them a chance to make it right. Depending on their response, you may or may not feel better about filing negative feedback.

If the seller had a good amount of transactions and his rating is 100%, chances are something happened to the keyboard after he packed it, or perhaps he didnt pack it correctly. Ebay will always recommend you try to work things out with the seller first. Id write him a polite, non threatening email initially and include pics of the damage. Tell him you'd like to solve the matter without getting Ebay involved.

Did you pay through Paypal? You can also file a complaint through them for faulty goods, I believe.

I actually just received a response from the seller and he is blaming it shipment, however he is saying he cannot refund my money until he clears things up with fedex. In order to clear things up he fedex needs me to send the package back to him or an inspector from fedex will come to my home to inspect the package. However, for some reason he is saying that I should ship it back to him so that he can look at it first and since he is the sender that he needs to deal with fedex to resolve this issue. However, I am in a strange predicament considering I just dropped 1200 on a synth. And usually, from what I have heard these types of things with fedex can take months to resolve.

Any suggestions.

They can take months to resolve. That's the risk of buying used stuff online from faraway places. I recently got burned too, so I know how you feel.

Keep the synth and let the inspectors come look at it.

Did you pay with credit card? If you do send it back, and he doesn't refund you, you can contest the charge with your credit card company.

Assuming you paid via PayPal, I would first suggest you formally open a PayPal Dispute, and nicely tell the Seller you have done so:

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_help-ext&eloc=0&loc=1671&source_page=_home&flow=

A dispute in PayPal simply creates a permanent record of communciation back and forth while you are trying to resolve the problem. If you can't resolve it, then you "escalate to a Claim", where PayPal makes a ruling.

If the Seller insists on having you return the keyboard I would suggest:

-- take lots of digital pictures documenting the damage

-- write down the FedEx Tracking ID of the original shipment

-- make the Seller formally state in a PayPal dispute log that he promises to refund your money when you return the keyboard to him

If the Seller is taking ownership of obtaining a refund from FedEx, there should be NO reason why he can't immediately refund your money upon receipt of the keyboard. Once he accepts the keyboard back, getting a refund IS HIS PROBLEM, not yours. The Seller contracted with the shipping company to deliver the product to your door -- his method of getting it there is not your problem (he could have also chosen to drive it to your house personally).

You don't want to leave eBay feedback until this problem is resolved. I think you have 90 days to post eBay feedback.

If you open a PalPal dispute, then send the keyboard back, then he immediately refunds your money, you should then give him Positive feedback on eBay. Items can be damaged in shipping, but if he works with you to resolve it, he is being a "good eBayer".

I wouldnt stand for that man. You paid him $1200 for a synth in mint condition. It arrived damaged. I would tell him you will send the synth back to him once he returns your $1200, and if he doesnt agree to that you will have to get Ebay involved.

If he doesnt trust that, offer to use an escrow service, like this:

https://www.escrow.com/support/faq/index.asp?sid=2&qid=14

and offer to split the Escrow service fees with him.

Although a 100% feedback rating generally denotes a good Ebayer, even good people can hatch crazy schemes if they're in a financial pinch (ie: Ill sell this broken synth as mint and blame fedex, etc)

How was the synth packed? Did it look like it was secure enough to avoid any damage? Was the box damaged in anyway?

If I were you, i wouldnt wait for fedex and all that BS. Id offer the seller 2 options:

1.)Give you your money back, and you'll return the instrument, using an escrow service if needed,

2.)Pay to have the synth repaired to the condition described in the auction.

As mentioned above, you should definitely try to speak with him over the phone.

If he doesnt agree to these, you should contact Ebay and go through the proper channels to file a complaint and try to get your money back. They can suspend his account and Id assume even get law enforcement involved when there's that amount of cash involved.

Dont leave negative feedback until you're absolutely sure the seller is going to flake on you.

If the Buyer paid via PayPal, the REQUIRED procedure is to open a PayPal dispute. That is what the process was designed for.

As long as everything is documented in the PayPal dispute, the Buyer shouldn't worry about shipping back. As long as the Buyer can prove to PayPal the keyboard was returned, they will rule in the Buyer's favor.

Just make sure you use FedEx Ground or UPS Ground to return the synth so you have proof of delivery (use "Signature Required").

Good luck and tell us what happens.

If the Buyer used PayPal, there IS no eBay process. eBay (who owns PayPal) will tell you to use the PayPal dispute process.

I went though this process myself a few months ago with a Seller who never shipped an item. The Seller and I documented our correspondence back and forth via the Dispute logs and in the end, when the Seller didn't ship nor refund, I escalated the Dispute to a "claim" and won.

The only downside to the PayPal dispute process is they take a $25 fee for resolving a claim (no charge for dispute, just if they actually have to make a claim decision and retrieve money for you. If you and the Seller resolve it yourself there is no charge to use the Dispute process).

that's good advice MartinHines....

May I ask how you got burned on what? I got burned back when I first stared using ebay about 8 years ago and learned a lesson.

Tekno, if you paid using Money Order then there is nothing you could except hope for the best. If paypal (and he's verified) or through a credit card, then you should be ok with returning it. But do what martin suggested. It could've easily been damaged in shipping. You don't want to give negative feedback because that doesn't work.

And the $25 fee is worth it. You are dealing with a $1200 unit.

Martin, was the seller a verfied paypal user? I'm guessing so, because seems like that's the one way for paypal just to yank the funds back from the seller.

Absolutely..... that is the first step. Never just wing off a neg feedback on somebody without giving them a chance to resolve the problem.

If he refuses, open a case with paypal and ebay like these other guys are saying. A negative feedback should be the last resort and will probably land you one as well.

Wow !! Paypal is such a rip off ...... I mean how greedy can you get

Take the seller hostage, hotwire his car, drive him to a nearby cliff, and put it in neutral and roll him off of it. Then he can be "damaged in shipping."

Just joking of course....

someone sent me a Peavey 1600X one time supposedly in "perfect working condition" but that actually did not work perfectly at all - most of the sliders encoded in wacky ways and jumped values

however the seller was gracious and gave me a refund once i returned it

course it was only around 200$ .. not 1200

I just want to chime in here and say that about 3 years ago I was in the same exact situation as your seller. I sold a synth on eBay, it arrived damaged (FedEx of course), and I told the buyer I needed to resolve with FedEx first.

After the situation dragged on for a couple weeks (package was taking damn long time to arrive at my local FedEx station), the buyer gave me a negative feedback because I would not front him the refund. I then retaliated and gave him a negative as well.

In the end, when the refund finally came through and I refunded the buyer his money, eBay did actually remove both of the negatives that we gave each other; however, only through a resolution within the eBay/PayPal dispute process. This gave me my 100% positive rating back.

So yes, eBay does allow reversal of a negative feedback if the other side has a change of heart and agrees to it.

Yes.

There are actually two different "Verifications" with PayPal:

-- verified PayPal account (where they have verified the bank account)

-- verified PayPal address (where they have verified the shipping address).

I am more disappointed with the cut PayPal takes as part of regular transactions. With the dispute "claim" process, a real, live human being must get involved (even if it is only for a minute to review the logs and action the withdrawal). In my case, the $25 fee was on a $50 item, so I only got half my money back.

with paypal if you used it...

start a dispute and make all correspondence through paypal. do not email outside the pay pal dispute web page. do not respond to the seller if he emails you outside pay pal dispute page. kindly ask him to use the pay pal dispute page for all correspondence.

fed ex...

his offer to have the item shipped back to him to handle with fed ex is outside fed ex's policy. the receiver is the individual who has to file and handle a damage claim. he can file it for you, but you have to be listed as the individual who receives monetary compensation for any damages not the shipper. if he is going to refund your money and asks that you have the fed ex claims office come pick up the package that would be in line with what he can do. he then could file a claim with fed ex as the shipper but only allow him to do so if he has already refunded your money. this is a case where fed ex will allow the shipper to make the claim if the item is refunded by shipper due to the damage and the shipper is willing to resolve with fed ex through their claims dept.

sounds fishy though.

it sounds like he sent it to you knowing it was broke inside box before he shipped it and he's looking for fed ex to buy the item in a round about way. if there is no damage to the shipping conatiner by the way fed ex will reject any claim hint hint (the box had better have a footprint and have been dropped before fed ex shows up to look at it if you want to see your money back i'd probably make sure the box is damaged at least and add styrofoam to the original packing materials if it seemed a bit light on those to ensure fed ex pays for the damage.

Originally posted by wetwareinterface if there is no damage to the shipping conatiner by the way fed ex will reject any claim hint hint (the box had better have a footprint and have been dropped before fed ex shows up to look at it if you want to see your money back i'd probably make sure the box is damaged at least and add styrofoam to the original packing materials if it seemed a bit light on those to ensure fed ex pays for the damage.

And people wonder why shippers like FedEx and UPS are so resistant to paying damage claims!!

I would NOT recommend altering the box in any way, shape, or form. The responsibility to deliver the item in good condition is the Seller's responsibility -- the Seller simply chose to use FedEx as an "agent" to deliver the product for him. If you try to "rough up" the box, you are assisting in an attempt to defraud FedEx. I would suspect that since the value of the item is over $1,000, this would be considered a felony if you were caught trying to perpetrate a fraud.

This should really be no different than if you were buying an item from a retailer. For example, if Musician's Friend or Sweetwater sent you a keyboard that was damaged by the time you received it, you would expect the Retailer to refund your money and deal with the shipping company. You might have to help them out (by either allowing a damage inspection or ship it back), but in the end, they would "own" the process of getting a refund.

Your information is incorrect basd on the FedEx website content:

http://www.fedex.com/us/customersupport/express/faq/claims.html?link=4

Key points:

-- Seller, Recipient or 3rd party can file a claim

-- The sender will receive the claim settlement unless special arrangements are made with the shipper.

Again, it is the SELLER who contracted/used FedEx services, not the Buyer. The Buyer could care less who delivered the package as long as it was "as described" (either in the auction or in retailer's information). This is why FedEx will automatically send a claim settlement to the SELLER.

I remember 3 months ago bought a used synth on ebay, the picture and the advertisement showed it was in mint condition. the seller had a 100% feedback, unfortunately it came with a broken key and some screws on the bottom of the synth in really bad shape. When I first saw it knew he was a careless person, so many details to count about it, overall besides that key and some cosmetics flaws,it was 99% playable.

When I told the seller about it, he blamed UPS, and explained he wasn't going to be responsible for the accident, so I contacted UPS they promised to fix it for me, what the heck they know about synths??

The seller even supplied pictures "supposly" showing the keyboard in great condition the day was packed.

It was going to take 2 weeks before to get my keyboard repair.

Finally I decided to repair by myself getting parts from yamaha and forget about the incident, the result: I will never buy used again.

I paid for the shipping cost using my UPS account and fully insured the synth, otherwise they would pay me just $100.

forget about the feedback, keep focus on getting your money back, after spending $1200 you can attempt to get your money back in 2 ways:

If you purchased a protection plan on paypal you are almost done!

Call visa/mastercard and depending of your credit history and reputation with them, you could get you money back in 5 business days with just your statement.

It worked for me once. In my case was just $400 the amount involved and didn't wan't to hurt that poor bast***!

It may sound dishonest but sometimes at this point letting other people know they will loose the dispute and you'll get your money back in some way or another usually helps to solve the issue in a quick way. and do not forget you put the conditions not him.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you kep a cool head and be professional to the last. When this is finally resolved, no matter the result, please post it here so we can all benefit from your experience.

Thanks

Well, that's Feebay for ya. Hope that Google Auctions comes to fruition, Feebay needs some serious competition.