Neutral Evaluation - Removal due to Ebay regulations !?
Summary: imperial-modellbau expresses frustration over receiving a neutral review on eBay that seems contradictory and potentially accidental. They highlight eBay's guidelines that purportedly require the removal of reviews with false content and question the perceived inconsistency in how these guidelines are enforced. They specifically address __author_id_miriam@ebay__ for clarification, asserting that the platform should adhere strictly to its stated policies. The discussion also touches on the broader issue of communication between buyers and sellers, and the impact of such reviews on professional sellers.
Hello @miriam@ebay and @ all
I'd like to hear your opinions on this!
Background:
- Received neutral feedback with the following text: Good work. Function and durability are good.
- Contacted buyer - no response received
- Requested change - no response received
- Contacted buyer again - no response received
Unfortunately, this person obviously belongs to the ever-growing group of communication refusers. ☹️
It is also quite obvious that this feedback was given "by accident" and should actually be positive - it's probably embarrassing for him (or he doesn't care) and that's why he doesn't respond.
Be that as it may, eBay's policies state that feedback with incorrect content will be deleted and even if this is possibly nitpicking - it says "we remove" and not "we maybe remove".
You, Miriam, take the position that feedback from buyers and sellers is treated differently!
This may be handled internally by you - but it contradicts the established rules!
And you yourself wrote recently:
Feedback on eBay must comply with our principles. This includes, among other things, that the feedback type (positive, neutral, negative) and the accompanying comment must not be used in a contradictory or abusive manner.
In the "Feedback Policy" only "feedback" is mentioned everywhere, no distinction between buyer and seller.
And even where buyers and sellers are specifically mentioned, it states that feedback with obviously incorrect content is removed!
So I hereby request that this feedback is removed!
Some will probably say again now, why get upset over neutral feedback!
To which I say the following:
1. Neutral feedback is also harmful to commercial sellers.
2. A mistake obviously happened here - why should I have to pay for it?
3. I care about eBay adhering to its own policies.
Here's the last sentence from the Feedback Policy:
Why does eBay have this policy?
This policy helps protect the integrity of eBay's feedback system and build trust between buyers and sellers.
My opinion is that consistent adherence to the rules should not only apply to us users and that trust must also be earned by eBay!
miriam@ebay
Hello @imperial-modellbau - it is understandable that you would have preferred a positive rating over a neutral one. The communication issue is certainly a understandable point here.
Nevertheless, it is important to classify such cases correctly: here you are talking about a rating that you received from your customers as a seller. In the policy you quoted, or in the examples mentioned, however, it is often about other constellations, such as ratings that sellers give to buyers or clearly contradictory combinations (e.g. positive with an explicitly negative comment). These cases cannot be transferred 1:1 to your situation.
With neutral ratings, the point is that by definition they represent an in-between area. Even if the text seems positive to you, it cannot be clearly inferred from that that the rating is “wrong” in the sense of our policies. It may well be that your customers were satisfied overall, but not completely, and therefore consciously chose “neutral”.
A rating(comment) removal is tied to clear requirements that are not met here. The fact that there has not yet been a response to your messages and the request for a review revision is of course unfortunate, but ultimately beyond your control.
What you have already done is exactly the right way: send a request for a rating change. In addition, you have already publicly replied to the rating to present your perspective and emphasize your service.
The basic handling of such ratings is likely not going to change. Negative or neutral ratings will continue to have no effect on your service status.
Best regards
Miriam
oskar_der_wikinger
·5 months agoYou commercial sellers are going completely in circles and probably you're more annoyed by the not-green dot than by the text behind it.
"As described" could mean you can describe it better
"Good work. Function and durability are good." could also just be better.
A simple "So-so" I had expected a bit more from it
"Item ok, but the seller is not behaving professionally"
On what grounds should such gray reviews justify removal?
They would all survive as red reviews too.
I'm looking at this more from the buyer's perspective now, because I do think about what I write about the other person in their profile.
Even with positive reviews I think carefully about what I write and whether it fits the deal.
Like with employment references: "to full satisfaction" or "to fullest satisfaction" 😉
But honestly, which buyer here on eBay even reads the comments?
Green ones, 98% no one; with dozens of red ones maybe ten, then they get clicked away if they are repeats and I usually don't read gray ones at all. 😗
imperial-modellbau
OP5 months agoHi @oskar_der_wikinger
I’m not really sure what other commercial sellers think about it - but I’m NOT annoyed about it not being green, I’m annoyed that in this case it was most likely a mistake and the buyer simply doesn’t get in touch!
He only has to tell me: No, that was intended - and then you’re in dialogue and can maybe improve your service or item!
Or: Sorry, it was a mistake - then you have the chance to change it!
With many of my customers I got talking because they didn’t understand something or had suggestions for what could be changed or improved.
That helps the customers and me too - but it requires a willingness to communicate!
And that willingness has dropped so much that it’s hardly bearable anymore!
Ebay would really be well advised to step in at this point - so that many problems could be clarified beforehand without having to involve Ebay itself!
Would make sense and be a win/win situation - but that’s like preaching to deaf ears!
mmstore74
·5 months ago@petersmodellbahnstuebchen
Good morning Peter, you write:
If the customer is not 100% satisfied but does not want to leave a negative rating, because although they really like the item, the shipping costs are not reasonable...
....I'll take that as an example from you then, okay?
This is something members often write,
"You agreed to Ebay's terms and conditions, so why are you complaining now?"
The same would apply if someone gave me a "neutral rating" because they weren't happy with the shipping costs.
But the thing is, no one on this planet is obliged to buy something from someone if something about it bothers them beforehand, right?
The nice thing is that WE sellers have to keep everything nice and transparent, so everyone can see what extra costs, e.g. shipping costs, are added in the example, and if I then buy, I am accepting the purchase with all its conditions, am I not?
Then later commenting "neutral", item great but shipping too expensive, that doesn't fit my world, sorry.
Likewise, if something is unclear to me when I buy something elsewhere, I can message the seller
"I have the question xxx etc" and that would avoid misunderstandings again.
I think that very, very many ratings could be avoided if people started communicating with each other again.
My opinion😎
Wishing everyone a nice day.
Kind regards
Marc
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·5 months ago@mmstore74
Hi Marc,
personally, I think that the discussion about whether neutral ratings make sense or not should not be continued in this thread. This is about @imperial-modellbau’s question of whether and when these should be removed based on the eBay guidelines.
That’s why I won’t discuss your point any further here, but I’d be happy to do so in another post. However, I won’t join that discussion either, because personally I don’t care about neutral ratings as long as they don’t affect the service status.
And if I ever think that the statements in them are demonstrably false, I simply write a factual additional comment to them.
imperial-modellbau
OP5 months ago@petersmodellbahnstuebchen
Hello Peter,
yes, that's true, neutral ratings are not mentioned separately - but the point of this basic principle is that ratings are removed if they contain a comment that is not appropriate or, as @miriam@ebay put it, an inconclusive comment.
Because if I followed your logic, I could write in a neutral rating: Total junk ! and it wouldn't be removed, and why ?
Because neutral ratings are not mentioned in the "principles on ratings" !
That really can't be it ! ! !
And in my case the comment is contradictory, you have to admit that, right ?
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·5 months ago@imperial-modellbau
Hi Andy,
if the buyer writes in the rating, "The worst junk," the rating would not be deleted, but the comment would definitely be removed. Then there would be a neutral one without text.
But that's a different issue again. You can ask the buyer to request a change to the rating from you:
imperial-modellbau
OP5 months ago@petersmodellbahnstuebchen
Then I wonder on the basis of which provision the text would be deleted - after all, it is a statement of opinion! 😉
Besides, if the buyer has made this (purchase) experience, removing it is not necessary, since we all know that on Ebay the buyer experience ALWAYS takes precedence!
No, Peter, we’re going round in circles here - because the principle simply says that reviews with false content are removed - and that is right, too, it just has to happen!
However, Ebay always bends it to suit the situation, or rather whichever way the mood of the person processing it happens to be.
Sometimes you’re lucky and sometimes not - and in my opinion that just cannot be the way it is!
By the way, I asked for the change - see initial post - the buyer just didn’t respond.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·5 months ago@imperial-modellbau
Hey Andy,
we’re not going in circles here.
"because the principle says that reviews with false content are removed - and that’s right, it just has to happen too"
That’s not what the principle says; it only mentions positive and negative reviews, nothing about neutral ones.
And if the buyer doesn’t respond, that’s his right. It may not be the done thing, but he doesn’t have to.
imperial-modellbau
OP5 months ago@petersmodellbahnstuebchen
Well, Peter,
and that is exactly what Ebay falls back on in its decisions when things get controversial.
That may contradict the general tenor of the principle, but oh well!
Even Miriam included the "neutral" ones in her list - but you can hardly rely on that.
I would still be happy if @miriam@ebay would comment on this again!
mmstore74
·5 months agoHello everyone,
so to this day I still don't know what the " neutral rating " is supposed to be good for anyway, either I'm satisfied or I'm not, even if @oskar_der_wikinger writes: The process could have been better, so not green, but also not so bad as to give red. ( That's basically right too ) but who does a neutral rating help?
Someone who is buying something for the first time can't get a sense of the item from a neutral rating, ( with overwhelmingly positive ones they know it's good ) ( with overwhelmingly negative ones they'd rather stay away )
I often read " Did you find the answer helpful "
" Yes - No ", there isn't a " Maybe or don't know " either
It's like with food, either it tastes good or it doesn't.
My opinion.
Wishing you all a nice evening.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·5 months ago@mmstore74
Hi Marc,
I definitely think that neutral reviews are justified. There simply isn’t a yes or no here.
If the customer isn’t 100% satisfied but doesn’t want to leave a negative review because they think the item is great, but the shipping costs aren’t reasonable, I’d rather have a neutral than a negative. After all, a neutral doesn’t affect the service status at least.
imperial-modellbau
OP5 months agoHello @perfect-sally
yes, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about.
Here, the rules are clearly being applied inconsistently and, contrary to the platform’s own principles, decisions are being made arbitrarily!
Either I set such principles for myself as a platform, in which case I also have to act accordingly - or there are no principles, and then it’s the law of the strongest (or the smartest or whatever).
Just to make this clear again @miriam@ebay
I am not asking for special treatment, only for the application of eBay’s principles!
And specifically the application as they are written - not as an algorithm or a (possibly annoyed) employee interprets them!
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·5 months ago@imperial-modellbau
Hi Andy,
in the feedback policy I can’t find anything saying that neutral feedback is removed:
This only applies to positive and negative feedback, where the text says the opposite.
oskar_der_wikinger
·5 months agoHello everyone,
that also makes sense, because a neutral rating is what the name says it is, it is neutral.
The process could have been better, so not green, but also not bad enough to give red.
Like in politics with abstentions, where you don't want to commit yourself.
I wouldn't overinterpret the rating @imperial-modellbau : "Function and durability are good"
But just not very good because there may be a burr present.
lidor3073
·2 months ago@petersmodellbahnstuebchen Found it by chance while scrolling. Yes, my received neutral rating was removed by eBay. Excerpt from the policy on ratings that you posted:
Excerpt from the info from eBay:
The content was roughly (originally Italian text): Goods OK, seller OK, shipping service not OK. Because ONE delivery attempt failed. And yet the customer had his item THEN after 4 (!) days in Italy!
Result: Completely excluding international shipping (I regret that a bit, I had good European customers!).
perfect-sally
·5 months agoWell, my neutral one with the words "As described" wasn't deleted either, and that actually contradicts the neutral one too.
As described is to be classified as positive for me, just like your rating too.
But eBay keeps twisting things however it likes anyway. In contrast, ratings that were rightly given are actually being deleted.