eBay dealer offering bribe for removal of feedback...

[TeeJay]

Okay, so I ordered an adaptor which would enable me to use any set of headphones with my Cect P168+. The item was delivered swiftly, and, does work. However, it does not transmit the full range of sound through the headphones (Apple brand) As I was happy with the dealer's delivery time, and quality of the product, I was not going to give them a negative feedback, but, as the product did have that flaw, I felt it only fair that other buyers know that the item is not 100% universally compatible. I log onto eBay just now to order a new phone from the dealer in question (they have one I want to replace the P168+ with, as, it has no hardkeys on the case to get triggered in my pocket) and find a message from them, offering me $5 via paypal, if I agree to remove the feedback (which is only neutral, remember, and, only stating a factual issue with the product, not saying the item is junk, not saying the seller is a scammer, just pointing out that it isn't as universal as one would hope...

Is this kind of behaviour common, relatively new, or just them?

I sent them a polite response stating my moral reason for being unable to withdraw the feedback, said I looked forward to doing business with them again, and promptly ordered and paid for, the new phone. Crazy

[ryyannon]

What if they had offered you ten thousand dollars?

[HauteHippie]

Ignoring the bribe, I don't think it's reasonable to give neutral feedback to the seller because of this issue. If he's willing to give you $5 to recind the feedback, he's probably willing to accept a return and issue a refund. And it would seem better to praise him for his customer service in a review with positive feedback, while also stating that the product is subpar. And besides, the problem could be with your phone and not with his adapter.

[indyberetta]

Why didn't you just return the item and receive a refund if you were not 100% happy with it? That would have been much nicer than leaving that feedback.

I would not take it as he was offering a bribe, but rather making up for the problem you had. Have you ever been somewhere to eat and were not 100% sat. so they gave you a gift certificate to come back?

Just my 2 cents...

[TeeJay]

What if they had offered you ten thousand dollars?

The amount is irrelevent to the issue of the item not being 100% compatible

Ignoring the bribe, I don't think it's reasonable to give neutral feedback to the seller because of this issue. If he's willing to give you $5 to recind the feedback, he's probably willing to accept a return and issue a refund. And it would seem better to praise him for his customer service in a review with positive feedback, while also stating that the product is subpar.

Hmm, I can see your point... Personally, I think positive feedback requires all aspects of the transaction to be perfect. I did state (in the feedback) that the dealer's service was above reproach, and that the issue was solely with the item itself, as it was not 100% universal.

And besides, the problem could be with your phone and not with his adapter.

It could, but it's not. The factory-issue headphones delivered full sound, and, the Apple headphones deliver full sound when plugged into a different MP3 player. The issue is definitley with the adaptor, not the phone or the headphones, so I feel it only fair that future customers be aware of this compatability issue before purchassing. It wasn't a rant, afterall, the feedback space is limited, so I simply stated the facts: Dealer absolutely perfect, swift delivery, but item not 100% compatable with my own Apple headphones. Personally, I couldn't see anything unreasonable about that...

Why didn't you just return the item and receive a refund if you were not 100% happy with it?

The item is 99% perfect, and something I use daily. It was not worth the hassle of returning it for refund, as, that is the only source of such adaptors I have seen, and, that is the item required, as I have not found any dealers selling factory-issue headphones for the Cect P168+. If I could have bought a new pair of factory-issue headphones (as my original set got trodden on) I would have done so. However, none was available, so I went with the next best alternative.

That would have been much nicer than leaving that feedback.

It would have been nicer to receive a product which did not lead to what can only be described as 'audio dropout', but, that's not the hand I was dealt... I felt that I was fair in my feedback, and simply leaving the comment as a 'public notice'. I felt, that not being 100% satisfied with the item, it would be misleading to give positive feedback, as that could encourage others to purchase the adapter, thinking it would work perfectly, and wind up disappointed. The 'dropout' I'm describing, is strange, and varies from track to track. For example, on Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper, the guitar in the opening riff is not heard. In the Elton John track Crocodile Rock, the "Wah" vocals in the chorus, are not heard, only the musical accompaniment. Not enough to render tracks un-listenable to, but enough to be noticeable, and sign of a not 100% compatible item.

I would not take it as he was offering a bribe, but rather making up for the problem you had.

$5 would not make up for the problem though. It would not make the item work properly, nor would it provide a replacement. I don't think it would even cover the cost of return shipping had I wanted to return it... As I said, I wasn't dissapointed enough with the item to send it back, and, I do use it everyday, but, it does not work perfectly, and, future customers deserve to be aware of such a compatibility issue.

Have you ever been somewhere to eat and were not 100% sat. so they gave you a gift certificate to come back?

No. I have had money taken off a holiday bill due to issues which interupted our holiday, however, the location itself, was one where my wife and I had planned on getting married, and, the issues which presented themselves (such as broken and dirty chinaware at the eateries) put us off the idea of getting married there, as those are not the kind of things people want to be thinking about on a wedding day.

To be honest, I'm not a particularly fussy or demanding person., I just feel that with certain things, they should be of a reasonable quality, or performance. While I might put up with less than perfect performance, that doesn't mean I will do so silently

[Edit to add]

Had the money been described as discount off a future purchase, rather than being conditional upon the removal of the (wholly accurate, honest and legitimate) feedback, I might not have looked on it as a bribe. Either way, given the incompatibilty with the headphones, I still feel the feedback was warranted and a reasonable note for future buyers to be aware of.

[musicale]

See, I think you should have emailed them with the issue first.

They may have offered to refund, replace, or partial refund. I have had this happen several times with good sellers. "Sorry to hear our product has some minor issues. We've tried our best, we can offer to replace it, or to return for refund, or we can do a partial refund to compensate you?"

Always try and resolve any issues first before leaving feedback is my rule.

[HauteHippie]

...one of many reasons I never sell things on EBay.

[DemonSlayer]

Personally, I feel that the ebay feedback system is to rate the SELLER/TRANSACTION and not the product. For instance, was the item as described? Was the seller dishonest in the listing? Did the seller dispatch the item fast etc etc.

I remember when I sold a large part of my dvd collection off, I received some neutrals for some ridiculous things! I clearly stated in the listing that they were all region 2 DVDs (UK standard) in bold and large print. I had a few USA buyers give me a neutral because the dvd didn't work on their region 1 machine I was like "HELLO how could you miss the clear print in my listing".

I also read through some feedbacks of big DVD sellers, some got even more ridiculous neutrals. One guy gave a seller a neutral, because he didn't enjoy the film....

Saying this however, I don't think TeeJay's neutral is going to kill that seller's business. As he mentioned, he gave a positive review of the seller in the text rather than just stating the product is faulty, which I know many might have done in TeeJay's situation. It all depends on the seller however, as some might even seen neutrals as having a negative impact on their ebay business.

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

As someone that does over $100k per month in sales on Ebay let me educate you a little about Ebays feedback system.

First and foremost, the NEW feedback system being used by Ebay considers a NEUTRAL feedback the same as a negative. Ebay does not normally explain this, but my Ebay representative (YES you get one when you do the volume we do) has explained it to us.

Furthermore, the Square trade process is basically nothing more than a way for a seller to PAY to have feedback removed (with the agreement of the buyer). So OBVIOUSLY, ebay does not have an issue with paying to have feedback removed. The simple fact that he has offered you $5 tells me he is a pretty wise seller and is trying to avoid the square trade process which costs $20 per removal.

After reading your posts, I feel that what you did is wrong. You should have contacted him FIRST and given him the opportunity to remedy the situation. And quite frankly, you would have received a negative feedback from me for this. I have found that leaving a buyer a negative feedback (which is now being made impossible) seems to motivate a buyer to agree to the removal of unwarranted feedback.

And dont even get me started with Ebays DSR's (detailed sellers ratings)... Ebay makes it very clear to buyers that the scale (1-5) for 5 categories is a great well to detail the transactions. They tell buyers that they should give a 1 for a horrible transaction and reserve 5's for absolutely perfect transactions. SO, with that information MOST buyers leave 4's across the board. MOST people would think that is great!!!! WRONG... Unless a seller maintains a DSR average of 4.6 or greater they do not qualify for Power Seller discounts and are no longer given preference in searches. SO, my business has taken a 30% hit because my DSR rating average is 4.4 even with a 99.6% feedback rating and over 15k feedback.

We just increased our monthly budget by $5k to cover additional advertising meant to pull our Ebay customers to our own website. And HOPEFULLY by September, we will be using Ebay for nothing more than liquidation of overstock and returned/defective items.

PS: had you contacted him, he most likely would have reshipped a new one and covered the cost of return shipment... He may have even said keep it and shipped a replacement. My policy is to ALWAYS cover return shipping for defective or damaged items and if its simply not cost effective to get it back... the customer can keep it AND get the replacement.

[ryyannon]

QUOTE (ryyannon @ Apr 18 2008, 10:31 PM)

What if they had offered you ten thousand dollars?

The amount is irrelevent to the issue of the item not being 100% compatible

C'mon TeeJay, get real!

And a million bucks?

Now for God's sake (PBUH) please don't get all ethical on me here....

[EuroTimez]

I also read through some feedbacks of big DVD sellers, some got even more ridiculous neutrals. One guy gave a seller a neutral, because he didn't enjoy the film....

I wonder what the buyer would do if he hated the film?!

[EuroTimez]

As someone that does over $100k per month in sales on Ebay let me educate you a little about Ebays feedback system.

First and foremost, the NEW feedback system being used by Ebay considers a NEUTRAL feedback the same as a negative. Ebay does not normally explain this, but my Ebay representative (YES you get one when you do the volume we do) has explained it to us.

Furthermore, the Square trade process is basically nothing more than a way for a seller to PAY to have feedback removed (with the agreement of the buyer). So OBVIOUSLY, ebay does not have an issue with paying to have feedback removed. The simple fact that he has offered you $5 tells me he is a pretty wise seller and is trying to avoid the square trade process which costs $20 per removal.

After reading your posts, I feel that what you did is wrong. You should have contacted him FIRST and given him the opportunity to remedy the situation. And quite frankly, you would have received a negative feedback from me for this. I have found that leaving a buyer a negative feedback (which is now being made impossible) seems to motivate a buyer to agree to the removal of unwarranted feedback.

And dont even get me started with Ebays DSR's (detailed sellers ratings)... Ebay makes it very clear to buyers that the scale (1-5) for 5 categories is a great well to detail the transactions. They tell buyers that they should give a 1 for a horrible transaction and reserve 5's for absolutely perfect transactions. SO, with that information MOST buyers leave 4's across the board. MOST people would think that is great!!!! WRONG... Unless a seller maintains a DSR average of 4.6 or greater they do not qualify for Power Seller discounts and are no longer given preference in searches. SO, my business has taken a 30% hit because my DSR rating average is 4.4 even with a 99.6% feedback rating and over 15k feedback.

We just increased our monthly budget by $5k to cover additional advertising meant to pull our Ebay customers to our own website. And HOPEFULLY by September, we will be using Ebay for nothing more than liquidation of overstock and returned/defective items.

PS: had you contacted him, he most likely would have reshipped a new one and covered the cost of return shipment... He may have even said keep it and shipped a replacement. My policy is to ALWAYS cover return shipping for defective or damaged items and if its simply not cost effective to get it back... the customer can keep it AND get the replacement.

Wow after reading your whole thing I see why you're so succesfull doing 100k a month -good job-, damn good customer service, I think I can learn from you. Yeah sorry to hear that Ebay giving u trouble, I know Ebay really sucks as does Paypal (ripping you off from all sides but then again you need them to do business too), I remember the days when they were just starting out and were so small. I sold tons of stuff, but now there making it impossible. What can you do?! I wish google or something came up with an auction site that would be something?!

[DemonSlayer]

I believe it might happen soon Chris. Google are really the only ones who can take eBay head on.

[fotoman]

as far as what will they think of next, i have had the idea to create ebay stores and sell them.

Basically it takes 100 feedback to have a decent reputation. Well, it wouldn't be that tuff to establish an acct, work out some really cheap sales to get your feedback to 100, especially if you cross sale, then sell the store to someone who wants to start out.

Lots of leg work, but for someone who wants to skip the leg work there could be value.

[ximenes]

I have made 100's of transactions on ebay and have never left a neg feedback. I have only received one neutral feedback, which I thought to be unfair, from the buyer. I left him a positive one.

xim

[TeeJay]

See, I think you should have emailed them with the issue first.

They may have offered to refund, replace, or partial refund. I have had this happen several times with good sellers. "Sorry to hear our product has some minor issues. We've tried our best, we can offer to replace it, or to return for refund, or we can do a partial refund to compensate you?"

Always try and resolve any issues first before leaving feedback is my rule.

As someone that does over $100k per month in sales on Ebay let me educate you a little about Ebays feedback system.

First and foremost, the NEW feedback system being used by Ebay considers a NEUTRAL feedback the same as a negative. Ebay does not normally explain this, but my Ebay representative (YES you get one when you do the volume we do) has explained it to us.

Furthermore, the Square trade process is basically nothing more than a way for a seller to PAY to have feedback removed (with the agreement of the buyer). So OBVIOUSLY, ebay does not have an issue with paying to have feedback removed. The simple fact that he has offered you $5 tells me he is a pretty wise seller and is trying to avoid the square trade process which costs $20 per removal.

After reading your posts, I feel that what you did is wrong. You should have contacted him FIRST and given him the opportunity to remedy the situation. And quite frankly, you would have received a negative feedback from me for this. I have found that leaving a buyer a negative feedback (which is now being made impossible) seems to motivate a buyer to agree to the removal of unwarranted feedback.

And dont even get me started with Ebays DSR's (detailed sellers ratings)... Ebay makes it very clear to buyers that the scale (1-5) for 5 categories is a great well to detail the transactions. They tell buyers that they should give a 1 for a horrible transaction and reserve 5's for absolutely perfect transactions. SO, with that information MOST buyers leave 4's across the board. MOST people would think that is great!!!! WRONG... Unless a seller maintains a DSR average of 4.6 or greater they do not qualify for Power Seller discounts and are no longer given preference in searches. SO, my business has taken a 30% hit because my DSR rating average is 4.4 even with a 99.6% feedback rating and over 15k feedback.

We just increased our monthly budget by $5k to cover additional advertising meant to pull our Ebay customers to our own website. And HOPEFULLY by September, we will be using Ebay for nothing more than liquidation of overstock and returned/defective items.

PS: had you contacted him, he most likely would have reshipped a new one and covered the cost of return shipment... He may have even said keep it and shipped a replacement. My policy is to ALWAYS cover return shipping for defective or damaged items and if its simply not cost effective to get it back... the customer can keep it AND get the replacement.

I have to admit, I am really surprized with the responses and attitudes here. Why should a dealer only be given positive feedback? Why should a dealer be given positive feedback, when the item they sell, is not 100% perfect for it's intended role? Why should a customer be bribed or bullied (as is the case with receiving negative feedback, thus forcing a retraction of the original feedback) to remove feedback which is not what the dealer wants to see? If the customer is not happy with the deal, or the dealer, or the product, they have the right to state that in a reasonable manner. That's what the feedback system is for. It also educates potential customers, about issues with said product or dealer, and can spare them the hassle of ordering something which is not suitable for the intended use. Key issue: Fit for the intended use. In the UK, that is the key definition which an item must fullfill if a refund is required. If the item is not fit for the intended use, the customer has the right to return/refund/be less than satisfied with it For something as trivial as a little sound dropout, it is not worth the hassle of trying to get the item replaced, when the replacement will likely have the exact same problem. Do buyers not deserve to know that a product might not be 100% what they are looking for? Is that not the very reason that forums like this exist? To educate and inform buyers? That's all I did in the feedback: Said I was happy with the dealer and their service, but left a factual, educational note, that the adapter does not work 100% with Apple headphones. That's not saying anything negative about the dealer, not saying anything negative about their business practices, but leaving a 100% honest evaluation of said product. Do I not have the right to be dissatisfied with it? Do I not have the right to leave comment explaining that? If not, why does eBay even allow people to leave feedback? Had I left a negative feedback, or, even a neutral feedback, but one with a really bad write up, then by all means, I would expect a negative feedback in return. But a negative feedback for leaving an honest review of a product? What's what that? Are people that sensitive that they can't stand any criticism at all? If a product does not work with X Brand of headphones, then the dealer needs to know that, just as buyers need to know that. That's not to say that I don't want the thing, it's just saying, it doesn't work perfectly with these headphones. I can guarantee that someone less tollerant than I am, would likely have left a negative feedback or returned the product. It would be like someone buying a rep which was almost flawless, but saying "The lume's not very good, I want a refund on it..." The rest of the item would be fine. Why go to the hassle of a return over such a trivial issue? If the person was to review "X is a great dealer, they sent the watch really quickly, and the watch is really nice. It keeps time at +2 seconds a day, and is visually identical to the original, however, the lume is not so great..." would people consider that an unreasonable review?

Not intending to get into a flamewar here, I'm just really surprized how folks feel on the issue, we'll just have to agree to disagree Have a good weekend, folks

[ryyannon]

Farkin' uncorruptables.

Ok TeeJay, and if by doing so you could end hunger in the world?

[highoeyazmuhudee]

neutral is just that. neutral. i think the feedback process stands for the transaction as a whole.

communication (service)

quality of product offered by dealer, including if it was misrepresented, etc. i dont think you would have bought this product knowing it wouldnt support your interface (of course you wouldnt have) there is a communication breakdown and somewhere along the line you thought the product did in fact do what you wanted it to.

delivery (service)

and price (which you know ahead of time so thats not really applicable here)

if he gave this dealer a positive feedback what would you give one who stated that this product DOES NOT work fully with TeeJays "Cect P168+" product in particular (if you could of course just rate without buying, so i guess in your head) i guess ratings are a little subjective on ebay and people gauge ratings against different things.

its good if a seller is willing to accept an item for return, but you shouldnt have to be in that posistion in the first place. and one truly deserving of a posistive feedback will never have you in a posistion where you'll be out $ with shipping it back.. so i think neutral was a fair assesment of your experience as a whole. positive to me = completely satisfied

stand behind your product and fully test it, if this is your business know your product, otherwise you will run into problems like this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But the REAL crook here is eBaY: insertion fee, gallery listing fee, closing fee, and if you accept paypal.. 3% for processing, currency conversion rip offs, and probably a wire transer fee or withdrawl fee. i dont remember. i havnt been a seller on ebay for a long time due to paying $20 worth of fees on basic listings worth $80. ebay sucks for sellers, not to mention buyers having all the power when it comes to disputes on paypal. Their feedback system is also flawed since people can return a negative one out of spite for telling the truth about your experience.

Edited April 19, 2008 by highoeyazmuhudee

[TeeJay]

Quick Update:

Having mulled over the issue, I emailed the dealer, and said that I was prepared to remove the neutral feedback and replace it with a positive one, but, that I would leave the same message, explaining the incompatibility, so I'll see how they feel about that.

However, something which I think should be pointed out, is, having since looked through the feedback ratings, this seller has had several negative feedbacks this month alone, several neutrals, and some of those, relate to the same adaptor. As a point of interest, I tried using the adaptor with a set of Sony earphones, and the same audio dropout was present (was never present when I used the original factory-issued headphones) so the issue is clearly one if incompatability.

So, given that the item (in general, not just specifically mine) is not without flaws, was I really being unreasonable by detailing them? (compare to the hypothetical watch review of a watch where everything bar the lume is top notch)

[highoeyazmuhudee]

now see, i dont feel that warrants a posistive feedback if the product is not as advertised. neutral is EVEN being lenient. dont retract your original feedback of the item, i dont feel thats fair to other buyers that might make the same mistake if the seller hasnt learned to truthfully disclose the shortcomigns of the product or even stop selling it altogether.

[DemonSlayer]

TeeJay, would you say the seller misrepresented the listing? Is that adapter only designed for the P168 or also other phones/models?

[ximenes]

This a very good topic. TeeJay has the option to change his mind or not. I would Def. leave the original comments but might adjust the neutral to positive...

I just don't believe there is really ever 100% satisfaction. I think of it more as a scale, neutral being a weight of good and bad. Has the overall process tilted to positive? Then leave positive.

xim

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

First of all, its not possible to CHANGE feedback from neutral to positive. All that can be done is MUTUAL feedback REMOVAL.

Secondly, you are absolutely correct in that you haver every right to leave whatever feedback you feel is due. But so does the seller... And the simple fact that you failed to contact the seller prior to leaving anything other than positive feedback warrants NEGATIVE feedback in my humble opinion.

I dont feel a seller should ONLY be given positive feedback... If you contact me and tell me there is a problem and I tell you to go [censored] yourself... then I deserve a negative feedback. If you place an order and I sit on my ass for a week and dont ship it... I deserve a negative feedback. If I tell you something is brand new, and then I ship you something that I let my kid play with for a few days... YES, by all means tell the world I am a jack ass! But if a mistake is made, something is defective or the carrier destroys it GIVE ME A CHANCE TO FIX IT.

As far as him having negative feedback this month... SO DO I. I process 200-250 orders per day. I ship about 50% from my location and the others are drop shipped. I have a VERY GOOD relationship with my vendors, and they do everything in their power to live up to my high standards. BUT, occasionally accidents happen and an order is mis-shipped. Do I deserve an immediate neutral or negative for that? OR, whit if UPS or Fedex destroys a package... Do I deserve a neutral or negative for that? Neither of these situations are within my immediate control and I receive NEGATIVES for both at least a few times per month. AND EVERY SINGLE TIME the customer has left the feedback before contacting me. Had they contacted me I, I would have cross shipped a replacement, filed a claim if necessary and in most cases give a 10% discount on future purchases. BUT NO... because the transaction wasnt PERFECT, the whole world needs to know about it.

As soon as a customer places an order, they receive an automated email with the receipt, links to free downloads, warranty registration AND instruction pertaining to RMA, feedback and return procedures... But 8 out of 10 times they dont read it.

THIS is why I feel justified in leaving a negative feedback for them. Maybe Im wrong, maybe Im not. But IT IS GOOD TO BE KING! I can do what I want with my Ebay store!

[highoeyazmuhudee]

a defective product is one thing. but when there's other feedback about the same item having problems and you the seller refuse to do anything about , be it changing the listing descript or even refusing to stop carrying the item all together youre then aware what youre selling is not what youre claiming it to be. even contacting the person to tell them hey this product has problems (which they already know) just to pay to ship it back is unacceptable, and neutral is more than fair.

what may be going on is the seller is unloading their inventory of crap hoping a few people wont notice or are too lazy to return it.

[TeeJay]

TeeJay, would you say the seller misrepresented the listing?

Well, other than it not working 100% properly ( ) then I wouldn't have said it was a misrepresented product. Of course, if someone sees something for sale, unless flaws and known incompatabilities are mentioned, then someone could fairly presume, that the item would work properly. All we're talking about, is a piece of wire with a mini USB on one end, and a microphone with a 3.5 input port on the other... Not really much to be incompatible, so it's a mechanical issue. Having seen that there are other people with issues with it, I think it's fair to say that the dealer is aware of the problem (and still listing the item) I've said that I'd retract the feedback, but not heard back from them yet. As pointed out above though, given that I'm not the only one who's experienced difficulties, I'm now wondering if I was being overly generous with my agreement to retract the neutral feedback, and if I should simply leave it as is. I remember a line from Highlander: It doesn't matter if you give your word, it matters who you give your word to. Doesn't make much sense, but I can kind of understand the logic...

Is that adapter only designed for the P168 or also other phones/models?

As far as it's advertized, it's only for the P168+.

First of all, its not possible to CHANGE feedback from neutral to positive. All that can be done is MUTUAL feedback REMOVAL.

Secondly, you are absolutely correct in that you haver every right to leave whatever feedback you feel is due. But so does the seller... And the simple fact that you failed to contact the seller prior to leaving anything other than positive feedback warrants NEGATIVE feedback in my humble opinion.

I dont feel a seller should ONLY be given positive feedback... If you contact me and tell me there is a problem and I tell you to go [censored] yourself... then I deserve a negative feedback. If you place an order and I sit on my ass for a week and dont ship it... I deserve a negative feedback. If I tell you something is brand new, and then I ship you something that I let my kid play with for a few days... YES, by all means tell the world I am a jack ass! But if a mistake is made, something is defective or the carrier destroys it GIVE ME A CHANCE TO FIX IT.

As far as him having negative feedback this month... SO DO I. I process 200-250 orders per day. I ship about 50% from my location and the others are drop shipped. I have a VERY GOOD relationship with my vendors, and they do everything in their power to live up to my high standards. BUT, occasionally accidents happen and an order is mis-shipped. Do I deserve an immediate neutral or negative for that? OR, whit if UPS or Fedex destroys a package... Do I deserve a neutral or negative for that? Neither of these situations are within my immediate control and I receive NEGATIVES for both at least a few times per month. AND EVERY SINGLE TIME the customer has left the feedback before contacting me. Had they contacted me I, I would have cross shipped a replacement, filed a claim if necessary and in most cases give a 10% discount on future purchases. BUT NO... because the transaction wasnt PERFECT, the whole world needs to know about it.

As soon as a customer places an order, they receive an automated email with the receipt, links to free downloads, warranty registration AND instruction pertaining to RMA, feedback and return procedures... But 8 out of 10 times they dont read it.

THIS is why I feel justified in leaving a negative feedback for them. Maybe Im wrong, maybe Im not. But IT IS GOOD TO BE KING! I can do what I want with my Ebay store!

The thing is though, had I contacted them, what would have been the outcome? From the other feedback I found, it's a very strong possibility that a replacement would also have had the same problem. I admit, I didn't know that at the time, but, my knowledge of the facts, or rather lack of knowledge of the facts, wouldn't've changed the outcome, as there are the other reports stating issues with the same product. As mentioned above, making good on a bad deal, while good business practice, isn't the same as delivering a flawless product in the beginning. From what others have said (I wish I'd read the feedback now) I would never have received a flawless product, as it is clearly a product with issues. All the good will in the world isn't going to change that, so from that point of view, I feel that my comment about the product itself (which was only factual and polite, not "It's a piece of [censored]!") deserves to stand. In terms of rating the overall transaction, yes, it was good, but, I can't get over the feeling of being bribed/manipulated into ammending the feedback, especially since finding others who have also had problems with the same item... Ironically, the feedback for the phone I just ordered from the same dealer, has all been reasonably positive. I'm already aware of potential firmware issues with the phone via independant research, so I know full well that it might have issues, I'm just hoping that they won't detract from the phone overall

It sounds like your business is more than thriving, so that's awesome, best of luck with your own site, and transfering your clients thus If you ever have a UK-based vacancy, please let me know

a defective product is one thing. but when there's other feedback about the same item having problems and you the seller refuse to do anything about , be it changing the listing descript or even refusing to stop carrying the item all together youre then aware what youre selling is not what youre claiming it to be. even contacting the person to tell them hey this product has problems (which they already know) just to pay to ship it back is unacceptable, and neutral is more than fair.

Once I read the other feedback and saw the existing issues, that was precicely what I thought, and felt thoroughly manipulated into thinking I should retract the feedback, just because they didn't want it. Other folks left neutrals, even negatives for the same product, even though I'd said I would retract it, maybe I should stick with my initial instinct, which was saying nothing bad about the dealer, just pointing out a legitimate (and obviously known) issue with the product itself.

what may be going on is the seller is unloading their inventory of crap hoping a few people wont notice or are too lazy to return it.

Possibly. They don't have a huge range of stock, just a few models of phone, and the afforementioned adaptor. When purchassing a phone, the buyer is given, as freebies, a leather case, a silicone jacket, car adaptor, screen protector, SDcard to USB adaptor/reader, yet none of those things are available for individual purchase, so I think you could be right about them liquidating certain stock items.