ebay... wtf?

[kwyjibo]

OK, so something very puzzling happened to me today.
I won a steering wheel that was described as "new", "NOS" and "9.5 out of 10". Imaging my surprise when it came and it was obviously used with cracked leather and splitting seams. I went back to the original ad and verified that the description was "perfect leather", "new" and etc, but then I noticed that all the photos (about a dozen in total) were taken from select angles and lighting that hid the flaws. After a few emails, the seller agreed to a partial refund - which never happened. Fast forward to today, 59 days after the sale, I decided to leave negative feedback. WIthin a few minutes I got an email from the seller saying that he would put the refund through if I would remove the feedback. Great, at least I was getting some of the money back but it doesn't change the fact that the guy was dishonest about the description.

The thing that I thought couldn't happen is that the entire transaction is now missing from my eBay account. I found my way to the seller's page and... the sale - along with the negative feedback - has disappeared. So, it seems that eBay caved on the seller's request to delete the transaction? or am I missing something? From all the crappy sellers with 100% feedback, I know that the eBay system is not perfect. BUT, this makes me believe the whole site is garbage.

[RANDY P]

Deal with Ebay directly. If you ***** hard enough, they'll just refund you.

BTDT.

[sc_rufctr]

There is no governing body policing the auction sites so Ebay and the rest of them do whatever they like. Which is normally what happens. It is what it is...
To be fair though they must be very busy with disputed sales, dishonest sellers, not so honest buyers and spammers.

At least you got some money back. Peeps always write how Ebay and PayPal always favor the buyer but that isn't always the case.
And I wouldn't let one bad experience put you off.

Over the years I've bought a lot of stuff of Ebay that I would normally never be able to buy locally. So far so good but I've been very lucky.

[wdfifteen]

I use eBay, but I certainly don't trust them. A few years ago there were people selling bogus magazine subscriptions. They'd sell a subscription to Time or whatever and tell the buyer the sub would begin in 8-12 weeks. eBay said there was nothing they could do about it until someone complained. The problem was, the bogus seller had two months to collect subscription money and disappear before a buyer complained, so no one was ever held accountable. I don't know if they ever stopped the practice or if people are still getting ripped off.

[fred cook]

Keep an eye on this guy's other auctions and if he posts something for just a few dollars, buy it. Then post negative feedback on everything you buy. If possible, get some friends in on this as well. Pretty soon, he will either give the money back or quit selling. Payback is a b__ch!

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by kwyjibo

... From all the crappy sellers with 100% feedback, I know that the eBay system is not perfect. BUT, this makes me believe the whole site is garbage.

It is garbage if the rating is manage like the one on "Yelp"...

They remove the one that are "too low" in comparaison to the average

At least Amazon shows the 1 star as well as the 5.

[scottmandue]

Did you pay with a credit card? If so you may want contact them.
We bough a clock radio (Pixar cars theme) and when we got it didn't function properly, we complained and the seller refunded the full amount (only $20) and declined when we offered to return it. They claimed it must have been damaged in shipping but there was no physical damage. I suspect they knew the alarm function didn't work and hoped the buyer wouldn't notice.
Also bought a fiberglass nose for my Miata, the seller disappeared from eBay but I had his email so I drove over to his house and picked it up. It was about one third the price of what other vendors were asking. It was brand new... kinda makes me wonder if the guy was doing knockoffs. Ah, the wonderful people you meet on eBay and CL

[Evans, Marv]

I used to buy a decent amount on Ebay, but I haven't bought anything in years. I had a couple of bad experiences, one being from a guy who was a member of this board at the time. He just plain stiffed me - sent him the payment and never got the items. I complained to ebay, and their response was the guy claimed he sent it, so there was nothing they could do. Gave the guy bad feedback and he gave me bad feedback on the transaction too. They could do that then. Maybe it's changed now, but Ebay wouldn't do anything about that either. So I find other sources now.

[GG Allin]

Just to be clear, you didn't win anything.

[john70t]

Any auction venue is continually prone to 'gaming the system'.
Expect it.

A retail venue is only that.

EBay is both.
They make all their big big big money on sales transactions successfully completed.
The interpretation of someone's "slightly worn" means nothing to them.