Dealing with Complaints on eBay

Item not Received

From the My eBay page, click the Purchase history link on the left side of the screen. Find the item, choose More actions from the Actions column and click the Resolve a problem link.

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You will now be asked to continue to the PayPal page, so click the Continue to PayPal button.

Sign into your PayPal account.

You will now need to find the Transaction ID. This can be easily found in the e-mail that was sent to you when you paid for the item with PayPal. It's located in the top right hand corner of the e-mail.

Copy the Transaction ID, paste it into the box on PayPal's Resolution Center - Open a dispute page and click the Continue button.

Now choose the I haven't received my item option and click the Continue button. Fill in the required fields. Once you've completed your dispute, you will receive an e-mail from PayPal. A PayPal representative will be assigned to your case. Every time PayPal wants you to respond to a particular inquiry or the seller's response, you should do that as soon as you can, possibly that same day. You will keep receiving e-mails from PayPal throughout the process. This process can take several weeks. If PayPal finds that your complaint is legitimate, you will receive a full refund for the item, which will include the shipping cost.

NOTE: You must open your case within 45 days of the end of the listing.

For more information, visit eBay's help section on What to do if you don't receive an item or it doesn't match the seller's description.

Item Significantly not as Described

From the My eBay page, click the Purchase history link on the left side of the screen. Find the item, choose More actions from the Actions column and click the Resolve a problem link.

You will now be asked to continue to the PayPal page, so click the Continue to PayPal button.

Sign into your PayPal account.

You will now need to find the Transaction ID. This can be easily found in the e-mail that was sent to you when you paid for the item with PayPal. It's located in the top right hand corner of the e-mail.

Copy the Transaction ID, paste it into the box on PayPal's Resolution Center - Open a dispute page and click the Continue button.

Now choose the I received my item, but it is significantly not as described option and click the Continue button. Fill in the required fields. Once you've completed your dispute, you will receive an e-mail from PayPal. A PayPal representative will be assigned to your case. Every time PayPal asks you to respond to a particular inquiry or the seller's response, you should do that as soon as possible. You will continue receiving e-mails from PayPal throughout the process. This complaint process can take several weeks. If PayPal finds that your complaint is legitimate, there are several different outcomes (the outcome largely depends on whether or not the seller is co-operative with PayPal):
1. you could receive a full refund, including shipping cost (you might be asked to return the item in order to receive the refund in full)
2. you could receive a partial refund if you decide to keep the item and fix it yourself
3. another resolution that you and the buyer agree upon through PayPal's mediation

NOTE: You must open your case within 45 days of the end of the listing.

For more information, visit eBay's help section on What to do if you don't receive an item or it doesn't match the seller's description.

Read more about How to dispute a transaction on PayPal

Unpaid Item Complaint

So it's been quite a few days, you've sent numerous reminder invoices to the buyer asking them to pay for the items they purchased from you, but the buyer's non-responsive. What can you do? You can open an unpaid item case.

From My eBay page click on the Selling Manager link on the left side of the screen and then choose the Sold link.

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Find the items that the buyer has not paid for and click the arrow under the Actions column on the right side of the screen. Now choose the Open Unpaid Item Case / Cancel transaction case. Follow the instructions and once you have finalized this process, you will receive a confirmation e-mail from eBay. eBay will give your buyer 4 calendar days to complete the transaction by paying for the items in full. If that is not done within that time, the Unpaid Item Case will be closed, the buyer will receive an "Unpaid Item Strike" on their eBay account, you will receive credit back for your Final Value Fees and you will have the option to re-list your items. It might be a good idea to also block this buyer. To do this, go to eBay's Customer Support page (top right hand corner of any eBay page), type Block buyer in the search window and click on the Blocked bidder/buyer list link.

Put it this way: If you had someone come into your store and ask you to put something aside for them on hold and then they never return to pay for the item, would you be upset? Now what if that person returned and did the same thing again and again?. . . Eventually, you would ban them from your business. You can do the same thing on eBay. If a person gets repeated unpaid item strikes, eBay will impose more serious sanctions on them.

Blocked buyers will not be able to communicate with you and will not be able to purchase any of your items.

Feedback Problems

You will eventually encounter a rude and dishonest eBay buyer. While I always recommend that seller continue communicating with the buyers in an amicable and professional fashion no matter how rude the buyer is, eBay has built-in protections for sellers as well.

From My eBay page click on the Selling Manager link on the left side of the screen and then choose the Sold link.

Find the item for which the buyer left inappropriate feedback, is attempting to manipulate feedback or extort feedback. Copy the Item Number (which appears right in front of the item's name) and click the arrow under the Actions column on the right side of the screen. Now choose the Report a buyer link. Now paste the item number into the box and click the Continue button. Select the policy violation and click the Submit button. Fill in the required information and submit your problem. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from eBay. Within a few days you will be contacted by an eBay customer service representative who will be assigned to deal with your complaint.

Inappropriate Feedback

Feedback that contain the following are prohibited under eBay's Inappropriate Feedback comments policy:
1. negative statements with a positive rating
2. references to eBay or PayPal investigations
3. personally identifying information about another member (real name, address, phone number, or e-mail address)
4. profane, vulgar, obscene or racist language or adult material
5. political, religious or social commentary
6. comments, replies or follow-ups regarding a different transaction
7. profane, vulgar, obscene or racist language or adult material

Visit eBay's Inappropriate Feedback comments policy for more information.

Feedback Manipulation

Here are a few examples of eBay's Feedback manipulation policy:
1. working with other eBay members or registering multiple accounts to artificially increase your Feedback score
2. offering to pay members for their user ID
3. exchanging Feedback for the sole purpose of increasing your Feedback score, getting website privileges or enhancing your reputation

Visit eBay's Feedback manipulation policy for more information.

Feedback Extortion

eBay forbids buyers from demanding goods or services outside of the transaction while threatening negative Feedback, neutral Feedback or low detailed seller ratings.

Below are some examples of Feedback extortion:
1. a buyer threatens to leave negative Feedback or low DSRs (detailed seller ratings) unless the seller sends an extra item that was not part of the original listing
2. a buyer threatens to leave negative Feedback or low DSRs unless he/she gets a full refund without shipping the item back to the seller

Visit eBay's Feedback extortion policy for more information.

How to Best Deal with Feedback Problems

I have found it far more productive to simply CALL eBay directly and speak with a customer service representative. An action will be taken immediately by eBay to resolve the issue.

eBay's phone number is: 866-278-1053
If you search eBay's contact information through their Customer Support link, you will be assigned a PIN number which will be active for 15 minutes.

Most complaints against buyers will deal with feedback issues and use of profane language. You should always respond to any complaint whether from the seller themselves or from eBay or PayPal as soon as possible.

eBay has extremely strict feedback policies. There are some buyers out there who will punish a seller for a transaction they were not completely satisfied with by leaving neutral or negative feedback without contacting the seller first and attempting to resolve the issue. I have found that this is never good practice. You should always try to be reasonable and at least attempt to resolve any issues with the seller first and only contact eBay or PayPal when you were not able to arrive at a resolution with the seller.

A seller can always appeal the feedback you left for them and in some cases that feedback will be removed. In such a case, eBay will also note that on your permanent record.

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If for whatever reason you were angry at one point in time and you made bad judgment by sending a threatening and/or profane e-mail to the seller and now the seller has filed a complaint against you to eBay, don't panic. You should always apologize for such an occurrence and explain that you were upset and unfortunately unable to use good judgment. Again, honesty is always best policy.

Some buyers will send a complaint email to you while others will file a formal complaint through eBay. Either way, you should always respond in writing as promptly as possible.

Remember to always be polite and don't be afraid to work something out with the buyer if that is what they want.

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ALWAYS respond to the buyer through eBay's or PayPal's messaging system, as the case may be. You want to ensure that you have a trail in case an eBay or PayPal representative needs to investigate further.

Most complaints will deal with items arriving damaged or not as described. No matter how angry or belligerent the buyer's emails get, always respond professionally, don't use swear words and see if you can negotiate an amicable resolution with the buyer.

Never delete received or sent emails from your eBay messaging system. This is the only way an eBay representative can access them in order to investigate tthe complaint.

If the buyer threatens you in an email, I have found from my own experience that it's a very good idea to politely point out that threatening and harassing messages are against eBay's policies and should the buyer continue threatening or harassing you, you will have to report them to eBay.

If in the end you are not able to resolve the issue and eBay or PayPal have to investigate the complaint and resolve it themselves, once the complaint is closed, you can block the user.

Please be truthful in your dealings with other eBay members as well as eBay and PayPal staff. Don't make things up in order to make your version of the story sound better - in the end this will not help you. Honesty is always the best policy.

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Always keep your emails in order and don't delete any messages, since you may need them for proof later on. Purchases and sales can go sideways without warning and you need to be prepared. Also, always communicate ONLY through eBay and not external email or telephone methods, since eBay has no way of verifying the authenticity of the communications.

Always be polite, regardless of the language or attitude from the other party. Those at eBay will take this into account for conduct when reviewing your case. Besides, if someone is rude, there is no need for you to stoop to their level of stupidity. Maintain your composure and integrity at all times.

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And finally, if you find that online methods are not getting results you want, just call eBay. The problem could lie in the fact that the issue may seem very convoluted in writing and sometimes a short chat over the phone will fix it in just a couple of minutes.

Keep these points in mind and you should be able to handle any trouble buying or selling on eBay.

Good luck with your eBay endeavors!