Ebay feedback system flawed

Today I bought a relatively cheap cell phone on ebay to be used on my upcoming trip next month to Singapore and Thailand.

The phone looks good and has all of the functions I need while travelling, not to mention it is a quad band and it will work anywhere I travel. If I lost the phone, no big deal. I even bought an activated simm card on ebay two years ago. I make sure I top it off just before I head home so that it will be good for another year.

But this quote from the seller is what erks me about Ebay’s feedback policy.

We appreciate your business in my store , if you are satisfied with our service, please rate the details of the transaction (Detailed Seller Ratings) on eBay with a “PERFECT 5 STARS” and leave us a positive feedback.
Our system will automatically do the same for you when you leave me a 5 stars positive feedback to me

In my opinion the seller should be leaving feedback first, not the other way around. And that feedback should only be based on the customer’s timely, or not, payment.

The seller’s policy above is similiar to one where I demand feedback before I make my payment.

Why should I have to give “good” feedback first to receive my feedback, especially when I have completed my duty as a buyer.

So, what is the solution?

Simple, buyers cannot leave feedback until the seller does.

But is that a really good solution?

Some would argue that the seller would then be under pressure to leave good feedback.

How about a secret feedback system. Both parties leave feedback that is kept secret for enough days to allow both sides to leave that feedback.

But this solution would not satisfy those who like immediate feedback.

My solution, request feedback from the seller first, especially since I pay for my purchases immediately. If the seller is unwilling to leave feedback until I do, too bad.

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This entry was posted on November 20, 2009, 8:38 pm and is filed under Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

#1 by Kimberly Castleberry on June 15, 2010 - 6:38 am

Ugggh, nothing like high pressure to leave feedback just to get your own. On a reverse of that though, I recently had a company I dealt with on amazon (that was wonderful anyways) that let me know in a after-sale email that if I ranked them 5/5 they would send me a free training cd they offered relating to the topic (ITIL) that I had bought books from them about. I’d completely forgotten about their email until an envelope with the disk arrived because I’d rated theirs while rating a whole bunch of transactions I’d done. While it was kinda pressure, it also kinda was really neat to get a freebie (and a discount coupon for later purchases). It improves my “will do business with again” view of them. Maybe something others should consider.
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