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eBay buyer sued for libel after leaving negative feedback
- Thread starter woolyback
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wow.. i dont know what to say.. but you know how ebay is but either way the seller should have just given him the right one and they wont go through all the trouble. and the seller sueing the consumer wow talk about "@$$"
Mr.Jones has certainly gone to an extreme, however I don't think he's being totally ridiculous.
The phone is advertised as an F700, there is minimal difference between the F700V and F700 (I believe it's just different marketing, Samsung are known for putting an extra letter on the end in certain countries like that). Also, I've looked up the listing and the picture of the phone clearly shows F700V in the background (on the box).
Also Mr.Jones appears to have a more than fair returns policy;
Judging by his other feedback, most other customers are happy with their items. So as someone who uses eBay, I've got more than a suspicion that Mr.Read might jut be one of those people that complains for the sake of it, I've had a few myself and its usually A. Something they've done to it or B. They changed their mind and there is nothing wrong with it upon return.
I've also known buyers get rather threatening despite being given a full refund, so all I'm saying is the article doesn't exactly tell us what e-mails went between these two.
Finally, eBay (UK at least) is on the side of the buyer completely, they seem to forget that it's buyers and sellers required in harmony for their site to run. Not only that, but it's the sellers who pay eBay to list their items. As the article says, eBay admit they need to review their policy and there has been an outcry to return the old system, which very few people seemed to have a problem with.
I must say that suing is a rather over the top thing to do, though. If he had a problem he should have reported Mr.Read to eBay and made sure his future listings were completely fool proof. If it was indeed Mr.Jone's fault, he should be making sure no such errors occur again. Either way he should have lived and learnt, in my opinion.
The phone is advertised as an F700, there is minimal difference between the F700V and F700 (I believe it's just different marketing, Samsung are known for putting an extra letter on the end in certain countries like that). Also, I've looked up the listing and the picture of the phone clearly shows F700V in the background (on the box).
Also Mr.Jones appears to have a more than fair returns policy;
Judging by his other feedback, most other customers are happy with their items. So as someone who uses eBay, I've got more than a suspicion that Mr.Read might jut be one of those people that complains for the sake of it, I've had a few myself and its usually A. Something they've done to it or B. They changed their mind and there is nothing wrong with it upon return.
I've also known buyers get rather threatening despite being given a full refund, so all I'm saying is the article doesn't exactly tell us what e-mails went between these two.
Finally, eBay (UK at least) is on the side of the buyer completely, they seem to forget that it's buyers and sellers required in harmony for their site to run. Not only that, but it's the sellers who pay eBay to list their items. As the article says, eBay admit they need to review their policy and there has been an outcry to return the old system, which very few people seemed to have a problem with.
I must say that suing is a rather over the top thing to do, though. If he had a problem he should have reported Mr.Read to eBay and made sure his future listings were completely fool proof. If it was indeed Mr.Jone's fault, he should be making sure no such errors occur again. Either way he should have lived and learnt, in my opinion.
I think leaving negative feedback after a full refund is unfair, but suing him for doing so is just ridiculous. If the seller wins, it also sets a precedent for more unscrupulous people who might knowingly sell the wrong/damaged goods and then threaten the buyer with legal action if they try and leave negative feedback.
these days.. anybody can sue anybody for any reason.. the world is becoming more stupid everyday.. no offense but i think we all need to change
You say I need to change ? Thats not nice...you don't even know me.....I'm gonna speak to a lawyer about this
You say I need to change ? Thats not nice...you don't even know me.....I'm gonna speak to a lawyer about this
lol! i state my point. haha nice one
Frankly I think more like this needs to be done. I've used ebay a couple of times to buy games, most of which were copies. Even now I'm trying to find a popular GBA game but every listing on eBay (at the moment) is fake and they're trying to cover it up.
The sad thing is most people won't even know its a fake and they're being completely ripped off. So they all have positive feedback still! I contacted a few buyers to inform them that their product may be fake - low and behold they were all fake. Most demanded money back and thankfully a couple of sellers got shut down.
I just hate bad sellers, most of all the ones selling illegal items.
The sad thing is most people won't even know its a fake and they're being completely ripped off. So they all have positive feedback still! I contacted a few buyers to inform them that their product may be fake - low and behold they were all fake. Most demanded money back and thankfully a couple of sellers got shut down.
I just hate bad sellers, most of all the ones selling illegal items.
I think it's ridiculous that he left negative feedback after receiving a full refund. The issue was resolved. Yes, he got the wrong phone, but after not receiving what he wanted, I guess nothing could have made this buyer happy, not even a no hassle refund.
Agreed. The purchaser got his money back, what else does he want? A pint of blood?
You say I need to change ? Thats not nice...you don't even know me.....I'm gonna speak to a lawyer about this
Good, lawyers can always use a little more money
He could have gone " Seller made slight error in description but happily refunded cash, thanks."
The only change these days is that more then half of the lawyers (especially here in the US) need to go, get their licenses revoked and just go ride bikes or something.
Makes me wonder where peoples stupidity will stop at.. ohh I got burned by another hot McDonalds coffee in my lap.
Makes me wonder where peoples stupidity will stop at.. ohh I got burned by another hot McDonalds coffee in my lap.
I think the ultimate issue is the Ebay system itself. They have to step up
and do more to resolve conflicts and prevent fraud imo.
and do more to resolve conflicts and prevent fraud imo.
In fact he could still retract his feedback and replace it with somethikng like " Seller made slight error in description but happily refunded cash, thanks."
I know, they really get me too! Just the other day I was browsing for an 8gb ipod touch, the new gen, and I see this guy selling one for a cool $324
(reminder that buying it direct from Apple would be just $229--only like 100 bucks less!!) So I write an email, inquisitive-like but polite and not at all accusatory, asking them to confirm it was the new 8gb, kind of leaving them the possibility to say it was just a typo--I was thinking they'd realize that if at least one person had noticed and had been moved to write, chances were more had and might try something, and would change it faster than you can say 'it's a con!'. But a few hours later, cool as a cucumber, the guy comes back with 'yes this is the 2nd generation. There is no price mistake, these are rare items that can only bought in the US'. Yeah, that makes quite a lot of sense, I'm sure
That was a few days ago and I didn't do anything after, but it's been on my mind since; do y'all think I ought to do something about it, and what?ETA: I rechecked now, and it's still above 300 bucks--they put it on sale
But it's still like $80 above the Apple price!There certainly bad apples on both sides of the fence. As a buyer I have had a couple of times where I left negative feed that was factual and justified and (before ebay changed their policy) I received negative feedback for leaving them negative feedback without doing anything wrong.
I will say that most of my transactions go well which is nice for an honor system these days.
I will say that most of my transactions go well which is nice for an honor system these days.
To show others he's a bad seller?
Advertising the wrong product is simply an human error, but selling something that was damaged as in a good condition is a much bigger problem as it shows the seller was lying.
I agree, I don't see anything wrong with leaving negative feedback in this case. If the merchandise was truly damaged, then there isn't a problem with the feedback. However, it would be better to note in your feedback that the seller was prompt and courteous in giving a refund, and probably downgrade it to neutral.
What kind of person would honestly waste that much money on a lawsuit over a negative feedback on eBay? Unless the guy is doing hundreds of thousands of dollars in volume one negative feedback probably isn't going to make a hell of a lot of a difference, especially not enough to sue. It is also ironic that this ended up in the media, now he really might lose business as people start to think he is a sue happy arse.
And the thread title is incorrect, as far as a I can determine.
He has yet to be sued, just threatened. Lawyers do this all the time, the seller just picked-up on the practice so he can continue selling crap.
You'd be surprised just how many people would just put up with the damaged product, and write it off to experience.
He has yet to be sued, just threatened. Lawyers do this all the time, the seller just picked-up on the practice so he can continue selling crap.
You'd be surprised just how many people would just put up with the damaged product, and write it off to experience.
Just as not all sellers are honest, not all buyers are either (not that it was claimed, but the eBay system might have you think so).
For example, I sold something on eBay about a month ago and the buyer was happy (I wasn't informed of any problems) for three weeks of ownership as far as I was concerned. However, at the very end of last month he sent me a rather offensive message in block capitals along the lines of 'IT IS BROKEN, DAMAGED ALL OVER. COMPENSATE ME OR ELSE!' to which I replied 'Please can we avoid going down this route of anger, I will be happy to help you without need for that. Just a few questions; 1. how long have you had the item? As far as I know you have had it for the period of 22 days, but obviously other circumstances may have arisen which would mean you have not had it for this period. 2. Please describe in detail the damage to the item, or better yet try to take a photograph if possible. If you can just get back to me I'll be more than happy to issue you either a partial refund for the damage or a full refund if you no longer want the item. Thank you'.
The next day he gave me negative feedback saying 'AVOID'. I have received no further correspondence from him either, so I'd assume there was either no problem or he'd damaged it himself and describing/photographing this would clearly show damage that he had caused himself.
Still, I wouldn't sue over it. I've had hundreds of other happy customers and so far only that one negative.
For example, I sold something on eBay about a month ago and the buyer was happy (I wasn't informed of any problems) for three weeks of ownership as far as I was concerned. However, at the very end of last month he sent me a rather offensive message in block capitals along the lines of 'IT IS BROKEN, DAMAGED ALL OVER. COMPENSATE ME OR ELSE!' to which I replied 'Please can we avoid going down this route of anger, I will be happy to help you without need for that. Just a few questions; 1. how long have you had the item? As far as I know you have had it for the period of 22 days, but obviously other circumstances may have arisen which would mean you have not had it for this period. 2. Please describe in detail the damage to the item, or better yet try to take a photograph if possible. If you can just get back to me I'll be more than happy to issue you either a partial refund for the damage or a full refund if you no longer want the item. Thank you'.
The next day he gave me negative feedback saying 'AVOID'. I have received no further correspondence from him either, so I'd assume there was either no problem or he'd damaged it himself and describing/photographing this would clearly show damage that he had caused himself.
Still, I wouldn't sue over it. I've had hundreds of other happy customers and so far only that one negative.