How to Dispute Negative Feedback on eBay

Last Updated: September 15, 2021

If you sell items on eBay, you live and die by the quality of the feedback you receive from buyers. While you may do everything in your power to ensure that each transaction goes off without a hitch, you still may end up with an unsatisfied customer from time to time. When this happens, there are several different ways you can deal with negative feedback and minimize the degree to which your reputation as an eBay seller takes a hit.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Replying to the Feedback

1
Sign in to your eBay account. To make any changes or take any actions, you must first sign in to your account.
- Your seller's account provides a number of tools to help you deal with feedback. In this case, you need the feedback forum, which enables you to read, review, and respond to feedback.^{[1]
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2
Access your feedback tools in the feedback forum on your account page. Once you open the feedback forum you'll have a list of tools you can use to interact with your buyers through your account.^{[2]
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3
Click the button to reply to feedback you've received. You'll have the option to reply to any feedback left for you on any transaction.^{[3]
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4
Click the reply link on the negative comment. When you've found the feedback to which you want to reply, click the link to open up a box where you can enter your response.^{[4]
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5
Enter your response. Type your response to the feedback in the box provided and click the button to leave it when you are satisfied with what your message says.
- Replying to a comment allows you to tell your side of the story. Your response will appear immediately below their comment, allowing future visitors to your page to see what happened in that particular situation.^{[5]
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- Be polite and willing to engage the buyer, regardless of how rude or inconsiderate the buyer is. Keep in mind that anyone who visits your feedback page in the future will have access to the entire discussion between you and this buyer, so you want to appear open and willing to work with a dissatisfied buyer.
6
Monitor the feedback and follow up as needed. After you respond, you may continue to message the buyer using the same feedback thread until the situation is resolved.
- Any follow-up responses will appear below the earlier ones in the same thread. Focus on your customer and on resolving that dispute so they are satisfied and would buy from you again.
- Although the feedback will remain on your account and the rating will be included in your feedback score unless it is revised, the entire thread will be visible to demonstrate to future buyers that the situation was resolved.^{[6]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Requesting a Feedback Revision

1
Work with the buyer to resolve the problem. Before you can request a feedback revision, you must have resolved the issue the buyer had that caused him to leave the negative feedback.
- The option to have feedback revised is only available after the problem that was the subject of the original feedback has been resolved to the buyer's satisfaction.
- You also may ask a buyer to revise feedback if you believe the comment was left by accident. For example, if a buyer leaves negative feedback because they purchased a tea pot from you and it arrived broken, but you do not sell tea pots, you might ask the buyer to alter that feedback since it wasn't intended for you.^{[7]
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2
Sign in to your eBay account. You must sign in to your account before you can take any actions under your user name.^{[8]
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3
Access your feedback tools in the feedback forum on your account page. On your eBay account you will have a menu of tools available to deal with buyer feedback.^{[9]
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4
Click the link to request feedback revision. Select the option in your feedback tools that allows you to ask the buyer to revise his feedback.
- You will have to find the piece of feedback for which you want to request a revision, then click on that comment to take further action.^{[10]
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- The revision tool does not allow a buyer to change neutral feedback to negative feedback.^{[11]
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Enter the reason for your request. Choose the most appropriate explanation as to why the buyer should revise the negative feedback.^{[12]
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Send your request to the buyer. Once you're satisfied with what you've typed, send it to the buyer.^{[13]
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- Once you complete your request, the buyer will receive an email alerting him to your request. The email will include a link the buyer can follow to revise the feedback in accordance with your request.^{[14]
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- The buyer also has the option to decline your request and keep the original feedback. He will have the opportunity to provide a reason why he's not going to revise the feedback, or he can elect not to give you a reason.^{[15]
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Wait for a response from the buyer. The buyer may respond to your request and will be given the opportunity to adjust his feedback.^{[16]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Removing or Adjusting Feedback

1
Review the eBay feedback guidelines. There are certain circumstances in which eBay will automatically remove feedback.
- It is eBay's general policy not to remove or block any comment a buyer leaves for you. These comments typically become a part of your permanent record on the site, allowing future buyers to rely upon the feedback system to accurately assess your reputation as a buyer.^{[17]
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- If the buyer didn't follow eBay's feedback policies, however, you may be able to get the negative or neutral feedback removed.^{[18]
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2
Identify the defect in the feedback. If you want to request that eBay remove negative feedback, you must demonstrate that it is one of the types of defects eBay normally would automatically remove.
- Sales that don't go smoothly are called "defects" by eBay, and are categorized as such on your seller dashboard. These problems are tracked in your transaction defect rate, which is the percentage of your sales that had defects.^{[19]
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- Every Wednesday, eBay reviews defects and automatically removes those that meet the requirements outlined in the company's feedback policy.^{[20]
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- Feedback that qualifies for automatic removal includes problems that happened as a direct result of an eBay site issue or error, or transactions for which the buyer initiated a PayPal Purchase Protection case or an eBay Money Back Guarantee request and the case was decided in the seller's favor.^{[21]
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- If a comment violates eBay policies, such as including profanity or links, the comment itself may be removed, but the rating or any related information will not be removed.^{[22]
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Contact eBay to ask that the feedback be removed. Once you've decided the type of defect, request that eBay remove it.
- If you believe a comment or piece of feedback qualifies for removal, but it was not removed automatically according to eBay's defect removal policy, go to that listing and click the "report item" link to contact eBay customer service about the issue.^{[23]
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