Ebay's attitude.

I've been busy for the past week dealing with the star rating system for Ebay. I suppose one might think that it's no biggie if you get a 4.9 instead of a "perfect" 5.0. But my problem wasn't as much about the number if it was deserved, but to be honest it wasn't. My rant is that when I called Ebay to see if I could explain what I felt was a misunderstanding by the buyer, I was told they have a right to privacy. Huh???? Even Equifax allows you to challenge an erroneous post from a creditor. All of these seemingly innocent posts can impact a person or their business in a multitude of ways. With Ebay, if your rating drops too much you loose your Top Seller rating which in turn causes you to loose your Ebay perks, such as reduced fees. What happened you might ask? I was dinged on my shipping fees. My first reaction was huh????

I clearly post in my auctions that I charge $3.50 for each invoice sent, not each purchase. Since I combine auctions, a customer only pays $3.50 for several purchases or an expensive purchase. The $3.50 flat rate covers a 3 oz package that is insured for $50. or less. The person that dinged me got her package, with just the postal cost and "assumed" that I was overcharging since no insurance was on the package. Had that customer had the courtesy to ask, I would have been able to tell her that I had insured the packages with Auctiva's insurance offered through Ebay, and that her package DID cost $3.50 to ship. But the part that bothers me is that if I state my fees on the auction and someone bids on that auction, they are agreeing to pay that shipping amount, and that if the charges are a problem, they should move on to another auction, or stop the process before paying. Whatever way I look at it, that customer shouldn't have dinged me on shipping fees, but at least wrote to me first. Luckily, those stars aren't permanent if everyone else doesn't do the same thing, they will eventually go back up.

On a positive note, my auctions are doing better. Have a great day everyone.

Hugs,
Vick