BrickLink Negative Feedback

[captaintau]

I've just discovered that I've been left negative feedback on BrickLink. I'm quite shocked. In 80+ eBay transactions and nearly 100 BL transactions, I've never had a negative before. I wouldn't mind, but there's no justification for it.

I left the seller appropriate negative feedback because the order took weeks (literally) to arrive. So he's left me negative feedback just because I've left him negative. Really mature, yes?

Can I do anything about this. Like, request it be withdrawn, report him to BL?

Or shall I just accept it? It may not be worthwhile pursuing it, but it's the principle, right?

[Siegfried]

That sux. What did he actually say?

[captaintau]

The feedback I left, as the buyer was:

"Sets new records in Slow"

to which he replied

"No contact and For .06 cents order. Please take your business elsewhere"

Quite what he means by "no contact", I have no idea

His resultant feedback to me was

"Left neg feedback and did not bother to resolve. All for 0.06 cents"

How do you resolve it? I have replied

"So I get -ve feedback BECAUSE I left (justified) -ve f/b. That's really mature!"

I would add that the order TWO WEEKS to arrive, having been posted first class and being for just onr part. I gets parts from abroad (like one from Hong Kong arrived today) that take far less time to arrive than that.

[Shadows]

Was it slow because he mailed it late, or just because of the postal system? Check the postmark if it has one, it technically might not have been his fault.

Either way, you may want to see if they have a mutual feedback removal process like eBay does. Both of you could clean up your accounts that way. It hardly seems worth the bad mark over this situation.

[captaintau]

Nope, he was late in sending it.

[Siegfried]

Nope, he was late in sending it.

That is the problem with BL. Some people respond the next day, and others wait until they have enough orders to justify their time. I cancelled one order over this... and the seller blacklisted me even though he said "no problem". I did manage to persuade him to change his mind though.

I don't think you will have much chance of having this erased, but it is pretty annoying. It is one of the reasons why the feedback system of BL doesn't work too well. I recall Hinckley had a bad experience once due to a mis-interpretation of MISB... and I don't think he resolved it.

[Shadows]

Nope, he was late in sending it.

People suck. I'm betting the best you could get is the mutual removal, assuming they even do that...

Odds are, you'll get to wear it as a badge of honour for taking the necessary steps to label a slow shipper as such. :-/

[blueandwhite]

I'm curious as to what the seller's rating was before you made your purchase. Alot of times I find that these things can be avoided by looking at the seller's history. Other than that, you're really defenseless if you actually do come across a bad seller. A bad seller will never admit to making a mistake, much less try and rectify his or her error. Fortunately, I've only had good experiences with bricklink thus far.

[legotrainfan]

I'd also recommend what others have said: check if there's a negative feedback removal system. The problem is that the negative feedback you got as well as the negative feedback you gave must be removed by MUTUAL agreement. At least this is how it works on eBay.

To console you a bit: My brother has also been left a negative feedback once though his payments are the quickest on this planet! It annoyed him even more because he had left the seller a neutral one. He bought a package of trees and some other things for his model train layout and the seller stubbornly insisted that he had bought two packages of trees (on different days). But my brother showed me his eBay account and I could see he had only bought one package. So after a long discussion with the seller he got one package as wanted and left a neutral feedback for that item. Well, the seller "rewarded" him with a negative one. >:-( *n* Even worse: normally on eBay you can extent your comment (respond to feedback) after you've been left a feedback, but he couldn't do that anymore since he had already deleted that transaction. So he was really angry!

So you're not alone! I can understand that experiences like that are tremendously annoying!

EDIT: By the way, I have been quite generous with positive feedback on eBay twice or thrice. The problem is as soon as you give an HONEST negative feedback, the seller will usually take revenge - childish but true - by giving you a negative feedback as well. So I admire your courage!

Edited February 18, 2008 by legotrainfan

[meschepers]

I got reported to BL once because I refused to pay for an item. I refused to pay because it took three months for the seller to contact me with a total. I ordered an identical item from another seller and had it within a week. I went through the proper channels at BL and got everything resolved.

[mutley777]

Bricklink is a funny place. I have had so many good and really fast transactions but also had a few long ones. I had one a while back that took 6 weeks from the USA, and it was posted air mail *wacko* . The lego was posted late but i was just happy that i got it. I gave him postive feedback but all i said was "Great lego".

Unless a seller has left you feedback then it unwise to leave a negative comment as it will most likely end up the way it did with you. It is a shame BL is set up this way as a seller is supposed to leave you feedback when he posts your lego. :-/

At the end of the day i don't think there is a better way to buy parts, so sometimes you just have to put up with bad service and make sure you never go back.

[Starwars4J]

I guess you could try contacting an admin at BL. I recently ordered some things from Troy's BL shop. It took nearly a month to ship, and that was after three separate IGNORED attempts to contact him to see if my transaction was still in his records.

For the record, I paid within an hour of receiving the invoice.

It annoyed me just for the fact that my attempts to find out my status were left ignored. Eventually I got it, but the whole experience left me bitter about buying there. I left neutral feedback, which I probably shouldn't have, but it seemed the appropriate thing. He actually ended up leaving me positive feedback, which I was surprised about since most people are just tit-for-tat with these things.

Honestly I don't know why sellers don't leave feedback as soon as they're paid, as the seller has fulfilled their obligations entirely...

[Cult]

A less sarcastic tone might have kept you from gaining negative feedback. Something like 'The item took a while to arrive, which could have been prevented if the seller had dispatched it earlier', rather than 'Set new records in slow'. You can't really complain that the seller is being immature when you're handing out unhelpful and frankly arrogant remarks such as this. Politeness is key with these things. ;-)

Edited February 18, 2008 by Cult

[Lasse D]

I would add that the order TWO WEEKS to arrive, having been posted first class and being for just onr part. I gets parts from abroad (like one from Hong Kong arrived today) that take far less time to arrive than that.

Is it just me or does everyone in here agree that two weeks is a long time for an order through BrickLink?

If I gave feedback for orders that took this long, I would have to do it almost every second time! I have once bought from a seller who took more than a month to deliver and after giving him positive feedback (I guess I'm way too forgiving?), he conveniently forgot to give me the same courtesy.

[Stauder]

A less sarcastic tone might have kept you from gaining negative feedback. Something like 'The item took a while to arrive, which could have been prevented if the seller had dispatched it earlier', rather than 'Set new records in slow'. You can't really complain that the seller is being immature when you're handing out unhelpful and frankly arrogant remarks such as this. Politeness is key with these things. ;-)

Welcome to EB Cult, you can introduce yourself Here.

As for this problem you have CT, well kid's will be kids... Cult, you have to take into account that it was the seller's fault. Still, I prefer to steer clear of Ebay and BL... Goo'd oll toystores for me thanks X-D

Stauder

[BerndDasBrot]

'The item took a while to arrive, which could have been prevented if the seller had dispatched it earlier', rather than 'Set new records in slow'

I don't really know how many characters can you write in your feedback? I think he had to shorten it.

But I agree. I always try to remain polite and when I'm disappointed or something like that, I'll wait with the feedback.

Edited February 18, 2008 by BerndDasBrot

[highlandcattle]

I don't think two weeks is particularly slow for an order to arrive. I do think it is sad however that you complain like this over a six cent order, I wouldn't even dare to order for six cents.

[SlyOwl]

Does a negative feedback really matter that much to a buyer?

Is it just me or does everyone in here agree that two weeks is a long time for an order through BrickLink?

If it exceeds 2 weeks within a country then that is a long time, but otherwise it's fine, I think *sweet* . I had an order that took a month and a half to arrive after posting, but that was at the time of all the postal strikes over here |-/ So I guess as long as they ship within 3-4 days it is fine, but the rest just depends on the post...

Still, I prefer to steer clear of Ebay and BL... Goo'd ol' toystores for me thanks X-D

I was under the impression you weren't allowed... ;-)

Edited February 18, 2008 by SlyOwl

[Starwars4J]

Does a negative feedback really matter that much to a buyer?

There are several stores who will do a blanket block for their stores, not allowing anyone with even one negative feedback to shop in their store, or even browse it *wacko*

[Hinckley]

I recall Hinckley had a bad experience once due to a mis-interpretation of MISB... and I don't think he resolved it.

Quite true. Even after the user un-registered because so many people had blacklisted him, they still wouldn't respond to my requests to move the negative feedback.

I've had bad experiences on eBay as well and think that feedback systems in general are faulty. Like Tau's example, there's nothing in place to protect someone from receiving retaliatory feedback.

[Brickadier General]

EDIT: By the way, I have been quite generous with positive feedback on eBay twice or thrice. The problem is as soon as you give an HONEST negative feedback, the seller will usually take revenge - childish but true - by giving you a negative feedback as well. So I admire your courage!

Well, that will change for e-bay. Starting February 20th (at least I think that's the date), sellers will no longer be able to give buyers negative feedback, most likely for the reasons you've mentioned. I for one don't particularly care for it because there are buyers out there who are incompetent and do things like beat around the bush about payment for long periods of time (only had that once out of many sales). I don't do retaliatory negative feedback as a seller, but I will say that sometimes I feel pressured to leave positive as a buyer when I know I wasn't completely satisfied with the service I got. Either way, you can't win.

Maybe Bricklink will eventually follow in e-bay's footsteps on this matter?

Edited February 18, 2008 by Brickadier General

[CP5670]

Well, that will change for e-bay. Starting February 20th (at least I think that's the date), sellers will no longer be able to give buyers negative feedback, most likely for the reasons you've mentioned. I for one don't particularly care for it because there are buyers out there who are incompetent and do things like beat around the bush about payment for long periods of time (only had that once out of many sales). I don't do retaliatory negative feedback as a seller, but I will say that sometimes I feel pressured to leave positive as a buyer when I know I wasn't completely satisfied with the service I got. Either way, you can't win.

Maybe Bricklink will eventually follow in e-bay's footsteps on this matter?

Yeah, I can see the problem here, but I think ebay's solution is even worse. It completely puts the seller at the buyer's mercy. I occasionally sell various computer hardware on there and the buyer can always claim the item was defective and demand a refund, even if there is nothing wrong with it or he accidentally damaged it himself (I take the buyer's word if this happens but don't want to have to do this on a regular basis). I believe they have also increased their final value fees, especially on small items. It will be good for buyers but sellers will really get the shaft.

As for Bricklink, I have fortunately only had good experiences with it so far. The only time I had a real problem was with one European seller using crazy exchange rates (I didn't know about this whole issue back then; the real price was a good 30% more than what the invoice had shown), but he agreed to let me cancel the order and we both gave each other positives.

[Dfenz]

I don't think two weeks is particularly slow for an order to arrive. I do think it is sad however that you complain like this over a six cent order, I wouldn't even dare to order for six cents.

I agree entirely. In my view two weeks is a bit quick for a negative feedback.

I reserve negatives for orders that don't arrive and would hestiate to even leave a neutral for the sake of a 6 cent order. I wouldn't have bothered with leaving feedback at all. Leaving quick negatives is a fast way to get stoplisted by Bricklink Stores and its quite possible that the seller will get your negative feedback removed as that seems to happen a lot on Bricklink as you will note if you peruse the forums there.

My two cent.

[captaintau]

Several comments:

- OK, the comment I left was maybe a little sarcastic. It was true, though. I think "succinct" is the word ;-)

- I wasn't aware that my one negative could mean being unable to browse some stores. That's worrying

- I've put in a feedback removal request. We'll see what happens

- Yeah, $0.06 seems petty to argue over. The store was the only place I could get this part and it didn't have any other parts I wanted or needed

My thoughts on feedback generally. Well, on eBay, I only leave feedback after it's been left for me. I'm always honest, too. I think a lot of people get worried about what feedback will be left for them and so don't post. I think the buyer has less to lose by accruing negative feedback since (on eBay at least) it doesn't stop you buying anything, whereas for sellers it can make potential buyers very wary.

I had an issue a few years ago that wasn't being easily resolved. Very awkward seller. The item eventually arrived. I contacted eBay's support for advice as I wanted to leave negative feedback but was afraid of reciprocation. I think I had made about ten transactions at the time so one negative would have taken my feddback rating down to 90%. If I were to try and sell, who's going to buy from someone with a feedback rating of 90%?

The response I got from eBay was very good in terms of a personal answer. They said that part of the responsibility of being an eBay member was leaving appropriate feedback in order to better inform fellow members. They said all long-term eBayers would eventually accrue "battle scars" of negative feedback and I should just accept that it could happen.

Whereas I take the point, it was easy for him to say. If you lose 100% feedback, you can never get it back. You may get 99.9%, but never 100%. So I didn't leave feedback and didn't receive any. Maybe I was a wimp, I don't know.

CaptainTau

- eBay feedback 100% over around 90 transacations

- BrickLink feedback 99 (would be 101, with 100%, but for one immature idiot)

[captaintau]

I meant to discuss Troy yesterday. Yes, there have been huge delays but really I blame the BrickLink mechanism for buyers' dissatisfaction, not Troy.

Whilst sourcing parts for my StealthX by searching BL based on part number, one of the less common parts was available through Troy. I went on to add LOTS of parts from Troy's shop that visit. All the time searching his shop by part number. It was only when I went to the checkout that the Splash screen informed me that Troy was moving house and so any orders would be delayed by several weeks.

At that point, I had the option to cancel the transation as I hadn't gone too far. I chose not to since I'd ordered SO MANY parts that time and I couldn't be arsed re-searching elsewhere for them.

Several weeks later, Troy sends the invoice which I obviously paid for at the first opportunity and the parts arrived really quite quickly.

What I'm saying is that ideally I'd have had the Splash screen as soon as I went to the shop with my first selected part, not after I'd put together a large order.

Troy did warn his potential buyers. The BL mechanism didn't allow that warning to be as early displayed as it should be.

This is the only time I have dealt with Troy. I was very pleased, given that I chose to accept the delay on sending.