Negative eBay feedback may lead to lawsuits

Negative feedback on eBay emerges as new defamation battleground:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/nega...w-defamation-battleground-20140620-zsevs.html

 

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That's interesting. Maybe that's why eBay does not allow negative feedback for buyers...

 

I see it as just another reason to do business elsewhere.

 

I do not buy from ebay, with all the scams and counterfeits that are on ebay, IMO it's not worth it despite having seen some pretty great deals on ebay. I tend to stick with my LCS dealers whom I have been going to for over a decade.

If I go and buy anything online, I tend to go to mintproducts.com as they tend to have very good deals on coins.

 

It is only going to be a bit of time before some slick attorney in the USA is going to find a way through some inane loophole law to stick a lawsuit for libel resulting from an Ebay transaction. It has already happened with some restaurant rating sites.

 

suing people over feedback ratings/reviews... This is the world we live in now? seriously?

@Peter T Davis I think we are going to need a CoinTalk Lawyer. Soon everyone will be suing each other over their showcase ratings.

 

8 Negs out of 535 transactions.

I'm guessing that this is what got the fella that got sued:



Not only did he post negs, but he carried his negative diatribe over to some type of forum which is not uncommon for some coin buyer to do.

Of course, its all in an effort to alert other buyers but I've learned over the years that not all one sided stories are factual but have a mixture of assumption embellished with emotion as well.

Had this fella simply limited his opinion to the eBay negative then I feel positive that no suit could or would be filed.

Hopefully, folks are paying attention.

 

Its much more than a simple negative or two Josh. The negative bombardment was carried over to a public forum.

 

That's not the reason.

The reason is that many sellers would hold the buyer hostage under the threat of retaliatory negative feedback should a buyer negatively rate a seller.

eBay is trying to encourage buyers to leave feedback thereby allowing sellers to either shine or be shown.

 

My experience with this particular seller was that I was sold products which they did not have in inventory. As such, I had to wait 21 days for my items to even ship.
I can understand this business model but would have appreciated knowing this information up front.

I hope I don't get sued............

 

Did you read the story beyond the headline?

Here's what I saw:

"In one of the first cases of its kind in Australia, an eBay seller running a business called "Achilles Archery & Outdoors" sued a West Australian man over a negative review he posted on the auction website, as well as five posts on a separate forum in which the buyer discussed products he had bought from the business."

Negative Feedback is all a part of doing business "on eBay" but when that negativity gets carried over to a public forum where the eBay sellers business could be affected, certain lines get crossed.

The owner of Accugrade Grading Service has a similar lawsuit filed based upon the publically posted "negative opinions" of Accugrade graded coins. Citing such things as fraud, over grading, preferential grading and such will definitely spark the interest of a companies attorney.

In other words, its not JUST eBay negative posts as much as it is with what these disgruntled buyers do "after" the negative has been left in an attempt to discredit the eBay seller.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

 

Which is why CT has rules governing this activity which many do appreciate.

 

Hmm. Seller said, "Buyer refused to cancel eBay transaction, this is needed in order for a refund." And yet, it seems like when I've gotten cancellation requests on orders where I've already paid, eBay always says "don't agree to cancel unless you haven't yet paid or you've already received a refund."

I'm trying to find cancellation notes with this verbiage, but I'm not having much luck yet...

[edit]

...and after a bit more searching, I must be thinking of something else. The closest I can find is a cancellation-confirmed message saying that I was no longer obligated to pay, and that I should contact the seller for a refund if I had paid. So never mind, I guess.

 

I'm thinking Peter knows a bit about the Accugrade lawsuit.

 

Not quite, anybody involved even the quickly dropped, were several thousand dollars lighter from attorney fees.

 

I will bet Silvertowne is watching this case closely given what happened to them recently on eBay.

 

What was that?