Feedback - Pros and Cons

Lately there has been a lot of discussion in various Sellers Groups that I subscribe to about buyers leaving negative feedback on sellers when it wasn't deserved. The general feeling among sellers is that even a single negative feedback causes some buyers to look elsewhere and they become very upset when this happens. Doubly so if they feel that said negative feedback has no basis in fact. There is no court of appeals on many sites to decide who's right and who's wrong. Once a feedback report is entered it stays. The only recourse that a seller has is to rebut this feedback by stating the facts from the sellers point of view. This almost inevitably leads to back and forth chain of nasty notes that definitely scares people away.

I have stated many times that I will never give negative feedback and so far I have stuck to this like superglue. I am a staunch believer in the old adage that the customer is always right, even when he is wrong. Any experienced businessman knows that there is absolutely nothing to be gained by debating issues with customers. My belief is apologize and move on. As far as people who are genuine frauds, most sellers do not send merchandise until it's paid for and lose nothing except a little time if a seller backs out of the deal for any reason. My philosophy is deal with it. Move on to the next sale.

Most of the negative feedback that I have seen leading to endless circles of heated accusations are started by sellers who (after waiting a reasonable length of time) and receiving no correspondence or money tag the buyer with a negative statement. This starts the war. A war which no one wins. My recommendation is let it go and move on.

Does this mean that the feedback system is totally useless. Not really. Sellers and buyers alike are more likely to trust and deal with someone who has a high positive feedback rating and few if any negatives. The feedback system is a supplementary communications method. If you give me feedback, I assume that you have received the merchandise and if you get feedback from me you can assume that I have received your payment. It puts a final closure on a good transaction. Please give feedback if the person has satisfied his end of the transaction. If they haven't and you are unhappy with something use e mail. 99% of the time you are going to resolve misunderstandings without going to war.

One last word, to buyers and sellers alike. Double check your feedback before you submit it. It is easy to fill in the wrong dot and put a permanent blemish on someones record by mistake. Even if a site allows you to revise the words by subsequently submitting good feedback, you have if nothing else created bad feelings. Unfortunately there are people who only look at numbers and don't read any further.

thanks for listening...

Updated for content 06/09.