I have been selling on ebay for the past several years. In this time my reputation has
been impeccable, with well over 1000 positive feedbacks. Last week the first negative comment was posted on my site. Simply put, it was a lie.
A bidder from France won one of my auctions in September. I sent her an invoice which is of course standard procedure. After several weeks of no response it became apparent that she was not going to pay. I filed a dispute with eBay who in turn sends a reminder to the buyer that they owe for their merchandies. Still not a word. After the appropriate amount of time I closed the dispute, received a refund for my fees then proceeded to add this seller to my list of unwelcome customers. This is common practice as any seller on eBay knows. In the past I have been reluctant to leave negative feedback for non-paying bidders. The reason being, fear of retaliation from unscrupulous people.
I left her negative. "Non paying bidder" was my comment. In retaliation, or whatever her reasoning, she left one for me as well. The statemen reads "fake item!!!! be careful".
1. The item is genuine.
2. She did not pay, so she did not recieve the item.
I was more than upset and have been in contact with ebay every day since. They refuse to
remove this comment. To me this is defamation. My question is, does the law see it that way? I will look the other way on a lot of issues, but when it comes to my reputation being attacked in a public forum, this is totally unacceptable. I would appreciate any legal advise, Im prepared to file suit if this comment is not removed.
been impeccable, with well over 1000 positive feedbacks. Last week the first negative comment was posted on my site. Simply put, it was a lie.
A bidder from France won one of my auctions in September. I sent her an invoice which is of course standard procedure. After several weeks of no response it became apparent that she was not going to pay. I filed a dispute with eBay who in turn sends a reminder to the buyer that they owe for their merchandies. Still not a word. After the appropriate amount of time I closed the dispute, received a refund for my fees then proceeded to add this seller to my list of unwelcome customers. This is common practice as any seller on eBay knows. In the past I have been reluctant to leave negative feedback for non-paying bidders. The reason being, fear of retaliation from unscrupulous people.
I left her negative. "Non paying bidder" was my comment. In retaliation, or whatever her reasoning, she left one for me as well. The statemen reads "fake item!!!! be careful".
1. The item is genuine.
2. She did not pay, so she did not recieve the item.
I was more than upset and have been in contact with ebay every day since. They refuse to
remove this comment. To me this is defamation. My question is, does the law see it that way? I will look the other way on a lot of issues, but when it comes to my reputation being attacked in a public forum, this is totally unacceptable. I would appreciate any legal advise, Im prepared to file suit if this comment is not removed.