Okay...I am so steamed. I had to turn to my DVDtalk brothers before I go nuts. Check out this feedback rating this imbecile gave me. I believe it was for the Hellraiser Tin boxset that I sold. He gives me a "1" due to the fact that it is widescreen only!

Just a little ticked since I work hard to keep a good feedback rating & this dick does not know his ass from a hole in the ground. Am I in the wrong on this one or is this finally proof that DVD has gotten too mainstream so Wal-mart shoppers are buying them online now. Hope the link works. http://www.half.com/account/function...eller_id=35958

Do they even make a fullscreen version of it? If they don't, then he is entirely wrong, but if there are two versions than you are somewhat wrong, but still undeserving of a 1.

what an a$$, you specified the UPC and he didn't look at the product description...there is only one version of the tins...

noting however, that dvdpricesearch shows the set as:

4:3/LBX/16:9

[Edited by matchpenalty on 04-28-01 at 07:59 AM]

According to a e-mail I recently received from Half, you now are supposed to able to contact other members. I don't know how this works. Probably can't change anything but at least you can call him a dickhead. You might want to contact Half support people to try go remove it although I suspect they won't do a thing.

I don't believe it will hurt your credibility as this feedback clearly identifies the buyer as an idiot.

i've had similar situations, unfortunately. i know how aggravating it is because i had a 5.0 rating after around 100 orders, then had one guy give me a 1 for a similar issue. i emailed half.com support and showed them the UPC he had purchased and pointed out that i sold him that item... they had no sympathy and it's still there.

good luck, i hope they'll be more sympathetic to you. that's such a boneheaded thing to put in someone's feedback... grr. at least i'd say that most people who read the feedback will be able to tell he's a bonehead.

I feel your pain, I just got my first negative feedback on eBay from a guy who hasn't paid in 4 months after the auction closed and the only reason he gave me neg. feedback was because I gave him neg. feedback. I hate these A$$holes.

You have every right to be steamed. I would be too. The only way he could have jusified that rating was if you had stated the version incorrectly in your listing or by email to him. He also should have contacted you about it when it arrived. I'll bet you might have taken it back. Unless he requested that he did not give you an opportunity to make it right (even if it wasn't your fault.

To be fair, I'm betting this guy simply does not understand what those feedback ratings are for. He must have interpreted the feedback as 'rate your statisfaction with the item itself' not the dealer.

One of my favorite sig's is "Do not ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetance or stupidity.". This likely applies here.

You can contact the seller of an item through e-mail. I don't think you can contact a buyer.

brianluvdvd,
If it makes you feel better, as a frequent Half.com buyer I would disregard the comment that idiot made when looking at your feedback.

A tip for you in the future. When I sell on Half.com, I always include a polite handwritten note thanking the buyer for the order, and expressing my desire to fix any problem they may have. (Actually, it is a scanned copy of a handwritten note I print on my inkjet, but it looks handwritten.) I include my email address, in case they haven't figured out how to contact me through the Half.com system. So far, no one has contacted me and I have a perfect feedback rating, but I'm hoping the personalized note will help to fend off any negative attitude from an idiot.

There is a jerk who sold me a CD on ebay that was in "sealed" condition. Yes, it was "sealed", but it was also clearly involved in a flood! Amazingly, the CD plays, although all the inserts, etc. are ruined.

Anyway, this guy is the ONLY ebay seller I've found who doesn't give you positive feedback when you send PayPal within 24 hours after the close.

Why not?

Because he waits so that he can retaliate with negative feedback, for the inevitable negative feedback that he's going to get for his scams and frauds.

MORAL: on ebay, always wait for the other guy to leave feedback first!

...but wasn't that his policy!

That is a great idea!!! Thanks for the tip! I have learned my lesson & will do that in the future!

And the plot thickens...well, I sent in a complaint to half.com stating unfair feedback. Well, I get a response from the buyer thru half.com. I tried to respond but the link half.com gives me is not valid. To add insult to injury, Half.com states that if I do not respond quickly, they will take my money back & I am guessing that the item will not be returned. I have sent in another complaint on this to half.com.

Well, I found out what it is & I am still a little confused by this buyer. He bought The Last Temptation of Christ from me (I mistakingly thought it was Hellraiser). He states that Letterbox is fine but Widescreen is bad since he does not have a widescreen TV. Obviously he does not understand what letterbox or widesceen is. As most of us know, Criterion did that screwy thing on this disc where to access the Pan & Scan version you have to set your DVD player to 4:3 setting for your TV or to get the widescreen version you have to have the setting on 16:9. This person obviously has a 4:3 tv but has his setting on 16:9 and cannot watch it in his beloved Pan & Scan b/c the common lay-person does not know how to do this with this particular disc. I tried to explain it in my response as best as possible but since this is a technical issue & I am obviously talking to someone who does not understand this stuff, this is going to be hard. Any other suggestions now that we know what is truly going on?

Thanks for all the responses so far!

Ok... I am a non-user of half.com so perhaps I don't understand...

When you list, you apparently just put in a UPC, and they give you a teeny field for "comments", where I don't really see anything more than folks saying OOP or whether it's used or sealed or viewed, etc.

The description of the item being sold is provided by half.com and in this case clearly indicates that it is "Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85".

As seller, what additional information should you be providing at this point in that whopping 70 characters you are given?

So what next? A seller of the Clerks Mirimax DVD would get his money taken away because he didn't note in his comments that it was in black and white?

Buyer's comment

i got some feedback with vulgarity in it and they removed it at my request. the new feedback basically says that he made the error in not reading the description of the item.

Y2kfalcon,
Your thinking is basically correct. The description field for the seller is basically to be used to describe what condition the merchandise is in and anything else that might be unusual about your particular item. The buyer should be reading the description that Half.com gives for the item to get the particulars such as widescreen, extras, etc. Then again, the cluelessness of the general consumer doesn't surprise me one bit.

I just wish someone would leave me *any* feedback. I've sold more than 20 items in the past 3 weeks, have confirmed all orders in less than 12 hours, shipped orders within 2 days, used first-class shipping, and have yet to receive 1 piece of feedback from a buyer.

I think you're a good guy...

There ya go.

Really? I have bought three CDs on ebay, all of them waited until I left them feedback first. They even clearly stated this in their e-mail to me (e.g. "my policy is to leave feedback after I receive feedback"), in addition, one of them stated "if you leave me positive feedback, I will leave you positive feedback. If you leave me neutral feedback, I will leave you neutral feedback. If you leave me negative feedback, I will leave you negative feedback."

Now, in all three cases, the CDs were in fine condition (well, one had slight scratches but it played fine), and all three left me positive feedback after I left them positive feedback. In your case I would have e-mailed the seller and tried to return it. If you paid via paypal you can always try to have the price you paid charged back to him.

I am seriously considering starting a second ebay account which I would use only for CDs and electronic items, those are the areas where the goofballs tend to hang out.

And I really wish ebay would institute a policy (and have it electronically enforced) that says that a buyer can only leave feedback if the seller has first left feedback. This would stop the above mentioned sellers dead in their tracks and honest sellers would have nothing to fear.

If you still have the email you received stating this, forward it to [email protected]. They do not allow retaliatory feedback and I would bet this guy's account would be suspended, if not closed.

When I sell, I always leave feedback ASAP after receiving payment. When I buy, I leave it as soon as I receive the item. I used to worry about being left retaliatory feedback, but with almost 800 positives and no negatives, a retaliatory negative would stand out as being just that. Plus, eBay now allows you to respond to feedback comments. Half.com should update their system to also allow these responses.

I had a similar thing happen to me recently. I've sold over $1000 of stuff on half.com. I sold a cassette tape for $1.99 on that particular album's page clearly listing it in all caps "ATTENTION, I'M SELLING A CASSETTE TAPE, NOT A CD!!!!" There were several others doing the same thing. Everyone does it, I've unloaded plenty of tapes there. I wrapped it up all nice and shipped it out the same day he bought it. I always include the packing list with a note saying thanks and include my e-mail address for any questions or problems...

The guy left me a 1 saying he was "very dissapointed". What a cry-baby loser, he knew what he was buying unless he was a moron. He probably just wanted to complain to half.com so he could get a free tape. Nothing I can do about it. My 5 is now a 4.8. Oh well, people still buy from me. I have a ton of positive responses.

There's one way to contact the buyer, you have his mailing address. Mail him a photocopy of your ass...

After checking out your feedback section, I noticed the original poster, brianluvdvd, had one 1 rating, one 3 rating, and one 4 rating. This gives the seller an average rating of 4.9 out of a possible 5. That's pretty good.

As a side note, I noticed that half.com is a ebay company. Hmmmm....

I buy a lot of things from Half.com and ebay, sometimes 2-3 items per week. And YES I do look at the buyers feedbacks. If the Seller receives a negative feedback, I always look at their responses.

In your case, I would simply IGNORE the negative feedback because It's obvious this person was wrong! For the most part, I think INTELLIGENT buyers do look at the feedbacks and will draw their own conclusions as to the validity of the complaint(s).

Just try keep things in prespective and accept the fact that you cannot please all of the people all of the time! And that some people are just born COMPLAINERS if nothing more than to hide their ignorance and or incompetence.

Good Luck to You
Tony Thiel


[Edited by TThiel on 05-08-01 at 07:00 AM]

I think you're thinking of Ebay. Half.com doesn't let you respond to negative feedback. If they did, trust me, I woulda done it. Too bad they don't; maybe they will start some day now that Ebay owns them now.

I always include a written message that includes the above information. It has worked well for me so far.

MarcusAurelius: Your suggestion on contacting the buyer and giving him/her your "personal feedback" was HILARIOUS! and very clever.

Thanks for the tip!
Trent