I received  my first negative rating on eBay  for an  item  for which I was the buyer. I paid immediately and received an item that is significantly damaged. The item is a Griffin Technology PowerMate and its underside is gouged.

I emailed the seller,  monyliev , on 15 July 2005 about the problem asking for a small consideration: a $3 refund for an item for which I paid $39.50. I didn’t necessarily want $3 back, but I did want some acknowledgement of the damaged item, an apology, a swap. Something. While I appreciate the functionality, aesthetics are important to me. Hey, I’m a Mac user.

I was summarily ignored. On 4 September, I sent another email notifying monyiliev that the item “WAS DAMAGED.” More ignoring. eBay allows users to leave feedback for up to 90 days (in this case until 12 October 2005), and on 30 September I decided that I should tell other eBayers about my bad experience with monyiliev. I pulled my punch, though, giving him a neutral rating captioned with

Item damaged. Unresponsive to 3 emails sent over 3 months. NEGATIVE.

While I was mistaken that I’d sent 3 emails (I’d only sent 2), I had given monyiliev ample opportunity to contact me, explained clearly there was a real problem, and left feedback which reflected the nature of my transaction.

That same day, monyiliev retaliates with negative feedback.

One of those ebayers trying to scheme money back Aking $3back Be aware. NEGATIVE

I requested monyiliev’s user information from eBay and phoned him, leaving a message (under 30 seconds) explaining that I did not appreciate his disingenuous feedback, that the item is damaged, that I was not necessarily looking for $3, and that he should call me at his first possible convenience. Of course, he will do no such thing. Still. It’s the principle of the thing.

Since then, I debated initiating a “Buy It Now” transaction solely for a second opportunity to leave negative feedback for him. I considered phoning him at 6:30 this morning to tell him just what I really thought about him and his business practices.

I settled with kvetching about all this and consolidating his publicly available information:

eBay user ID: monyiliev
 Dyntronics 
[Private information removed, 5 October 2005]