An unfortunate revelation about Reverb.com

Toby Walker · #1 08-21-2018, 12:37 PM

First off, let me say that I have always had a positive experience with Reverb, both as a seller and a buyer, and would definitely do business with them again.

Recently I had purchased an instrument to use for an upcoming European tour from a seller on Reverb who had a 5-star rating. When the instrument arrived it was broken, rendering it absolutely unplayable, due to the seller's complete lack of properly and safely packing it for shipping. The only packing material he had put in there was a loose, single piece of cardboard. No peanuts, no packing paper, no styrofoam, nothing. It was even shaking back and forth before I opened the box!!

Furthermore, the seller never once replied to my messages explaining what had happened. No apology, no explanation or even any indication that he would refund the payment.

It was only until I complained to Reverb that the situation was resolved. Apparently, they must have contacted the seller, who then indicated through Reverb that a refund would be forthcoming once the instrument was returned. I was also provided a shipping sticker which covered the cost. Kudos to Reverb for going to bat for me.

Here's the rub: At this point, there is no way I can rate this transaction! According to Reverb, once payment has been refunded, the buyer can no longer comment on the details. What does this mean? It means that this seller still has a 5-star rating, and that some other buyer is going to have the same, sad, and frustrating experience.

So yes, while I'm thankful that Reverb did the right thing in a timely fashion, I'm also quite disappointed in the fact that they are failing to warn others of this irresponsible and totally unprofessional seller. Who knows how many other sellers are like this?

Goat Mick · #2 08-21-2018, 12:40 PM

I had a very similar issue on eBay. After the situation was resolved and the money refunded I couldn't leave feedback. In this instance the seller handled everything perfectly and promptly refunded my money, but I couldn't even leave them positive feedback for the transaction. With both platforms, as soon as a refund is given the transaction is locked and no feedback can be left.

rokdog49 · #3 08-21-2018, 12:42 PM

Apparently, because the issue was resolved and no one got hurt, that's the end of it. Looks like as far as Reverb is concerned, nothing happened. You had a problem, it was resolved by Reverb on your behalf, end of story.
I agree with you that this is not a satisfactory way to do things and the seller has been misrepresented as being good.
Since I have time on my hands, had it been me, I may have tried to go higher up the food chain.

Brent Hahn · #4 08-21-2018, 12:48 PM

Sorry that happened, Toby. Been there. Reverb and eBay stink equally in that particular regard.

Toby Walker · #5 08-21-2018, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Apparently, because the issue was resolved and no one got hurt, that's the end of it. Looks like as far as Reverb is concerned, nothing happened. You had a problem, it was resolved by Reverb on your behalf, end of story.
I agree with you that this is not a satisfactory way to do things and the seller has been misrepresented as being good.
Since I have time on my hands, had it been me, I may have tried to go higher up the food chain.

Yes, which after reading your comment is exactly what I have done. I just spoke with the first level customer service agent about this. He agreed with me, saying that the ability for customers to indeed post feedback once a payment has been refunded would be helpful to future customers and that he'll be having a supervisor there get back to me.

I honestly believe that if more folks complained... politely... that perhaps Reverb would re-access their policy.

Overall, again I must say that Reverb has been very helpful. Let's see if they can amend their rating policy. I think that would be beneficial to everyone involved - sellers, buyers, and to the reputation of Reverb as well.

JohnnyT · #6 08-21-2018, 01:02 PM

Now let's hear more about this European tour....!

Dwight · #7 08-21-2018, 01:08 PM

You've been made whole and that's still not enough? Maybe call a lawyer?

Toby, you did a great job warning us about Reverb's policy! Now we know someone who sells on there has packed poorly and it's not reflected in their feedback. Shame on Reverb!

Toby Walker · #8 08-21-2018, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwight

You've been made whole and that's still not enough? Maybe call a lawyer?

No, that's not the point and there's no need for a lawyer... at all. What I am thinking about are the future transactions of not only myself but of other Reverb customers. If Reverb had a better rating system in place, it would be helpful for everyone.

Dwight · #9 08-21-2018, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

No, that's not the point and there's no need for a lawyer... at all. What I am thinking about are the future transactions of not only myself but of other Reverb customers. If Reverb had a better rating system in place, it would be helpful for everyone.

Maybe someone went to your concert and you didn't play the song they came to hear. Would you want them to give you a bad review on Yelp?

tippy5 · #10 08-21-2018, 01:20 PM

I can't imagine this lock out of bad transactions not being studied in meetings years, and perhaps decades, ago.

Reading between the lines, it seems, that these 3rd party transactions usually benefit the buyer. But they have a corporate CS stance , carefully weighed and crafted in boring in-house meetings, saving the sellers feedback damage once refunded. So my guess is that there is a percentage of 5 star sellers, 100% positive feedback sellers, that are not 100% free of returns for even less reasons that your horribly packed and broken instrument had.

If we owned these Huge billion dollar entities I think we would adopt this procedure from being judged by lessor buyer grievances. Maybe some belly archers out there with finding 32 specs of dust on their headstock...etc....?

Like practicing medicine, having a huge operation like this is not an exact science, it's an art. With policies and procedures that have evolved balancing our adversarial contract of sales.

I wish they would be more forthcoming when you called them. I would be super disappointed to pay either way shipping for a broken guitar. Maybe they are told different things to assuage the buyer as to why you are locked out? Maybe the tell the sellers the next time you ship an instrument with no packaging materials you will be on some list?

I do wish you a great tour and I appreciate details of transactions that go south from our group. There are so many scenarios. It sucks you can't warn future buyers with feedback that they shipped an instrument with no regard at all for proper shipping.

devellis · #11 08-21-2018, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

No, that's not the point and there's no need for a lawyer... at all. What I am thinking about are the future transactions of not only myself but of other Reverb customers. If Reverb had a better rating system in place, it would be helpful for everyone.

Right. While Toby's been made whole (save for lost time and inconvenience), the consumer who may use ratings as an indication of which sellers are reliable is still in jeopardy. Kudos, Toby, for going the extra step on behalf of future purchasers.

jklotz · #12 08-21-2018, 01:28 PM

I had something similar. In my case, I bought an amp that the seller never shipped. For 2 weeks, he didn't respond to my many emails, so I got reverb involved. He didn't respond to their emails either. They had the refund issued to me about a week and a half later. So, my $ was tied up for almost a month. Funny part about it, the seller had the same amp listed again, but for more money, 3 days before I got a refund.

Like you, I was not able to leave negative feedback because, in reverb's eyes, the sale never actually went through.

hairpuller · #13 08-21-2018, 01:30 PM

Though it's a shame you aren't able to leave feedback, Reverb is quite aware of the situation and has most likely tagged this seller. Should another incident like this occur my guess is seller would be one strike away from being pulled.

The Reverb folks aren't stupid. This is bad publicity for them, and can adversely effect business. They will look after themselves, and will protect their buyers from these types of sellers if it's not a one-time error.

Would love to have seen a pic of the damage to the guitar.

scott

Toby Walker · #14 08-21-2018, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hairpuller

Would love to have seen a pic of the damage to the guitar.

scott

catfish · #15 08-21-2018, 01:44 PM

Several years ago I used to buy puerh tea via Chinese portal aliexpress.com (owned by Alibaba, if I understood correctly). It is similar to eBay, a lot of private sellers selling different stuff.

they have a very clever and secure for buyers system -- the seller does not receive payment until the buyer confirms that he/she got the product and there are no problems. So, they kept the money in escrow, usually for two weeks, but sometimes the shipping can take the whole month. There were no restrictions on the feedback, either. Good example for Reverb to follow.