You can read "eBay UK to Monitor Shipping DSRs" here. Reply to this message to discuss it.
Original Post
This is just more nonsense. As long as ebay continues to instruct buyers that a 4 is "good", or they continue to penalize sellers for ratings that fall more than a point or two under a 5, sellers will continue to take it in the shorts.
Nothing will help unless it is made abundantly clear to buyers that they are doing no favors to a seller by giving him a 4 star rating.
I just went through that with a buyer from Australia who trashed my 5 star DSR. I knew who it was because of the timing and, contrary to ebay policy, I sent them an email asking them if they gave me a 4, and if so, why. I politely explained the situation, just as I do in the "terms" portion of every listing. I didn't get accusatory or argumentative or anything. I simply asked them what, if anything, I could have done to deserve a 5. They replied very apologetically that, as I had suspected, they were relatively new and even though they were "delighted" with the product and service, they had been given the impression by ebay that a 4 was a good rating. There was nothing else I could have done to get a 5. They even suggested that I use their email to try to have ebay change their DSR of me to a 5, which is what they felt I deserved. The buyer went so far as to describe their awarding me 4's as "human nature". They were absolutely right.
This move, like ebay US's move in September is just window dressing. As long as ebay insists on implying to buyers that a 4 is a satisfactory rating for a transaction that went perfectly, buyers will continue to give us 4's, thinking that a 5 should be reserved for transactions wherein they get their item free or it arrives before they pay for it. To them, to award a 5 for anything less somehow "cheapens" that rating.
Nothing will help unless it is made abundantly clear to buyers that they are doing no favors to a seller by giving him a 4 star rating.
I just went through that with a buyer from Australia who trashed my 5 star DSR. I knew who it was because of the timing and, contrary to ebay policy, I sent them an email asking them if they gave me a 4, and if so, why. I politely explained the situation, just as I do in the "terms" portion of every listing. I didn't get accusatory or argumentative or anything. I simply asked them what, if anything, I could have done to deserve a 5. They replied very apologetically that, as I had suspected, they were relatively new and even though they were "delighted" with the product and service, they had been given the impression by ebay that a 4 was a good rating. There was nothing else I could have done to get a 5. They even suggested that I use their email to try to have ebay change their DSR of me to a 5, which is what they felt I deserved. The buyer went so far as to describe their awarding me 4's as "human nature". They were absolutely right.
This move, like ebay US's move in September is just window dressing. As long as ebay insists on implying to buyers that a 4 is a satisfactory rating for a transaction that went perfectly, buyers will continue to give us 4's, thinking that a 5 should be reserved for transactions wherein they get their item free or it arrives before they pay for it. To them, to award a 5 for anything less somehow "cheapens" that rating.