eBay has a historical problem with "tit-for-tat" blackmail, where sellers keep up their positive percentages by threatening buyers with a negative review if they give the seller a negative review. That's why a few consistent negative comments outweigh a "98% positive" review. eBay recently made some changes to try to prevent this practice, but I don't know how it's working out.

my brother went through a dispute and got a refund for very faulty goods, he posted neg feedback and the seller did likewise. he got a cheap lawyer's letter off to ebay stating that they were publishing an incorrect fact which was slanderous and ebay removed it very quickly.

The changes they've made are to ban sellers from leaving any feedback at all, in other words you won't see any feedback for buyers in the future. If a buyer rips off a seller (for example by falsely claiming the item never arrived), it won't be visible in feedback any more.

Honest sellers are understandably annoyed about this...

Nokia will not send used items as new. Resellers, however, just might.

Resellers can be bad. My company knew of well-known resellers who re-shrinkwrapped software that was returned, thus causing customers to claim that our software had viruses in it. We of course would have known instantly if we sent out software with viruses, since our phones would have been ringing off the hook, and not from software from only certain resellers.

On a different subject -- the new management of eBay is just plain evil and should be avoided. I'm looking forward to the rise of a really viable alternative auction-related site.

Thank god for that. I was starting to think that new unused N810's don't exist anymore.

Passed the Nokia interrogation over the phone today and will have my new 810 on Tuesday.

FYI. Google....810 on ebay....and this thread is the number one hit!. Its actually the 3rd now.

hmmm, i feel very out of place, but its sordid, not sorted.....
anyways, tough luck there man, i hope all goes well

dude, you have some misinformation there.

sellers will still be able to leave FB, just no negs or neutrals. but, in effort to reduce buyer scams, ebay will also increase bidder requirements sellers can set. also, a mechanism will be in place so sellers CAN dispute unfounded negs.

a perfect system? far from it. doom & gloom? not even close. an excellent resource for ebays news is over on AuctionBytes (http://www.auctionbytes.com)

the reason for the majority of changes are to repair the damage to the ebay brand done by Megholio & her minions.

weeding out problematic sellers is the goal. you know like the op's seller. the best advice given to the op is to file a SNAD (significantly not as described) complaint. if that fails then if you always fund payments via credit cards buyer's have that added protection. it stinks when probs come around and they can be frustrating, but things usually work out.

i never advise folks buy compters or electronics on ebay unless they REALLY know what they are bidding on AND research the seller, fully reading the auction term. i have bought two of my last three laptops on ebay (one even from a seller in Canookia). excellent deals both times. bought the one iin the middle direct from dell and got completely hosed. so, it does happen elsewhere too. but, it does happen waaaaay to frequently on ebay because of slimeball sellers.

mail order has always been spooky, ebay can be also, but if you use good judgement it's pretty safe.

btw, buyers who worry about getting retailiatoy negs don't 'get it'. feedback is meanless to buyers. well, unless you total fb is under zero. and never buy with your selling id. use a buying id so being honeest with fb for a seller won't affect you seller rep.

Breck, I don't accept ebay's rationale for removing seller feedback features. It was a useful tool for me as a seller and its removal is one reason I quit selling on ebay. Delayed payments was the other. Like many, I will be using ebay alternatives going forward.