The new Independent Feedback Review service, available to both buyers and sellers in eBay Motors, will enable only designated dispute resolution firms to verify whether contentious feedback comments should remain, or be stricken.

As part of the effort, eBay said it would follow decisions by third-party reviewer that determine whether a feedback comment meets the auction site's guidelines for withdrawal.

"Based on Community input and the needs of the eBay Motors marketplace, we are pleased to announce a new program that will allow a feedback comment, left for a transaction in a vehicle category on eBay Motors, to be reviewed by an independent reviewer," the company wrote on its Community site.

Contesting feedback using an independent third-party reviewer costs $100, payable upfront to the reviewer, regardless of their decision. The service will be made available to eBay users involved in listings that began on or after September 20.

eBay said it has approved three big names to handle feedback withdrawal oversight: the Better Business Bureau, automotive dispute mediator DeMars and Associates' NetNeutrals.com unit, and SquareTrade. The BBB oversees cases for Autoline, the largest automotive dispute resolution program in North America. SquareTrade, of course, is well known as eBay's key third-party dispute resolution partner for more than three years.

When one of the third-parties determines that contested feedback should be withdrawn, the feedback comment will still remain visible in users' records. However, the comment will no longer be calculated into in users' overall feedback score.

The new service is designed to provide a measure of oversight for feedback comments. Feedback, of course, can make or break sellers' reputations -- and that's especially true in the eBay Motors, where a single sale or auction can involve tens of thousands of dollars.

"The eBay Feedback system is the cornerstone of safety and effectiveness on the eBay marketplace," the company said. "For this reason, no change to the Feedback system is made lightly. Any changes that are considered are evaluated for their effectiveness, as well as to ensure there are no negative or unintended consequences."

At present, Independent Feedback Review is available in only a handful of categories on eBay Motors -- Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Powersports, and Other Vehicles -- and both buyers and sellers can avail themselves to the service. Depending on how the service fares in the Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Powersports, and Other Vehicles sections of eBay Motors, eBay said it would consider extending Independent Feedback Review to other areas of its site.

Feedback withdrawal criteria
eBay said it would delete feedback only under one or more specific conditions. Feedback withdrawal could be approved in situations in which the eBay user who left the feedback failed to make a "good faith" effort to complete the transaction. (However, cases when a buyer simply doesn't pay for an item don't qualify in and of themselves, eBay has said.)

Another possible condition for feedback withdrawal is if the comment in question was not submitted in a "reasonable" timeframe, typically 30 days. Feedback also can be deleted should there be "clear and convincing evidence" that the feedback comment contains factually inaccurate transaction-related information.

eBay "blackmail" also is grounds for feedback withdrawal -- for instance, if the member who left a comment had sought to try and receive a better deal than what they were entitled to receive through the sale.

Christopher Saunders is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.

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