I got negative feedback!
As I mentioned earlier this week, I was in a dispute with an eBay buyer about the DirecTV receiver that I sold them. I claim it worked when I shipped it, she claimed it didn't work when she got it.

Several e-mails were exchanged where I explain my side of the story (i.e. I tested the unit prior to shipping). The seller says that if I give her $20 (to cover the shipping on the brand new HDTV receiver she is getting from DirecTV), then she won't give me negative feedback (she said, "Don't worry about a negative, that would not be fair.").

I decided to take the evening to think over what I was going to do. On one hand, I know that I am right. On the other hand, even one negative feedback is really bad, especially since I have open auctions right now.

Well, the buyer decided that I had waited too long and left the following feedback today:

"Negative: Received DOA.Direct TV verified.Tried to work out compromise to no avail."

I contacted the buyer again and we exchanged a couple of emails. It was clear that this isn't going to get resolved to anyone's satisfaction, so I have tried to do some damage control. First, I posted this in response:

"Reply: Tested unit before shipping - see photo; Buyer getting new receiver from DirecTV"

I also added a note to each of my open auctions that links to my blog post about the negative feedback. I'll just have to wait and see if the negative feedback affects my ability to sell my last 2 items.

UPDATE -- 5/2/2006 @ 11PM: The buyer has agreed to withdraw the feedback! Woo hoo!