Bear with me but this is crazy.
I bought some Chanel No. 5 100ml off a seller on Ebay with 100% positive feedback. Was a good price ($115) and the seller noted a money back policy if it was not legit.
So obviously I got the perfume and it was fake. I had this verified by the Chanel staff at DJs and Myer. Not a massive surprise really, it's eBay.
I left negative feedback and requested a refund. The seller refused to process the refund until I changed the negative feedback. I refused to. I contacted Ebay support via live chat and they said he is blackmailing and extorting in an attempt to change the feedback I left.eBay support said to just wait until the seller refused the refund and then they would intervene. So basically, they would do nothing despite the seller having sold me fake perfume and refusing to process the refund until I changed the feedback.
Then the seller contacted me and said 'here is the Ebay request to change feedback form' I ignored it. The seller then sent another message that said:
"Hello, we have provided you with a refund. There is no need to return the item. As we have discussed, ebay will now remove the feedback."
I did not change my feedback or consent to this. But, as he/she noted my negative feedback has been removed and the seller continues to sell fake perfumes.
I reported all this to Ebay via the live chat and they said that because his account was created using eBay US there is nothing they can do about it. They said on their system they can see that I did leave negative feedback, as too have others, but they have somehow been removed.
I'm not sure of Australian Consumer Law falls into this realm of sales, but it is unbelievable that in the space of 4 hours I have reported being sold fake perfume, attempts of extortion/blackmail, removal of Ebay feedback and a seller who continues to sell fake perfume… all without any action against the seller.
What a joke.
For reference, here is the eBay seller's store https://www.ebay.com.au/str/belletresor09
https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/littlebeautystore
TLDR; A seller on eBay is above the law; sold me fake perfume, refused my refund, tried to blackmail me and then removed my negative feedback. Now I feel like Sandra Bulloch in 'The Net' completely taken advantage of at the hands of some tech savvy turbo scammer.
I wonder if somehow they cancelled the transaction, which therefore cancels the feedback.