No. NetNeutrals is an independent company authorized by eBay to assist users who have received feedback that they consider to be unfair. Please visit http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/feedback-review.html for more information.

ODR stands for Online Dispute Resolution.  NetNeutrals' ODR system is a means of settling disputes between parties in an online setting.  It's secure, convenient, and simple to do.

To start a case, simply login (you will be directed to eBay’s site for authentication), and then click "Start a New Claim" on your account page. NetNeutrals does not store your password or other personal information.

The NetNeutrals process is a secure, confidential forum for resolving disputes. In Independent Feedback Review, the parties' postings are confidential.  Only the parties to the dispute, and the Neutral in the Independent Feedback Review process, can access the postings.  NetNeutrals administration monitors the forums for compliance with the stated rules, and is subject to strict confidentiality requirements.

The Claimant is the party initiating the case.  The Claimant may be either a buyer or a seller.

The Respondent is the party responding to the case.  The Respondent may be either a buyer or a seller.

A Neutral is an individual who acts as an Independent Reviewer. As an Independent Reviewer, the Neutral reviews the merits of the case and decides whether the disputed feedback meets the Guidelines for Feedback Withdrawal.

The Neutral is a trained professional, experienced in dispute resolution, who is knowledgeable about buying and selling items in the eBay category in which the item was listed.  The Neutral must be independent from eBay, and may not have professional or personal knowledge of either the Claimant or the Respondent.

Neutrals are randomly selected from a pool of experienced professionals. For more information about the Neutrals, visit the Bios page.

The Neutral completes an Independent Feedback Review to determine whether the feedback left meets eBay's Guidelines for Feedback Withdrawal. The Neutral will post a decision indicating whether the feedback does or does not meet the guidelines and provides a brief basis for the decision.

No. If the case progresses to IFR and a decision is made, the Neutral will only decide whether the feedback met eBay's guidelines for rating withdrawal. The Neutral does not have the power to order either party to take any action.

The Neutral's services are available for $130.  This fee is paid for by the Claimant, the party who requests the feedback review (usually the Seller).  The fee covers the Independent Feedback Review. Payment is made through PayPal.  The Neutral will join the Forum once payment is received.

IFR stands for Independent Feedback Review. 

Independent Feedback Review allows members to ask an independent reviewer (the Neutral) to evaluate a negative or neutral feedback comment left for an eBay transaction to determine if the feedback rating qualifies for withdrawal.  The Neutral uses evidence provided by the buyer and seller in the transaction, the feedback comments left, the ad on eBay's website, any eBay Member to Member (M2M) emails and eBay's Guidelines for Feedback Withdrawal. If the guidelines have been met, the Neutral directs the feedback rating de-scored and the feedback is removed.

NetNeutrals provides Independent Feedback Review (IFR) on the following:

• All eBay Motors vehicles (including cars, trucks, boats, ATVs, motorcycles, etc. but not including Parts & Accessories) for which negative or neutral feedback has been left
• Items that sold for more than $300 in all other eBay categories, for which negative or neutral feedback has been left.  

The item must have been sold in the last 90 days to be eligible.  If your item does not meet those requirements, NetNeutrals unfortunately cannot assist you in reviewing the feedback.  

No.  For the duration of the IFR process (one week), the feedback will be hidden by eBay.  The facts of the case will be reviewed by the Neutral and the feedback will remain suppressed if the Neutral finds that at least one of eBay's Guidelines for Feedback Withdrawal is met.  If the Neutral decides the feedback does not meet the Guidelines, the feedback will again appear in the Seller's feedback history.

Feedback is removed and ratings will be withdrawn if the Neutral determines that the member who seeks a rating withdrawal has clearly and convincingly established facts which demonstrate one or more of the following Guidelines for Feedback Withdrawal:

• The member leaving the feedback did not demonstrate a good faith effort to complete the transaction.
• The feedback was not submitted in a reasonable timeframe
• There evidence that suggests the transaction-related information contained in the feedback comment is factually inaccurate
• The member leaving the feedback made an attempt to extract excessive value from the other party

There are also special considerations for determining "excessive value" for Heavy Equipment in the Business and Industrial category.  For Used Heavy Equipment and Vehicles, the Neutral will take into account particular considerations when determining “excessive value.”  In these cases, if the Seller offered 100% money-back guarantee on the purchase price of the item (up to when the item was picked up by the Buyer or their proxy) a Buyer request of monetary value will be considered excessive.
 
In circumstances where the Seller has offered the 100% money-back guarantee, but  there is a dispute over the description or condition of the item, the Seller may offer to cover any costs related to freight, travel or repairs asked for by the buyer. In such cases, the Neutral may find it is “excessive” when a Buyer asks to resolve that dispute for any monetary value above a reasonable amount as decided by neutral.

No.  The IFR decision only addresses whether the feedback met eBay's rating withdrawal guidelines.  If the feedback does meet the guidelines, the rating will be withdrawn and the feedback will include a notation indicating it has been reviewed through the IFR.  The user's overall rating will not be affected by the feedback.  The review will not be noted anywhere else.

Posting to the Forum is fairly simple. First, login using your eBay account.  Once logged in, you will be redirected to your account page.  Select the case you wish to add comments to, and hit "reply" to any of the comments on the forum thread. You can enter comments as many times as you like, along with upload photos and documents to support your case.

After you click the submit button, your screen should refresh. The new comments will post at the bottom of the screen; you may need to scroll down to view them.

If you are redirected back to the home page, you may have "timed out" if you take too long to write your comment, your session may have reached its time limit.

It is recommended that you do not compose your post directly in the forum. Compose your post in a work processing document and then “cut and paste” it into the forum. This process will allow you to save your comments in the event you have problems posting to the forum. Shorter postings are easier to read than very long postings. If you write a lot, make many shorter posts rather than one long post.

NetNeutrals.com does not accept attachments. Therefore, we recommend that you reference supporting materials and details in the Forum. For example, if you have emails you've sent to the other party, you can copy the dates and times the emails were sent and any important text from the emails into the comment box.

The party who requests IFR pays for the neutral.  Either party may do so, though the party that begins the case and pays the fee is usually the Seller.

Payment is made through PayPal.  Once you send for Independent Feedback Review, a confirmation screen will appear.  After confirming your intent to send for review, you will be directed to PayPal to make the payment.  The Neutral will join the Forum once payment has been confirmed by PayPal.

No.  IFR is a service.  You are paying to have the Neutral review the case.  If the Neutral determines that none of the Guidelines for Withdrawal has been met and the feedback is not withdrawn, there is no refund. The service has been performed.

If you are having trouble accessing your claim, please contact us for personal assistance.

To login, you will be directed to eBay for authentication where you will be asked to enter your eBay member ID and password.

If you are having trouble logging in, check your eBay member ID and password. If you are still having trouble, please contact us.

NetNeutrals suggests that you check the Forum at least once a day. However, the more often you check, the more likely you'll be able to respond to postings quickly and resolve your dispute faster.

Once a case is sent for review, the Neutral joins the forum within 24 hours of payment. The Neutral then asks both parties to post why the feedback does or does not meet the guidelines for feedback rating withdrawal within the 6 days.

No.  In the Independent Feedback Review process you are asked to present “clear and compelling evidence” that one or more of the Guidelines have been met. There is no “default judgment” (a party wins simply because the other party did not present evidence).  You must prove your case.

If the case proceeded to Independent Feedback Review, the case will be closed after the Neutral decides whether the feedback meets the guidelines for rating withdrawal, usually one week after the case is opened unless a holiday delays the decision.

In most cases the feedback score is updated within 7 days, in some instances it can take up to 14 days for the update.

No.  Once a decision is made, the process does not allow another case to be opened with the same item number.  The Neutral's decision is final.  It is not subject to negotiation and cannot be appealed. The time to present information is when the IFR is open in the forum.