Ebay - an Ai reply?

[Mozziephotography]

This reply, re my feedback on ebay, made me smile. It would have taken me years to put this together.

"Dear Stephen, Thank you very much indeed for your messages. I think that you misunderstand me, and I am sorry if my message seemed somewhat condescending, I did not mean to be. And I can understand the anxiety and frustration that you obviously felt when you received a camera that did not work - this has happened to me many times on eBay at the hands of 'cowboys' who make false statements of functionality - but I would emphasise that I am not one of the these 'cowboys.......... who, incidentally, rarely reply to the sort of criticism that you put in your feedback. I just wanted to make the very important point that feedback is a means whereby buyers can make a judgement on a seller, and decide whether to trust him and therefore buy from him. Anyone reading your feedback, precisely accurate though it was, would get the impression that I am indeed one of these 'cowboys' because they would assume that I had said in the eBay advert that the camera worked - when clearly it does not. It is not what you said that causes me difficulties but what you did not say, the omission of the fact that I never claimed that it was working.Dear Stephen, Thank you very much indeed for your messages. I think that you misunderstand me, and I am sorry if my message seemed somewhat condescending, I did not mean to be. And I can understand the anxiety and frustration that you obviously felt when you received a camera that did not work - this has happened to me many times on eBay at the hands of 'cowboys' who make false statements of functionality - but I would emphasise that I am not one of the these 'cowboys.......... who, incidentally, rarely reply to the sort of criticism that you put in your feedback. I just wanted to make the very important point that feedback is a means whereby buyers can make a judgement on a seller, and decide whether to trust him and therefore buy from him. Anyone reading your feedback, precisely accurate though it was, would get the impression that I am indeed one of these 'cowboys' because they would assume that I had said in the eBay advert that the camera worked - when clearly it does not. It is not what you said that causes me difficulties but what you did not say, the omission of the fact that I never claimed that it was working.I agree completely with every word of your feedback statement but what I disagree strongly with is your omission of a very important point (that I clearly stated in the advert that the camera was sold untested) which gives the reader the impression that you have been wronged by false representation by me, the seller. But I hope that you will at least agree that made no false representation in the advert and that I gave a completely honest description of the item. It is this omission which will give to the mind of any reader a potent negative rating to me based on this transaction.I agree completely with every word of your feedback statement but what I disagree strongly with is your omission of a very important point (that I clearly stated in the advert that the camera was sold untested) which gives the reader the impression that you have been wronged by false representation by me, the seller. But I hope that you will at least agree that made no false representation in the advert and that I gave a completely honest description of the item. It is this omission which will give to the mind of any reader a potent negative rating to me based on this transaction.And I certainly do not want you to change the neutral grading which you gave for the feedback because that is your honest opinion, which is obviously affected by the frustration of not receiving a working item, and is understandable.And I certainly do not want you to change the neutral grading which you gave for the feedback because that is your honest opinion, which is obviously affected by the frustration of not receiving a working item, and is understandable.with very best wishes N"

 

[Sky]

No, that's a person, not AI. Although some of the sentences could easily have been copied from a text written by one.

AI would have used correct punctuation, grammar and a few paragraphs. This is just waffle generated by a poorly educated human brain.

 

[Box Brownie]

You would have imagined that AI would not have generated a diatribe of a single paragraph Such a long paragraph makes it very hard to read and fully comprehend the intention & meaning!

PS life is too short to read it through TL : DR

 

[Mozziephotography]

You would have imagined that AI would not have generated a diatribe of a single paragraph Such a long paragraph makes it very hard to read and fully comprehend the intention & meaning!

PS life is too short to read it through TL : DR

I didn't even notice the repeats. Gave up after half a dozen lines.

 

[JohnMcL7]

I would agree it's not AI since as pointed out the grammar and structure is a bit of a mess, also there's no emdashes (although people are starting to pick up on this and remove them to try and hide AI) and it doesn't have the typical AI structure of a couple of sentences at a time and listing off items. It does have the typical AI style of far too many words without actually saying much but other than it doesn't seem at all AI to me. I found this a useful video in identifying AI text especially now with AI improving I find it a bit more difficult to immediately spot AI text:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ch4a6ffPZY

 

[Plain Nev]

Blimey! Someone has overdone the cut and paste.

 

[JonathanRyan]

AI is _much_ better than that.

Dear Stephen,

Thank you very much for your messages. I believe there may have been a misunderstanding, and I apologize if my previous response came across as condescending — that was not my intention.

I completely understand your frustration upon receiving a non-working camera. I’ve had similar experiences myself with sellers who misrepresent items. However, I want to emphasize that I am not one of those sellers. In fact, they rarely respond to feedback like yours, whereas I’m taking the time to address it.

My concern is not with the accuracy of your feedback — I agree with everything you wrote. Rather, it's about what was omitted. Your feedback gives the impression that I falsely claimed the camera was working, which I did not. In the listing, I clearly stated that the camera was sold as untested. This detail is crucial, as it helps buyers understand that the item may not function and that no guarantees were made.

Without that context, readers may assume I misrepresented the item, which could unfairly damage my reputation. I hope you can acknowledge that I made no false claims and provided an honest description.

That said, I respect your decision to leave neutral feedback. It reflects your genuine disappointment, and I understand that. I’m not asking you to change it — only to consider the full picture.

With best wishes,N

Or you may prefer

Dear Stephen, I hope you're well,
I’ve read your note — I can’t quite tell
If you believe I tried to cheat,
But that’s not me, I don’t compete
With sellers who mislead and lie,
Then vanish when complaints run high.

I’m sorry if I seemed unkind,
That wasn’t how I’d hoped you’d find
My words — I meant no condescension,
Just clarity and good intention.

Your feedback’s fair, I won’t contest
The points you made — they’re well expressed.
But one key fact was left unsaid:
I never claimed the cam was dead
Nor working fine — I made it clear
It was untested, front to rear.

Without that note, folks might assume
I sold a dud and caused this gloom.
That’s not the case, and I just fear
It paints me wrong to those who peer
At ratings when they choose to buy —
They’ll think I told a blatant lie.

I’m not requesting you amend
Your neutral grade — I comprehend
Your disappointment, loud and true.
I’ve felt that sting as a buyer too.

I simply ask you see my side,
Where honesty and truth abide.
I gave the facts, I made no claim,
And hope you’ll see I played no game.

With best regards,N

 

[JonathanRyan]

BTW I booked a tradesman to come to my house and do work recently. They were clearly using AI to reply to me via WhatsApp (as in, AI was handling the entire conversation including booking a time in their diary - agentic rather than chatbot).

It worked perfectly and from a customer POV was far better than most humans I've dealt with

 

[TimHughes]

And soon that agent will be talking to your agent that you gave the task to get the work quoted for and organized…..

 

[JonathanRyan]

And soon that agent will be talking to your agent that you gave the task to get the work quoted for and organized…..

I would certainly hope so - it was too unusual a task to think about doing this with (my garage door had broken - there are few people who can fix them, fewer with good reputations). But certainly for things like booking doctor's appointments, getting tables for dinner, arranging a family birthday party - I could probably do all those right now if I had the inclination.

 

[Harriers9]

You're only allowed 500 characters in a feedback on Ebay. This one has 3939 so definitely not genuine feedback.