eBay Customer Service Reps Unaware of Any Appeals Process

budnonymous · Top Poster

15,000 ebaY Sellers Get the Axe!

budnonymous · Top Poster

eBay Confirms Recent Seller Crackdown

EcommerceBytes
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m08/i12/s01

Shame on those ebaY forums cheerleaders for calling the original blogger a liar!

They also started calling people who were axed all sorts of unkind things. Right out of the Twenty-Five Ways To Suppress Truth paper

(wondering if/how many of them are/may be shareholders as well as undisclosed paid word-of-mouth-advertisers?)

-- Edited by budnonymous on Monday 12th of August 2013 07:27:00 AM

RichVernadeau · Noob

This latest "purge" by ebay is yet another egregious action by ebay against small sellers, again done through the abuse/misuse of the flawed DSR system. I urge any sellers impacted by this latest outrage to contact the Attorney General's office in the state wherein they reside (you can Google contact info), and ask for the Consumer Affairs Division. They will listen to you, they will send you forms to fill out to file a complaint, and if enough people complain, they will investigate Ebay.

budnonymous · Top Poster

RichVernadeau wrote:
This latest "purge" by ebay is yet another egregious action by ebay against small sellers, again done through the abuse/misuse of the flawed DSR system. I urge any sellers impacted by this latest outrage to contact the Attorney General's office in the state wherein they reside (you can Google contact info), and ask for the Consumer Affairs Division. They will listen to you, they will send you forms to fill out to file a complaint, and if enough people complain, they will investigate Ebay.

Thanks for signing up & posting.

Clearly, ebay is going waaaaay over the lines. -- (also with the latest forced returns glitch LoLz!)

Fortunately for them, the users are notoriously complacent.

People who seek to have issues corrected can also take advatage of the social media. We've seen demonstrated time and again nothing gets sleaze-pal's attention like a sh--storm on the socialsphere. eg: tweet to @FTC, use creative #hashtags

In addition, they can file complaints to the FTC at the complaint assistant webpage.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

They even have a toll free phone number to lodge complaints.

RichVernadeau · Noob

I have a strong feeling many of those 15,000 sellers who were purged from ebay will be making some posts on blogs, some phone calls, and some social media postings. One good blog is ebayhorrorstories.wordpress.com Another good place to post is Topix Forum, www.topix.com and every town and city has one and anyone can post in this forum. If you do a Google search using the word ebay sellers and Topix Forum it will pull up some interesting threads in various cities.

budnonymous · Top Poster

Is there anyone left that does NOT believe ebaY wants to kill off the small sellers?

eBay Removes Transparency as It Cracks Down on Sellers

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2013/8/13772

then look at the letters to editor section:

eBay Customer Service Reps Unaware of Any Appeals Process

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2013/8/1377110786.html

budnonymous · Top Poster

RichVernadeau wrote:
I have a strong feeling many of those 15,000 sellers who were purged from ebay will be making some posts on blogs, some phone calls, and some social media postings. One good blog is ebayhorrorstories.wordpress.com Another good place to post is Topix Forum, www.topix.com and every town and city has one and anyone can post in this forum. If you do a Google search using the word ebay sellers and Topix Forum it will pull up some interesting threads in various cities.

I have a feeling they'll be joined by lots more if the current trend continues, as in the above news about the seller dashboard and complete lack of appeals process. wow just wow! wjw!:0

I know you've seen the guardrail video which suggest weekly purges! dayam!

RichVernadeau · Noob

Ina Steiner's latest online articles at EcommerceBytes.com reveal Ebay Eliminates Policy Compliance Feature On Seller Dashboards and Ebay Removes Transparency As It Cracks Down On Sellers. Two very good- and scary- articles about what's going on at ebay.

budnonymous · Top Poster

May as well put the Guardrail video here.

Looks like the 15K cut down may be just the beginning?

RichVernadeau · Noob

Corporations are not only beholden to their stockholders (for whom they may very well be bending and massaging the numbers), but they must abide by the laws of each of the 50 states ( which means PayPal holds of more than 10 days are VERY MUCH ILLEGAL for ebay to impose in many states, check with state banking regulators, I did). Corporations also HAVE TO ABIDE BY AN INCREDIBLE NUMBER OF RULES AND REGULATIONS IMPOSED BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. So maybe there's nothing illegal or amiss once an investigation gets conducted. BUT I DOUBT IT. So maybe there are no improprieties going at ebay, but come on, do you really believe that BASED ON THEIR BLATANT ABUSE OF SMALL SELLERS SINCE 2008? Where there's smoke there's fire, and I'm firmly convinced that a corporation capable of doing some of the things they've done to thousands of sellers is capable of doing a whole lot more. And yes, this is exactly the sort of thing to write to your Congressmen and Senators about.

budnonymous · Top Poster

Steady stream of people on ebay community forums and answer center stating they were limited for little to no reason, and a couple more who said they had at least one more sizable purge.

Ebay seems like it might be trying to change it's membership on the fly like everything else. Oughtta be fun to see how that works out for them in a few Q's, eh?

budnonymous · Top Poster

Consumerist:

the great ebay purge

Is eBay Purging Small And Medium Sellers? Why?

-- Edited by budnonymous on Saturday 12th of October 2013 06:37:01 AM

budnonymous · Top Poster

These are the links from another thread here that didn't get topic tags, links etc in the OP

Here's the ecommercebytes page:

eBay Seller Purge 2.0

and a little something more here.

Ebay Seller Restrictions Reap Second Bitter Harvest

It's being mentioned at the ecommercebytes blog comments regarding a negative news blackout ahead of sleazebay's big Q report. For a cheap thrill, try searching Google news for that very article, eBay Seller Purge 2.0. I get no results. Not since the day they first posted it.

Maybe they don't want the shareholders to find out about that and all which surrounds it?

Not the first time that type of thing has been observed with specific regards to unflattering ebay news from ecommercebytes not showing up in searches.

-- Edited by budnonymous on Saturday 12th of October 2013 06:48:37 AM

budnonymous · Top Poster

every indication there was another sizable purge this past week. Reports of and from slain sellers are up on ebaY forums, as is traffic/views of related postings hither & yon...

The threshold seems to be getting higher now too. 100% rated sellers with DSRs above 4.8 are getting axed. (Mega toy sellers, other Diamonds and of course foreign counterfeit & poison plastic garbage sellers and ripoff artists with FB & DSRs much lower are still active...

Meanwhile, the fake and or stealth accounts industry is BOOMING!

Keep up the great work, sleazebay.

PS: BOLO for ebay/paypal layoffs or terminations

budnonymous · Top Poster

Looks like this most recent purge may be as big or bigger than the 1st or 2nd.

Published on Oct 29, 2013

also, ecommercebytes again:

Suspended eBay Sellers Suggest Widespread Purge

By Kenneth Corbin
EcommerceBytes.com
November 06, 2013

-----------------------------------

Must make for a warm, cheery feeling going into the Holiday shopping season, eh?

Don't forget now, if you've been purged because of your unreliability,untrustworthiness, poor performance, for the safety of the community or marketplace, ... whatever... you still have the "privilege" of buying off ebay.

buwaaahahahahahahahhaaaa! wow

budnonymous · Top Poster

RichVernadeau wrote:
I have a strong feeling many of those 15,000 sellers who were purged from ebay will be making some posts on blogs, some phone calls, and some social media postings. One good blog is ebayhorrorstories.wordpress.com Another good place to post is Topix Forum, www.topix.com and every town and city has one and anyone can post in this forum. If you do a Google search using the word ebay sellers and Topix Forum it will pull up some interesting threads in various cities.

Ebay isn't worried. Those slaughtered sellers are just noise. Trolls! Deadbeats even. Here's a great example if the mindset. Sure you've seen it. Notice the use of the word "we"? Interesting. The number of purged sellers could be (and likely is) many times more by now.

Re: How Did Ebay "Sell" The Purge of 15,000 To Investors?

in reply to gideon13 08-16-2013 03:40 PM

We got rid of 15K trolls that were costing everyone money. They were using up time and resources while contributing nothing. They were known for not paying their bills and posting annoying, ill-informed comments.

How Did Ebay _Sell_ The Purge of 15,000 To Investors_07112013_640c.png

-- Edited by budnonymous on Thursday 7th of November 2013 04:11:53 PM

budnonymous · Top Poster

Oh my!

Re: Did we forget the 15,000 sellers already?

Exactly why are we supposed to be in mourning for those who were our competitors! Ebay has far too many sellers. They need alot more than 15,000 gone! It's an extremely small percentage. Do people go around holding vigils for other large groups who are let go or laid off, I think not, it happens all the time everywhere. This is nothing new or special. I' ve seen larger workforce cuts than 15,000 occur and no one bats an eye.

Life goes on.

Did we forget the 15K_sellers already_Pg_12 -They need alot more than 15,000 gone_09112013_640.png

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I have a sneaky hunch they will get their wish. ^

budnonymous · Top Poster

Purge in the UK

Model truckers hit by 'unfair' ban from eBay

The owner of a small business has accused online auction giant eBay of abusing its monopoly by banning him.

Ben Lord, from Ixworth, says eBay has banned his model truck business Speedbird Promotions from selling on the site for failing to improve customer satisfaction levels, even though he had nothing to sell for five months.

Mr Lord said: "They're abusing their position as the monopoly online auction site. They're trading unfairly."

He said that last February 10 out of 67 of Speedbird's eBay customers worldwide reported they were dissatisfied.

In the April, eBay told Speedbird it had to address customer satisfaction issues, but Mr Lord says that coincided with a problem with a supplier so he had nothing to sell on the site until August.

"eBay decided we hadn't done anything to address our below standards level and suspended us," Mr Lord said. "We didn't do anything between April and August because we didn't have anything to sell.

"We were selling about £5,000 a month on eBay - 40 per cent of our turnover."

He told eBay of the situation and used an appeals procedure on the website but the ban stayed.

An eBay spokesman said: "If the standards aren't met, sellers receive advice and will be given a deadline by which they must improve. Ultimately, if there is no improvement, eBay may close an account in order to protect buyers."

"I can confirm we have investigated this case on several occasions, and our appeals process has concluded."

read the rest

budnonymous · Top Poster

Yet another variation. The above may both be incomplete?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just got the boot from Ebay. I was a Power Seller with 100% positive feedback. I am a traditional business owner outside of Ebay, however, what we sell on Ebay accounts for roughly 25% of our revenue on any given month. I called Ebay and the customer service rep flat out lied to me. She said "You received several complaints from buyers that your product is not as described". My account was shut down wrongly. Oh well, I guess I will feed the family Top Ramen. Here is the message I received from Ebay:

Hello xxxxxxxxx,

After reviewing your eBay account, we have concerns about your selling activity. As a result we've taken the following actions on your account:
- Selling privileges have been indefinitely restricted. You won't be able to list new items. You're also not allowed to register a new account.
- Some or all of your listings may have been removed. A list of any removed items will be listed further down in this email.
- We have credited any associated fees to your account.

Our decision is based on evidence from our records and our goal to keep eBay a safer place for buyers and sellers. We're not comfortable with your selling practices or business model, and we feel they don't help to promote a positive buying and selling environment.

Even though you can't sell on our website, you can still use your account to buy or bid on items. For more information on the basics of buying, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy...

You can also:
- Send email
- Obtain shipping addresses
- Leave Feedback
- Perform other administrative tasks

Please remember that you can't use other accounts or register new accounts to sell on eBay. If you do, your accounts could be limited, restricted, or suspended.

Here are the listings we removed:
xxxxxxxxx

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Thanks,

eBay

Please don't reply to this message. It was sent from an address that doesn't accept incoming email. (That's funny, the customer service rep on the phone told me to reply to this message. Well, my official reply is below...)

-----------------------------------------------------------

(click through above to see the reply, it won't make it past the profanity filters- LoLz!

-- Edited by budnonymous on Monday 18th of November 2013 11:51:51 PM

budnonymous · Top Poster

ah yes, the tolling tolling tolling...

Now 100% sellers are reporting getting chopped!

Ebay removed all of my listings, we have 100% feedback and no cases or complaints

Selling account suspended indefinite ly

"... No negs, no neutrals, 5.0, 5.0, 5.0, 4.8 (4.95 average). No fraudulent products.

Don't know the reason. Maybe eBay simply felt you weren't listing and selling enough items.

These days it's not about DSRs any more...."

---------------------------------------------

Definite increase in such posts in the last 24 hours if you search the community for the right key words. Looks like today was the day more assassin emails were sent out, expect to see more of the same.

budnonymous · Top Poster

Here we have a difference or distinction between the email posted from the above, and one posted on 10-31-2013.

11-18-2013 08:45 PM

Hello [username],

After reviewing your eBay account, we have concerns about your selling activity. As a result we've taken the following actions on your account:
- Selling privileges have been indefinitely restricted. You won't be able to list new items. You're also not allowed to register a new account.
- Some or all of your listings may have been removed. A list of any removed items will be listed further down in this email.
- We have credited all associated fees except for the final value fee for your listing(s).

Our decision is based on evidence from our records and our goal to keep eBay a safer place for buyers and sellers. We're not comfortable with your selling practices or business model, and we feel they don't help to promote a positive buying and selling environment.

10-31-2013:

"To help keep our website a safer place for buyers and sellers, your account will be restricted from selling indefinitely.

Our decision is based on evidence from our records. We're not comfortable with your selling practices or business model, and we feel they don't help to promote a positive buying and selling environment.

Even though you can't sell on our website, you can still use your account to buy or bid on items. For more information on the basics of buying, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/basics.html

Please remember that you can't use other accounts or register new accounts to sell on eBay. If you do, your accounts could be limited, restricted, or suspended.

Thanks,

eBay"

budnonymous · Top Poster

At some point, don't you just have to notice how much this resembles some type of Mafia strongarm turf takeover action? Straight out of gangster movie !

Are you at RISK? Powerselle r 20,000 feedback 5 star SHUT DOWN AFTER 13YRS

(snip)

Have to vent here. I've been on Ebay since the begining 13+years. Almost 21,000 Positive feedback, SPOTLESS dashboard 5 star ratings. Just got home from out of town weekend to an email from Ebay: ""MC999 Indefinite Selling Restriction". In other words cannot appeal, no discussion just a Top Rated Seller, 100% authentic items, perfect ratings Im GONE!....

( Long rant, click through )

budnonymous · Top Poster

Just to stave off any confusion or misunderstanding about the recent news of 54,000 ebay users banned in the UK, reported by Tamebay.

The accounts were buyer accounts, not sellers.

see here: 54,000 eBay users banned in purge

budnonymous · Top Poster

The Purge is still ongoing... Claiming more high-ranking members. Looks like they did not skip a beat over the Holidays.

Published on Jan 8, 2014

Doc discusses another eBay suspension with John from WindyCityAuthentic who has been an eBay member in good standing since 2001. John said that he got no warning that his selling account was about to be permanently suspended. He says that he paid eBay between 3-5k per month in fees. It really don't make good business sense to throw that kind of money in the trash. John says his canned suspension letter said he was still allowed to buy on eBay. That's an insult in my opinion.

There is a discussion on this subject underway on http://NaruMessenger.com in the eBay forum. I encourage anyone with comments to do so on our forum. http://www.narumessenger.com/forum/eb... Sorry but YouTube comments are disabled due to hateful comments and personal attacks. Want to tell your eBay story? Contact Me!