And another comment on key ways to tell a scammer seller and the appropriate action to take if you do buy from one needs to be approved. Been an hour so far

Gotta protect the scammers

No links in my comment either

This morning

Had to sign in twice

After second sign in ....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm this page can't be reached and then a whole load of bevy labs bs over and over

Had to sign in again

Signed out again instantly

Useless as t's on a bull who is swinging on a screen door on a submarine this mob

Surprise surprise

Made a factual comment about eBay protecting scammer sellers

After a few minutes

This page couldn’t load

Reload to try again, or go back.

All the threads this morning that shows there are 'new replies' when there are no new replies showing (because they are pending) are very unlikely to contain URLs either

Why don't they just say they need to check

People aren't giving too many ways to avoid being scammed

People aren't giving out too much factual information

And be done with it?

Not a forum change, but back to the bs email from eBay an new device logged in to my account (location nowhere near me) that just happened to be the exact same time I logged in at my usual address on my usual computer

Interesting that posts containing abusive words are not flagged, nor all the other posts that are reported for what used to be and still should be breaking forum rules, and the posts from scammers asking how can that make their scams better that the mods support

Plus, the vast majority of my comments that are pending approval when I comment how to avoid scammer sellers do not have any links

Also, if that were the reason all songs in the music challenge would be put on hold, not just some

They need to try again because that excuse does not wash with me I’m afraid

This is what happened today.

Every time I post a link to an eBay Help page, my post is pending approval.

Every single time this happens, I report my own post immediately and after a few choice words, ask for it to be approved ASAP

It's absolutely pointless trying to help if the post isn't approved for a few hours as the member asking for help has often long gone and / or the thread could be on the second page by then.

I daren't even edit words on a post that's finally been approved as it goes back into pending approval.

If it bumped the thread up to the top again it wouldn't be so bad but what's happening now is a ridiculous system.

Today it was my post with the link to "Get help if you purchased as a guest"

I mentioned in the report today that it was a disgrace and for the first time ever, I received a private message from one of the mods (registered in USA) one of the semi regulars who go around locking threads.

Was a bit hesitant to read it in case I was banned, lol, but this was the message I received

"Hi casey, thank you for your report. Posts that contain URLs are automatically flagged by AI moderation for review"

And my post was approved within a few minutes !

The boards are a mess, but it’s deeper than just the boards. eBay itself is a hut on chicken legs, spinning around and around and around. Bad coding, piecemeal fixing, lacking clean architecture…

I’m not saying this speculatively.

(But I cannot care too much about it. I’m in a cavern and it’s all I can do to function. Oh well.)

Posting on these boards is a pain. Working around the coding slop of the boards is a pain. I’m ethically opposed to the ridiculous AI bot dribbling summaries, but … bof. Il faut se faire une raison.

More annoying now are the delays with posts (about which sandy has eloquently posted, and with which I suppose we’ve all been faced), and the functionality of posting, such as … repeated error pages, esp. logins, and searches that fail. The inept moderating here - I’m sorry, it IS inept, just as a matter of cool factual analysis - is not following the guidelines set up by eBay itself; it seems devoid of human sense and the need to act when bad situations occur, while acting with nugatory and effete pettifoggery over minor and trivial things that don’t require immediate or heavy action. It’s like calling in a horde of SOCOs to investigate a drop of spilt milk, while ignoring a blood trail because it’ll dry and fade soon enough.

The previous iteration of the boards had moderation of a much higher standard.

My suspicion is that the current moderation is not human. It is, in my opinion, automatic, triggered by unknown tripwires.

Beat in mind that my mood is moribund. I may be wrong. My heart is both heavy and empty. Ah well.

Had something went wrong six times in as many minutes

Great stuff

Would be nice to know the rules for this new 'forum'

Abusing other members is fine

Giving your name/address/email/phone number etc is fine

Duplicate posts about the same thing are fine

Posting totally false information/advice is fine

Just a grumble:

When the mods lock a thread, why can't there be some nootice about that next to the titles? Just a 'Locked' would suffice.

I clicked into a thread in the buying page, some title about emails, but no indication it was locked till I opened it.

Not a big issue, I know, but could easily be umproved just that little bit.

Error: Server Error

The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.

Please try again in 30 seconds.

Got that after I tried to respond to a comment on the duplicate comment from the abusive person

Bet anything you like that factual comment will not be approved either

My reply to an abuse filled rant which is also a duplicate complaint (a result of the person's own actions) is on hold, pending approval

The post full of abuse, and a duplicate was however utterly fine

Says it all really doesn't it?

Seriously - It has to be seen to be believed !

I click on 4 Day Music Challenge

Page shows:

Something went wrong. Please try again.

Try Again

Refresh page

My notifications (2)

ambercat16 commented on the discussion 4 day Music Challenge 42 minutes and 1 hour ago

Click on that and just a huge blank white space above the Countess

Refresh Page

Page shows:

Could not load comment thread

and when I first posted this:

ambercat16 commented on the discussion 4 day Music Challenge , it was a live link to the thread which then became 'pending approval' so I deleted it and started again !

@twyngwyn Maybe there is no reason other than it just 'is' and that is why the mods refuse to answer why

Because there is no reason (no there are no reasons)

Maybe, because it’s in ‘community’ rather than fun/games?

So much for ‘a quick game is a good game’

And I really have to ask (myself) again, just what is the point of having the Automatic Idiot on here if posts still have to be 'approved' by human mods?

And what are their 'guidelines' for things that need to be approved?

Seems nothing more than their personal opinions from what I have seen

The song challenge thread, one I posted is still 'pending approval' though two others I posted after that one have been 'approved'

On my end it did show 8 replies, now it shows 4 but there are 5 listed

Wish I had a dollar for every 'oops something went wrong' screen

Back when I was young(er) it would be

Here's a thought, on my computer I can restore it to a previous date/time, maybe eBay should be seriously looking at doing the same thing to the ridiculous travesty of these pages and all the other stuff-ups that some moron saw as an "improvement" of the old pages.

Yes I know, it ain't going to happen.................. sadly...............

Talk about eBay shooting themselves in the foot again, when their market exposure is dropping in free fall.

And now it's not showing the 'Unread' blue thingy on this thread.

Already had to log in twice in the space of ten minutes

@sandypebbles

I have to “cheat-type” the @ your-user-name because these boards don’t recognise your username. (Ditto with imastawka.)

Moreover, once the ampersand is typed, and no known username is entered thereafter, there is no going forward with a new line (aka carriage return).

The whole thing is gummed up. I get around it by entering a whole swathe of empty new lines before typing the so-called offending text at the top of the blank lines, then directing the cursor down to the next line.

I “hearted” your post below to indicate not only post-love but also sympathy and fellow feeling re the thick-as-molasses board errors.

My cat is meowing in agreement.

I gave a thumbs up just before to a song in the song challenge thread, and now the post has gone

seriously, mods?

Scam threads are left here but community spirit stuff and posts on how buyers can protect themselves are the issue?

And again the caption this post is hidden when the winner is selected

Asked the mods not to hide it, which is of course ignored

And again this morning a comment I made, listing some of the ways a buyer can avoid scammer sellers was put on hold/pending for almost an hour. So again, scammers being supported

Stuff like that should go up right away

Of course it doesn't, because if it did someone might see it before buying from a scammer, it might make them think twice or go and double check and that's not okay

Why?

Why is a post outlining simple ways to avoid scammers needing to be 'approved'?

No explanation from George/the mods/Bevy as to why protecting buyers is something that needs their 'approval'

Not as if there are key words/swearing etc triggering anything

That is pending approval too, of course

If I posted a scam, it would be there right away and I would be welcome to post it

Say anything factual about all the flaws on here, that has to be approved

@countessalmirena I get that something went wrong garbage every single day, several times a day

They refuse to address it, or even acknowledge it happens at all

Unfit for purpose, not as described mess

… And I’m getting that boy in raincoat image all too frequently after trying to search on eBay.

That causes me to speculate that it’s an issue deep in the tangled roots of eBay’s architecture. Shades of The Faraway eTreBay…

EDIT: This post took one minute to emerge from its pending status.

There’s another post below it, containing an image of the “Something went wrong” error page. It’s still pending.

All too frequently appearing:

Still pending…

Here we go again.

I posted a second post on the Fake Bullion thread, pointing out scams, and it's now been pending approval for an hour

Another comment against a scammer seller who is selling fakes is 'pending approval'

Had that scammer seller posted here wanting to know how could they improve their scam, that post would go up instantly

Post a comment to try to speak up against scammer sellers who eBay protect, not on

@*casey*

It beggars belief that any seller can get down to a rating of 14.9% and still be allowed to operate on ebay.

I know ebay no longer takes feedback scores into account, but maybe it is time it did again.

Surely they could set their computer system up so that regular sellers whose % fell below a certain number faced increased fees or scrutiny and if the % kept falling, they would be be deregistered.

Mind you, any buyer who goes back for a 3rd time after not receiving either of their first 2 purchases is not exactly bright either.

The trouble is, I think most people tend to be trusting to some extent. They will believe the post is just slow or that the seller is sending them another one or that they were just unlucky etc

But ebay isn't doing itself any favours by allowing scammers to prosper.

I'm sure ebay just figures that if something doesn't arrive, the buyer can open a claim for a refund but that's a turn off for some buyers who will take the loss & just walk away from ebay altogether.

It is just sad ebay is not more proactive.

domino-710

"Then why bother"

That's a very good question.

I've made no secret of the fact that I've been reporting scam listings / hijacked accounts, on and off, pretty much since the forums first started.

Back in the day, eBay had good Trust and Safety teams and good reporting teams .

It's so different now, with just this one example of fraud:

eBay aiding and abetting fraud by contacting the scammers to end their listings.

Or doing nothing at all !

Also these days, identity theft is a major problem.

I see some of the eBay questions on Facebook, mostly with rubbish answers from responders without a clue.

If the correct information on our AU forum is given by all of the experienced members, then hopefully we can help OPs and they may pass it around to others.

And who can forget this ?

It's now coming up to it's third year , with hundreds to thousands of reports to eBay from buyers

and eBay members here.

Still nothing done!

14.9% ....47,000 listings still up for sale.... 315940275216

Buyers can hardly find genuine listings amongst all the rubbish and scam listings so they leave.

Actually, they don't all leave.

Coming up for 3 years, 200 negs just in the last year alone , 14.9%

Left within the past month - Buyer with (1510) feedback

"I went back and Bought of them again after the first one did not arrive, let alone the second one??

eBay refunded for both!!"

I'm so angry I could scream.

Bevy - supporting scams with absolutely no idea what they're doing with 'pending approval' posts.

My post pending approval on the Auspost domestic letter (untracked) thread contains no links.

Who approves them ? The cleaner ?

I'm sure there would be no-one experienced to judge .

I may be wrong but I think it's unlikely they've been advised by eBay to do this, as we had no problems with Khoros

And when my post was finally approved, I edited it to add " around "item not received" claim and the post immediately disappeared and went back into "pending approval" again !

No words .....

Going on almost 2 hours and still pending approval

A buyer being urged not to do what a scammer tells them to do is somehow a 'risk' 'threat' whatever the excuse is to hide information that is needed right away

The seller is a clear scammer, they have hundreds and hundreds of 'revised feedback' and numerous negs for scamming

Why are factual responses made to protect buyers hidden?

Serious question

eBay refuse to do anything about these scammer sellers, buyers are about to be scammed again by these protected sellers and advice to be protected are held and hidden

Another pending approval comment from me, where I gave advice to a buyer who is about to be scammed

Pending approval for warning people of scams

People posting here in order to scam = fine, posted right away and not removed when reported

Figure that one out

I have had a few 'something went wrong, try again" notices this morning but luckily when I click try again it works.

I am surprised sandy that you seem to have had a lot of nasty private messages in the past.

People with too much time on their hands by the sounds of it.

I doubt it will affect you at the moment, hopefully, as the boards don't seem to be as busy.

@twyngwyn The mods always hide caption this

No reason for it, they do it every time

I always have to go to my profile > discussions, click my own comment/edit and ask the mods to unhide the thread. Usually takes hours for them to do it

Still no reason given as to why they get hidden in the first place

I just announced winner of the Caption - nfs. It is not pending, but has disappeared

I just went and changed it, again (and yes, I saved changes)

Lucky, since I found eBay/Bevy had also changed my settings to allow private messages (which I disabled due to the level of abusive tantrums from people who simply did not want factual replies that the other mob on the real forum were fine with such abuse)

I had them turned off here too, and that choice should be respected

Should be, but isn't

Not even so much as a notification they had been turned on

I'm getting email notifications about 'reactions' despite having the email option turned off in my settings here

Just another example of Bevy pushing what they want, rather than what members want (like the trying to force certain cookies and change privacy settings

Knock it off

Not a problem exactly, but just musing.

On the Discussion boards, there is a Buying board and there is a Selling board.

And quite by chance, I discovered (I think) that there is another board called Buying and selling.

At first I just assumed this would be an amalgamation of posts from both boards but it doesn't seem to be.

Up until now, I just thought Buying and selling was the general heading and you then needed to choose a board from the drop down menu.

Why do we need 3 boards? Either 2 (Buying and selling) or 1 (buying & selling) would seem to cover it.
I can understand the others, new to ebay/ask a member.

@countessalmirena

@ambercat16

I am surprised because last night, I distinctly recall making the same post to ask if anyone had noticed we can now see who has given the thumbs up and this board is a work in progress, with little improvements as we go along.

Now I can't see it anywhere, maybe it is still pending.

And ambercat, same!

Oops: My mistake, I made it in the blokes thread, not here.

I hesitate to say but I am not seeming to get the sign out problems but it is a toss up whether I can open a post directly or if I need to open in another tab. Seems very random🤔

Another change: we can now see who has given the thumbs-up. But in the meantime, errors abound – not only on these boards but also on the eBay website.

I can’t find myself getting too worked up about it at the moment, though. Grief is still numbing me and lodging in me like a stone.

Oh well. Here’s an alert, which eBay IT will ignore but which might let off a bit of steam.

⚙🌐🆘⛓️‍💥🤯📛

Such a heap of

Was signed out again

Then got We have a problem. Please try again in a few minutes. If there's still a problem, contact support at help.bevy.com.

Then got the kid in the orange jacket error message

Then got re-directed to eBay USA

What is the point, Bevy?

Fix the issues or give the job to a company who can do their job

Oh yeah

Had to sign in to sign in again this morning

Three times

Then got the hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm this page can't be reached (Bevy blurb)

My new caption from over 3 hours ago is still 'pending approval'

And now my comment in reply to someone over misleading statements on their listing is also 'pending approval'

Note the person making this misleading comments went up right away

My comment saying they are misleading has to be 'approved'

Worst change ebay ever made, and there have been some doozies!

Still pending approval….I’m sure it’s worse on weekends??

Just had ‘oops something went wrong’ on loop for around 40 minutes, while I tried to log in for a new Caption This (on the laptop). And obviously that is now pending approval…..

@twyngwyn You won caption this but the mods have hidden my edit, my reply and the whole thread, again

New one for me this morning

Tried to log in (usual laptop)

'pretty print'

upstream error

What the heck is pretty print ???????????

I posted a comment here two and a half hours ago

still 'pending approval' as is a comment on another thread

Nothing abusive/nasty/scamming about either of them

Just once again, factual comments being frowned upon and hidden for hours

I forgot to mention yesterday about how bell notifications I delete are back the next time I sign in

Been happening for a few days

They aren’t new ones, they are ones I read and deleted already

Obviously bot boy George thinks I should take another look

Had oops something went wrong 6 times already

Plus the 'new replies' when there are no new replies showing, no doubt because said replies are 'pending approval'

Can you imagine if on the REAL forum any of us posted the stuff George comes out with?

We'd be kicked up the b u m quick smart with a message from a mod that our comment was removed because it was 'baiting' and 'hostile' and reminded to be respectful

Had to search for your reply Sandy - much easier to just use the ' comment ' button.

I totally agree Amber - it's a sad situation.

The ' community ' should be a place to just chat - but the setup is broken.

To have to wait for approval for a game thread - a music thread - etc is absolutely ridiculous.

And the seeming need for ' George ' is nigh on insulting.

Then why bother.

Just a question - as most can't be bothered.