TL;DR: eBay’s automated system flagged a Chrome Hearts hat I sold 3 months ago as counterfeit and restricted my account for 10 days. The problem? The hat went through eBay's physical Authentication Hub, was verified by their own experts, and delivered to the buyer with no issues. Standard CS is absolutely useless. Hey everyone, I need to vent and see if anyone has successfully escalated something like this, because I am losing my mind dealing with standard customer support. I am a Top-Rated Seller, 100% positive feedback, and I’ve been selling luxury and branded goods on the platform for over 5 years. I do everything by the book. Recently, the AI counterfeit detection system has been going haywire. I had a few older, authentic pre-owned items flagged just because I didn't have original receipts from 5+ years ago. I even had an item flagged because I priced it below market value (it had a missing decorative piece that I clearly circled in the photos). I gave up fighting those and just ended the listings. But this latest flag is the absolute most ridiculous thing I have ever experienced. I woke up to a 10-day account restriction for a counterfeit policy violation. The email didn't even state which item it was. When I finally got a rep on the phone, they told me it was for a Chrome Hearts Trucker Hat that I sold for AU $680 back in April. Here is the exact timeline (screenshots attached): April 19: Buyer paid. April 20: Item was sent to eBay's Authentication Hub. April 20: Item was physically inspected, AUTHENTICATED, and sent to the buyer. April 23: Delivered via Australia Post. Zero complaints from the buyer. July: eBay's AI decides the listing violates the counterfeit policy and restricts my account. How does an item that passed their own physical expert inspection get flagged by a bot 3 months later? Isn't the entire point of the Authenticity Guarantee to protect sellers from this exact scenario once it passes the hub? I have called CS twice. Both times, I had to spend 10 minutes walking the reps through my account just so they could look at the order timeline and see the obvious mistake. Both times, they agreed it makes no sense, told me they would "escalate it," and to wait 24 to 72 hours. It has been days, and nothing has happened. My account is still restricted, my sales are dead, and I am being punished for an item that eBay’s own employees verified as authentic. Has anyone successfully bypassed the frontline phone reps for an AI error this massive? I have already reached out to eBay for Business on Facebook, but I am incredibly frustrated that sellers have to suffer because their AI detection system is fundamentally broken.
