topic Re: Selling account restricted permanently in Selling

Selling account restricted permanently

jpamboris — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 22:16:08 GMT

Hi all,

My selling privileges were restricted yesterday because of the new ebay ratings. My DSR was very good but i had several cancelled transactions because of an item that i ran out of stock.

I know that i should not have something listed that i did not have avaialble however this was only for a short period (7 days). Most of the buyers were happy to wait for this dvd but there were some that wanted it cancelled and refunded. Now i feel like i should not have communicated to these buyers as i would not be in the position i am in right now. But yes, i advised all these buyers that i ran out of this title and i would have it within 7 days but i am happy to refund it if required.

I have never used the ebay inventory manager tool as i have my own system that i pay a subscription for to manage my stock levels and ordering.

I contacted Ebay customer service yesterday and was advised from their call centre in the Phillipines that this decision was final and irreversable. I argued that i was a loyal ebay customer for 10 plus years. Had paid all my fees (approx $500.00 per month) on time without delay, had feedback of >99% and my DSR's were of a high standard. I also mentioned that my rating changed on 20/08/14 and that i had 20 days to try and fix this before my account was suspended. Their response to this was "we understand but the decision is final". I then asked to be transferred to comeone who was based in Australia and who had the authority to do something about this. The response was that they support the Australian opertations and there was no one else i could contact.

I have sent an email via Ebay last night in the hope that it would get escalated somewhere but the call centre i spoke with.

Has anyone else been in this position and if so who did you contact and what was the outome?

Help and assistance needed please?

Regards

John (In2 DVD)

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

sueken4812 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 01:52:27 GMT

When you call, Insist that you speak with a supervisor. I've never had to do it, but there's a few long-term members that say if you perservere you will eventually get to speak to one. You may need to ring a few times, but just keep insisting that you speak with a supervisor.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

mbselections00 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 01:56:34 GMT

John, that is so sad to hear. I can't help you, I can't even truly imagine how devastated you must be feeling, to be totally shut down, but I do want to wish you good luck getting it sorted. I think it's insane that your entire account should be suspended - it's not like you were some newbie trying to rip people off. As I commented in another post, cases like yours should/MUST be dealt with and considered and judged individually under this horrible new Defective system.

If what has just happened to you is any indication - I fear for all Sellers.

All the best - hope to see you back here with some good news

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

cmcoins2000 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 02:12:49 GMT

Oh my god - seems very little is needed to 'displease' the 'common sense challenged' at eBay.

It is more than obvious & decidedly should be takend onboard by the CSCs (common sense etc) sellers are the backbone of eBay.

How oftern has it been said - NO SELLERS, NO BUYERS. (not shouting)

Has this challenged lot made it abundantly clear to buyers what changes have been made.

Are buyers aware of the effect of their sometimes sensless clicking on stars can have.

It will eventually impact on all Australian buyers - the only items for sale will be the skippy bins full of the rubbish from China. (oh with Free Postage). They seem to get away with all - policies don't apply.

Given the fees we sellers pay - where are the Australian Customer Support - the people to discuss these matters & achieve an equitable outcome - not the pre-fabbed responses from Manilla.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

cq_tech — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 02:18:23 GMT

I'm utterly speechless that eBay have seen fit to treat you in such a disgusting and appalling manner and can only reiterate what sueken says above, in that you must speak with a supervisor when you ring eBay. For eBay to completely and permanently shut you down when you have such an excellent trading history is totally unconscionable, and if they can do it to you so arbitrarily, then every seller on eBay quite clearly has a great deal to worry about.

If I said what I really thought about what eBay has done to you, I'd probably be permanently banned as well, so at this stage John, all I can do is to wish you the best of luck and I sincerely hope that you ultimately manage to speak with somebody at eBay who has at least a modicum of common sense (if indeed one exists, because after reading your OP, I'm seriously beginning to doubt it).

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

jpamboris — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 02:35:30 GMT

Thankyou all for the responses. I did in fact speak with the supervisor and she was the same as the CSO. It's ebay policy and that was it. I have sent an email off last night but if that fails then that will be it. I will keep posting here any updates i have.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

trendz4starz — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 02:44:57 GMT

My husband has worked for a call centre and you need to keep telling them you are not satisified and want to speak to their supervisor.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

mbselections00 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 02:58:59 GMT

Seriously, I am so upset for John, I have tears streaming down my face, it is totally unbelievable that they could do this to him. You are so correct, the words to describe what has occurred would have us all banned ! This bs needs to stop !

Sorry to harp on about a comment I have made several times, both here on the boards and in messages to eBay, the Defective Rating system has to be clearly spelt out to Buyers as they leave their Feedback - not in some convoluted automated useless general message that they will probably never read anyway.

Buyers need to be made very clearly aware that a 3 is NOT NEUTRAL, which is what they are still being told, it is NEGATIVE

Out of curiosity, I just went to an item I am yet to leave Feedback for to see what actually appears if I try to leave 2 Stars and 3 Stars.

I'm no good at trying to copy and paste to these posts, (however I have attached a copy - I hope) but in essence : -

The only time you are alerted to consider your Feedback is if you attempt to leave 2 Stars for item as described !

There is no alert for leaving 2 stars for anything else

Enter your feedback about the item

Rate details about this purchase

How accurate was the item description? Very inaccurateInaccurateNeither inaccurate nor accurateAccurateVery accurate

Two Star Rating Inaccurate

Why weren't you satisfied with the item description?

Item was not received

Quality did not match item description

Item was damaged

Item was a counterfeit, replica, or an unauthorised copy

Wrong item

Other

How satisfied were you with the seller's communication? Very unsatisfiedUnsatisfiedNeither unsatisfied nor satisfiedSatisfiedVery satisfied Unsatisfied

How quickly did the seller post the item? Very slowlySlowlyNeither slowly nor quicklyQuicklyVery quickly Slowly How reasonable were the postage and handling charges? Very unreasonableUnreasonableNeither unreasonable nor reasonableReasonable

Three Star Rating

No mention anywhere this is Negative - Still they imply it is Neutral

In my opinion, unless a Buyer is also a Seller, they have little knowledge, interest or concern for this pathetic system.

In actual fact, without detracting from the severity of John's situation, putting oneself in the Buyers shoes, leaving Feedback in the situation John was in, if I were not also a Seller, I could see easily how a Buyer might leave positive comments but with a 2 for item description - Item not Received - I mean, how can they say it was As described if they didn't get it. That would be the sort of logic I would apply as a Buyer. I would leave positive Feedback, because I would be happy the Seller contacted me and offered Refund, but could not honestly say Item was as Described, I also couldn't/wouldn't say 'Item Posted Quickly', so I guess that would be another Defect. The alternative to being questioned in the first place - is of course to leave a 3 Star - if only the Buyers knew !

Slightly off track, but just to make the point, I had a Buyer Pick Up an order this morning and we got chatting, she has/had no idea how the system works, and I would think the majority of Buyers don't (unless of course they are also Sellers) She had no idea of Final Value Fees on both the item and the Postage, PayPal fees etc. She assumed of course there were fees, but did not know the details. Let's face it, Buyers are here to buy, not to read all the long winded, often confusing policies. So the only way, imo, for the Defective to make any sense to Buyers is to spell it out when they actually leave Feedback - maybe a 3 Star Rating needs to be removed altogether - so it's either Negative or Positive !

Sorry guys, rant over

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

mbselections00 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:01:15 GMT

Please don't give up ! You deserve to be treated better than this - it is bs

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

digital*ghost — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:11:54 GMT

Sorry to read of this situation, I wish I could do more than echo the sentiments of everyone else - if nothing else, I hope eBay wake up some time soon (you'd think continually shooting themselves in the foot would at least interrupt whatever dream they're having, unless it's some kind of coma. )

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

jpamboris — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:14:07 GMT

It truly is ridiculous and i am suprised they don't have an escalation process or resolutions team. the supervisor i spoke with was exactly like the CSO in saying it's "ebay policy". They are all trained to follow the process/policy.

But anyhow, i hope the email i have sent will be reviewed by someone with a little more intelligence.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

jpamboris — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:17:01 GMT

I will also add that my DSR's are all 4.9 and above. These cancelled transactions hurt me.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

cherry*135 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:21:44 GMT

I hope you can get this issue resolved somehow.

Now i feel like i should not have communicated to these buyers as i would not be in the position i am in right now. But yes, i advised all these buyers that i ran out of this title and i would have it within 7 days but i am happy to refund it if required.

You did the right thing as far as buyers are concerned (contacting them and offering a refund or they can wait).

If you didn't do that, some ( those who preferred a refund) may have given you negatives for you not having the stock on hand to sell which means delays in posting the item and low ratings and that may still have had a bad effect on your account.

Yet sellers continue to be able to sell fake designer handbags and fake artwork etc..

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

sueken4812 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:43:13 GMT

Here you go ..... have a read

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/9/1410314934.html

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

babylonfuture — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 04:25:43 GMT

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

jpamboris — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 04:37:05 GMT

WOW! After reading that it seems as though ebay just did a complete clean out.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

austeam — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 06:02:59 GMT

Hi John

That really is bad news, but looking at the number of transactions you make I would guess that you are on a 3 monthly review, so it shouldn't take too long to get back on track.

Before your account was restricted you would have needed 5% from at least 8 different buyers to fall below standard.

Obviously when you run out of stock unexpectedly it would feel so unfair, especially when you tried to please the buyer who doesn't even seem unhappy, but I guess now the thing is to learn from this and work out how to continue to provide good customer service without getting any more defects.

Avoid at all costs cancelling a transaction for the reason that you are out of stock.

Understandably eBay and buyers don't like this. Buyers are likely to shop offline next time if it all becomes too hard or complicated.

You could take a gamble and just say nothing until the stock arrives, but that could attract negs and neutrals which will equally harm your account.

Maybe offer alternatives or bonus items or partial refunds if they are prepared to wait.

Hope this all blows over quickly for you.

I would suggest that if you get through the next month absolutely defect free then give Customer Service another call and see if there is any chance they will at least lift the restrictions.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

centrecom_aus — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 06:05:26 GMT

I have had the same issue as it reduced my DSR. I successfully had it all removed by just a normal customer support rep.

Now when I cancel transactions, I just select "other" so it doesn't count as a defect. Easy way around this **bleep** system.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

diecastcode3 — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 06:05:57 GMT

ebay has lost the plot.

here we have a seller being treated so badly. for nothing more than running out of some stock and had to cancell a couple of listings. (YET) stroll down the boards a bit and there is a seller caught shill bidding and many other rule breaking activitys yet her account was allowed to re open and she has continued breaking said rules. maybe its time for ebay to

re-think there at times stupid rule changes. because all sellers are at the mercy of buyers honestly and aussie post to get parcels to buyers fast. ebay's 15th birthday is becoming more likely to be there last as its not what it once was.

Re: Selling account restricted permanently

jpamboris — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 06:32:57 GMT

My issue is that i have been permanently restricted. All of my listings were removed yesterday, approx 700.

Yes this was due to one item that i did not enough of. the movie Popeye it was with Robin Williams. The day he passed away and the week thereafter i sold more than 100 of them. I only had about 25 available. I was not using the inventory manager so i got burnt.

I have learned my lesson but it seems as though ebay does not allow for any mistakes or errors.