Ebay account restriction help

[somersetgradedappliances]

I just have no idea of what I should do.

I sell via my own website, real world store, use google and social media and ebay.  I sell domestic appliances and customers want information about shipping or warranties etc before placing orders.

I have traded on ebay for 5 years with no issues until recently.

I had several seven day restrictions for issues of one kind or another with giving out contact information.  I had not in fact done this but my text was triggering automated systems to think I had done something wrong.  

I would phone up and speak to an agent and  each time they would say "looks like a mistake" and lift the restriction.

This happened again in December but the agent basically said that they would not lift the restriction due to me having had a number of previous restrictions  (even though these restrictions were lifted as I had done nothing wrong).

Now pretty much every message that I send to a customer says "you must purchase the item BEFORE I am able to give you any contact information" or "if you have found me via ebay then you must purchase via ebay".

Last night I received an email from ebay to say that my account has been "premanently restricted".

The reason seems to be that a customer asked me whether I sold a particular item and I sent them the link to the item for sale on ebay.  Thats right a link to an item for sale ON EBAY.

I phoned and spoke to an agent who spoke to her manager and she told me over the phone that this was wrong and she would message the team dealing with restrictions to tell them this and ask for my account to reinstated.

The problem is that I am completely paranoid about replying to any customer message about anything in case I use a wrong word or phrase.

Also, even if they reinstate my account it will only be till the "next time" the system picks up something it does not like.  This is fine if you can speak to someone who is reasonable but it seems from my previous experience that an agent decided I was guilty of wrong doing based around the fact that I had had previous restrictions even though they had been lifted when a person looked at them and decided that the system had made mistakes.

I have a family and a mortgage and responsibilities.

I sell using different channels and if you take away one of those channels you take away my profit.  My entire livelyhood is therefore at stake based around something that I have no control over.

Can anyone offer any help or advice as to how I can have a conversation with anyone at ebay to find out what I have to do.  Please don't say "just comply with thier rules" as I already do this but it seems that this is not enough.

[gutterpunkz05]

Hi there,  wish I had a solution for you.  There is currently another thread under Buying,  Buyer complaining about no replys from sellers.  I have a couple of posts on there.  Unfortunately under ebays current crackdown, replying to buyers is an absolute minefield.

The only surefire solution as a seller, is not to reply to messages prior to sale.

Best of Luck.

[kopenhagen5]

Sounds like you need to keep talking with eBay and ask for a supervisor each time.

Unfortunately eBay have clamped down on off eBay trading and anyone messaging contact details.

If the account is reinstated you will simply need to be careful for a while.

[digital*ghost]

If you have Facebook, try making a post on eBay AU's FB page.

I post there every so often (I'm currently hassling them to give sellers the ability to block parcel locker / collect addresses... ) and you can sometimes get better or more appropriate assistance that way, because you're dealing with staff in Aus. 

I also think (in general) a little media attention (if you can get it) wouldn't go astray for situations like this - anything that has a shot of highlighting to the general public how ridiculously overcorrected this issue has become, is good (the "speed of outrage" and it's impact, if you can incite it, can do wonders #ebayhorrorstories ?).

There is (or at least used to be) an option on other eBay sites to completely block all messages from buyers unless they had a transaction with the seller (anyone who tried would just get a message saying due to the volume of messages the seller received, they can't respond at this time), it's sad to say that I would find such an option almost attractive in the current climate. 😞 

Do you have any FAQs set up? That also might help to reduce the number of general questions you get. 

[melbourneclearance]

Have a read at my post from a couple of months ago: https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/Compensation-from-ebay/td-p/2114775

Did you ask them for compensations the previous times you were banned? Hit them where it hurts them most and they may bother you less. Also, not mentioned in my post was I told them to delete any record of the sanction from my file. They said they couldn't do that. I then demanded that they insert another entry in the file saying that the sanction was their mistake, which they said they would do.

I have been sending the same reply to buyers and links to my ebay listings since and ebay has not bothered me so far.

When ebay makes a mistake, you must not just let them go with a simple "Oh, my bad! Haha!". You must call them until they're sick of you and most importantly pay you compensation.

[tangledstitches]

When you want to refer potential buyers to other listings, give them an item number rather than a link. That might get through without the bots picking it up.

[collect247]

Sorry to hear whats happened to you and good luck because you will need it as ebay will not reinstate you when you have been permanently restricted,I'm living proof of that 

Also you're on the Australian boards 

[kopenhagen5]

Good pick up kooka.

Somerset, log back onto ebay.co.uk and ask on the boards there.

Things are a little different from site to site around the globe.