I permanantly lost my ability to sell because I was in the hospital. [MC011]

[extraelectronicsau]

Hey guys, Before I get to this I do suspect that this forum is heavily moderated so I wouldn't be surprised if this is deleted. But I did want to try shed some light on this one way shape or form.

Before I start I should mention that I have a disability that restricts me from working a normal job and driving, that's why I care about my account a lot as it was my main source of income for a while.

In late may of this I got very sick with influenza A, I was very since, I was in hospital on and off for about 2-3 weeks, I sent the orders out a lot were late but I still got them out, I explained to a lot of the buyers I was in the hospital sorry, It was bit hard to cancel 200 orders because I would get penalized for cancelling so many by ebay. So some arrived late, for the most part buyers were cool with it. Yes I did get a few chargebacks, but all were resolved in due time. None were not deceided in my favor. I did have someone working with me so it did help for the most part,


I send 90% of my items with tracking, I was restricted on June 1st (I believe this is fair because of the sudden surge in chargebacks) I resolved any issues, disputes and verified my ID, etc. I didn't appeal it till 2 weeks later to make sure everyone didn't have any issues or whatever, I was unrestricted on August 1st.

I then sold for about 20 days then was restricted again on August 21st  (to this day I still haven't got a response as to why) During those days,I sold about $1kAUD worth of items and 50 transactions, I had one fraudulent chargeback that was past 60days but the buyer was still able to open the case for some reason, the case was not covered by eBays money back gaurantee so therefore it should not be covered.

After going back and forth with the seller risk management team, had to verify my ID and that I purchased the goods AGAIN? I dunno why. They told me it was cause of the amount of bad experiences my buyers have had? And I'm like how? I've already been punished for this.
Then they blamed my "outstanding ebay fees" which was surprising because they come out automatically and weren't due at the time. But they did say "we look forward to restoring your selling privillages" So I paid them, After paying them they told me I could no longer sell on ebay.

"We appreciate you taking the time to resolve the cases and the balance. Unfortunately due to the high volume of bad buyer experiences caused and the risk this poses to our community, we have decided to leave your account restricted.

 Our decision is based on evidence from our records as well as any additional information you've provided. Please keep in mind; members who are restricted are prohibited from registering new accounts with eBay, or selling on eBay using any existing accounts. Although future emails from you will be read, we may be unable to respond to any further requests to reinstate your selling privileges. At this point your account will remain restricted indefinitely with no plans for reinstatement."

I find it strange because during that time of 20 days I did not have any bad experiences??? I didn't even have an chargebacks for a recent sale?

I called customer support and the told me to file an appeal but submit proof you were in the hospital.

Half way through September I was finally able to get a Statutory Declaration from someone who was treating me at the time, It took the US risk management team up until today to respond.

I emailed it in on the 19th of september, 5 business days no reply, Called customer service they said they will send an email on my behalf quoting that and the document number. The customer service rep was able to see the document was attached.

10 business days later nothing, Was told there was a high volume and they would send another email. At this point I got fed up and started recording the calls, the customer service rep also said they'd lodge an interal appeal. As there was a problem routing messages

15 business days later, same thing as the 5-10 business days after just worded different, was told it was still pending,

Now we at october 18th, I was told the document was never attached and we cannot find the email, please can you reply to my email and attached it again, This made me laugh because the fact is another customer service rep recited the ACTUAL file name to me, I sent proof and screenshots of me sending the email attached, so on so on reading from a script.

5 business days nothing, called up asked for supervisior, apparently he can email them directly.

Now today, finally got a reply,

"We are committed to reducing both fraud and negative buying experiences on eBay. To maintain a safe marketplace, we sometimes restrict selling activity, end active items, or suspend accounts until an additional review can be completed. We have completed an additional review of your account and show that your account was originally restricted because it was in violation of eBay policy and your behavior posed a risk to the eBay community.

Because of this, we have decided that your account will remain indefinitely restricted from selling. We have taken this action out of concern for the safety and integrity of the eBay Community. Due to eBay policy, we cannot provide you with more specific information."

It took them 1 and half months to reply with that, 10 phone calls 5 emails.

I was previous a Top rated seller,
28961.52 AUD in transactions
0 Number of cases not closed by seller resolution
0 Number of transaction defect rate
6.16% late shipment rate
0.71% return rate
4000+ transactions
98.4% feedback
Above standard
$3k AUD paid in ebay fees,

I think to myself at this point? What do I do next? This is a joke...

I filed a complaint with onbudsmen for paypal (the ebay fees) and one with the ACCC


P.s sorry for the bad formmating with font sizes sure how to use it :(((

If you need clarification with anything happy to provide or if I forgot to add anything I will let you know

Thanks for reading

Have a good day.

[lyndal1838]

It seems to me that you have had a pretty raw deal but after reading the saga of another member in a similar situation I don't like your chances of getting your account reinstated.

Just one question though,,,,,why did you file complaints with the Ombudsman and the ACCC.  I have I missed something?

[extraelectronicsau]

---

@lyndal1838 wrote:

It seems to me that you have had a pretty raw deal but after reading the saga of another member in a similar situation I don't like your chances of getting your account reinstated.

Just one question though,,,,,why did you file complaints with the Ombudsman and the ACCC.  I have I missed something?

---

Yeah I don't think its possible, Sure I can sell on other sites or my own but eBay is by far the biggest, I have a reputation and customer base built up on here.

Secondly
AFCA (onbudsmen): I took paypal to the onbudesman to refund some ebay fees I've paid, my last invoice was about 700 AUD, and they eBay said that was a reason why I couldn't be reinstated even though it wasnt due. Thats blatently deceptive

"

Once all of your nonpayment issues have been resolved, please reply to this email. We will be happy to help you appeal the restriction of your eBay account. Please be aware that we may ask you to provide additional information at that time in order to appeal this restriction.

-- Note --

- It may take up to 3 business days to review your information.

We appreciate your cooperation in resolving this matter as quickly as possible. We look forward to working with you to restore your selling privileges.

Thanks,

eBay"

Also they could have a somewhat better connection to ebay hopefully to work and resolve this

ACCC: Only free legal path I can take otherwise lawyers, again yes I can sell else where, but now my family can't nor anyone that lives in the same household.

[supermussolinibros]

don't worry too much- sales are dead here anyway-facebook marketplace is where the business is at

[springyzone]

I know you're after advice on how to get back on ebay, but I'm not confident you're going to be able to change their mind on this and I'm also not confident you could accuse them of unfairly acting as they did.

I do think they have been quite harsh to you in the circumstances and could have shown a bit of leniency, but they haven't.

Whether you can change that around in the short term, I do not know. Good luck.

But in the meantime, I think you have to move on to Plan B, no matter how unappealing that may be.

I had a quick look at some of your completed listings. They seem to be small items that included free postage.

You obviously have a paypal account.

I think you might need to try out some of the other sites like gumtree & marketplace. 

The sorts of things you're selling, they aren't the sort of things people would go out of their way to 'pick up', so if you offered paypal & free postage on GT, I think you might possibly start to sell and build up a following.

Maybe keep your same name on GT and if you do have very regular customers on ebay, post them a little business card about where they can now find you. See if you can build up a bit of a business elsewhere. It may not be as good as ebay, but better than nothing.

[extraelectronicsau]

While I appreciate the suggestions, I don't really like to use facebook as I hate it and as for Gumtree I haven't had the best experiences in the past.

Thanks for replying tho!

[countessalmirena]

@extraelectronicsau,

eBay will have based their decision on a risk assessment where you are identified as posing a high risk (as a seller in particular).

That means that eBay are not interested in whether you really were in hospital or not. It's purely metrics-based. I'm very much afraid that you may not have any avenues to pursue in attempting to change eBay's position on this, but I would like to give you the very best options that I can think of to help you in trying, at least.

First of all, think of why eBay made their decision, and then put together all the information you have which could counter that decision.

eBay think that there's an unacceptable degree of risk that your future behaviour as a seller would give quite a few buyers a bad experience. They base this on your past behaviour. It would probably not be relevant to eBay that this was due to circumstances beyond your control if the seller metrics are below the minimum levels.

Is there anything that you can present in support of an argument that the circumstances that led to the last debacle will not happen again? If the illness / hospital situation can't be excluded, do you have a backup plan to ensure that if you're suddenly out of action, there's someone who will smoothly step into your seller responsibilities and ensure that your buyers' expectations are met? Is there an explanation that you can offer as to why there wasn't any such backup in place before? What have you done to improve your seller policies and address the hazards that would have been identified in a proper risk assessment?

Once you've organised this sort of information, along with whatever evidence you can provide, you could try contacting eBay via Have us call you. (Don't bother with any other method of contact.)

eBay say: We'll call you at the phone number registered to your account, or you can enter a different number.

We’re available from 8am to 10pm AET, 7 days a week.

I have no idea whether there's any chance that this will work for you. Anecdotally, once a selling account has been gazumped, that's it - but there might just be a smidgeon of a possibility, if you have cogent arguments, great courtesy, sufficient evidence, and fortune smiles on you.

[extraelectronicsau]

---

@countessalmirena wrote:

@extraelectronicsau,

eBay will have based their decision on a risk assessment where you are identified as posing a high risk (as a seller in particular).

That means that eBay are not interested in whether you really were in hospital or not. It's purely metrics-based. I'm very much afraid that you may not have any avenues to pursue in attempting to change eBay's position on this, but I would like to give you the very best options that I can think of to help you in trying, at least.

First of all, think of why eBay made their decision, and then put together all the information you have which could counter that decision.

eBay think that there's an unacceptable degree of risk that your future behaviour as a seller would give quite a few buyers a bad experience. They base this on your past behaviour. It would probably not be relevant to eBay that this was due to circumstances beyond your control if the seller metrics are below the minimum levels.

Is there anything that you can present in support of an argument that the circumstances that led to the last debacle will not happen again? If the illness / hospital situation can't be excluded, do you have a backup plan to ensure that if you're suddenly out of action, there's someone who will smoothly step into your seller responsibilities and ensure that your buyers' expectations are met? Is there an explanation that you can offer as to why there wasn't any such backup in place before? What have you done to improve your seller policies and address the hazards that would have been identified in a proper risk assessment?

Once you've organised this sort of information, along with whatever evidence you can provide, you could try contacting eBay via Have us call you. (Don't bother with any other method of contact.)

eBay say: We'll call you at the phone number registered to your account, or you can enter a different number.

We’re available from 8am to 10pm AET, 7 days a week.

I have no idea whether there's any chance that this will work for you. Anecdotally, once a selling account has been gazumped, that's it - but there might just be a smidgeon of a possibility, if you have cogent arguments, great courtesy, sufficient evidence, and fortune smiles on you.

---

Thanks for your reply 🙂

I still don't get how I pose a risk as I was a Top Rated Seller for about 6 months prior to being in the hospital, I understand their reasoning with metrics based, but I have not had many chargebacks prior to that time I was in the hospital, I haven't had any since that last one either.

I argued that I would Increase my processing time incase of an emergency and have someone else help me. I also argued that if I was posing a risk and not sending items I'd be still recieving disputes on paypal to this day as some are still covered by PayPals Buyer protection. Again to which I have not got. I also said Id make sure my helping would set my eBay to away or take the listings down if I was away.

Incresed my processing time, made sure everythings clear to buyers, made sure all orders had tracking (which they did) Don't really have much to add here sorry.

Yeah I always call up but the problem is the normal customer service are just reading from a script, so not much happens.

Yeah I agree, but the thing is, if it was metrics based or bad buyer experiences, as I said I'd still be getting disputes/ complaints in messages, but i still haven't

Anyway thanks for your reply 🙂

[imastawka]

I noticed in your neg feedbacks that it wasn't just the processing time though.

Quite a number of buyers received the incorrect item or not a full order.

And then no communication from you.

In hindsight you should have shut down your listings until you were able to take care

of business.

I can't honestly see any way back from this.

[countessalmirena]

It sounds as though you have tried to sort it through, but still had no luck.

I'm truly sorry about that.

Just double-checking, though - have you used the Have us call you option, or have you called eBay yourself? It makes a difference. The CS reps responding to Have us call you are (anecdotally) higher up the decision-making pole, and have more discretion and authority.

Just one more thing as well... When speaking with eBay staff, the one thing that you want to avoid if at all possible is that the rep puts you into the "argumentative" basket. Even if you're right, and even if you're not raising your voice and screaming with (often justifiable) fury, an argumentative eBay member on the other end of the phone who appears to be saying "Yes but" is very easy to dismiss, from an eBay CS rep's point of view. All they need to do is sit tightly on the already-made decision, and refuse to budge. They can "drop" your call; they can go through the motions of hearing you without actually listening or engaging with you...

(Also I've just read imastawka's comment. Assuming it's valid  - and imastawka usually is! - then what eBay reps would have heard from you is "I'm not taking responsibility for my mistakes", even if that's not what you're saying.)

What you will want to do is create a sympathetic emotional auditorium. You won't go through the "Yes but" dance. You'll say, "I accept that I was posing a risk as a seller. That it was due to circumstances beyond my control - as evidenced by the hospital records/medical certificates/etc - does not diminish the risk, and I am so very sorry about that. I realise that eBay have the right and even the responsibility to reduce risk. In acknowledgement of that, I have consulted with a number of others with the specific intention of reducing that risk and ensuring that, going forward, the sales and after-sales process would go smoothly, irrespective of such circumstances arising. I want to assure you that I have learned from what occurred, and these are the specific procedures in place now:

#1 ...

#2 ...

#3 ...

I have updated my personal business policies to better anticipate issues and successfully adapt around them. I have conducted a risk analysis and as a result have identified hazards and mitigated risks with these measures:

#1 ...

#2 ...

#3 ...

Can you give me a fax number or email address to which I can send the evidences of these now while we speak? I have them ready to fax or to send as PDF attachments, whichever method you prefer."

You'll finish with a firm, confident-yet-modest request to be allowed to sell. Say that you're more than willing to prove yourself by working your way up again if that would give eBay some reassurance about your effective measures to make the risk negligible.

If you've indeed done all of this, and still got nowhere, I am not sure that there's anything further I could suggest... I'm sorry; eBay have arbitrarily closed member accounts even without what I consider adequate cause, and they've been impervious to persuasion or tears. At this stage, you don't have anything to lose, so it's at least worth approaching them again via Have us call you...