Woke up today with my account suspended - the second time in 3 months.
Here's the story: Buyer wanted to buy some furniture. They are new to Australia so had no trading history and my automatic blocks prevented them from bidding. They had a UK Ebay account but I don't trade internationally so again, they couldn't bid. The buyer said they contacted EBay to find a way around and EBay told them they would send me a message explaining how I could sell to this buyer despite the blocks I have in place. No message received from Ebay.
The buyer even sent me their phone number and address but I messaged back saying that this was against Ebay policy and I had to proceed with the listing until they could place a bid (I got burnt with this previously so I am being ultra careful)
I asked the buyer to find a friend with an Ebay account to bid on the item. They managed to find someone and purchased the furniture with their friend's account.
Then they contacted me to arrange delivery - but as the message did not come from the successful bidding account (it came from the original contact ID) Ebay have assumed I am trying to arrange a sale outside of Ebay. And bingo - I get suspended.
I tried very hard not to shout, but the EBay customer service representative was in no doubt about my mood this morning. They didn't even ask me to explain, they just read all the messages, came back 2 minutes later, apologised and lifted the suspension. I now have to relist all the listings they took down.
Its gone beyond funny. I have to double check all my messages to potential buyers now in case the BOTS are watching
