eBay customer service vs the English language

[kustomizer99]

Does anyone know why eBay seems to have a policy of only employing staff with a meagre grasp of the English language? This seems to be counter-productive.

Please let me know if you have any insights.

[tonalidesigns]

Ausfast has it - if you want FVF's of around 10% - including postage - thenbthe US system is fantastic.

It's easy to cherry pick one or two features - you need to look at the whole picture.

There's a whole lot of features implemented overseas that I would LOVE to have here, but I would not want that at the expense of higher selling fees.

[kustomizer99]

OK, thanks for answering, that's more than the eBay staff were capable of doing. 🙂

[phorum_junkie*]

I'm not just talking about their phone manner, I'm talking about their inability to comprehend written email messages.

That has nothing to do with their comprehention of the English language but more to do with auto responses.

It doesn't matter how they respond it won't make selling on the UK or US sites better than the cost of listing on the Aus site.

In the UK you only get free listings for items under £0.99p and FVFs are 10% plus their paypal charges are higher.

I don't know what the current fee structure for the US is but the FVF is higher than Aus and is charged on the total sale including postage.

Why on earth would you want their fee structures?

I certainly don't, I am in the UK for half the year and don't bother listing anything, with the higher fees and much more competition I couldn't make half as much profit as I can in Aus for the same amount of effort.

[kustomizer99]

But they're not completely automated responses at all. I had one of them commend me on my excellent feedback record, and then tell me that I am eligible for 30 free listings a month.... which I am not, due to being made a Powerseller. He obviously looked at my status, so should have known this.

You''d think eBay's staff would know such basic policies.

[phorum_junkie*]

I think that rather proves my point that it is semi automated.

I am sure, just like cold call sellers, they have a set of standard responses to particular keywords.

If you want a proper response then you have to use the reply function a couple of times so the query is upgraded to a 'real' person reading it.

If you want to pay more for selling on ebay then your request to be charged more should be sent by the suggestions link.

I really hope they don't take you up on it though, I have far too many things left to list to stop selling in Aus as well.

[kustomizer99]

It's not automated at all, it's a real person using a combination of copy and paste and 'initiative'.

Here's an example:

"The reason we have different promotions per site is because every country has their own law when it comes to selling, especially in cross-boarder transactions."

That is not only iliterate, but a red herring and quite meaningless.

The only thing I'm asking for is the 30 free listings a month, I'm not demanding higher fees at all.... that's funny, PJ! 🙂

I only turned over slightly more than $3K on eBay last yeatr, I hardly think this warrants me becoming a Powerseller again... although eBay AU does.

[tuffy42tuffy]

Don't know what Telstra has to do with this post from some members but yes,some ebay responses are a little bit hard to understand. Having said that,the responses I've had have always been polite and in most cases helpful.Don't let this turn into a racism thing which it shows signs of doing.

[freightcar2009]

tuffy42tuffy wrote

Don't let this turn into a racism thing which it shows signs of doing

I cannot see anywhere where it has even shown signs of becoming racist.

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to do business with someone who can't understand what you are saying because of poor understanding of the language you are trying to converse.

I have had good experiences with call centres and I have some of the most frustrating experiences as well.

The good experiences have always been from people who have both a very good knowledge of the product they are assisting with and an understanding of not only the language but also the nuances (slang) within this language.

I think it racist to impose our own ideas of what is PC to others.

A statement of fact is a statement of fact and not necessarily racist

. Racism is an uneducated opinion of someone. the wrong oppinion about his or her race or religion as well as the resistance to try and understand and learn about reasons people act and react the way they do.

[***super_nova***]

eBay is an international company, so why should not base their call centre in whatever country they choose?  The call centre staff are there to help with problems, not to explain why their respective managements of eBay.au and eBay.com decide to have different rates of fees.  Why would you think that call centre employees would know that?  The big guys make their decision and do not give reasons.

Would you call Coles and ask them why their X costs more than it does in Woolworth and expect the office girl to know?

[kustomizer99]

Yes, I WOULD expect their HELP staff to know things like this.... too bad you think we should unquestioningly go along with whatever arbitrary decisions they make without having any input.

How do you think eBay develops as a company? In part, it's by LISTENIING TO WHAT THEIR CUSTOMERS HAVE TO SAY.