Steiners/ecommercebytes revive eBay harassment suit

[nobody*s_perfect]

From today's Boston Globe:

The revised lawsuit included a bevy of evidence that emerged during the sentencings, including an eBay Powerpoint presentation to the US Attorneys Office conceding that actions of its former employees were “clearly criminal” and that former chief executive Devin Wenig’s “tone was improper and unacceptable.” The presentation also said the company did not find evidence that Wenig “directed or knew that criminal acts would occur.”

Baugh, during his sentencing, admitted to concocting the plot, saying he was a former covert operative for the CIA and FBI, where he learned to lie about his work. Baugh apologized for his actions and said he was “completely out of control” due to alcohol abuse....

The revised lawsuit added Wendy Jones, eBay’s former senior vice president of operations and Baugh’s direct supervisor, as a defendant. Jones asked Baugh to deal with complaints about the Steiners’ website and comments on the site, according to the lawsuit, and her failure to properly oversee Baugh was a “proximate cause” of the harassment.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/02/business/natick-couple-refiles-lawsuit-against-ebay-saying-th...

[mam98031]

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@broto_64 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

@broto_64 

It isn't "alleged", 5 or six people are in prison because of their actions in this matter.

It isn't so much the articles on their site that are negative.  It is the comments.  Most of which are people that have been banned from the Ebay community years ago for one reason or another.

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That is certainly very, very interesting.

However I have not found their articles to be terribly flattering either, they are generally critical and it is only ebay... I am pretty sure in terms of marketplaces ebay isn't necessarily the best, I am also sure other marketplaces aren't much better, yet the steiners have chosen to write non-flattering article after article on ebay and ebay only, again as if they had a personal vendetta.

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That does not mean that what the people currently in prison did to them was warranted.  There was no excuse for their behavior and it was criminal.  Which is why they are in prison.

They do write other articles on other Marketplaces as well.  But it is mostly Ebay, likely because of the number of sellers on the site.

[mam98031]

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@carolynnq wrote:

I don't think eCommerce Bytes has a vendetta about eBay. They report changes and news about eBay (and Amazon and other sites). When they add user comments into the stories, those comments are often negative, just as they are here after eBay announces a change.  Just as with newspapers and other general media news, when things are running smoothly, it's not news.

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I would disagree with this somewhat.  There are posters on that site that basically say the same thing about Ebay no matter what the article is about.  Even when the Ebay member made a mistake, the regular posters just blame Ebay for everything.  They could care less if it is true.  They just have a need to trash Ebay as often as they can.  Some of the posters don't even sell on the site, but they are so upset with Ebay they will post on that site because so many other posters feel the same way they do.

[ekmadonna]

It is not ONLY EBAY, Try ETSY and AMAZON as well. Please state facts. 

[ekmadonna]

The OP you are responding to said THEY DON'T THINK eCOMMERCBYTES has a vendetta against EBAY to which you disagree? Yet you are talking about the Individual POSTERS on their boards like yourself. The Posters have NOTHING to do with eCOMMERCBYTES. They are individuals who post on the eCOMMERCBYTES boards just like on these boards. So, what exactly are you disagreeing with? She or He is talking about the Steiners' website and NOT the PEOPLE who VISIT their Site.

[joliztoyco]

But the lawsuit filed against Ebay by their OWN insurance company is pretty entertaining. 
They're not about to pay for the criminal behavior of Ebay's management.
And they're using Ebay's own Powerpoint presentation to the DOJ to nail them:

"In Friday's court filing, ACE said its umbrella policies do not cover the civil action. As part of its basis for seeking to disclaim coverage, it quoted from a PowerPoint presentation eBay had made to the government in March of 2021":

"The eBay PowerPoint Deck contained a stated purpose to persuade the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") that, although "DOJ could take enforcement against the company [eBay]," "a decision not to take enforcement action against eBay . . . is in the interest of justice, the victims, and the public.

"In the eBay PowerPoint Deck, eBay acknowledged "the seriousness of the misconduct and the company's responsibility." It further acknowledged, "The conduct of the seven defendants [i.e., Baugh, Harville, Popp, Stockwell, Gilbert, Cooke, and Zea] was clearly criminal, and eBay is troubled by the role here of its former-CEO [i.e., Wenig] and former Chief Communications Officer [i.e., Wymer] in particular." The eBAy Power Deck described Wymer's conduct as "Inexcusable from any employee, much less an ELT member," noted that eBay "fired [Wymer] for cause" "due to [the] Natick events" (emphasis original), and recognized that Wenig and Wymer had "contributed significantly to the crimes in Natick."

 

[chapeau-noir]

eCommercebytes is informative, and has acted before to enact positive change on behalf of sellers (the ridiculous returns language eBay tried for a while is one example). Many of their articles just state facts and that's it.

But the comments section is where all the negativity is - I think they should just ditch it, just as many news outlets have already done. It's just the same old hacks whining about the same old things, just like the news outlets had the same old wingnuts melting down about who knows what in their comments section. As far as I can tell, it adds very little. 

[farmalljr]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@broto_64 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

@broto_64 

It isn't "alleged", 5 or six people are in prison because of their actions in this matter.

It isn't so much the articles on their site that are negative.  It is the comments.  Most of which are people that have been banned from the Ebay community years ago for one reason or another.

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That is certainly very, very interesting.

However I have not found their articles to be terribly flattering either, they are generally critical and it is only ebay... I am pretty sure in terms of marketplaces ebay isn't necessarily the best, I am also sure other marketplaces aren't much better, yet the steiners have chosen to write non-flattering article after article on ebay and ebay only, again as if they had a personal vendetta.

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That does not mean that what the people currently in prison did to them was warranted.  There was no excuse for their behavior and it was criminal.  Which is why they are in prison.

They do write other articles on other Marketplaces as well.  But it is mostly Ebay, likely because of the number of sellers on the site.

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That's simply another untrue statement you have made again. Every news letter that goes out also include amazon AND Esty.  On occasion other sites like Mercari are covered.  There has never been a time I have received a news letter that has never covered the main three, EQUALLY. 

[mam98031]

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@ekmadonna wrote:

The OP you are responding to said THEY DON'T THINK eCOMMERCBYTES has a vendetta against EBAY to which you disagree? Yet you are talking about the Individual POSTERS on their boards like yourself. The Posters have NOTHING to do with eCOMMERCBYTES. They are individuals who post on the eCOMMERCBYTES boards just like on these boards. So, what exactly are you disagreeing with? She or He is talking about the Steiners' website and NOT the PEOPLE who VISIT their Site.

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You may need to revisit my post as I never said that.  While sometimes the articles have titles or content in them that seem to me to enflame when not necessary.  IMHO the site offers great information and usually great articles.

Sometimes the opinions of the posters on that site get confused with what the Site [or Steiner's] believe.  The two are likely not to be even close.

Most of the posters on that site have a vendetta against Ebay which is clearly represented by what they post.  But it is important to be able to tell the difference.  I don't believe that these posters represent the opinions or position of the Site.  It is just some found an outlet to vent their anger towards Ebay.  Some are still active sellers on Ebay and some are not.  But they feel passionately about how they feel, so they continue to post their positions on each article.  Even if the article isn't about Ebay, some will often turn it to be about Ebay.  

The Steiner's were put through something that caused sheer terror due to the actions of a few ex-Ebay employees.  They have every right to be compensated for what transpired.  It was so incomprehensible as to some of the things done I have a hard time wrapping my head around it.  Which is why those people are in prison now, as they should be.

[mam98031]

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@broto_64 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

@broto_64 

It isn't "alleged", 5 or six people are in prison because of their actions in this matter.

It isn't so much the articles on their site that are negative.  It is the comments.  Most of which are people that have been banned from the Ebay community years ago for one reason or another.

---

That is certainly very, very interesting.

However I have not found their articles to be terribly flattering either, they are generally critical and it is only ebay... I am pretty sure in terms of marketplaces ebay isn't necessarily the best, I am also sure other marketplaces aren't much better, yet the steiners have chosen to write non-flattering article after article on ebay and ebay only, again as if they had a personal vendetta.

---

That does not mean that what the people currently in prison did to them was warranted.  There was no excuse for their behavior and it was criminal.  Which is why they are in prison.

They do write other articles on other Marketplaces as well.  But it is mostly Ebay, likely because of the number of sellers on the site.

---

That's simply another untrue statement you have made again. Every news letter that goes out also include amazon AND Esty.  On occasion other sites like Mercari are covered.  There has never been a time I have received a news letter that has never covered the main three, EQUALLY. 

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I used the word "Mostly" because most articles are about Ebay in one way shape or form.  Your post changed my word to "Every", which is NOT what I said.  Every article is not about Ebay.  Before attacking, consider what was actually said.

[traditonalproducts]

Now I know why the fees are being raised. Great.

[mam98031]

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@traditonalproducts wrote:

Now I know why the fees are being raised. Great.

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Oh because the inflation rate hasn't been on the rise the past couple of years, right?

[farmalljr]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@broto_64 wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

@broto_64 

It isn't "alleged", 5 or six people are in prison because of their actions in this matter.

It isn't so much the articles on their site that are negative.  It is the comments.  Most of which are people that have been banned from the Ebay community years ago for one reason or another.

---

That is certainly very, very interesting.

However I have not found their articles to be terribly flattering either, they are generally critical and it is only ebay... I am pretty sure in terms of marketplaces ebay isn't necessarily the best, I am also sure other marketplaces aren't much better, yet the steiners have chosen to write non-flattering article after article on ebay and ebay only, again as if they had a personal vendetta.

---

That does not mean that what the people currently in prison did to them was warranted.  There was no excuse for their behavior and it was criminal.  Which is why they are in prison.

They do write other articles on other Marketplaces as well.  But it is mostly Ebay, likely because of the number of sellers on the site.

---

That's simply another untrue statement you have made again. Every news letter that goes out also include amazon AND Esty.  On occasion other sites like Mercari are covered.  There has never been a time I have received a news letter that has never covered the main three, EQUALLY. 

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I used the word "Mostly" because most articles are about Ebay in one way shape or form.  Your post changed my word to "Every", which is NOT what I said.  Every article is not about Ebay.  Before attacking, consider what was actually said.

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Maybe look in the mirror and heed your own advice. The articles cover the 3 major platforms pretty equally. and they also have the same tone, for all platforms. 

When a platform does something negative to sellers, it reported. When a platform does something helpful, it's reported. Disagreeing is not "attacking". Again, you make another statement that articles "mostly" cover only ebay. Again, it's just not true, even though you may choose to perceive it that way.  All three platforms are covered equally.  I get the newsletter, and I actually read the articles. I am not obessing over one platform and focusing my angst with a blog because I don't like what they report. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

You apparently don't actually read the site.

They have had several very critical pieces on both Etsy and Amazon of late.

[giant_industries]

Wonder if these big tech companies like ebay or facebook are part of the government.

[shipscript]

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@giant_industries wrote:

Wonder if these big tech companies like ebay or facebook are part of the government.

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The CIA has a venture capital arm called in-Q-Tel. When I researched this several years ago, I found that both in-Q-Tel and DARPA provided seed money for Facebook's early development and closed down one of their similar "personal data mining" programs on the day that Facebook launched.  So, while the operations are "arms-length", one might say that the government has some type of interest in Facebook, or certainly in making sure that the data mining option remains viable.