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are all chat sessions no longer people ?
Summary: berman. had a concerning experience with an eBay chat session that seemed automated despite being presented as live assistance. They noted delays and canned responses, leading to suspicion of automation. Other participants speculated about the causes, mentioning agents handling multiple queries and dependency on scripts. mam98031 provided information on how to reach live support, while berman. noted legal aspects and the potential for businesses to use AI unnoticed. Discussions continued around the authenticity of eBay's chat service, with varying opinions on whether interactions were genuine or automated, but the issue was ultimately resolved.
I had an interesting experience. A seller had not sent my item and I requested a cancellation, but they declined… as per the process I went to get eBay‘s help to resolve this matter. I started a chat session and it was claimed that an agent was helping me. The agent was extremely delayed in their response and very much looked like canned responses. When I asked if I am communicating with a live person, they responded with yes and at that point, I saw my first typo… when I returned to that question later in the chat, they accidentally forgot to capitalize “I’ve” .. and it appeared suspiciously like it was automated. Ultimately the issue was resolved, but instead of the usual 10 minutes it had taken in the past. It took 36 minutes…. Is eBay deceiving its customers by making them think they are communicating with a live person yet still using some kind of automation or AI ?
mam98031
MentorSep 17, 2026 at 8:18 PMHere are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.
https://www.instagram.com/ebay/
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT or ask an Agent to call you, in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.
If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.
If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.
https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid
From this link you can request Ebay to call you in the USA. The option is available when Staff is available to respond, so NOT 24/7/365.
https://www.ebay.com/help/home
berman.
OPSep 17, 2026 at 11:49 PMI think you misunderstood my point. but after researching a bit, there are no federal statutes, and only 3 states have some, whereby companies must comply with the fact they are automated customer service (and reveal it’s not a live person) .. only if the customers issue isn’t resolved, or it causes financial harm, will the companies in said states be liable for deception that the customer is communicating with a live being. .. in my case the issue was resolved.
but anyone with common sense would detect that there was not a person communicating. there was an initial claim that ‘Michelle’ had entered the chat ..
bottom line: eBay can legally say there is a person comm’g with you, and there are no repercussions (unless the points above mentioned) ..
however there are currently states that are creating legislation, and possibly federal statutes down the road ..
as mentioned, you can get a real person by calling or receiving a call, but I found the chat a bit disturbing.. I imagine the speed and quality will only improve
mam98031
MentorSep 17, 2026 at 11:56 PMI'm unsure of what part of the information I provided for your earlier that you are disagreeing with. YES the chats on this site for CS are AI ran. YES, you can get to a real person if you follow the instructions I gave you above. There isn't a conspiracy or something going on here, you just need to learn how to get to where you want to be, which is in the information I provided.
berman.
OPSep 18, 2026 at 1:43 AMI followed the steps to “get a live person” aka an “agent” in a live chat .. I am saying that even though the agent was presented as a person, I believe it was not a person. aside from a phone conversation there is no way to prove this. eBay can use automated agents, and claim you are chatting with a person. nothing prevents this from happening. you’re suggesting that this s not happening .. I suggest it is .. that seems to be the only thing that is not agreed on… all the ‘reasons’ given are plausible, (working multiple cases at once…taking the time to determine answers to details of the claim… responding with predetermined phrasing ) I’ve used real people in chats dozens of times to correct problems (and have 25 years+ with doing so) but this time was very different .. the order of steps was misaligned, the time between each response was literally 4-5 minutes (every response !) and every response was perfectly typed until I questioned if it was a real person .. immediately the response had typed ‘yup’ incorrectly .. as if to ease my mind .. the entire experience felt very contrived … I have no real issue with being mislead, especially since the ‘agent’ resolved the problem .. but the sequence and presentation felt terribly ‘off’ … and now knowing that companies are able to mislead without repercussions, it is even clearer .. it’s ok if you don’t believe it, just know it is possible. (and it is probably inevitable .. ;-)
mam98031
MentorSep 18, 2026 at 5:35 PMWell if you don't believe them, that is certainly your right. Maybe try the option of having them call you.
arraus
MentorSep 18, 2026 at 11:02 PM@berman.
I used Chat today.. and typed AGENT. Got to chat with one. They were definitely a human, I believe.
So far, automation and AI are not as good as human when it's something at all unusual or complex. Sometimes call center CS rep's have MANY open chats and switch between each one... making you wait while they read and respond to other, research yours, etc..
Of course, I can't say for sure what happened. It sounds like your problem got resolved. YAY!!!! WINNER
jacbarcollectibles
MentorSep 17, 2026 at 6:14 PMWhen dealing with the live help they must look up the answers to your questions. Most of the reps have never actually used eBay so they have to rely on a script to provide answers. No matter what company I may have chatted with they all have delays in responding to questions. So this is not just an eBay problem.
berman.
OPSep 17, 2026 at 7:34 PMvery familiar with the process .. have done many over the years .. it’s possible I ran into a newbie, but it sure seemed like it was automated in their responses .. after experiencing all the changes over the years, would it be surprising if eBay used 100% automation in chats ? there’s probably nothing illegal in claiming that it’s a live person on the other end (even if it’s not)
krazzykats
MentorSep 17, 2026 at 5:30 PMI always figured the delay was due to the agent handling multiple chats or having to wait for answers.