Does EBAY have any customer service? How do you get correction of unfairness?
Summary: A participant initiated a discussion questioning if eBay has any customer service and inquiring about ways to address perceived unfairness. jonathanbrightlight and kibble-net engage with the query, but the discussion lacks details about specific resolutions or examples shared. Several other participants, including shire123 and onefootflipper, contribute, indicating a shared interest in the topic, yet concrete solutions or suggestions are not present in their responses either.
I am a long time ebay seller that does not do large volume (about 12-15 items per month). I have a 100% customer feedback but a below standard rating. My below standard rating is based upon 5 defects/129 transactions measured over 12 months. The defects were that I was out of stock and did not correct my listing. For each occurrence I refunded the money, apologized for the inconvenience and received a positive feedback from the customer. The only way to correct the problem is for the defects to drop off after 1 year or sell more items. However, ebay refuses to allow me to list new items or renew expiring listings. There is no way to correct a problem that did not cause customer dissatisfaction. I have been unable to present the unfairness of the penalty and and measure to anyone at ebay. Seems as if their customer service is worse than mine!!! Any suggestions how to receive some relief of service........thanks.
mam98031
·4 months agoWhat would be unfair is if Ebay didn't apply the policy evenly to sellers that breach their rule or rules. This is something you can easily track on your Seller Dashboard on a regular bases and the policy is readily available.
While I do understand that you are upset, I'm unsure as to why. Ebay doesn't hide this info from sellers. What is unclear is why you thought the rule would not apply to you. I mean absolutely no disrespect by that comment.
inhawaii
·4 months agoThere is no such thing as "correction of unfairness".
Ebay often does things that are unfair or that people deem as unfair and there is no avenue to correct it.
roccotacodad54
·4 months ago"There is no way to correct a problem that did not cause customer dissatisfaction. '
Those are some very nice customers you have to not be dissatified by a cancelled order.
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoFeedback is irrelevant to Seller Level.
You screwed up, disappointed buyers and had to deal with after sale problems.
You earned your below standard rating, and the penalties that come with it.
You and Ebay, and some of your peers disagree with your concept of what constitutes acceptable seller performance.
You will probably get no relief until your bad performance marks start to drop off, roughly 13 months from when they occurred since the penalties for below standard performance will probably preclude any huge surge in sales to get an earlier result.
The penalty hurts and that is Ebay's intention. Ebay has a long history of sellers who fail to have any understanding of what normal and acceptable customer service is. It has hurt Ebay's image and results for close to 30 years. And it has hurt every Ebay seller who provides great customer service.
pickapaper
·4 months ago@southpawdon wrote:
" There is no way to correct a problem that did not cause customer dissatisfaction."
You cancelled five buyer's orders. You think because they did not leave you a negative that they are not dissatisfied? Understanding, maybe. Disappointed, probably. Satisfied, no.
"I have been unable to present the unfairness of the penalty and measure to anyone at ebay."
So you screwed up and you think it is unfair that you are penalized? You are not special and eBay does not play favorites. It would only be unfair if sellers who cancel multiple orders are not penalized.
onefootflipper
·4 months agoI don't think you understand unfairness and out of stock at all. You were unable to ship 5 orders out of like 150ish. I sell about 3500 items a year and if I also cancelled 5 orders in a year I would be in the exact same boat as you, despite having 20 times the volume. So which is more unfair?
Since you only appear to have one listing left I would just wait out the year and sell on other platforms until then.
grann-4629
·4 months agoSo which is more unfair?
A guy who makes $25K annually gets a $300 fine for illegal parking.
A guy who makes $300K annually gets a $300 fine for illegally parking in the same spot.
Is it fair that the low wage earner has to pay a larger % of his salary than the rich guy for the same offence?
hartungcards
·4 months ago"There is no way to correct a problem that did not cause customer dissatisfaction."
If it didn't cause customer dissatisfaction, it wouldn't have been a problem.
caldreamer
·4 months agoSorry but EBAY holds all sellers to the same high standards. While I agree with you that EBAY standards are rigid, EBAY will not make an exception for you.
kibble-net
·4 months agoPersonal Responsibility strikes again!
grann-4629
·4 months agoPersonal Responsibility strikes again!
Actually, it appears it missed this time 😎
clemowbooks
·4 months agoThe defects were that I was out of stock and did not correct my listing.
You are supposed to be aware enough of your stock that this does not happen.
When the first OOS was reported, did you do an inventory check of all your other items ?
bonanza125
·4 months agoHow can something be unfair when it's clearly in the policy? Ebay has seller standard ratings. If you have to cancel a sale because the item is out of stock you will get a defect. Defects stay on for a year. You will be restricted. That's how it goes. Buyers are not happy when you have to cancel the sale because you failed to remove the listing prior to the sale. If you sell an item locally or on another website remove the listing immediately. Do not wait. You are not learning that yes you will be penalized for this mistake that you made. Customer service isn't going to help you in this situation.
luckythewinner
·4 months agoThe defects were that I was out of stock and did not correct my listing. For each occurrence I refunded the money, apologized for the inconvenience and received a positive feedback from the customer.
The "Below Standard" metrics are published. You agreed to them. You failed to meet them. The fact that you do not like that does not make it unfair.
The only way to correct the problem is for the defects to drop off after 1 year or sell more items. However, ebay refuses to allow me to list new items or renew expiring listings.
The consequences of not meeting the "Below Standard" metrics are published. You agreed to them. You failed to stay Above Standard, so the consequences were applied. The fact that you do not like that does not make it unfair.
There is no way to correct a problem that did not cause customer dissatisfaction.
The problem is not whether your customers were dissatisfied - the problem is that you failed to meet the metrics. The way to correct that problem is to monitor your seller dashboard and make sure you are meeting the metrics, but you failed to do that. Your received four warnings about going below standard:
I have been unable to present the unfairness of the penalty and and measure to anyone at ebay.
There is nothing in eBay policy that promises they will meet your standards for "fairness". And there is nothing in eBay policy that promises you a path to fix the predicament that your actions got you into.
kandf_vintage_finds
·4 months agoSorry this happened to you.
If you ever get your account straightened out I hope you are more careful in the future.
Disappointed buyers harm ALL of us!
stephenmorgan
·4 months agoWell at least you accept you may have caused this yourself.
You satisfied some customers but not all. eBay is like a Customer also and you have caused them dissatisfaction. They do not like that they lost out on commissions for five sales.
Did you get a permanent suspension? If not maybe check back once a month and see if you account has been turned back on for selling. Are your five defects for the same day/month?
chapeau-noir
·4 months agoThe penalty is not 'unfair' - it's clearly stated in the TOS here. Absolutely, cancellations happen, but you have a lot for such a small account - I think you're going to have to wait it out if you cannot sell much.
shire123
·4 months agoOne of the worst things you can do as a seller is to cancel an order due to being out of stock. All sellers must always reconcile their listings with their stock. I know that takes time but it is essential to keeping your status on ebay.
No matter if you apologize and refund and even get positive feedback. It is still a black mark against your account
Be sure it doesn't happen again. I know that sounds harsh but it is a reality of selling on ebay.
jonathanbrightlight
·4 months agoThere is nothing unfair about restrictions placed on sellers who do not meet their obligations, especially when those are clearly stated in policy. On many other platforms, you would not have a chance to fix it at all, you’d just be gone.
southpawdon
OP4 months agoThanks for taking the time to respond to my concerns. To be clear, I do take responsibility for not updating my records and being out of stock. However, I feel as if the penalty for this type of transgression is overly harsh with too long a duration and no way to correct. Just because it is in policy does not make it fair. However, the majority of comments received seemed to consider my transgression to be egregious. While disappointed that my view is not shared, I appreciate everyone's comments and opinion and will accept their judgement.
pickapaper
·4 months agoTo be honest, I think the reason eBay is so harsh is because if they weren't, offending sellers would continue to misbehave. It's kind of like a person gets a parking ticket for $25, no big deal, and they continue to illegally park. But if they get a parking ticket for $500, they're going to sit up and take notice and try not to do that again. Hopefully.
duffy4444
·4 months ago@southpawdon :
1. It doesn't matter how you "feel". What matters is that there is an eBay policy you agreed to when you started selling, and you went too far in abusing it.
2. Because it is in policy DOES make it fair, as it applies to EVERY seller here.
3. Yes, your continuous transgression IS egregious in eBay's eyes... and their stance is the only one that matters.
Cheers, Duffy
albertabrightalberta
·4 months agoIt's great that you're taking responsibility and with the sanction, it's unlikely that you'll let it get this far in the future.
But with reference to your "too long a duration and no way to correct," I have to disagree.
You did have plenty of opportunities to correct your errors. You weren't restricted with the first, second or even the third OOS. After the first, you (presumably) would have reviewed your inventory and deleted listings for OOS items. But then it happened a second time. Again, you clearly didn't go through your items to end your listings for items you no longer had.
After 5 chances, ebay decided that you weren't taking the previous defects as seriously as you should have and they wanted to send a stronger and more impactful message, thus the restrictions.
Although painful to wait out the year, I'm betting it won't happen again because you'll be very diligent in inventory control.