FROM TOP RATED TO BELOW STANDARD TO RESTRICTED
I have been selling on Ebay for 9 years with no transaction defects until recently. I was a Top Rated seller for the past year or more. Recently, some of our product was damaged in a fire so I removed (what I thought was everything) from my posts that was no longer available. Unfortunately, a few orders came through that I could not fulfill. I messaged the buyers, informed them of the issue, and offered similar products or refund. In most cases I refunded. This caused a 4% transaction defect on my account which knocked me down to BELOW STANDARD and Ebay started taking selling fees that were 50% !!!! of my profit. During this time, I had 4 or 5 more sales with no issues. Now, I am restricted from selling anymore. I filed an appeal to remove the defects and that was denied. I have contacted customer service MULTIPLE times who did nothing at all to help and in most cases said they would REsubmit the appeal and I would hear back via email, of course I never did. So, after 9 years of selling and no order issues, they are doing me like this. Needless to say, Ebay will NEVER get another penny from me even if I was allowed to buy or sell still. Who are they to judge by a few order issues that I am a substandard seller. Things happen. Life happens. As long as the seller handles the issue properly and the buyer is satisfied, what difference does it make? Ebay better rethink its policies and procedures because there are too many other platforms available to sell on to be treating long time, loyal sellers this way. Just DISGUSTED. Thanks for listening to my rant. 🙂
meme6253
·1 year agoVery sorry for your tragedy & for the poor treatment you received, Wish you the best!
annadryl
·1 year agoYou did the right thing by not following the bad advice from CS and dishonestly claiming "buyer requested". You seem to have worked things out with them, and if they saw you cancelled because they asked (they didn't, totally different reason for the cancel) they could be pretty miffed at you for the false reason and report that, which would worsen the situation of course.
Keep doing the right thing, list more when they let ya and things might eventually get back on track. Good luck~
arblebeedie
·1 year agoI disagree annadryl. CS knew the buyer requested would not result in a negative on his account and they didn't believe he deserved the negative. Your response assumes the algorithm is perfect, and it's not. It is programmed by humans, after all. Even tho 97% of situations will fit into it, there will always be need for humans to intervene and make a judgement call to override when the situation calls for it. That's how the algorithm is massaged over time. It's called iterative design. Nothing to do with doing the 'right' thing. Sounds like this seller is restricted from listing ANYthing more until he sells thru current inventory, which is also shown further down in search rankings. And, he's now charged additional 6% for any sale, which they've put their thumb on. It's too punitive. And reps don't have the tools or the authority to override. His mistakes were simple.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoEbay is too large for exceptions to their rules and procedures. Exceptions were rare even when Ebay was smaller.
Reaching a person who could reverse the penalty is virtually impossible. The quality of the advice offered by Ebay customer service reps is between bad and abominable. There are plenty of examples on this forum.
Ebay is no worse in this regard than other large internet marketplaces.
When I was in the hospital emergency room waiting to be admitted for heart surgery, I put my listings on another site on vacation because if I did not I would be suspended.
When you sell on an internet marketplace, you are walking a tightrope with no net. If you did not know, you do now.
When you are the least able to do your best is when you need your best efforts.
Every one of us should have sympathy for your situation because every one of us should know that we could be in exactly that situation. But we also could be like the flood victims or other victims of disasters. It could be worse. There are other internet marketplaces.
lakefor94
·1 year agoSorry to hear of the fire @roblshan .
You are still in the game so to speak, just limited at this point. Keep on selling what you have and make sure no more mistakes come about.
As the defects drop off, your account may get back to above standard. Try to sell as many of the existing listings as you can. Hopefully in time you will be able to list more once again. Hang in there.
roblshan
OP1 year agoHi,
Thanks for your positivity and encouragement! Most people respond with only negativity and nothing helpful.
Appreciate you! 🙂
inhawaii
·1 year agoSorry about your house fire.
So you believe ebay should let sellers slide for:
House fires.
What about...
Medical issues.
Death in the family.
Floods.
Hurricanes.
Tornados.
Wildfires.
Earthquakes.
P.S. You still have 22 items listed.
roblshan
OP1 year agoHi. Thanks for your response.
No, I don't think sellers should be allowed to "slide" for anything and that all sellers should be required to "follow the rules", which I do and have always done. All I am saying is that, in MY situation, it was a completely honest mistake, not something I have a history of doing, not something I did on purpose, I immediately contacted the buyers to let them know, offered alternatives and ultimately immediately refunded. I had several successful sales after this incident, with no issues of any kind, which further proves it was an isolated incident. I think a seller that continually fails to follow policy or provide excellent customer service would deserve to be banned and/ or restricted, but to not only charge me more in seller fees for many orders and THEN restrict me, after a spotless track record and excellent feedback to back that up, is a little extreme and undeserved. They should take these situations case-by-case, look at previous history, length of time selling, feedback received, etc, etc. and impose appropriate sanctions. I know of MANY sellers on here that should be banned/restricted for different reasons, who do not care one bit about "going the extra mile" or good customer service. One honest mistake does not warrant such harsh punishment, in my opinion. That's all I am saying and am mad about.
inhawaii
·1 year agoSorry but I disagree.
Not feasable.
It would take thousands of employees to investigate each and every claim and come to a decision If the seller should be forgiven.
I truly am sorry for what happened and hope you make a speedy comeback.
lakefor94
·1 year ago@roblshan what inhawaii states is true, the restrictions and permanent bans of accounts have to be done by bot. There are 18 million sellers on eBay. There are perhaps thousands of retrictions like yours per day, who knows how many. There might be a thousand(s) permanent bans per day.
No way to address each one on an individual basis.
arblebeedie
·1 year agoYou miss the point of the post. Seller is saying the algorithm is too punitive for too long. Seller avoided INAD, communicated, communicated, communicated with buyers and tech support. The absolute **bleep** of the algorithm (which is not perfect and often glitchy or displays incorrect info, or multiple users interfaces (e.g. currently feedback has 2 different ways to post, I prefer one but often have difficulty finding it since the new 'chicklet' one is now being pushed but lacks info I rely on to give real feedback vs boilerplate). So, I think your post is kinda mean, too vague and generally unhelpful.
roblshan
OP1 year agoAs a side note:
Customer service did advise me in the future, to choose "Cancel-buyer request" rather than "Out of stock" to possibly prevent the defects. Something I DID briefly consider, however, chose to go the honest route and got restricted.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoWere these Phone Reps with an accent?
roblshan
OP1 year agoHi.
The specific agent that told me that did indicate he was located in the Philippines, but he did not have an accent. I can't recall the last time I spoke to a Customer Service agent that I could actually understand and did not have a heavy accent. I have also never had a rep that actually helped resolve any issue I contacted about and they do not allow "escalations." That speaks volumes about how much Ebay cares about issues we have.
arblebeedie
·1 year agothis sucks. I'm sorry. We are in the same boat, treated the same way. It's tricky keeping up with the constant updates to the user interface, knowing which ones you select will tell the algorithm to rate you negatively. The lesson learned here is twofold--do what tech support tells you, regardless of what your telltale heart says to do--it's all about the algorithm and the reps told you to select Cancel-buyer request.
Thanks for passing this along, I just noticed it was available (when I had a buyer ask to cancel). I *didn't* realize it wouldn't count against my defect score but there's no guarantee Ebay programming will get it right yesterday/today or tomorrow due to constant updates. When digging into details from the seller dashboard, it feels like their programming can be glitchy and mis-calculate defect rates. The fact that CS has no ability to dig deep or find issues by assuming all programming is spot on (it isn't) is soul sucking.
itolduandso
·1 year agoThat is the worst option to choose. Seasoned sellers know, never ever use that option. They have it that and it looks harmless, but that's the nuclear option.
I have been advised by Ebay to also use this option if the fault is on my end if I list the item and there is an error in the offer price e.g. I once listed the item for over 400 dollars, I sent an offer to buyer, by mistake entered 4 dollars. The buyer purchased, sent payment and was demanded delivery. I used that option to cancel the sale even through the buyer didn't agree with the cancellation. Shipping alone was over 50 dollar on that item. This is an extreme case, so always use this option with caution because it may lear to account being frozen if ebay finds this is being abused. However, this option by default doesn't trigger the account to get frozen automatically at least..
Also, if you do partial refund to customer, never select the option saying there was an issue with the item, always select "other reason" or shipping discount, because that is also going to stay on the account.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoSorry that this happed to you. You took care of your buyers right away over fire damaged item's . which saved you on getting INR case's . There are problem sellers some big cash cow's that need to be restricted and off this site ,to Provent drop of buyer traffic . I agree you where treated unfairly .
pastimpressions
·1 year agoI am very sorry for your loss and personal dilemma.
Unfortunately, compassion is something that sellers extend (via service, special gifts & "going that extra mile) on this platform with regularity that the Host platform does not.
To me this is quite unfortunate as that "personal touch" is one of the key selling features the Host uses to encourage trade on this Host platform. This is provided by wonderful sellers that go the extra mile, not "dump & runners."
So yes, I could pile on & say " gee whiz, it's all your fault you should have made sure you didn't miss a thing when taking down listings" & it would be true.
It is also true to say under emotional, personal & financial hardship/emergency strain things get lost in translation.
Mistakes can be made.
Hope you bounce back asap
stephenmorgan
·1 year agoeBay has been known to reverse their decisions when someone is able to prove that an unpreventable situation occurred that they could not prevent. If you have a Police or Fire Department report verifying the fire this may be enough to get them to reverse their decision. A Insurance Claim showing you had a claim and what you lost may work also.
The problem is getting this information to a competent eBay employee who has the authority to make a decision.
At the bottom of this page there a links to contact eBay thru Facebook and Twitter. I would try them first, if that does not work then contact eBay's Legal Department.
fashunu4eeuh
·1 year agoWait, i see 23 active listings for you. You couldn't be restricted from selling with active listings? Or do you mean you have new limits?
Unavailable member
·1 year ago@fashunu4eeuh
When a seller is below standard eBay restricts the number of items a seller can listLimitations on selling activities
roblshan
OP1 year agoHi. Thanks for reading my post. Yes, I can no longer add new items for sale. They did say I can continue selling what is already posted until they sell or expire.
arblebeedie
·1 year agogood lord. So Ebay is essentially saying the defects (which you should have used seller canceled) are the death of your store? You'll never be able to list more items? ever? how are you supposed to recover? eBay insists they're there to 'help' you. What options did they give you, given you selected 'out of stock' instead of 'seller cancelled'?
Unavailable member
·1 year agoLet me see if I read your post correctly...
You had items that were lost in a fire, you assumed you took all of those listings affected down. You missed a few, had to cancel for out if stock and you are mad at eBay?
You should have taken extra steps to ensure you removed all of your listings that were damaged in a fire.
eBay doesn't make exceptions. That is why they put Seller Standard Policy in place for all sellers to follow.
It doesn't matter if you handled the issue properly cancelling for out of stock is bad for sellers.
eBay is not going to "rethink" their policy. Your time as a seller never comes into play when it comes to seller standards.
roblshan
OP1 year agoI don't think sellers should be allowed to "slide" for anything and that all sellers should be required to "follow the rules", which I do and have always done. All I am saying is that, in MY situation, it was a completely honest mistake, not something I have a history of doing, not something I did on purpose, I immediately contacted the buyers to let them know, offered alternatives and ultimately immediately refunded. I had several successful sales after this incident, with no issues of any kind, which further proves it was an isolated incident. I think a seller that continually fails to follow policy or provide excellent customer service would deserve to be banned and/ or restricted, but to not only charge me more in seller fees for many orders and THEN restrict me, after a spotless track record and excellent feedback to back that up, is a little extreme and undeserved. They should take these situations case-by-case, look at previous history, length of time selling, feedback received, etc, etc. and impose appropriate sanctions. I know of MANY sellers on here that should be banned/restricted for different reasons, who do not care one bit about "going the extra mile" or good customer service. One honest mistake does not warrant such harsh punishment, in my opinion. That's all I am saying and am mad about.
carlmarxx
·1 year agoI have been on eBay since 1996 with my other ID . Ebay has and is inconsistent with the Seller standard Policy based on number threads on the Buyer board ,seller and Power seller board over the years . I have seen larger cash cow sellers that have gotten a way with lot more policy violation's then this OP . I had a seller a few year's back that out right canceled over 20+ auctions because the seller didn't get money high bids he or she was looking to get . it was one of those days where no bidding wars happen . I have ran across during a auction search and was amazed he or she wasn't shown the door based on the feedback.
caldreamer
·1 year agoI am sorry to hear about your house fire that resulted in EBAY restricting your account. EBAY uses Ai to make decisions which don't account for life problems. Sorry this happened to you and wish you the best in the future.