I would love it...
if eBay would just get rid of about 80% of it's CS reps, train and pay the remaining 20% properly, and redirect the balance of the budget to hiring competent IT/tech support.
Just my gripe of the day.
41 comments
if eBay would just get rid of about 80% of it's CS reps, train and pay the remaining 20% properly, and redirect the balance of the budget to hiring competent IT/tech support.
Just my gripe of the day.
evry1nositswindy
·1 year agoDo you (whomever is reading this) know where the help pages are? Do you know how to search the help pages for policy? THIS is what mentors do that customer service does not do. We are also experienced in buying/selling because we work with the system every day. Customer service does not. It is so easy for sellers to find the answers they are looking for without contacting customer service. If not, just search the community for an answer or ask the question here. If no one used customer service, it wouldn't be necessary.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoHow much does eBay pay its customer support reps, and how much do you think "proper" pay should be?
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoZero would be appropriate, just get rid of it altogether. That said, if they want to keep a functional skeleton crew that can actually make sure IT is being notified of tech issues and correct AI created errors (such as the zillion or so we see our fellow sellers complaining about on a nearly daily basis), a baseline wage consistent with that of comparable positions in other companies would be fine.
I honestly don't give a rat's behind about what CS reps make, but as a semi-sane person I do know that offering employees a competitive salary does create a competitive job market thus making a particular job more attractive to a more competitive pool of job applicants. So, in the end, you spend less money by needing fewer people to do a particular job because the people you do have doing the job are capable of actually doing it.
Again, let me reiterate for the fourth or fifth time now, this isn't really about the crappiness of customer service. All of us would need a whole lot less "service" if the site just ran properly.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI honestly don't give a rat's behind about what CS reps make
You said "pay the remaining 20% properly", so I guess I assumed that meant you thought they were not being paid properly.
I do know that offering employees a competitive salary does create a competitive job market
Again, this seems to imply that you think eBay customer support reps are not being paid competitively.
Looking at eBay's jobs page, it looks like entry-level support are remote and start at $20 per hour and get benefits (medical, dental, vision) and more than three weeks paid vacation from day one. There are also performance bonuses and annual raises.
https://jobs.ebayinc.com/us/en/job/R0065078/eBay-Customer-Service-Representative
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoAgain, I don't care what they make. I am of the opinion that at least four-fifths of them could be removed from the eBay payroll, so that the remaining one-fifth could refine their skills to bridge the gap between customers and IT. You can think I'm implying whatever you like, but my point is that (I believe) that resources could be redirected into areas within the company that seem to be more in need of help, since customer service does not appear to have any use at all for the overwhelming majority of eBay's users.
Thank you for the information, you basically confirmed my suspicions as 20.00/hr is what fast food workers in California are being paid to push a couple of buttons on a register and hand you a burger.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoThank you for the information, you basically confirmed my suspicions as 20.00/hr is what fast food workers in California are being paid to push a couple of buttons on a register and hand you a burger.
I think part of the appeal of remote work is that you do not have to pay California wages, and the employees do not have to pay Silicon Valley housing costs.
The median household income in the USA is right around $80,000 so a couple who both work as remote support would hit that on the nose.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year ago...and then you get exactly what you pay for, garbage. Paying 1,000 people garbage wages to do a crappy job is a lot less cost effective than paying 200 people a better wage to do a decent job.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoYou seem to be going down your own special little rabbit hole now, which is fine, but I'm not going to waste your time or mine trying to explain why 80K gross for a family is terrible. If you live in a part of the country where that works and a family can pay a mortgage, maintain and run two cars, pay for childcare (since they're both working), feed their kids, and run a household on that, more power to you.
I still think CS could be almost completely eliminated and that part of the budget could go to site maintenance. Again, this is all just my opinion, and you are totally entitled to your own, but I'm done with the discussion of wages.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoI honestly don't know why eBay continues to bother with customer service at all. My original post was primarily a gripe about the lackluster IT/tech support and endless glitches. I can't think of a single time I've called CS for an issue that could be addressed via the help pages or here. Back when I (mistakenly) believed customer service existed, the handful of calls I placed were overwhelmingly regarding some sort of glitch or stupid AI-related system error.
Knowing that eBay spends money on so-called customer service agents while regular, ongoing site function issues plague us day in and day out is aggravating (again, to me). Those paychecks, however tiny they maybe, represent money that could be redirected to keep the site functioning properly. I understand there will always be tech problems, but the sheer volume and variety of them, may diminish a bit. I've sold on a lot of different platforms (including eBay's biggest competitors) over the past 28 years and NONE of them has had close to the number of problems as this one currently has.
It's a lot easier to tell sellers (and buyers) that it's time to take off the training wheels when the bicycle has properly functioning breaks, gear shifters, and fully inflated tires.
pickapaper
·1 year agoI agree that eBay's customer service is lousy and I don't expect that to change.
With that said, I can't think of too many jobs that I would hate any more than being a customer service rep (at any company). I can't imagine having to spend eight hours a day listening to people complain, argue, cuss, whine, etc. etc. etc.
m60driver
·1 year agoDon't worry, Ebay and every other corporation will soon be replacing CS reps, many of whom are overseas and some of whom have poor English language skills, will be replaced by AI agents. This will probably improve things.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoJust to be clear, I'm not asking for help with anything today. I'm just a bit frustrated with ongoing tech issues, which contrary to some of the posts here, are not insoluble problems. Most of them would actually require very little effort to correct. One moderately competent programmer with basic coding skills could probably solve the majority of them.
I could give you a laundry list of exactly which issues I'm referring to, but there's a tech board for that, and it would be pointless to enumerate them because there's not a single soul here who can actually do anything about it. That, coupled with the fact that the sellers have zero access to the folks responsible for the endless headaches, is a little frustrating...to me.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoI used to call but stopped a long time ago.
When you hear babies crying, chickens clucking, people eating in the background while talking to a customer service rep on the phone you know they are not going to help you.
These service reps probably get like .10 cents for each call they answer.
tinsoldierunderground
·1 year agoEbay seems to go with the idea that these forums are the their alternative to customer service, and in many cases, more help is given here by far. They don't have to pay anything for us, we only earn helpfuls and badges. Meanwhile, their CS reps exhibit an ever increasing moronic lack of knowledge on a daily basis.
I say that based on members' stories when they come on here for help. I seriously doubt anything will change.
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoI wish that buyers/sellers were trained so that they do not need to contact CS with issues that CS does not need to be burdened with then maybe they would need less CSR's that could be trained to handle real issues.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoWhat would those real issues be? Personally, I gave up on customer service a long time ago, but I wonder what others feel the role of the agents should be.
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoWell, one example would be ................ why can't eBay verify the "land line" that has been registered and used for eBay for 20 years as opposed to............... I did not get my widget, seller never shipped, I need to talk to CS.
When the basics of eBay are learned then the extra money wasted on CS, as you would like, could be funneled into IT, or a CEO bonus.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoWho is supposed to teach these buyers and sellers you're referring to? Again, just curious.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoThe site pretty much provides all the information needed for most issues, if people would just read it.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI noticed a lot of regulars on the boards like to cut and paste link after link after link and I know they're only trying to be helpful but I also know if the op came here to ask instead of reading up on it themselves, they're not going to read those links.
slippinjimmy
·1 year agoWell then that is their problem and maybe online selling or running any type of business is not for them.
I post a lot of links and screen shots from those links and I partially do it to show them that many if not most questions can be answered by reading the help files eBay provides.
Then we have the sellers who grip about eBay support but they can't ask a simple question with any clarity when they come to the boards. What happens is that the helpful people on the board ask the to provide more details over and over again often with no success. No matter how good eBay support could be if somebody can't even explain what their issue is they are going to get lousy answers.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoThey don't even read our item descriptions that are all of 2-3 lines. I can't imagine your average buyer, or seller for that matter, taking the time to hunt down whatever information it is that is supposed to comprise eBay's "basics".
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoeBay buyer academy ðŸ˜
eBay seller academy 😊
guide them to the Help & contact pages where many questions can be answered with eBay policies posted there. (but then again I suppose that is how many of them end up here with the suggestion "ask the community)
inhawaii
·1 year agoYou mean like calling CS to ask why my sales are slow? 😉
lakefor94
·1 year agoThis^^^^^^^^
This is where eBay and the other online selling venues have been leading sellers over the years.
Too many sellers cannot comprehend accepting responsibility for reading a policy they have a question about with the policy available via a Google search. It takes less than a short sentence to search and find it. Some of us, me included, can get lazy and just ask the question here. No need for a callback from CS. No need to contact social media reps.
There is solid help here, just about all I need to operate on eBay.
eBay and the competition will continue to provide less and less hand holding every year. The BBE initiative is a good example of what is transpiring. Those accounts have to figure it out on their own or they are done. No one to pick them up when they are down.
Not saying it is below me, but I can't imagine wanting a call back from a random CS Rep from where ever. If I can't get an answer from here on the selling related boards, the Social Media Reps have been solid the couple times I have used them of the last 3-4 years.
I reckon I just don't see the need for highly trained phone reps for sellers. That is not ever going to happen anyways.
Now, buyers are a whole different game. They need all the help they can get with the POS sellers ripping them off left and right, up and down and all around.
SPEND MONEY THERE.
I do notice a lot of solid community members that go a long ways helping out the buyers that come here with legit issues. Hat is off to you all.
mordecai8614
·1 year agoJust my gripe of the day.
Sometimes I think they should change the name of the board from "selling" to "therapy"
bennotbill
·1 year agoChances are they will get rid of 100% of the reps and replace them with some useless bug ridden AI.
And no one will notice any difference.
funfactorychannel
·1 year agoWaiting on AI to take over everyones job so big corporate can save a lot of money! Then go through years of analysis why they arent hittng their numbers because people who arent working should have plenty of time to buy stuff!
Arise Skynet Arise!
inhawaii
·1 year agoWhile we're wishing...
I wish CS agents were all Well-trained, American, English-speaking and located in the US.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoYES!! Amen brother!
(or at least English speaking for the English speaking sites, I'm fine with other languages for other eBay sites in other countries)
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoAnd not just on Ebay, all US companies.
evry1nositswindy
·1 year agoI can recommend that you ask questions on the Ask a Mentor board https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/bd-p/ask-a-mentor
Mentors can answer questions and also forward issues to eBay staff if needed. We don't have access to your specific account but can offer help.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoI don't need a mentor, just would like to go more than a few days with no major glitches. 🙂
There's nothing I need from anyone at the moment. My post is just a gripe, as I said in the post.
lakefor94
·1 year agoCorrect me if needed....
Is there around 100 or so unanswered questions from today in the ask a mentor section?
evry1nositswindy
·1 year agoProbably, but they will be answered. You will get more one on one answers there, and fewer opinions and less snark 😉 Mentors are volunteers who answer when they have time. We are all in different time zones. Some answer at night, some during the day. Today I answered questions and listed items. Some days I devote to just answering questions. Some days I can't answer at all because I am at my 'real' job. Many people don't even come back to read their answers.
bonanza125
·1 year agoWhat are you expecting the reps to have updated training for exactly? Reps are just there to agree with you so they can get you off the phone. This will never change. Ebay reps are not experts. Tech support deals with a bunch of issues to try to resolved. Certain issues that folks bring up can't be resolved at all or its on your end.
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoIn most companies, customer service reps actually attempt to serve the customer. That is what I would like to see here. I think it's rather sad that we've all just come to accept the scenario you describe.
As to the IT aspect...well, IT/tech support usually keep a company's technology working properly. Your comment about things not being able to be resolved or on the end of the consumer is generally not applicable when it comes to the problems here.
But, hey, thanks for sharing.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoFor years, Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon, Chase, Capital One, Blue Shield...on and on have used 3rd Party worthless untrained not-able-to-do-anything reps so I'm not sure what companies are referring to.
And it will only get worse.
gone.c-33
·1 year agoCalling customer service is as useful as “contacting corporate†these days: not at all.
Losing customers costs less than paying people to help those customers, kinda like shoplifting costs less than paying humans to operate checkout. It’s not about service anymore, all about profit.
To get actual service, you have to pay a little more and patron locally owned businesses.
redlinear
·1 year agoThey recently did the 1st part of that.
The training the remainder? It'll never happen
tarotfindsandmore
OP1 year agoI know, it's a bummer. It's a complete waste of time and money for everyone.