No seller protection for hopitalization
After 20+ years of selling on here
I had a medical emergency that required a hospital stay of a week. Unfortunately, I did not have a plan in place for items to get shipped without me. I refunded every customer affected and not a single one complained. Ebay decided to give me a defect for each item ( 5 total ) and refused to remove when I filed. So I'll lose my top seller rating because I decided to take of myself and not die.
The moral of the story, ebay doesn't care about you sellers, and the level of disappointment I have for ebay as a corporation is VERY low.
22 comments
cheech2021
·1 year agoThanks for your story. We are glad your back and running again. I want to personally thank you for reading your story. I am new here (less then 2months selling) and I meaning selling, Ebay works. I have learned from you and will make my plans moving forward, I wouldn't thought of it until I read what you wrote, may be Ebay can tell others to "get a back up plan in case?", I have not read anything of that suggestion, perhaps I missed it. SEE everyone is learning from everyone and that includes EBAY, Thanks again.
paraquip
·1 year agoi had a similar issue happen 10 years ago....my Father on his deathbed.........and YUP they dont care.......if the outsourced support is expected to work 24/7 so are you.
It's a sad state of affairs because the third party support working for ebay has no ability to remove things like this. They re just reading the script.
HK
1786davycrockett
·1 year ago@k-mansparts
You seem to be under the impression that eBay sellers are also eBay employees, with certain unspecified employee benefits.
But we are not eBay employees -- we are independent sellers, to whom eBay has no obligation, except for the eBay Seller guarantee.
You alone are the business owner -- and you alone are responsible to satisfy your buyers' expectations.
The status of eBay, in relationship to its sellers, is similar to that of the owner of a shopping mall in relation to the various vendors who rent spaces in the mall: The owner of the shopping mall has no financial responsibility to the individual vendors, short of maintaining the specific provisions of the rental contract, which obviously would not include the personal health of the individual shop owners, unless an individual shop owner can prove that their health was jeopardized by actions and/or inactions of the owner of the shopping mall.
That being said -- can you provide proof that eBay was responsible for your hospital stay?
If not -- don't blame eBay for actions for which it is not responsible.
k-mansparts
OP1 year agoI know most won't read this who responded earlier.
I did post time away as soon as possible. The only orders not shipped were items sold within hours of the issue. I shouldn't stated "no plan" because anyone who could "cover" for me was at the hospital.
inhawaii
·1 year agoYou are correct.
There is no seller protection for hospitalization.
Have a back up/emergency plan in place.
In the whole scheme of things, nevermind ebay, it's your health that matters.
Sorry this happened to you and I hope you're better.
doc-holmes
·1 year agoI know my family and friends care about me, and I assume nobody else does.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoYou're lucky that all that happened was losing TRS despite all the defects - that's not a huge deal. I'm not sure buyers even care about TRS. I go in and out of TRS due to sales, lack of sales, not selling, then selling, etc. Makes no difference - what I list is what makes the difference.
Going forward, have a plan in place, and take care of yourself.
glgenterprise
·1 year agoIf you're walking away from the whole thing only having lost TRS status for a short time, consider it a inexpensive lesson. Now you know you need a good backup plan. Set one up going forward.
TRS doesn't mean what it used to mean. I don't think many buyers are focused on whether sellers are TRS anymore. They focus most on price, then if your feedback score is low, then MAYBE TRS status. I think we care more about it as sellers - and lots of times I have seriously considered whether the hassle to maintain TRS is worth the 10% off final value fees.
With your price point the worst hit you could see on the loss of the TRS discount is what? $1.50? And most items less than that. Don't let years of good selling get lost in frustration with eBay policy. I know it is frustrating to work hard to maintain status, but it really isn't as big a deal as you are imagining.
onlinecentral
·1 year agoYou should have used a smart phone to put your items on 'Time Away'. Could have been your own phone, a visitor or a nurse. I temporarily lost Top Rated status a few times and gained it back later. Sorry for your loss.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoSorry about your hospital stay.
With AI now...there is no like do you have documentation that supports it...there are no real people to make a decision. There is no one to complain to.
'Top Seller' rating...there are too many situations where that can be taken away.
For me, it's not worth it...my '3-5 business days' of shipping will work for me.
Had a motorcycle accident where I landed on my hands...severe pain for days.
I also tripped on a crack on the sidewalk and again fell on my hands...severe pain for days.
Because I don't need to ship right away everything got shipped.
But I usually always ship the next day.
Too many situations as a single seller something might happen one day.
inhawaii
·1 year agoNo, you received defects for not fulfilling your ebay responsibilities.
Don't take it personal. It's not personal, it's business.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoNo seller protection for hopitalization
Nor should there be.
Unfortunately, I did not have a plan in place for items to get shipped without me
You get seller protection from unwarranted Item Not Received claims by planning for the possibility in advance and getting tracking and uploading it properly. Similarly, you get seller protection for hospitalization by planning for the possibility in advance and making sure you have a backup plan.
The moral of the story, ebay doesn't care about you sellers
You been a member of eBay since 1999. The moral of the story is that you've had 25 years to put a backup plan in place.
the level of disappointment I have for ebay as a corporation is VERY low
I would be disappointed in myself, not eBay.
k-mansparts
OP1 year agoYou are quite wrong in your first response.
Option to remove:
Removal request reason: Disruption outside my control (examples: severe weather, hospitalization, fire, flood, etc.)
eBay responses were
Doesn't request proof, just a rejection.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoYou are quite wrong in your first response.
My first response agreed with you, and then added the opinion that there should be any seller protection for hospitalization.
Doesn't request proof, just a rejection.
Sounds like eBay agrees.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoEbay cares about their sellers in the same way a landowner cares about a sharecropper. They care about what they get paid when the crop is in.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoI’m not sure why anyone expects charity from eBay. We aren’t really loyal to eBay – we go to where we think the money is.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year ago@powell-collectibles Indeed. I have no loyalty to eBay, our business stays here because we make money here. Why would we expect eBay to have any loyalty to us? And especially why should they care why someone violates policies, as opposed to simply caring that they do?
pastimpressions
·1 year agoEssentially true, but not entirely.
I consider myself, in my own small way, a "brand ambassador" for this platform.
Don't most of the sellers out there?
I don't speak ill of this site to friends, family, et al.
I try, in public discourse, to accentuate the positives on this platform & not dwell upon (or even mention) the negatives.
Even the 10 years between regular selling this was the case.
Don't most of sellers out there?
IMHO, that is indeed a measure of loyalty.
Not to God or Country but a little "l" loyalty. No?
I don't know that I would classify a request for a hardship exception (however ill-advised or impractical)
to be the equivalent of a request for charity.
Maybe it's just me.
onefootflipper
·1 year agoAny small business owner who went into the hospital with no succession plan and just ignored things would be out of business.
Imagine if one morning the Auto Dealership owner Bob just didn't show up to unlock the doors and open his business, and proceeded to have zero communication with his staff or customers. And then just showed up again 3 weeks later, shocked that all his employees were gone, the lights were off, the automated payments were bouncing, half the cars had been stolen off the lot, the place had been broken into and vandalized and his dealership franchise had been revoked because of an abandonment clause.
5 defects seems like a dream compated to what would happen to other businesses.
onefootflipper
·1 year agoYou need to absolutely make sure that you have a plan that goes into action if you are put out of commission, and it needs to happen even if you are not conscious.
That is no different with an ebay business than with any other business.
5 years ago I spent 3 months in the hospital suddenly and I wasn't able to communicate the first two weeks at all. My wife still knew to go into ebay and end all my listings.
Find someone you trust and entrust them with that same duty.
pastimpressions
·1 year ago100% valid and appropriate reply. Very wise counsel.
Not criticizing that commonsense approach to the potential for a problem.
Unfortunately, not everyone has this possibility in the world in which they live.
pastimpressions
·1 year agoI am so sorry to hear of your recent medical issues.
I hope you are feeling better or are okay.
Unfortunately, this platform is a business platform & for a lack of a better way of saying it:
You are right, they do not care.
The trajectory is very linear: Seller A sells to Buyer B concluding in transaction C.
There is no allowance for any deviation from that formula.
B&M businesses are the same.
Think of eBay as your landlord and you lease a business space.
They want the lease paid regardless of personal trauma. No exceptions.
This is why people love the small-town business model. family-owned shop, flexible expectations.
Like in the film "My Cousin Vinny" "the whole store was closed with the flu"
I am sorry for your emotional pain during this time.
I understand. I do it all alone as well & don't have even the potential for a back-up plan.
This could happen to anyone. I am so sorry it happened to you.
Best to put it behind you because hurting your health by getting upset over an impersonal entity being what it is......impersonal, is a waste of life force.
God Bless & Be Healthy.