Randomly blocked!

[kgadental]

Has anyone here had any experience buying from pricenex ? I've bought from them a two occasions last year, and suddenly I've been blocked from purchasing or even contacting them to find out why. Customer service says they are "unable" to contact sellers to get answers for such issues. I find this truly bizarre. Anyone with a similar experience?

[eburtonlab]

Sellers can choose to not to do business with customers for various reasons, and the seller is not required to justify the decision. eBay has no way to force the seller to reconsider or explain.

Find another seller that wants your business.

[inceptions]

You were not randomly blocked. The seller either purposely added your ID to his block list for a reason he had, or you did not meet a buyer requirement and were auto-blocked (which would have been mentioned in the error message you received). Some of the auto-blocks are for unpaid item strikes within the last year, restrictions on addresses (PO box, states, territories, due to shipping options to those locations) # of items purchased within a short time frame...)

Sellers don't want to get into counter-productive "discussions" about why a buyer is blocked which can turn ugly. Best just to move on and find another seller.

[kgadental]

I completely understand that any and everyone has the ability to choose who to sell to or buy from (it works both ways), but customer service not having the ability to open a line of communication with a seller on a buyers behalf to find some sort of resolve seems absurd to me. I did nothing wrong and simply wanted answer regarding what caused the block.

And honestly, if there was another seller with that particular product, I wouldn't have reached out here or to customer service lol... 

[kgadental]

None of these would have been reasons for a block. I've purchased from them twice over (large orders)  shipped to me with zero issue. I pay immediately! ALWAYS, and my buyer track record is 100% to date. Hence why I'm truly baffled. The two error msgs simply say "this item was not added to your cart" & (for buy now option) "this seller isn't accepting bids or offers from you". I just want to know what went wrong, when and whether I am at fault in any way.

[inceptions]

I understand your curiosity, however since the seller is set up to block communication with blocked buyers, he is choosing not to communicate with you. He put your ID on the list for some reason he had at the time which he may not even remember at this point. eBay gives sellers that tool, so they are not going to force the seller to explain.

I'm sorry... unless you already know the reason (some past communication,  a return, whatever), I get why you want to know. I was rejected from jury duty once, and I'll never know why. But trust me...as the years have gone by...I care less and less. 🙂

[eburtonlab]

All buyers have 100% feedback for buying -- buyers cannot receive negative feedback. Failing to pay is not the only thing a buyer can do to cause problems for a seller.

There is no way to know why the seller blocked you if the seller does not voluntarily share that information.

Perhaps one of those past transactions was not as smooth for the seller as it was for you. Perhaps the seller lost money because your account is registered in another location and foreign transaction fees ate into the seller's profit margin. Perhaps shipping to your location wound up costing the seller extra. Perhaps you asked too many questions. Perhaps you made an offer that the seller found insulting. Perhaps you have done business with the same seller under a different account name, and the seller was not happy with the transaction. Perhaps the seller did not like the feedback you have left for other sellers. Perhaps the seller made a mistake and blocked you accidentally while trying to block a different buyer entirely.

It takes both a willing buyer and a willing seller to make a transaction successful. One is not enough.

Find another seller that wants your business.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @kgadental 

I'm sorry this happened ... but I know of no instance where eBay will intervene in the communication between two members.  [The seller likely wouldn't be able to remember why they blocked you.]

If you had no problems with the two purchases you made from the seller ... my guess would be that your location is the problem.  The seller appears to ship only within the contiguous 48 US states ... excluding even  Alaska and Hawaii. 

They likely had been dinged for slow shipping to non-US countries ... and decided to only ship locally.  [Many sellers have done this since the pandemic.]   Being blocked from buying usually blocks one from contacting the seller as well.

[kgadental]

OK, but why is everyone using the word "force". If customer service had said, "sure we can reach out and ask, but can't guarantee a response and/or resolution", or something to that effect, as opposed to "tuff, we can't force sellers to do anything, can I help you with anything else". lol... it's just a weird way to approach things.

As I said earlier, if I could get that particular product from another seller, I wouldn't give this obscure "person" a second thought. I'd be more than happy to give my money to literally ANYONE else.

Awe, lol, I don't know that I'd be concerned about not getting on jury duty 🤣 for sooo many reasons.

[kgadental]

And the "normal" and reasonable thing to do IF it was the case that, for both transactions, the seller was out of pocket, msg me and bill me the difference. I made no offers, I asked no questions and I don't have another eBay account. I've only ever given one neutral review (and changed it at the sellers request). Lastly, if I was blocked in error and Customer Service bothered to reach out to this seller lol, the block could be undone, all would be resolved and the seller would be flush from a sale. #winwin

P.S. hahahaha, what is the point of not being able to give buyers a bad review, in an effort to warn other sellers. Wow, eBay has a truly bizarre setup.

As mentioned, if I could get that particular product from another seller, I wouldn't give this seller any more of my mental space. I'd be more than happy to give my money to literally ANYONE else.

[kgadental]

Yeah, no, I never ship to my current location, always to my US holding address. And no, shipping to there is not special, not anymore expensive (I've asked many a seller), save one seller who said shipping came in a wee bit over, and it was easily resolved with an additional payment. It's such a simply concept to communicate in an attempt not to lose a repeat customer buying in bulk.

I honestly thought that Customer Service would be able to, and willing to, reach out with a simple question on my behalf, as it seems like the sort of thing that would benefit everyone involved (including eBay, save me jumping ship to, I don't know, Amazon, Alibaba? Lol).

[eburtonlab]

OK, but why is everyone using the word "force".

You want to know why the seller has done something. Only the seller can answer that.

If a seller is not volunteering certain information about the seller's state of mind, what alternative is there to get that information?

You want eBay to ask the seller to explain. eBay will not do that.

[house*of*paws]

@kgadental 

>>  Yeah, no, I never ship to my current location, always to my US holding address. And no, shipping to there is not special, not anymore expensive  <<

It is NOT the increase in cost of shipping to foreign countries that made sellers stop shipping overseas.  It is the increase in TIME. 

Shipping time is currently SLOW ... and buyers are filing for refunds because the item didn't reach them in the estimated time.   Sellers lose both the money AND their item ... and have no way of getting repaid if the item reaches the buyer after they've received a refund from eBay.  eBay will NOT ask the buyer to repay.

>>  I honestly thought that Customer Service would be able to, and willing to, reach out with a simple question on my behalf, as it seems like the sort of thing that would benefit everyone involved.  <<

I'm not a seller ... just a buyer ... but I value my privacy.  I would be incensed if eBay contacted me out of the blue and asked why I did _________ (fill in the blank) to another eBay member.  I would consider it none of eBay's business.

That said, members can always contact another eBay member through the 'Contact member' link in their feedback profile.  You can contact the seller yourself if you want to.  

[gosimus]

@kgadental 

< I find this truly bizarre >    

I've read this entire thread, including your additional replies, and I've come to an opinion.  It's not anything you've done so don't agonize over that.  The seller simply doesn't want to ship to Saint Lucia any more.  It's possible he has set his listings to exclude Saint Lucia, and it might even have happened by accident if the seller isn't expert at the task. 

I don't know why you say you can't send a message.  Go to this seller's feedback page and see if the "Contact member" link is still there.  In the past, even if a member was blocked, he could still message the seller that way.  eBay might have changed it though.  

[kgadental]

I reiterate, force is absolutely the incorrect term for what I asked of Customer Service. A simple question is a simple question.