Ridiculous Account Restriction and Restore Time

[lemureye]

I read many posts tonight same issue and very recent. And I too am having the SAME issue. I have been using the platform for almost a quarter century! 207 +FB (it would QUITE a bit more but some buyers even ones who sell just don’t seem to care to leave anyway…). Covid hits. And I think “hey maybe I’ll start selling again. I’ve got tons of things I don’t need I good shape. Make a little extra money on the net again.” Boy has it been a ride.

I will open by stating that I, like all other eBayers received the “we are moving to Managed Payments blah blah “ email (when they cut ties with PayPal and went with their new company name escapes me atm). It made clear it was something that needed to be done to keep my account compliant. So like a good little boy I went ahead and hooked up my (no need to be unsafe here) (it’s under MetaBank ) account as I was shipping around for a new brick and mortar at the time AND it seemed safer. It linked it up just fine. This was YEARS AGO. No issues on eBay end.

July 2021… I start spending hours listing. Finding, cleaning, researching if needed, and photographing items. I take PRIDE in my listings, as anyone who searches me out can see. And wouldn’t you know it my idea seemed a great one. I was selling again! And quite a bit! I’ll save you EVERY detail of my one nightmare buyer but I found out very quickly that even as a private seller who does not take returns eBay is quite shady concerning this “policy”.  I wasn’t just coaxed into accepting a return while being GUARANTEED it was a formality and they had favored on my side but that my money would be returned. Initially it was not.

Well I fought (I’m the wrong guy to steal from, the buyer abused the “not as described” loophole item was exactly as described and returned only SOME items, their plan most likely all along ) and had truly liable / slander FB removed (“beware this man fraud!”, how eBay doesn’t have AI to block or block and review this as its illegal is beyond me..).  I also recovered about 70% of all fees (which after 10+ hours of calls was about my time).

This is when I realized… “wow this is not my old eBay.. this is a seller weighted platform where bad actors, weird shady sellers and buyers (you have all seen them) and thieves run rampant yet I’m the problem.

Alas the issue was behind me (after I snap canceled this buyers associates whom lived 2 to 5 blocks away from buying and probably destroying or stealing more items and sent very clear messages to stop, not very bright on their end).

So my sales resumed. I was a little gun shy and the wind was taken out of my sales a bit but I persisted (while vetting my next few buyers which they probably found strange but better safe than sorry) and started getting good sales again.

Out of the one day I have a message in Message Center. My account is restricted. Please send a bank statement (no older than 12 months and active ID in my case a Drivers License). I waited a few days unsure of what this was about (and exhausted with “support”) but finally called. Initially an agent mentioned a “Money Laundering act”… to which I replied “ok I’m not really sure how this applies to me..?” I was VERY quickly transferred to what I was told was a Managed Payments agent. She assured me it wasn’t the later and “just security, it’s safe to upload and since it’s 22 years should take NO MORE than 7 days to verify”.

7 days later and I call in. “No sir it’s at least 14 and I’m very sorry but it truly is but I’ll manually edit this to be expedited” and that it happened because I reached a “threshold” and it’s normal. By this point this was NOT making sense. And as the poster before me said these agents TRULY LIE and badly (I started recording calls as I’m in a 1 part comment state). And yes a bit of paranoia set in. (since even 14 days was close to up I sold two items in that time and now have $100+ USD in my account in limbo). I also sold something tonight and the other day  but probably will have to cancel both.)

I called Monday and can say I THINK I spoke to an honest agent. He ) for the first time explained MetaBank and other similar banks aren’t compliant. I asked if I could change (as I now do have a traditional bank) and he not only said yes but recommended it. He also recommended I upload a new statement for this bank (at this point it’s a LOT of personal info and I black out my balances) and my DL is on file. He said he would call me tomorrow Thursday. Tonight I get a $125 sale so we..

Jump to tonight 09/08/2021 (over one month)

I called tonight and spoke to someone (quite trite) in the USA. She was completely unhelpful. Another 14 days or more?? So the 24/72 for a NEW account isn’t accurate. What about all the time spent reviewing my DL and now two legitimate statements?? No answers. The only answer I got was about the funds and if my account is never back to normal. And it seems like I would have to go through local “agencies” to claim the funds..!?? Not what I wanted to hear. I await a callback tomorrow form the POSSIBLE honest agent but I think I will have to cancel my sale.

My HUGE gripes. My account was restricted yet eBay took its fees and allowed me to continue selling and based on “oh 7 days sir you’ll be clear” I did!! How did eBAy never send out a MASS message informing anyone to all users “if you use these accounts you must change for you to stay compliant”?

The lies. The Reddit threads and YouTube videos I could make would be quite frankly sad. I’d rather be told “I / we don’t know or can’t help” than bold faced lies. And sometimes they seem VERY aware (they are) they are lying to you for multiple reasons. I want my eBay account back. I can buy, I can even “sell” (I won’t) in hopes my restriction or new popular bank is verified. How long is this going to take eBay? Sellers are your lifeblood. I understand this posters frustration and now paranoia!! Fix these issues!! Where is the “your listings are temporarily unable to be viewed?” That would be a problem FOR eBay… 

[mam98031]

Anytime a seller takes time away from selling, it is their responsibility to update themselves on at least the primary rules that will affect your return.  The return system changed a long time ago.  October of 2018 to be precise.  

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2018-summer/simplified-returns.html

The Federal Anti Money Laundering Act applies to ALL of us in MP.  Ebay has specific requirements they have to meet in regards to verifying someone's ID.  They have no choice, it is a process they have to follow.  This link will go into a little more detail that would be very important to adhering to what Ebay is requiring of you.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Payment-Resources/Have-questions-about-payments-Check-out-this-post-fo...

The sales have happened, so yes Ebay takes their fees up front.  Just as all the other sites do that have their own money processing programs.  

Ebay has sent emails, lots of them.  Made announcements too.  They just often times get overlooked.  The above link will tell you have precise the info you supply them has to be, so it is very important that you read and understand the requirements as it will only help you.

Ebay has been actively onboarding sellers in large groups every month since last summer.  We are not getting to the tail end of it as almost all US sellers are onboarded and worldwide they likely are about 80% complete.

It is a very frustrating process for some sellers.  Especially if there is an issue with initial information given at registration.  The devil is in the details.  There can be absolutely no difference in the name on your Ebay account and your bank account.  You address also has to match and it can not be a PO box.  You bank account must be a checking account.  Your birthdate must be accurate, etc.  But the link goes over all this for you.

[lemureye]

No differences so while this is all well and good… I was zipping along happily… hit a restriction… and than sent my drivers license and not one but two (one for the old and one fore the updated) bank statements. Same address for YEARS. They are clear and easy to read. So while all the above sounds great there is no reason my account restriction removal is taking this long. I see you didn’t address the fact Support agents lie over and over and over and over… etc. Thankfully eBay is not the only show in town anymore. This is ridiculous and the idea “I’m supposed to know this or that…” eBay definitely did not send me anything in my message system. So again this is more incongruity in their end. Also if I’m restricted how about pausing my listings which took HOURS to produce!!? Funny when I asked if I should stop selling I was FINALLY told last night “I can’t advise you about that..” so basically thousands of items would disappear (or hundreds of thousands) overnight and eBay wouldn’t  want that… it’s a joke!

[lemureye]

I will say I appreciate YOUR reply as it IS much more helpful and I do appreciate the links etc. Looking at your FB your obviously doing quite well on eBay and I have no doubt if like me

you were just trying to “make a little extra money on eBay” and have now been waiting for almost 50 days for what would and should take ANY capable human being 5 minutes to remove my restriction. I’ve lived at the same address for YEARS. My bank accounts match said DL. All uploaded as hi res images. I’m now wondering if the agent who said “let’s just update to a new account sometimes that works” may have made this WORSE. My main concern is the not knowing. So while I have to contact buyers to tell them I have to refund them because I’m concerned I will end up sending out a 3rd free item I’m in limbo. I’ve also been told by 3 agents they were expediting the process. Last night “that’s not something an agent can do sir..”. I wasn’t joking when I mentioned I started recording calls. It’s NOT OK to allow agents to tell you anything they can think of to wiggle out of a call. I would rather (and members deserve) the truth!! 5 minutes!! But I wanted to follow up and thank you for the info. I’m sure if you worked directly for eBay and could verify my info this would have been resolved after the FIRST 14 day interval. - Lem (also wouldn’t you agree eBay should make concessions for long time members in good standing..?)

[popblox · Accepted solution]

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@lemureye wrote:

I see you didn’t address the fact Support agents lie over and over and over and over… etc.

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If you do a quick search of the forums for "eBay Customer Service", you'll find over 90,000 threads with this same concern. Nobody likes it, but there's nothing anyone here can do about it.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=false&q...

If you do a quick search of the forums for "account suspended", you'll find over 10,000 threads, many in situations similar to yours.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=account%20suspended

Unfortunately, I doubt anyone here will be able to resolve your issue, but if you do a little research, I think you'll at least know what to expect and/or if there's anything else you can do to get back in good standing with eBay.

[lemureye]

At no time has ANYONE asked me for any part of my SS #..? Do I just randomly upload an image of my SS card with my digits sans the last 4 blocked out..??? (Rhetorical as I’m not sending any more personal info to random agents across the world). This is what I mean… this link is NOT in line with what’s being asked of me… I’ve received so much random and contradictory information as well as lies I can only take comfort in the fact eBay is NOT the only show in town. I’ve read everything you have sent me, I’ve checked all my old emails (Gmail as I’m sure you know saves EVERYTHING) and Nope other than the Managed Payments update (with time limit “or you may or will experience account disruptions)  from 2018 nothing. I updated it than and I was sent nothing since. This is a 5 minute fix and should have been fixed. When and if it will..? At this point I’m not holding my breath.

[lemureye]

And why the “returns” link. This was a dishonest buyer. They purchased an item from me. They played with it (according to them) and their computer has problems. They than listed the item they purchased as “not as described” to circumvent the fact I don’t accept returns! They didn’t hide this fact. I sent them a bit of small info but when you buy a 16 year old iPhone 1 …? I’ve relisted the item. Take a look! The original listing had the ORIGINAL Apple iPhone 1 charger and cable. After a month + debacle my item was sent back to me without those items. So… theft AND mail fraud!! And as a little mail in the coffin “this man bad beware fraud!!”. Now legally (and yes I’m being serious) one can not legally call someone a fraud (especially when any and ALL fraud took place on the other end)! Than have 2/3 person buy up your items (thank god for Google maps because there is NO WAY 3 “buyers” who live less than 1 to 1.5 miles from this buyer randomly purchased my items). I understand this seems “paranoid” it’s not. I’ve got piles of documentation. The return should have NEVER happened. Than when I made it clear objects are missing j was told “file a police report..” ummm what am I missing..?? eBay has become an Amazon like platform. Yet I’m NOT Amazon. People shop and sell  ON eBay because it’s precisely NOT Amazon! I’ve had people ask me about “how do I go about returning these NEW IN BOX shoes after 30 days if I don’t like them?”. You don’t EVER. Because I can’t ethically or professionally ever resell them. They would not longer be new nor would I resell them (as my Rockport listing). And let’s talk about all the “shady buyers and sellers”. People OBVIOUSLY using what I’ve now found are “stealth” accounts. People residing in all types of CPH tires sending things to sea Crate companies. People listing “mystery boxes”. Hmm yeah thats not shady AF. Sending a box of “who knows”… exactly how does that work if and when their are problems?? I’m **bleep** off. I have done everything I was asked every time I have been asked. I’ve spent 10+ hours TRULY playing Support roulette. It’s easy to give advice when you have almost 20k FB and are obviously selling on a different scale than me. I get it and it sucks!

[friskya]

Not receiving the answer you want to hear is not the same as not receiving the correct answer. You've gotten some good answers and feedback about your problem here. Now it's up to you to decide how important it is to you to get your situation resolved. 

[mam98031]

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@lemureye wrote:

No differences so while this is all well and good… I was zipping along happily… hit a restriction… and than sent my drivers license and not one but two (one for the old and one fore the updated) bank statements. Same address for YEARS. They are clear and easy to read. So while all the above sounds great there is no reason my account restriction removal is taking this long. I see you didn’t address the fact Support agents lie over and over and over and over… etc. Thankfully eBay is not the only show in town anymore. This is ridiculous and the idea “I’m supposed to know this or that…” eBay definitely did not send me anything in my message system. So again this is more incongruity in their end. Also if I’m restricted how about pausing my listings which took HOURS to produce!!? Funny when I asked if I should stop selling I was FINALLY told last night “I can’t advise you about that..” so basically thousands of items would disappear (or hundreds of thousands) overnight and eBay wouldn’t  want that… it’s a joke!

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"I see you didn’t address the fact Support agents lie over and over and over and over… etc."  Sometimes it is difficult to hit on everything that is bothering another poster when posting a response.  You are reading far more into that than is realistic.  Are you expecting anyone that responds to one of your posts to cover every possible subject you think should be covered, whether or not you express it as an issue for you?  How realistic would that be?  We'd all have to post a book of stuff every time.

Ebay is at the end of this process of onboarding sellers into MP.  Most US sellers are now onboarded and around 80% worldwide are onboarded.  MP is a program that is 3.5 years old but it wasn't until last summer, after their separation contracted ended between Ebay and PP that the big push started.  Starting in July last year large groups of sellers were onboarded to MP each month.  The goal was to have everyone onboarded by the end of 2021.  It looks like they are going to make that goal.

To sell on Ebay or not to sell on Ebay is a personal choice.  Which is all they were saying to you.  I'm not sure why you find that an issue.

The 2nd quarter 2021 financials do not show that there was or has been any mass exodus of sellers or listings.  In fact we gained over a million sellers last quarter.

MP isn't for everyone.   And you are absolutely correct, their customer service could be and should be a whole lot better than it is.  

[redmodelt]

Not a registered user, when I just checked.

[mam98031]

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@lemureye wrote:

At no time has ANYONE asked me for any part of my SS #..? Do I just randomly upload an image of my SS card with my digits sans the last 4 blocked out..??? (Rhetorical as I’m not sending any more personal info to random agents across the world). This is what I mean… this link is NOT in line with what’s being asked of me… I’ve received so much random and contradictory information as well as lies I can only take comfort in the fact eBay is NOT the only show in town. I’ve read everything you have sent me, I’ve checked all my old emails (Gmail as I’m sure you know saves EVERYTHING) and Nope other than the Managed Payments update (with time limit “or you may or will experience account disruptions)  from 2018 nothing. I updated it than and I was sent nothing since. This is a 5 minute fix and should have been fixed. When and if it will..? At this point I’m not holding my breath.

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When you initially sign up for MP, they ask you for three pieces of information.  Bank routing number, Checking account number and your SSN.    So maybe you just don't remember giving it to them.  

I can't answer why you feel you did not get an email to let you know it was time to move into MP.  While it doesn't make sense to me since you did register for MP, I respect that you know what you got and what you didn't.  So since you weren't notified it was time to register for MP, WHY did you register for MP?

[mam98031]

@lemureye 

A wall of text is extremely difficult for me to read.  I don't see that you have any listings currently.

Instead of wasting your time being concerned about what other sellers may be doing that you find to be wrong, your time is likely better spent trying to get your issues fixed or worked out.

I could give you links to all the different policies that apply to all your concerns above, but I'm not going to take the time to do that.  If these issues are truly something you are concerned with, you can search of the policies and find out what is accepted and what isn't.

[redmodelt]

Maybe save your typing, they are no longer registered. I have a feeling there was a lot more to this story than what was posted.

[mam98031]

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@redmodelt wrote:

Maybe save your typing, they are no longer registered. I have a feeling there was a lot more to this story than what was posted.

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Well that just happened since they were posting here today.

[redmodelt]

Yes sometime between their 10 am post and my 11:03 am post.