Anyone else find foreign based male representatives demeaning?

[calistas_closet33]

 I’ve learned that non US based male customer support agents are somewhat condescending and dismissive of me, and I’m thinking it’s because I’m a woman and any female I speak with US or abroad is typically very helpful. I spoke with a US representative about the issue, a male, and he confirmed my suspicions of the fact that in the countries that the men are in, women are treated as inferior, property, and not given the same rights as men.

So I won’t even talk to another male representative if I can clearly tell he is in the middle east or south asia because it’s like banging my head against the wall. One representative was arguing with me because he didn’t think I should speak with a supervisor...this has happened more than one occasion. It’s really bad and I typically do not feel discriminated against ever as I worked in a male dominated industry quite well and treated as an equal. Only way to guarantee a US representative is to have an Anchor store.

Anyone else experience? Any men feel the same way? Or is it gender related or just residing in the USA?

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Hi Alan! It’s probably true that malicious buying doesn’t happen the way it used to. I certainly have not seen the complaints about it like a decade ago. Many of us have been posing here across the years that it WAS common though and those experiences we carry with us. It used to be really hard to get EBay to step up and actually stop the interference. Even people who did and said nothing provocative were targeted.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@thenobletuckylifewrote:

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@calistas_closet33wrote:

 I’ve learned that non US based male customer support agents are somewhat condescending and dismissive of me, and I’m thinking it’s because I’m a woman and any female I speak with US or abroad is typically very helpful. I spoke with a US representative about the issue, a male, and he confirmed my suspicions of the fact that in the countries that the men are in, women are treated as inferior, property, and not given the same rights as men.

So I won’t even talk to another male representative if I can clearly tell he is in the middle east or south asia because it’s like banging my head against the wall. One representative was arguing with me because he didn’t think I should speak with a supervisor...this has happened more than one occasion. It’s really bad and I typically do not feel discriminated against ever as I worked in a male dominated industry quite well and treated as an equal. Only way to guarantee a US representative is to have an Anchor store.

Anyone else experience? Any men feel the same way? Or is it gender related or just residing in the USA?

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Evening Calistas,

I have had a chance to read through this discussion and I understand where you are coming from yet I think the time and place is fluid and many of us may have a variety of bad experiences with interaction with folks regardless of gender just as this discussion has kinda shown.

Men can be butt heads but if they let their wives "raise" then right after their mothers tried then you probably will run into some nice guys from every corner of the world.

Mr C

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[alan@ebay]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

Hi Alan! It’s probably true that malicious buying doesn’t happen the way it used to. I certainly have not seen the complaints about it like a decade ago. Many of us have been posing here across the years that it WAS common though and those experiences we carry with us. It used to be really hard to get EBay to step up and actually stop the interference. Even people who did and said nothing provocative were targeted.

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Thanks for sharing, @the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth. I appreciate it! 

[calistas_closet33]

I never called them dumb as a box of rocks or poorly educated, that was someone else. My adjectives used to describe my interactions were demeaning and condescending,

Very quick to think you have it all figured out, but you were not on the phone nor do you have access to the case information, I don’t think?

Is it not possible that a representative wasted time grilling me on why I asked for a supervisor, when I was trying not to engage him or upset him?

I would think ebay would want representatives to be less argumentative and say, “sure, please let me place you on hold until a supervisor is available, thank you.” vs “why do you need to speak with one, it won’t make a difference” and when I repeated “May I please speak with a representative” multiple times finally he “allowed” , I didn’t want to go back and forth explaining myself when asking fo additional assistance should suffice.

I understand representatives are sometimes just the messenger not to be shot, but some have behaved a step beyond and have been overturned and on occasion reported when a more thoughtful person reviews the situation, which lead me to feel the way I do and posted question after I received advice from other sellers to make sure I call business hours weekdays PST to get a US based representative in another discussion.

It has been personal experience exclusively with ebay, no other interactions...and I asked if men had issues too in my original post question.

[cheechwizard]

The only problem I ever had was with the sell of a comic book... My first few calls to eBay went to women (and I'm not trying to be sexist), but these women treated the "value" of a comic book like it was a joke. After several "repeated" calls, I finally ended up with a male and his male supervisor and my problem was understood and taken care of almost immediately.

I don't mean to be rude or sexist and I'm not trying to be, but I do believe there are times when a woman understands the value of an item a man cannot relate to, and vice versa... There are times when a man understands the value of an item moreso than a woman.

There is a carry-over of understanding on both sides, but I'd like to think the most knowledgable individual is handling my call, I really couldn't care less if it's a male or a female. The associates should have training in any field/department/category of the item(s) they are representing.

[calistas_closet33]

Thank you for your feedback. And yes I can understand your point category knowledge.

I do think comic books are valuable and appreciate the collectors. My brother has a collection from the 1960s/70s as well as an impressive baseball card collection. My  father has a stamp collection dating back to the 1950s, all valuable. 

I had a snow globe given to me by a close friend that died shortly after. My cleaning person broke and threw away thinking nothing of it.  It was priceless and not replaceable. I understand. 

[calistas_closet33]

Well I am petite but big enough to admit that I made an over generalization as I just got off the phone with a very helpful male representative working on the weekend. I apologize for applying my past experience without trying again to see if it indeed was an issue. I will now further narrow down and say I just had a few bad apples, and it doesn’t repression the bunch...hopefully it will continue, thx

[thenobletuckylife]

Evening Calistas,

Delighted you had a good experience with a CS guy...I just knew there was one out there...take care.

Mr C

[calistas_closet33]

I just got off the phone with a very helpful male representative working on the weekend. I apologize for applying my past experience without trying again to see if it indeed was an issue. I will now further narrow down the issue to a few bad apples, and it doesn’t repression the bunch...hopefully it will continue, thx