Being accused of keyword spamming for using "not"

[missmelindalou]

We listed an item "Pair 2 Bose Double Cube Speakers Black Work Great Cosmetics Not Great" and our selling privledges are temporary restricted for keyword spamming because "not great" violates ebay policy of keyword spamming because "not great" is somehow a "brand name, celebrity name, specific product or much searched word".  Additionally this is apparently our 3rd or 4th offense, but all of the offenses are relisting this one item.  So we are getting close to getting kicked off ebay because we are keyword spamming when we have never keyword spammed.

We have spent hours and have got no where.  Both myself and my girlfriend have tried to explain that although using "not" plus some other word might be a typical way of keyword spamming, "great" is not a celebrity namebrand name, product name or typical keyword search.  Even though "cosmetics" was not part of the complaint in our email from ebay, we tried to explain that the word cosmetics has multiple meanings in english which seemed to be confusing to one operator.  The worst was one ebay rep who seemed to get more and more annoyed about our refusal to stop keyword spamming and all explanations were met with some sort of "if you don't stop keyword spamming you will be kicked off ebay" with the operator never acknowledging that there might be some mistake after we had explained the error many times.

I sort of feel like this comes into the general category of racism, where non-native speakers blame and accuse and punish and blame and accuse more because they cannot accept that their understanding of English misses certain nuances.  Sort of as though someone from the US were to accuse and blame and punish a minority or a foreigner because the majority US person did not understand them and could not accept that there might be a different point of view.

We are really concerned that we might be kicked off ebay for good

[castlemagicmemories]

@missmelindalou

I apologize to you.  I understand you didn't think you were doing anything wrong, and did not see/read the ebay messages on the issue.  To compound that, your feelings are hurt because you feel misunderstood and disrespected by the CSRs.  You may feel misunderstood in your posts.  I am sorry you have gone through this negative experience.

I hope you were not offended by any posts here.  Posters were just trying to convey how serious the violation is, and that you can't argue with CS when Ebay rules that there is a violation. Posts also tried to convey how it appeared to Ebay and to the CSRs; they just saw a pattern of relists of the same listing with a violation.  Many threads have said the same thing, seller get notice, but just keeps relisting; then they are suspended.

Please do check your Ebay messages, and come back to the Boards if you have an issue before it goes this far.  No one here wants to see you lose your selling privileges, and I think some frustration came out in posts because of the situation.  

Best of luck, @missmelindalou

[missmelindalou]

To be fair, I have not been able to get a US rep, so maybe I am being unfair to foreign reps.  It just seemed like the problem was reps didn't understand me and were blaming me because they didn't understand the point I was trying to make about me just trying to describe the item. 

Again, I would have agreed with the reasoning if rep explained things the way other posters have.  I still would have thought punishment was unfair for obviously not trying to go against policy, but it was as though, especially one rep, was trying to make us mad. 

[missmelindalou]

Thanks. 

In understand why people are being harsh.  I imagine it gets old listening to one complaint after another from people that have all sorts of things wrong with their accounts, whether it is their own doing or complex circumstances they can't escape from.  But we have 0 out of 488 cases decided against us, our late shipment rate is 1 out of the last 154, etc.  We just used 1 no-no word on a listing and didn't see messages about it and we were suspended and are close to getting kicked off for using that one word (not).

[emerald40]

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@missmelindalou wrote:

Thanks. 

In understand why people are being harsh.  I imagine it gets old listening to one complaint after another from people that have all sorts of things wrong with their accounts, whether it is their own doing or complex circumstances they can't escape from.  But we have 0 out of 488 cases decided against us, our late shipment rate is 1 out of the last 154, etc.  We just used 1 no-no word on a listing and didn't see messages about it and we were suspended and are close to getting kicked off for using that one word (not).

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In my case, it was your disparaging of a group of people who are desperate, untrained, and are subject to a ton of daily abuse.

As far as you're getting away with it so long was because you were lucky.

That is why a periodic reading of the rules should be manadatory for everyone.

Now imagine you are a buyer looking for something.  And you put in a search word and get a bunch of listings that are everything but that.

[missmelindalou]

This is truly insulting.  I was recently homeless, have ptsd, general anxiety disorder, panic disorder and very likely adhd.  *This is my girlfriends account and I would still be homeless if it wasn't for her.*  It is very difficult for me to keep this going and is the only job I can do right now, and I am very worried about losing it over something truly idiotic, and you are *blaming me* because I am being a meany to people who won't stop blaming and accusing me for using one wrong word long enough to hear that I have a rational explanation and that if they don't understand that "cosmetics not great" is not an unusual english phrase and blame and accuse me because they don't get it, that is not my fault.  I can understand tough love sorts of things, but trolling is something entirely different

[mistressmime]

Whoa now Emerald has not trolled you.

You came in and accused CS of being racist, and they in no way were.

You admitted you'd been warned and not bothered to read the warnings.

And you still fail to understand, its not personal, the CS give the same pre-written answers to everyone and had you seen your messages and read the policy, it would have been clear that listing the string of words you did was probably an issue (I'm of the opinion that using the word cosmetics was as big of an issue as using not great) http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/search-manipulation.html#

Now to come in and blow up a members who are trying to help and then blaming it on disabilities, that is utterly NOT cool at all.

Take responsibility for the mistake, move on, and you'll be OK. Keep blaming others for your failure to read messages, read the rules ect, and you're going to end up banned for good

[aruyt75]

What's funny to me is you use trigger words in the title of your post, then proceed to somehow believe these Filipino CS reps are being "racist" because they don't understand you.  Sorry to break this to you, but I'm a born and raised American citizen, and your item title is borderline illiterate.  "Cosmetics not great" makes almost no sense.  An item can have "cosmetic" damage, but you never use "cosmetics" in the way you used it, to mean what you are intending it to mean.  By the way, I would have no idea what that means just from the title, even if I could sift through the extremely poor choice of words used.  I would still want to read the description, in hopes there was a description or pictures of the "cosmetic damage".  

So before you spout off nonsense about a foreign CS rep being "racist" or "incompetent", perhaps you should look at your own choice of words.  Oh, and your spelling and grammar in these posts is also poor, so perhaps you are the one with the comprehension problem?  

[missmelindalou]

It would have made more sense for me to say "cosmetics aren't great" and maybe this would not have triggered the bots that I was told don't exist or at least are not a deciding factor.  But I seem to like to use the word "not" a lot.  I don't know if this is just me or something my relatives say, I'll pay close attention next time I'm around family.  But, regardless, I have been given helpful suggestions and explanations from the board.  I just think it would have made a lot more sense for me to get similar understanding and input from the reps, even if they still did not do anything to address an obvious honest mistake/misunderstanding, at least being listened to would have been more helpful than our experiences of blaming with all but the last rep.

[castlemagicmemories]

With all due respect, and not to beat a dead horse, but actually I don't think it was just that one word, not.

Posters have pointed out, as has Ebay, that NOT GREAT is one of the most famous quotes referring to BOB, in Mad Men.  Most likely this is what Ebay meant by celebrity.

Posters have also pointed out that great is not a good condition term, and that cosmetics was KWS as well.

So while I doubt it makes you feel any better, it wasn't JUST the word great that was wrong here.  There were multiple words in error.

[missmelindalou]

I agree with you, it's a bit odd that I seem to like to use the word "not" a lot.  But my prefering to use this word does not mean that I am illiterate and dumb.  If it were illiterate and dumb for people to use unusual wording then all people beginning to speak English would all be considered stupid.

I am not sure what drives people to post here.  Most people have been very helpful, even if being super weary and suspicious about it which I totally get.  But every internet anything always seems to have a bit of trolling, and a I am superior to other people aspect to it. 

Look, I dunno, I really felt that somehow there was some component that had to do with me not being listened to/CS not understanding nuances of English and I stated this.  I am not infallable, but I also do not believe that my initial statement was incorrect.  Reasonable people can disagree, etc.

[dhbookds]

Do NOT use any word that could be used as a search word in your title.......cosmetic is going to get you caught again....don't a negative .........what ever your personal preferences are.  Understand that ebay's rules are not negotiable, "I didn't mean to", "I didn't understand" does NOT get you a second/third chance.....

I think you are still having trouble understanding those things and I would suggest you have your girlfriend read the entire thread and then read your titles before putting a listing up...... 

[missmelindalou]

Ok, I understand.  It really is pointless to keep debating this unendingly. 

Sometimes it's not really about logic.  I have this one way to pay bills.  I am very concerned about losing this one way to pay bills and try to check seller dashboard often to keep standing high.  I set aside three days to list things to pay a bill that was due today (Tuesday).  I am then amazed that I can't list things, I call to explain and *all that happens* is escallating explanations of how we need to stop keyword spamming and no one listens.  I have worked jobs and have been told that listening and apologizing about circumstances are important, but all that seemed to be happening was blaming.

[missmelindalou]

I might have understood if we were being suspended for using the word cosmetics, but the email said "not great" was the problem.

[acrc3113]

I don't understand the "racist" part. eBay dies not care what race you are, only that you follow the rules. I check a few of your listings where you list an item is used, but in your descriptions you say that the person you bought them from told you that an item is unused. That ambiguious type of description will cause you a lot of headaches.

Lets say you have a pair of Bose 501c's, working, but with a scuff on the grill cloth. You would list them as Bose 501c speakers, pair, then check condition used, and in the description that the speakers work, but there is a scuff on one of the speakers grill cloth. Also, include a photo of any damage. Try to steer away from "might me new, but judge for yourself using the pictures". Use only facts in your descriptions.

  When I sell tools, mostly elsewhere, the buyers expect the listings to be accurate, without any "puffery". Something is, or is not, and not "maybe".

[margarenisa_0]

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@missmelindalou wrote:

This is truly insulting.  I was recently homeless, have ptsd, general anxiety disorder, panic disorder and very likely adhd.  *This is my girlfriends account and I would still be homeless if it wasn't for her.*  It is very difficult for me to keep this going and is the only job I can do right now, and I am very worried about losing it over something truly idiotic, and you are *blaming me* because I am being a meany to people who won't stop blaming and accusing me for using one wrong word long enough to hear that I have a rational explanation and that if they don't understand that "cosmetics not great" is not an unusual english phrase and blame and accuse me because they don't get it, that is not my fault.  I can understand tough love sorts of things, but trolling is something entirely different

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They're not trolling. No one is insulting you. 

The longer you trivialize this situation as idiotic, you're not getting it and you will jeapordize your selling account.

All of this talk about racism, the Philippines, and semantic wiggle waggling isn't helping you.

no one here works for EBay and nobody gets paid one thin dime to help you out.

how about an attitude of gratitude?

If we can get through to you- we can maybe help you to continue to sell and keep you off the streets.....