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

[acrc3113]

Also, buyer's here do not care about your problems. They only care that the item is as described, quickly shipped, and that the transaction was flawless. We all have, or have had, problems. It's called life. It's all in the way you handle problems that determines your success or failure.

[missmelindalou]

This is pointless.  Obviously it's fun, in a bully sort of way, to gang up on someone to feel superior and it's never a good idea to go against the company that is paying one's bills.  If people can see where I am coming from then great, if people don't see it or are getting their kicks joining in on the fun that's also fine.  Thank you to everyone for your time.

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@missmelindalou wrote:

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 wrote:

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

Totally get what you are saying.  In a perfect world, that is how it should work.

Don't mean to open a whole new can of worms here, but Customer Service everywhere can leave a lot to be desired.

To the reps, it may just have been a repeat violation, and as such, they may be disinclined to apologize when Ebay had stated there were multiple violations.

Again, so sorry this happened to you, OP.

[missmelindalou]

How we are handling things is going great.  We are top rated and not close to losing that status.  And this is with selling difficult items like used electronics.  I only mentioned anxiety, etc because someone was saying how horrible my talk about Fillipinos was.  Like if one truly wants to get what being treated like **bleep** feels like, try by ultra anxious.  Everyone assumes you are on drugs or are dangerous or are just wierd, you get bullied in school, punished by bosses when you make a mistake for being anxious and cops always assume you are on drugs or are up to something.

[missmelindalou]

Ok, I get it now from a customer service point of view.  Thanks.  I am really not going to write anymore.

[mistressmime]

---

@missmelindalou wrote:

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.

---

BTW your accusations of racism towards the CS is well...kind of racist

[dakotasmoke]

---

 

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.

---

Nope, not racist on their part. They understood you just fine, you just didnt like being told NO.

rac·ism

ˈrāˌsizəm/

noun

1. prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

[retrose1]

OP, if you had an offline listing program like Turbo Lister or Auctiva, you could be using this time making up listings and then upload them when your suspension is over.

[sidemouse]

---

@missmelindalou wrote:

Whatever, I can't see how it's not a good thing to make the title accurately describe the condition of the item, to avoid wasting potential buyers time if they are searching for a pristine item.

---

Hmmm...

I don't want to get into an argument over it, but I'm usually not impressed by the large number of listings with all this adjective fluff such as "brand new" and "special" and "unique" and "colorful" and I could go on and on and on... However that to me isn't keyword spamming, I think it's wasting precious title real estate, for myself I prefer using item specifics in those spaces but I suppose to each their own, we can always agree to disagree here I don't have a problem with that.

[sidemouse]

---

@missmelindalou wrote:

Biggest short term problem is we have a bill due today and set up Saturday-Monday to do nothing but list on ebay, but we could not do that because we weren't allowed to list, so now we have to pay $100 on late fees for something because we are a little short to pay the bill.

---

Now that is a problem I don't have, not that I've never been there... 

Long story short, we're set up with a "prudent reserve" and I will never (lord willing) be short a few dollars here or there to pay a bill... Our prudent reserve won't last much over a few months but we're presently working on a six month reserve.

Let me describe what I mean by prudent reserve:

A cash balance (whether in the bank, paypal, in a safe, whatever) sufficient enough to be able to stay FULLY operational ALL bills paid with absolutely NO income.

That is a prudent reserve in its most basic form.

Most institutions recommend having a prudent reserve that will last at least six months, but 1-2 years isn't a bad idea.  Yes, it takes a long time and a fair amount of work to set this up.

But once you're set up this way little things like this minor ebay trifle won't be able to get you all sideways no more.

[missmelindalou]

Wow, you've been a member since way back on 8-18-17.  Over two whole weeks.  Nothing suspicious about this, no sir.

I said racist because that's what it felt like, in the sense that a native English speaking person would likely have grasped what I was trying to explain and at least acknowledged the problem with words having two meanings and the like in the case of cosmetics, etc.  Someone who blames and accuses because they do not understand is not being tolerant.

I wonder what your motivation is.  Is it because you are employed by ebay in the Philipines and are spending company time to troll because someone not like you and is talking bad about your sort of people?

[missmelindalou]

Wow a member for exactly one month more than previous poster, meaning you have been here over a month and two weeks.  Nothing suspicious here either.

[missmelindalou]

You are correct about saving and being prepared and this is the right way to do it.  I just have very bad anxiety issues and this has caused many problems and am trying to get to a point like you suggest.  I have been able to keep ebay going with top rated status, but am just not to the point where am really back on my feet and small problems are still disasterous.

[missmelindalou]

It really was a silly problem we had in that I think previous posters are correct and computer programs (bots) search for words like "not" in the title because something like saying "Ford not General Motors" is a common way to keyword spam.  I get that, but not how badly wording one listing and not noticing emails were important (I also did not read last email about selling my phone on ebay or the one before that about tips for selling) and then relisting has someone with a stellar selling history almost kicked off ebay for good. 

Part of our reasoning for pointing out negatives in the title is because it seems like some people buy from phones and miss details in the description.  Plus if there is a negative in the title people won't spend looking at something they don't want. 

[missmelindalou]

I've said this before, but I want to point out that finally the last guy we talked to was really nice and at least acknowledged that there might be confusion and we were not trying to keyword spam.  He said he was going to request a review or something, but nothing happened.