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

[mr_lincoln]

@missmelindalou  Service reps supporting ANY US market should have English as their first language. 

[mr_lincoln]

@dosprompt

---

@dosprompt wrote:

Do not use these words in item titles:

Not or Like

Both are Keyword spamming and will get you suspended.

---

Absolutely never knew this ... nor do I think any new sellers do when they sign up.  eBay should have one of those orange warning outlines with a message come up whenever Not or Like are use on the title line like they do in eBay messaging about off site sales ...

[castlemagicmemories]

I understand.  I don't know how any part of this can be misunderstood, either.

The relisting without making the advised changes, as another poster, said, is what landed you in this position because you seemed determined to be right and list it YOUR way.  Ebay wants it listed THEIR way.  You kept relisting because you thought you were right; that seems like defiance.

To explain the reps attitude, you won't stop doing evil~you got a warning and a listing pulled.  You did it again.  Another warning telling you this is wrong.  You do it again.  Another warning.  You list is again the same way, no changes.  Another warning and a temporary suspension~punishment, as you say, because just letting you know this was unacceptable was not working and this happened multiple times, and you did not take it seriously until you were told you were on the verge of suspension.  None of the previous warning worked, the relisting was your doing it again and again, no matter what.  To you, it is all innocent.  You didn't know.  But when they pulled it, they told you.  You kept doing it. So the rep sees a pattern of doing what you were told not to do and that is where they are coming from.   Sorry but that is what it looks like.

[missmelindalou]

I don't know, it seemed like it to me as I thought native US reps would have had no difficulty seeing the problem was a simple confusion over particulars of English and would have at least acknowledged this.  I would think that standards should be the same for everyone and if people in the US blame some other people for something they don't understand without listening to them that this would also be intolerant.

[castlemagicmemories]

When a listing is pulled, the seller gets an email message telling them the listing was pulled and why, and refers them to the policy violation.

You referenced a message you received that said, Make sure you follow Ebay policies.  

[missmelindalou]

But the listing never got pulled and we were not aware that there was a problem. 

I've been responding for some time because other people are taking the time to write, but it just seems like the discussion is no longer a good use of anyone's time.

So thanks everyone for responding and giving input and suggestions.

[mistressmime]

---

@missmelindalou wrote:

We weren't aware that we had any offenses.  I guess it's possible that listing was taken down and we didn't notice and thought the listing had just expired.

---

Ebay sends you a notice when a listing is pulled down and the reason why.

You admit you got notices that you didnt see. Ebay sees that they sent you the messages, and they assume you ignored them.

[retrose1]

OP, before you go, you seem really paranoid about getting booted off ebay.  There is a way to tell if you are in danger.

Go to your myebay - sold page and at the top, just below your id/feedback number, there is a bar with your seller performance.....Does it say Above Standard?  If so, you are not in danger, if it says Below Standard, you should start looking at your dashboard to see what you need to do to improve - and quickly.

[missmelindalou]

I just looked at the message and it specifically said that no listings were getting taken down. 

If they would have taken the item down and sent us a strong warning we might have noticed it.  We get lots of low offer messages and most messages from ebay are half spam-like.  Other last messages from ebay are: "cash in on your phone..." and "top tips for selling."  This specific email title is "Please make sure your listings follow ebay guidlines".  So I guess we are guilty of not reading all ebay messages and we maybe could have noticed this one was different.  But at the same time, if we actually were trying to keyword spam or otherwise push the boundaries of policy, it seems likely that we would have kept an eye out for possible consequences and only had one violation.  Plus I still don't think that "great" is a keyword, but this is debatable and I may be wrong.

[castlemagicmemories]

You mentioned previously a message you received from Ebay that said, Make sure you follow Ebay's Policies.  You seem to have found it recently, after the fact, but they did let you know there were issues; it just somehow got past you.

It seems like they expected you to make corrections and revise what they considered wrong in the listing. 

You are right, there doesn't seem to be anything else that can be said that hasn't already been said.  

Really sorry this happened and wish you the best of luck in the future!

[missmelindalou]

We are top rated now and if we were evaluated today we would be top rated.

[castlemagicmemories]

That's good!!

[missmelindalou]

Ok, thanks for all your input and good luck to you!

[emerald40]

 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.

____________________________________________________________________

These poor people are not making enough money to be anything but deserpate.  And I blame ebay for not training their CS adequately.  And that goes for the ones in the US call center as well.   They understand you perectly, speak proper English and will still give you incorrect information or lie right to your face.

[missmelindalou]

Yeah, this is my point.  If there is some word that can never be used, no matter how innocent the intention, it should be extremely clear. 

And I would also think if there was a terrible problem it would appear in the seller dashboard, but all that's there is fantastic numbers and how we would be top rated today. 

I understand we should take responsibility, but I think reps not acknowledging a reasonable explanation and using increasingly strong language against that explanation is going too far.