FROM TOP RATED TO BELOW STANDARD TO RESTRICTED

[roblshan]

I have been selling on Ebay for 9 years with no transaction defects until recently.  I was a Top Rated seller for the past year or more. Recently, some  of our product was damaged in a fire so  I removed (what I thought was everything) from my posts that was no longer available. Unfortunately, a few orders came through that I could not fulfill. I messaged the buyers, informed them of the issue, and offered similar products or refund. In most cases I refunded. This caused a 4% transaction defect on my account which knocked me down to BELOW STANDARD and Ebay started taking selling fees that were 50% !!!! of my profit.  During this time, I had 4 or 5 more sales with no issues. Now, I am restricted from selling anymore.  I filed an appeal to remove the defects and that was denied. I have contacted customer service MULTIPLE times who did nothing at all to help and in most cases said they would REsubmit the appeal and I would hear back via email, of course I never did.  So, after 9 years of selling and no order issues, they are doing me like this. Needless to say, Ebay will NEVER get another penny from me even if I was allowed to buy or sell still.  Who are they to judge by a few order issues that I am a substandard seller.  Things happen. Life happens. As long as the seller handles the issue properly and the buyer is satisfied, what difference does it make?  Ebay better rethink its policies and procedures because there are too many other platforms available to sell on to be treating long time, loyal sellers this way. Just DISGUSTED. Thanks for listening to my rant. 🙂

[caldreamer]

I am sorry to hear about your house fire that resulted in EBAY restricting your account.   EBAY uses Ai to make decisions which don't account for life problems.   Sorry this happened to you and wish you the best in the future.

[ebooksdiva]

Let me see if I read your post correctly...

You had items that were lost in a fire, you assumed you took all of those listings affected down. You missed a few, had to cancel for out if stock and you are mad at eBay?
You should have taken extra steps to ensure you removed all of your listings that were damaged in a fire. 
eBay doesn't make exceptions. That is why they put Seller Standard Policy in place for all sellers to follow.  
It doesn't matter if you handled the issue properly cancelling for out of stock is bad for sellers. 
eBay is not going to "rethink" their policy. Your time as a seller never comes into play when it comes to seller standards. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

Wait, i see 23 active listings for you. You couldn't be restricted from selling with active listings? Or do you mean you have new limits?

[ebooksdiva]

@fashunu4eeuh 

When a seller is below standard eBay restricts the number of items a seller can listLimitations on selling activities  

[roblshan]

Hi.  Thanks for reading my post. Yes, I can no longer add new items for sale.  They did say I can continue selling what is already posted until they sell or expire.

[stephenmorgan]

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@roblshan wrote:

Recently, some  of our product was damaged in a fire so  I removed (what I thought was everything) from my posts that was no longer available. 

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eBay has been known to reverse their decisions when someone is able to prove that an unpreventable situation occurred that they could not prevent.  If you have a Police or Fire Department report verifying the fire this may be enough to get them to reverse their decision.  A Insurance Claim showing you had a claim and what you lost may work also.

The problem is getting this information to a competent eBay employee who has the authority to make a decision.

At the bottom of this page there a links to contact eBay thru Facebook and Twitter.  I would try them first, if that does not work then contact eBay's Legal Department.

[pastimpressions]

I am very sorry for your loss and personal dilemma.

Unfortunately, compassion is something that sellers extend (via service, special gifts & "going that extra mile) on this platform with regularity that the Host platform does not. 

To me this is quite unfortunate as that "personal touch" is one of the key selling features the Host uses to encourage trade on this Host platform. This is provided by wonderful sellers that go the extra mile, not "dump & runners."

So yes, I could pile on & say " gee whiz, it's all your fault you should have made sure you didn't miss a thing when taking down listings" & it would be true.

It is also true to say under emotional, personal & financial hardship/emergency strain things get lost in translation.

Mistakes can be made.

Hope you bounce back asap

[carlmarxx · Accepted solution]

Sorry  that this happed  to you.   You took care  of your  buyers right away  over  fire  damaged item's  .  which  saved  you on getting  INR case's .  There  are  problem   sellers  some big   cash  cow's  that  need  to be restricted  and off  this site  ,to Provent drop of  buyer traffic .    I agree  you  where treated  unfairly . 

[roblshan]

As a side note:

Customer service did advise me in the future, to choose "Cancel-buyer request" rather than "Out of stock" to possibly prevent the defects.  Something I DID briefly consider, however, chose to go the honest route and got restricted.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@roblshan wrote:

As a side note:

Customer service did advise me in the future, to choose "Cancel-buyer request" rather than "Out of stock" to possibly prevent the defects.  Something I DID briefly consider, however, chose to go the honest route and got restricted.

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Were these Phone Reps with an accent? 

[inhawaii]

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@roblshan wrote:

I have been selling on Ebay for 9 years with no transaction defects until recently.  I was a Top Rated seller for the past year or more. Recently, some  of our product was damaged in a fire so  I removed (what I thought was everything) from my posts that was no longer available. Unfortunately, a few orders came through that I could not fulfill. I messaged the buyers, informed them of the issue, and offered similar products or refund. In most cases I refunded. This caused a 4% transaction defect on my account which knocked me down to BELOW STANDARD and Ebay started taking selling fees that were 50% !!!! of my profit.  During this time, I had 4 or 5 more sales with no issues. Now, I am restricted from selling anymore.  I filed an appeal to remove the defects and that was denied. I have contacted customer service MULTIPLE times who did nothing at all to help and in most cases said they would REsubmit the appeal and I would hear back via email, of course I never did.  So, after 9 years of selling and no order issues, they are doing me like this. Needless to say, Ebay will NEVER get another penny from me even if I was allowed to buy or sell still.  Who are they to judge by a few order issues that I am a substandard seller.  Things happen. Life happens. As long as the seller handles the issue properly and the buyer is satisfied, what difference does it make?  Ebay better rethink its policies and procedures because there are too many other platforms available to sell on to be treating long time, loyal sellers this way. Just DISGUSTED. Thanks for listening to my rant. 🙂

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Sorry about your house fire.

So you believe ebay should let sellers slide for:

House fires.

What about...

Medical issues.

Death in the family.

Floods.

Hurricanes.

Tornados.

Wildfires.

Earthquakes.

P.S.   You still have 22 items listed.

[roblshan]

Hi.  Thanks for your response.

No, I don't think sellers should be allowed to "slide" for anything and that all sellers should be required to "follow the rules", which I do and have always done. All I am saying is that, in MY situation, it was a completely honest mistake, not something I have a history of doing, not something I did on purpose, I immediately contacted the buyers to let them know, offered alternatives and ultimately immediately refunded.  I had several successful sales after this incident, with no issues of any kind, which further proves it was an isolated incident.  I think a seller that continually fails to follow policy or provide excellent customer service would deserve to be banned and/ or restricted, but to not only charge me more in seller fees for many orders and THEN restrict me, after a spotless track record and excellent feedback to back that up, is a little extreme and undeserved. They should take these situations case-by-case, look at previous history, length of time selling, feedback received, etc, etc. and impose appropriate sanctions.  I know of MANY sellers on here that should be banned/restricted for different reasons, who do not care one bit about "going the extra mile" or good customer service. One honest mistake does not warrant such harsh punishment, in my opinion.  That's all I am saying and am mad about.

[roblshan]

Hi.  

The specific agent that told me that did indicate he was located in the Philippines, but he did not have an accent.  I can't recall the last time I spoke to a Customer Service agent that I could actually understand and did not have a heavy accent.  I have also never had a rep that actually helped resolve any issue I contacted about and they do not allow "escalations."  That speaks volumes about how much Ebay cares about issues we have.

[lakefor94]

Sorry to hear of the fire @roblshan . 

You are still in the game so to speak, just limited at this point. Keep on selling what you have and make sure no more mistakes come about. 

As the defects drop off, your account may get back to above standard.  Try to sell as many of the existing listings as you can. Hopefully in time you will be able to list more once again. Hang in there.