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. 🙂

[roblshan]

 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,

Thanks for your positivity and encouragement! Most people respond with only negativity and nothing helpful.

Appreciate you!  🙂

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Ebay is too large for exceptions to their rules and procedures.  Exceptions were rare even when Ebay was smaller.

Reaching a person who could reverse the penalty is virtually impossible. The quality of the advice offered by Ebay customer service reps is between bad and abominable. There are plenty of examples on this forum.

Ebay is no worse in this regard than other large internet marketplaces.

When I was in the hospital emergency room waiting to be admitted for heart surgery, I put my listings on another site on vacation because if I did not I would be suspended.

When you sell on an internet marketplace, you are walking a tightrope with no net. If you did not know, you do now.

When you are the least able to do your best is when you need your best efforts.

Every one of us should have sympathy for your situation because every one of us should know that we could be in exactly that situation. But we also could be like the flood victims or other victims of disasters. It could be worse. There are other internet marketplaces.

[carlmarxx]

I have been on eBay  since  1996  with my other ID  . Ebay has and is inconsistent  with the Seller standard  Policy  based on number threads on the Buyer board  ,seller  and Power seller board over the years  . I have  seen  larger  cash cow sellers   that have gotten a way with  lot more  policy violation's then this OP .   I had a seller a few year's  back  that  out right  canceled  over 20+  auctions  because the seller  didn't  get money high bids he or she was looking to get .  it was  one of those days  where no bidding wars happen .   I have  ran across  during  a auction  search  and was amazed he or she wasn't shown the door  based on the feedback.  

[inhawaii]

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@roblshan wrote:
They should take these situations case-by-case

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 Sorry but I disagree.

Not feasable.

It would take thousands of employees to investigate each and every claim and come to a decision If the seller should be forgiven.

I truly am sorry for what happened and hope you make a speedy comeback.

[lakefor94]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@roblshan wrote:
They should take these situations case-by-case

---

 Sorry but I disagree.

Not feasable.

It would take thousands of employees to investigate each and every claim and come to a decision If the seller should be forgiven.

I truly am sorry for what happened and hope you make a speedy comeback.

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@roblshan what inhawaii states is true, the restrictions and permanent bans of accounts have to be done by bot. There are 18 million sellers on eBay. There are perhaps thousands of retrictions like yours per day, who knows how many. There might be a thousand(s) permanent bans per day. 

No way to address each one on an individual basis.

[annadryl]

You did the right thing by not following the bad advice from CS and dishonestly claiming "buyer requested". You seem to have worked things out with them, and if they saw you cancelled because they asked (they didn't, totally different reason for the cancel) they could be pretty miffed at you for the false reason and report that, which would worsen the situation of course.

Keep doing the right thing, list more when they let ya and things might eventually get back on track. Good luck~

[arblebeedie]

this sucks.  I'm sorry.  We are in the same boat, treated the same way.  It's tricky keeping up with the constant updates to the user interface, knowing which ones you select will tell the algorithm to rate you negatively.  The lesson learned here is twofold--do what tech support tells you, regardless of what your telltale heart says to do--it's all about the algorithm and the reps told you to select Cancel-buyer request. 

Thanks for passing this along, I just noticed it was available (when I had a buyer ask to cancel). I *didn't* realize it wouldn't count against my defect score but there's no guarantee Ebay programming will get it right yesterday/today or tomorrow due to constant updates.  When digging into details from the seller dashboard, it feels like their programming can be glitchy and mis-calculate defect rates.  The fact that CS has no ability to dig deep or find issues by assuming all programming is spot on (it isn't) is soul sucking.

[arblebeedie]

You miss the point of the post. Seller is saying the algorithm is too punitive for too long. Seller avoided INAD, communicated, communicated, communicated with buyers and tech support.  The absolute **bleep** of the algorithm (which is not perfect and often glitchy or displays incorrect info, or multiple users interfaces (e.g. currently feedback has 2 different ways to post, I prefer one but often have difficulty finding it since the new 'chicklet' one is now being pushed but lacks info I rely on to give real feedback vs boilerplate). So, I think your post is kinda mean,  too vague and generally unhelpful.

[arblebeedie]

good lord. So Ebay is essentially saying the defects (which you should have used seller canceled) are the death of your store? You'll never be able to list more items? ever? how are you supposed to recover? eBay insists they're there to 'help' you.  What options did they give you, given you selected 'out of stock' instead of 'seller cancelled'?

[meme6253]

Very sorry for your tragedy & for the poor treatment you received, Wish you the best!

[arblebeedie]

I disagree annadryl. CS knew the buyer requested would not result in a negative on his account and they didn't believe he deserved the negative.  Your response assumes the algorithm is perfect, and it's not.  It is programmed by humans, after all. Even tho 97% of situations will fit into it, there will always be need for humans to intervene and make a judgement call to override when the situation calls for it. That's how the algorithm is massaged over time.  It's called iterative design.  Nothing to do with doing the 'right' thing.  Sounds like this seller is restricted from listing ANYthing more until he sells thru current inventory, which is also shown further down in search rankings.  And, he's now charged additional 6% for any sale, which they've put their thumb on.  It's too punitive.  And reps don't have the tools or the authority to override.  His mistakes were simple. 

[itolduandso]

That is the worst option to choose. Seasoned sellers know, never ever use that option. They have it that and it looks harmless, but that's the nuclear option. 

I have been advised by Ebay to also use this option if the fault is on my end if I list the item and there is an error in the offer price e.g. I once listed the item for over 400 dollars, I sent an offer to buyer, by mistake entered 4 dollars. The buyer purchased, sent payment and was demanded delivery.  I used that option to cancel the sale even through the buyer didn't agree with the cancellation.  Shipping alone was over 50 dollar on that item. This is an extreme case, so always use this option with caution because it may lear to account being frozen if ebay finds this is being abused. However, this option by default doesn't trigger the account to get frozen automatically at least.. 

Also, if you do partial refund to customer, never select the option saying there was an issue with the item, always select "other reason" or shipping discount, because that is also going to stay on the account.