Getting Ebay Support w/Order Issues

[stev.tucke]

I am a buyer and a seller on Ebay. I have bought for decades but just recently ventured into selling. Issues come up with selling. Issues I need Ebay as a support and problem solver. These various issues can be infinite but let's say various in nature. Is it too much to ask that since Ebay takes on average 36% of my sales revenue (shipping revenue is not a profit-based revenue and should be as close to neutral as possible, I do not consider it) that when I need some help I should be able to speak with a human being and not get the runaround by AI, the silo Ebay uses to guard against human interaction. A buyer tells me of a problem and I have no way to directly contact Ebay? I am the one who the customer contacted. Should I ask the customer to put in a ticket like AI suggests so Ebay will know there is a problem. That happened 4-5 weeks ago. Do you know what the customer, the buyer, told me when I approached them with that. NO THANKS! That was what the customer told me. What they did not say but was written all over was PATHETIC! And I 100% agree. A customer buys an item but needs to change it from Local pickup to ship. That cannot be uncommon. That is something a billion dollar company with high school degrees can see happening a mile away. How hard would it be for system integrators to deal with anomalies like that so there is a pleasant workaround. Ebay does not have a way to manage a change to an order from pickup to ship. Ebays solution, please work this out with the buyer. WHAT? A billion dollar company that had any foresight and customer focus let alone seller focus would have this taken care of with one phone call from the seller. HOLD ON, WAIT! The seller can't call. But what a terrible solution. OMG! How pathetic. I draw the line here at ignorance. That type of thinking is so far from customer-serive based mentality it lands right in the middle of something. I am still amazed. My guess is I will lose the order and maybe get a poor review. Then someone will say that Ebay will throw out that review. My answer: Totally not the point!

[bonjourami]

You are really making a mountain out of a molehill. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.

[stev.tucke]

It was paid in full. I contacted the buyer for pickup and they stated they messed up and need it shipped. They sure did because they live in Idaho and I am in Georgia. Ebay is a billion dollar company that has the foresight to know issues like this will come up. That is why customer service can change from pickup to ship, get customer approval if needed which was in the messages they looked at anyway, charge the customer via the same payment method, get approval via message if needed, and all is well. Happens all the time, not rocket science. Ebay, however, does not want to be bothered with customer issues and support for sellers is laughable as I saw the other day on a post. Ebay wants the seller and buyer to work out shipping and payment thereof. Do all Ebay buyers have PayPal or Venmo and know how to do that? No! Is asking a customer to do that a customer friendly or focused action for a billion dollar company? Heck no! It is wrong, wrong, wrong, and you and I would not appreciate it either. As far as cancel, refund, relist, and reorder. Another Ebay solution. Well, the customer canceled and got refunded but they did not reorder. It was a set of four Christmas plates. The fact they are porcelain plates is a non-issue. I do not ship for free, I know nothing of shipping, not my background. I put in dimensions and weight and need Ebay to do the rest. Asking me to work out the shipping with the customer when I rely on Ebay ticks me off, especially when the unsupported greedy people take 36% on average of my sales price. Shipping revenue is nothing I judge by, should be neutral.

Another post just commented that I made the mistake on this listing as local pickup only and it was my fault. Okay, my fault. All the more reason I cant go ask the customer to burden themselves for fixing my mistake and the more needed Ebay to change this. The customer thought they did it. This is not about fault. It is about a problem that came up that needed an acceptable solution that only Ebay could provide and Ebay did not show up. Ebay is not going to show up. This community is not the answer to Ebay not supporting sellers and buyers. When a protocol is bad, it is bad. 

[dhbookds]

that only Ebay could provide

Nope, you can solve the problem as stated here and ebay expects YOU to do it.    It's YOUR customer and it's up to you to handle it. 

If a customer ordered a large widget, paid for it, but then wrote they want a XL widget which costs more......what would you do?

[a_c_green]

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@stev.tucke wrote:

Another post just commented that I made the mistake on this listing as local pickup only and it was my fault. Okay, my fault. 

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I'm confused... I see a sold listing of 4 Royal Gallery plates on December 2 in item 276098833063. Is that the purchase we're talking about? That is showing both Local Pickup and Priority Shipping options, so it should require the buyer to do nothing but request a cancel from you, then repurchase, selecting the Priority Shipping option that's been there all along.

You mentioned that the buyer admitted that they "messed up," so I would expect them to be willing to do that much to resolve the issue that they themselves walked into.

[fern*wood]

I wondered about that.  I looked through and couldn't find any pick up only listings.  Now that plates were disclosed as the item,  you nailed it.  This isn't that hard to fix.  Calling ebay is far more difficult than fixing stuff yourself.

[stev.tucke]

I agree to completely disagree. That is not customer-focused thinking. You do not go to a customer and work out shipping details and payment. How is the buyer going to reimburse shipping costs? Ebay mentioned PayPal. Really! Did Ebay ask my customer if they had PayPal or Venmo, or whatever? Did they ask my customer if they knew how to send money via these if they have them. You are assuming people have these and know how to use them. A vast number of Ebay buyers, however, do not. Here is another one just for you. I communicated to the customer both of Ebays solutions: cancel/reorder and handle shipping between buyer &seller. I received a message from Ebay a day ago, I think, and it said to me that Ebay monitors messages and that I am conducting business outside of Ebay and that is NOT ALLOWED! Do I need to explain that as messed up. Billion dollar companies, decent, ones do not push problems down to sellers and buyers that are easily foreseen and can be solves by CS. OMG! I cannot believe how many of you sellers they have buying into it is your problem and you need to contact the customer and work it out. NEWS FLASH: customers do not like that! I don't. Good gracious what does Ebay do for the 36% of the sales price they take on average in fees. I pay them and I expect support not an Ebay Community spewing rhetoric about it being my problem. AS LONG AS EBAY IS GETTING A CUT, MY PROBLEMS ARE THEIR PROBLEMS! The fact you Kool-aid heads do not see that astounds me. Please wake up! Asking customers to do what Ebay can fix with support we pay for is not asking for something extra. It is asking for what is expected.

[fern*wood]

You really do not have to rudely call us "kool-aide heads" which is very offensive.   We are trying to help and you don't need to repeat the same thing over and over.  We get it, you don't want to fix this yourself, you want someone else to.  Good luck and I'm out.

[stev.tucke]

I agree to disagree. It does not matter who made the mistake or how it was made. The customer believed it was their mistake. I did not tell the customer since it was their fault they need to do this and this. The mistake was simply an unintentional mistake. A billion dollar company like Ebay foresees these types and many other types of incidental errors. The difference is a decent, supportive, good company has CS correct these errors. A crap, greedy, non-seller or non-customer-focused company says work it out with the customer. WTH! That is wrong. You don't go to a customer and ask them to jump through hoops to correct a foreseeable problem regardless who made it. Do you know what happened when I did do that? The customer canceled the order, got the refund, but NO REORDER. Do you know why! Because they told me to ship it to them and I asked them to do this and this and they said forget you. I bet that happens all the time as well. I am saying you and Ebay are misguided and wrong. But as we all know, what I say doesn't mean a thing. My potential customer however, they say we were all wrong to approach them with stupidity when they can buy elsewhere. And telling me it is all my fault does what? I am not perfect. I am stupid alot. It does nothing to change the real problem which is errors will continue and nothing will change if Ebay continues inadequate and unacceptable support for sellers. A half dozen of people in this community sided with Ebay and that is what cost me a lost order. Ebay should have and could fix these issues. Ebay does not believe my problems or customer problems are theirs anymore. Well, as long as EBAY IS TAKING 36%ON AVERAGE OF MY SALES PRICES, MY PROBLEMS ARE THEIR PROBLEMS. YOU TAKE A CUT OF MY SALE, YOU ARE PART OF IT ALL, NOT JUST THE PART YOU WANT. Think about that. Ebay has you convinced all the problems are yours and none are theirs. Pretty smart in my book. They just sit back and take your money. Money for Nothing!

[stev.tucke]

Thank you. I have local pickup as an option on all my listings. My guess is your scenario is what actually occurred. I am going to change all my listings and remove local pickup. No one has used it yet. I did not realize that is what happened. Makes sense now how that happened since customer is in Idaho and I am in Georgia. I cannot make Ebay support me or provide acceptable resolutions. I can speak my side and take what solutions do lead to not repeating the same mistake over again (insanity). I appreciate your input. I understand what caused the problem in this case and can take some action that is acceptable.

[gone.c-33]

You seem to require much more hand holding than eBay is allowed/willing to give. Instead of repeating over and over how this billion dollar company doesn’t work the way you want it to, why don’t you find one that caters to your needs better?

By the way, it was Flavor-Aid that was served at Jonestown. If you’re going to use it as an insult, at least use it correctly.

[gloryglorygifts]

Next time you have a question? Stop by here and ask it. No need to get your nerves all wrangled. There are lots of helpful people on here. 

[lakefor94]

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@stev.tucke wrote:

Thank you. I have local pickup as an option on all my listings. My guess is your scenario is what actually occurred. I am going to change all my listings and remove local pickup. No one has used it yet. I did not realize that is what happened. Makes sense now how that happened since customer is in Idaho and I am in Georgia. I cannot make Ebay support me or provide acceptable resolutions. I can speak my side and take what solutions do lead to not repeating the same mistake over again (insanity). I appreciate your input. I understand what caused the problem in this case and can take some action that is acceptable.

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Yep, you are beginning to see the light. Sellers take action and fix their own problems.  Having to involve eBay is usually not advantageous and mostly a waste of the seller's time and eBay's time.

The large selling platforms expect sellers to read, comprehend and execute within policies. Most clarifications can be discerned right here on the boards with little waste of time. The first answer you get might not be the best but others come along for further clarification.  

There are times members are redirected to eBay support and also instructed as to which might be the best support avenue for the problem.

Good luck with future sales and don't expect eBay to carry you. It won't happen.

[bob86451]

Ebay said close my case ebay said my icon 5 case cell to wrong address somebody in Ohio.My is 655 Tomlin Road,Somerville TN 38068  I am call the News people channel 3,5and 13. This second time ebay did this to me

[kh-shakhib]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.