First I would like to say that I just got off the phone with one of the most cordial eBay supervisors. His name was Mark. I really feel he went out of his way to be helpful and feel he deserves a special mention.
Now to my issue. My eBay selling account has been indefinitely restricted which I believe is not fair. We have been an eBay since 2001 and our store has consistently been rated as a 'Top Rated Seller" with a 100% feedback rating. On or about 09/06/2019 I contacted customer service regarding a notification that was received stating our account had been temporarily suspended for 7 seven days for 2 listings that had appeared on eBay's German website. The way this was determined was that a message from eBay arrived in my message center in German. Google translate had to be utilized in order to read the message. I requested to speak with a supervisor and spoke with Mary (SR#1-225898466687). Initially she and I were both confused as the message had been in German. I explained to Mary that the two listings were placed on the US eBay site and since I had utilized the free listing opportunities that eBay solicited to me they were also placed on several international sites. The listings were placed on an approved US eBay category and if there was a problem with listing internationally I would be happy to remove them from the international sites. The 2 listings contained the work 'meissen' and I advised Mary that the items were listed as used (vintage and/or antique) and that there were many manufacturers that produced china patterns that contained the description of 'meissen'. I provided her a website of replacements.com which if you searched the word meissen within that site you would see several pages of manufacturers that utilized the word 'meissen' within their patterns. My listings were truthful with detailed pictures that I took and did not violate any trademarks as they were 'USED' and as I understand it available to be sold on eBay.
Mary manually removed the temporary suspension as she felt that it had been inappropriate based on the information provided. She specifically told me she would be performing an escalation on this case and that I should not worry about anything. She would be personally handling the case and would call me back within 48 hours. Neither Mary or anyone else from eBay ever called me back.
On 09/09/2019 another German eBay message arrives. Google translate was once again utilized to read the message and I was informed that my account had been permanently blocked for sale based on trademark violations. I would like to state that these 'trademark violations' did not become an issue until my listings were posted on the German eBay site. Once again I contacted customer service and requested to be transferred to a supervisor as the initial representative was unable to provide any assistance. I was connected to and spoke with supervisor Michele who was NOT pleasant or cordial. She advised me that there was nothing I could do, no appeal process and no alternative and nothing could be done about it. Additionally she was unable to even explain the violation other then stating that this was my second violation, the first one was the one supervisor Mary had manually removed as mentioned above. After trying to explain the situation without any understanding on her part I requested to speak with her supervisor.
Jeff, an eBay senior manager was my next point of contact (SR #1-226516866667). Jeff listened to my argument and kept apologizing and told me not to worry, that he would personally handle this issue and would see if there was any way to resolve the problem. Again I stated that I would be happy to remove my listings from all international sites and just list within the United States. He requested that I give him 72 hours to get back with me. I asked if there was a phone number or email address for him so communication could be maintained directly with him. Jeff advised he would send me an email for this specific purpose. Upon receipt of the email I should just respond with acknowledgement of it, which I did. I received a generic email from Jeff with no direct line of communication back to him. To date I have never received a call back from him or anybody else.
I cannot begin to express the frustration level I am experiencing or the number of hours that it is taking me to try to contact a representative of eBay that can actually help. My objective is to discuss this situation with a representative of eBay that can actually help and/or advise me of what would need to be done to reinstate my selling privileges. It seems unfair that I am not even being given an opportunity to argue or discuss this matter with an individual that is in a position to do something about it. Consistently being read a 'script' by representatives that can do absolutely nothing to help is unacceptable.
Any assistance or advice that could be provided would be appreciated.
Thank you.
mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
