Selling Privileges are Restricted due to "Extremely Bad" Level of INR%

[admart_786]

I got this email from ebay "Upon evaluation of your recent transactions, we noticed that the INR% (item not received rate) of your eBay account is "extremely bad" level. Pursuant to our eBay user agreement and eBay policies, we regret to inform you that your eBay account will be restricted."
Can any please tell me is my account permanently suspended or is there any chance to get my account back? 

[ittybitnot]

 I currently do not have any open INR cases in my account. All my packages are trackable and with tracking number. I am an eBay seller for 13 years and have over 1500 sales and 574 full positive feedback. But eBay robots restricted my account despite this performance.

@istanbul.tesbih 

This INR business is a "new version" of a seller metric.  ALL INRs are going to count in this metric simply because the buyer hit the right button from the dropdown indicating their item was not received.  It was not supposed to go into effect until July 24, but they are rolling it out early, and as a consequence 'heads are rolling' as well with permanent selling restrictions being handed out AND seller  payouts being stopped. 

It doesn't matter if it was filed in error, filed before or after the package was delivered, or closed by the buyer, or refunded by you.  eBay is now counting them ALL regardless of the end result of the claim. 

There is some discrepancy in the wording  of the new auto "nastygram" being set out with regards to country location, i.e. US sellers are getting a slightly different version that international users. 

[istanbul.tesbih]

There is always a risk for an INR incident to occur for all sellers. The customer can be a novice, crazy, or even malicious. An customer can also randomly open an INR case. In this case, the seller is unfairly punished. This is not fair. eBay must obtain a plea from the seller. Or, it should not include closed INR cases in this calculation. No eBay seller can manage their global shipping processes with 100% accuracy. A seller's fate should not be in the hands of a careless courier or a crazed, novice, or malicious buyer. This is very wrong... eBay needs to reverse this wrong decision as soon as possible. Otherwise, at least 80% of the sellers on ebay will be gone within 6 months. Because of these wrong decisions, eBay, like the telecommunications giant Nokia, started its downfall. Maybe you know. One year ago, eBay's Turkey subsidiary and Turkey page went bankrupt due to wrong decisions and mismanagement policies, and closed its page. eBay global can be like that too, and it could even cause eBay to go bankrupt.

[istanbul.tesbih]

- Even the best ebay sellers will eventually encounter INR cases and eventually their accounts will be restricted. This will definitely happen.
- Sellers will want to use the best shipping companies to avoid getting INR cases, which will increase shipping prices 3-4 times on items sold. This will cause eBay to become a very expensive marketplace for buyers in the medium and long term, and eBay will experience huge loss of customers and sales.
- The majority of sellers will largely exclude eBay from their business model and will gradually leave eBay. Because there will always be INR risk, they will not want to face an account restriction. Fearing their turn, they will leave eBay and continue selling on other sites.

Ebay Turkey website (Gittigidiyor.com) was closed 1 year ago because of such wrong decisions. However, until 6-7 years ago, it was Turkey's largest shopping site.

This decision and policy is not helping anyone. It will have huge losses for both buyers, sellers and eBay.

Conclusion: This policy needs to be softened. Very simple; Closed files will not be taken into account in the INR calculation. That's all... The problem will then be solved.

[Anonymous]

Any US seller facing such restrictions, please raise your hand. Meanwhile, new victims of AI are welcome to share their experiences. 

[bobbysbits]

I got the same INR 6% from Germany. I think its because Deutsche Post Tracking does not show up on ebay. Though I can track everything via Slovak Post (where I ship from). I wish there was an alternative as my account has been restricted and all listings removed.

[sharp.shooter.ser]

well here is the report, and all of the tracking... which I provided to ebay and yet I received the following answer

"

Hello Stefan,

Thank you for writing back to eBay regarding the limitations placed on your account and for sharing the detailed information about the defects. I understand that you are a top rated seller and you want us to reconsider the actions taken on your account.

As mentioned in our previous email, you are only limited to sell on US and Canada site. You can list items on other eBay sites (UK, ES, NL, PL, DE, etc...) and has to ensure that you fulfill the requirement of buyers. If any buyer reports that they have not received their item then reply to the buyer, pay attention and resolve their issues before they open “Item not received” claim on eBay.

Rest assured, eBay will continue to evaluate the INR% performance of your accounts as long as there are eligible transactions. The restriction will be removed automatically once your INR% performance is lower or on par with the market average in subsequent evaluation periods.

Please understand that actions taken on your account are on the basis of your account activity.  However, this in no way means that we are trying to accuse you for such instance. Our main purpose to notify, take actions, restrict account etc., is only for the betterment for our sellers so that we can communicate with them and explain the policies and guidelines which they can follow to avoid indefinite suspensions or restrictions. We do not want to lose our members especially as loyal as you are.  We sincerely apologize that our actions made you feel disappointed."

If any buyer reports that they have not received their item then reply to the buyer, pay attention and resolve their issues before they open “Item not received” claim on eBay.     well eBay.....you made the system like that, when buyer "ask a seller" about "item not received" INR case is automatically opened!!! Christ!

And I provide the proof that the 13 of those counted transactions SHOULDN'T be counted per eBay policies and from what I can understand in their answer......they don't care much about it. offering me to sell to other countries and 95% of my sales were to US.

My God....

metrics

report

[sharp.shooter.ser]

I am not even sure that any of eBay staff is reading this

elizabeth@ebay 

devon@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

[istanbul.tesbih]

- Absolutely no one cares about this and no eBay employee reads them. I have never seen such a ridiculous policy. A crazy, novice, or stupid buyer, or a poor shipping agent, can destroy an entire seller's account. It's just 1 click away from them.  I just talked to customer service again. Rest assured, no one knows anything. It's like they're all robots. They always say the same things.

 - But INR not the only reason for this I've been told.

CS gave me such a reason;
"A bad buyer experience (“BBE”) will occur but is not limited to the following scenarios:

(a) Buyer filed for a dispute under “Item Not as Described”;

(b) Buyer returned the item and gave a return reason that indicates “Item Not as Described”;

(c) Seller canceled the transaction because you no longer had the item, or the item was never shipped, and the buyer's money was returned;

(d) Buyer left a Detailed Seller Rating score of 1, 2, or 3 for “Item as Described”; or

(e) Buyer left Neutral or Negative feedback for you."

The customer refuses to buy, does not pay, wants to cancel. In this case, anything can be shown as a reason for cancellation in the window that opens. Why is this so important? Then do not give the seller the right to cancel. Only the buyer can cancel the transaction.

Also, CS don't even know for which account I contacted them. They told me about an account I never knew and was closed before. I didn't even understand what they meant.

[sharp.shooter.ser]

here is a new one 🙂 and guess what, it will most likely be counted in INR stats.

Buyer misunderstood and signed the delivery attempt notice, never went to PO to collect it, or called to arrange a redelivery. and now I have a fresh INR in my stats. I guess its my fault that one cant collect the item? 

this is getting better and better.......

[mam98031]

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@admart_786 wrote:

I got this email from ebay "Upon evaluation of your recent transactions, we noticed that the INR% (item not received rate) of your eBay account is "extremely bad" level. Pursuant to our eBay user agreement and eBay policies, we regret to inform you that your eBay account will be restricted."
Can any please tell me is my account permanently suspended or is there any chance to get my account back? 

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@admart_786 

Restricted and suspended are NOT the same thing.  Sounds like you got in trouble with the Service Metrics.

Restricted means you can still do certain things with your account and you can still make sales, none of which you can do if you are suspended.

I can see from your feedback that you have had a good amount of trouble either shipping on time.   Were you drop shipping and your supplier was not shipping very fast?  

I see you aren't participating in the thread you started.  Many of us would be happy to help, but we need you to participate too.

[lacemaker3]

@sharp.shooter.ser 

Why did you send that item with a signature requirement? That was not necessary based on the value of the package, and as you now know, if can interfere with the delivery and make the buyer dissatisfied. I have had this happen with international deliveries, if the sender chose "registered mail", and it's very inconvenient.

However, if this was sent by mail to the USA, then the buyer was correct that the item should have been delivered. The USPS notice has a space where the buyer can sign the notice, then leave it in their mail box, and the signature on the notice is supposed to be the required signature. The mail carrier is supposed to deliver the package on the next business day.

This would be a good reason not to use signature required on packages that don't need it.

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@sharp.shooter.ser wrote:

here is a new one 🙂 and guess what, it will most likely be counted in INR stats.

Buyer misunderstood and signed the delivery attempt notice, never went to PO to collect it, or called to arrange a redelivery. and now I have a fresh INR in my stats. I guess its my fault that one cant collect the item? 

this is getting better and better.......

---

[sharp.shooter.ser]

Thanks for the 411 guys. My account is restricted, to US and Canada corridor. 

I am not dropshipping, I produce the stuff I sell. And I ship items within one day of the payment received, although I state two (to be on the safe side).

I had no idea that the one can sign a delivery attempt notice and that its considered signed. Its good to know in the future (if I ever get back to sales).

I can use only registered mail that requires signature (no way to opt out of it), since I am not in the US, for exporting items (I am not a private individual, but an entrepreneur) and I cant send them as a private individual with unregistered (and untracked mail) since Customs regulations forbid it. Using couriers is out of the question due to price of the shipping being double the price of the item itself, and quadruple of the price of the registered mail at least.

Up until February 2023 US Customs office was processing the items sent to US within a day or two. And from that point on, almost all mail I've sent was into Customs clearance for at least 10 days (other sellers from here have the same problem) - why they changed their processing time I do not know, but I know I cant make any impact there, and its not counted towards transit time per eBay or Postal policies (I even warn about it in my listings description).

And this last guy that opened INR this morning (for me) left a positive 🙂

[sharp.shooter.ser]

now I am trying to fix this with cs.

I went further with research, the report in metrics, which I believe caused the restriction. While several were not counted (with various reasons and types of outcomes) others, with same type of situation, were, and that where I believe should be worked on - having them not counted.

5300334183 - item was stuck in Customs - not counted.

5304387520 - item was delivered - not counted.

5311674854 - item was delivered 7 days later than estimated, decided in my favor- not counted.

5314747732 - no further case activity after system showed delivery - not counted.

5314186189 - item was stuck in Customs - not counted.

5314833627 - no further case activity after system showed delivery - not counted.

5316214866 - item was stuck in Customs - not counted.

5316419571 - item was delivered 7 days later than estimated, reversed in my favor- not counted.

5305668770 - it wasnt counted, buyer just asked a question.

5315207423 - counted, it was delivered late, but it was refunded by me and I couldnt escalate it. buyer never paid it back

(no prnt scrn for this two)

5305759892 - counted - no further case activity after system showed delivery (like 5304387520 which wasnt counted).

5305583899 - counted - no further case activity after system showed delivery

5309980845 - counted - buyer closed it because of delivery

5314944744 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, closed in my favor (like 5300334183)

5314743683 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor (like 5314186189)

5313851042 and 5313850849 (same buyer) - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor

5313895047 - counted - buyer closed it after picking it up in PO, which he first refused to do(although he is supposed to do it per Policies)

5313970283 - counted - no further case activity after system showed delivery

5315460696 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor

5314469515 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor

5315892136 - counted - buyer closed it because of delivery, after being stuck in Customs

5315710124 - counted - no further case activity after system showed delivery

5315529999 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor

5316026762 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor

5316571377 - counted - item was stuck in Customs, reversed in my favor

5318749785 - counted - decision reversed, since I provided proof of delivery, but item was stuck in Customs

5318558717 - counted - closed in my favor

5318586776 - counted - buyer closed it because of delivery, after being stuck in Customs

5319878620 - counted - closed in my favor since it was delivered prior to opening INR.

5318614240 - counted - I was not found at fault, stuck in Customs (weird message though, saying I should ship faster, and item was purchased on Sunday 28th and shipped on Monday 29th???)

[mam98031]

@lacemaker3 

The OP said the buyer requested it. 

The email by the buyer's admission was a problem with the carrier not re-delivering the item.  That could have been that the buyer didn't understand that signing to have the item re-delivered doesn't mean they are signing for the item.  And the carrier may have tried to re-deliver as the buyer asked, but no one was there to sign.  Likely some confusion with the process.

[mam98031]

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@sharp.shooter.ser wrote:

Thanks for the 411 guys. My account is restricted, to US and Canada corridor. 

I am not dropshipping, I produce the stuff I sell. And I ship items within one day of the payment received, although I state two (to be on the safe side).

I had no idea that the one can sign a delivery attempt notice and that its considered signed. Its good to know in the future (if I ever get back to sales).

I can use only registered mail that requires signature (no way to opt out of it), since I am not in the US, for exporting items (I am not a private individual, but an entrepreneur) and I cant send them as a private individual with unregistered (and untracked mail) since Customs regulations forbid it. Using couriers is out of the question due to price of the shipping being double the price of the item itself, and quadruple of the price of the registered mail at least.

Up until February 2023 US Customs office was processing the items sent to US within a day or two. And from that point on, almost all mail I've sent was into Customs clearance for at least 10 days (other sellers from here have the same problem) - why they changed their processing time I do not know, but I know I cant make any impact there, and its not counted towards transit time per eBay or Postal policies (I even warn about it in my listings description).

And this last guy that opened INR this morning (for me) left a positive 🙂

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It isn't.  I think your buyer just assumed that.