eBay

lasantino · ‎02-19-2019

trinton@ebay .. do you have any word on when and if ebay plans to correct this??

@Anonymous

I'm reposting this , because It is a major problem and I think more sellers will see it here.! Has anyone talked to customer service lately about this? has there been any hint that they realize it's screwed up??please post if you have been assessed the additional 4% final value fees recently?..

the new service metrics system is majorly flawed. the system penalizes sellers even when the situation is clear that the seller had no way to do anything differently.. sellers have complied with everything ebay has instructed us to do(with the promise of never being penalized, if we handled the returns) and now we are being penalized.

The penalty for going above the return threshold is a 4% additional final value fee (around a 40% fee increase in many categories). Therefore, allowing accidentally inaccurate or even intentionally false reasons for return by buyers looking to recoup a few shipping dollars to count against the service metric could be quite costly to sellers who provide a top rated experience.

Example 1: A buyer recently opened a return for a pair of eyeglasses frames, as “item doesn’t work/defective”. In her return notes, she stated that the “Frames were darling, but were too small to fit my prescription.” The return was automatically accepted and the buyer received a full refund, even though the original shipping technically should not be refunded.

Example 2: A buyer opened a return for a high end business suit, as “Wrong Item Sent”. In the return notes, the buyer stated “You sent 58 not a 54, please refund my money and shipping”. The listing photo and descriptions clearly showed that the suit was size 58. The return was automatically accepted and the buyer will receive a full refund once the item arrives, even though the original shipping technically should not be refunded.

In both instances eBay anchor support was contacted to inquire about the affect of the questionable returns on the new service metric. In both cases the customer service representatives informed me that while they agreed that the returns were both opened incorrectly and should have been ‘buyer remorse' returns, the incorrect defect on the service metrics could not be reversed.

If this is allowed to continue, it is quite possible that these false returns could cause a significant increase in final value fees for sellers who provide a top rated experience, and by no fault of the seller. It would be grossly unethical for eBay to make a profit off honest sellers due to buyer dishonesty, negligence or ignorance.

It is quite obvious that a defect appeal system needs to work hand in hand with the new service metrics system, in order to assure that quality sellers are not needlessly penalized.

ittybitnot · ‎02-19-2019

If this is allowed to continue, it is quite possible that these false returns could cause a significant increase in final value fees for sellers who provide a top rated experience, and by no fault of the seller. It would be grossly unethical for eBay to make a profit off honest sellers due to buyer dishonesty, negligence or ignorance.

I am not Trinton, but I think this was the plan all along and it is 'working as intended' for ebay. For sellers, not so much.

huet1 · ‎02-19-2019

This is not an error or glitch. The system was designed to work this way in order to maximize Ebay profits (at our cost!).

It was clear that the books owned the home rather than the other way about. Everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat, breeding and multiplying and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down. ~ Agatha Christie ~

mczombies · ‎02-19-2019

Oh, I see now....

You are still under the impression that you are dealing with a fair and trustworthy partner. You still believe that eBay has your best interests at heart, and might be concerned with how their sellers are faring on their platform. You probably also believe them when they send out a new policy or update that starts with, "Good news for sellers....."

You sweet and naive little darling--it is sellers like yourself that eBay delights in exploiting. I was once also a wide-eyed innocent--unquestionably following every suggestion and piece of advice that eBay gave me. Believing wholeheartedly that they were looking out for me, and that they were concerned with my success. Only after I had been burned so many times that it was actually painful to log into my account, did I realize that the only interests eBay cares about is the salaries of the CEO's and their shareholders.

If you have been selling here for any amount of time--you will soon notice that you are being bled dry. And what used to be the coolest site on the net--and still could be if management would pull their heads out--now is simply a joke. Run amok with thieves, liars, fraud, international rule breakers and rip-offs, and has simply turned into a Corporate machine. Concerned with only the 1% at the top, and robbing the workers blind. The new "service metrics" scam is just another way for eBay to pull more of your hard earned money out of your pockets.

They are fully aware of the disgusting and horrible way that they are treating the sellers here, they know that this new policy will only hurt sellers, and that it is completely unfair and also very RANDOM--some sellers will get lucky, others will be unlucky--and that by not allowing us to fight the unfair returns, eventually a whole lot of sellers that don't deserve it, will be trapped into the high returns extra fees. They know all that, but they just don't care. Straight up--they want that money, and they are going for it. No matter how it makes this platform look, no matter how much it damages the reputation of eBay, no matter how much it hurts their sellers, and no matter how much these policies attract bottom feeders and scammers--they just don't care. It's only about the money now--there is no pride, no protection, and no hiding their disgust for us anymore. As it is blatant, and in our faces now--and basically they are saying either bend until you break, or go away.

And one more thing.....any time you see a message or update that states, "Good news for sellers....." you can guarantee that whatever it is will NOT be good news....not by a long shot.

go-bad-chicken · ‎02-19-2019

@lasantino wrote:
trinton@ebay .. do you have any word on when and if ebay plans to correct this??
@Anonymous

"............. the incorrect defect on the service metrics could not be reversed.

If this is allowed to continue, it is quite possible that these false returns could cause a significant increase in final value fees for sellers who provide a top rated experience, and by no fault of the seller. It would be grossly unethical for eBay to make a profit off honest sellers due to buyer dishonesty, negligence or ignorance.

It is quite obvious that a defect appeal system needs to work hand in hand with the new service metrics system, in order to assure that quality sellers are not needlessly penalized."

THIS IS NOT AN OVERSIGHT on eBay's part!

This is by design and is working; as it was intended to from it's inception.

the-seam-store · ‎03-01-2019

Glad to see my post is getting some traction. Keep it going. This is a big issue.

autopiacarcare · ‎03-01-2019

If you believe eBay has any interest in being "fair" about the Service Metrics, I'm sorry to burst your bubble. We recently had a situation where we were being targeted by fraudulent returns. I won't get too deeply into it here, but you can read the whole thread for more info: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Targeted-By-Malicious-Buyer-False-Returns/m-p/29512410#M137183...

The basic gist of it is that we had multiple cases that that were falsely claimed as NAD and then the buyer provided falsified tracking numbers to get refunds without ever returning anything to us. I was able to get CS to see what was going on, they reversed the cases, gave us our money back and applied seller protections in the form of removing the "unresolved case" defects from our account.

However, when I asked about also having them removed from our Service Metrics, I was given the run around and basically told "too bad". Those cases are still being counted in our Service Metrics and there's nothing we can do except hope that we can stay out of the "very high" range until they fall off of the time period being looked at.

dentalsales4u · ‎03-01-2019

I was told we all get them, so it will work out in the end!
Right, for eBay maybe, but not the seller....IMHO

vintagedragonfly61 · ‎05-09-2019

I'm dealing with this right now and I think its a way for ebay to get more money. I work hard, hustle and take pride in my store and what I sell, this is what got me Top Rated Plus. Now to lose this due to the unfair service metrics and then pay 4% extra........... if it comes down to me having to pay more money for something that is out of my control....I'll close up my store.

mam98031 · ‎05-09-2019

@vintagedragonfly61 wrote:
I'm dealing with this right now and I think its a way for ebay to get more money. I work hard, hustle and take pride in my store and what I sell, this is what got me Top Rated Plus. Now to lose this due to the unfair service metrics and then pay 4% extra........... if it comes down to me having to pay more money for something that is out of my control....I'll close up my store.

@vintagedragonfly61

You are talking about a couple different things here.

Your TRS selling status nor your TRS+ listing status has ANYTHING to do with the Service Metrics. These are completely different things.

If you are having some problems with the Service Metrics, this is based on how many SNADs you have had in your eval period [12 months of 3 months].

Could you be a little more specific about what your issue is please.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

vintagedragonfly61 · ‎05-09-2019

My Service Metrics is up to 1.37% which is high, due to 1@ Not as described, 1@ not authentic, 1@ not working/defective and now I will have another Not working/defective against me. I called ebay about the first defective item which the buyer broke, and was told ebay couldn't change it, now a buyer claimed item not working/defective, but buyer stated that she didn't like the top. From what I understand, once you get to Very high on the Service metrics you lose Top Rated Plus and are charge 4% more.

mam98031 · ‎05-10-2019

@vintagedragonfly61 wrote:
My Service Metrics is up to 1.37% which is high, due to 1@ Not as described, 1@ not authentic, 1@ not working/defective and now I will have another Not working/defective against me. I called ebay about the first defective item which the buyer broke, and was told ebay couldn't change it, now a buyer claimed item not working/defective, but buyer stated that she didn't like the top. From what I understand, once you get to Very high on the Service metrics you lose Top Rated Plus and are charge 4% more.

So far you are fine. You must have a minimum of 10 SNADs in a single category BEFORE the Service Metrics will apply to you. So for now you are fine.

I'm going to give you some links below. Make sure you read through them a few times and get a good understanding on how these things work so you are more able to best defend your account from getting into trouble.

The first link will be on The Service Metrics itself. The second is the Spring Seller Update. In that you need to read up on the new Seller Protections offered by Ebay. And when you get one of these problematic SNADs that you feel you have enough proof to determine that the buyer is in the wrong, FILE a report against them.

The CSRs you spoke with are correct that on the ones you have right now they can't be removed. But with the Spring Update, if we file the report a buyer to Ebay and it is determined that the SNAD was not properly executed in good faith from the buyer, Ebay WILL remove the SNAD from your Service Metrics numbers amount other things. And this is HUGE. So important for sellers.

However you still must process the Return Request the buyer filed. You can only file the reports AFTER you have finished the SNAD with the buyer.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy/service-metrics-policy...

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2019-spring/index.html

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

variety_nook · ‎05-10-2019

Yet here you are after almost 4 years. Yaaaaay Zombie!!!

threshold.sales.group · ‎05-10-2019

IIRC, just reporting the buyers individual SNAD claim will not have any effect or relief. The buyer must be deemed "abusive", which will require a track record of who knows how many reports? So yes, reporting by sellers is important to establish history, but as I understand the "new" program they still are not going to be judging single cases of abuse. If it tips the abuser over the supposed scale yes, but as far as the current,single transaction for any seller goes, there remains no genuine protection from fraud or abuse at all.