VERO must reply to your inquiry within 5 days? True or False

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I had a VERO not too long ago & contacted the rights owner to ask some questions.  I was advised by an Ebay CSR that the rights owner had 5 days to get back to me & if they didn't, then Ebay would remove the VERO strike from my account.    

I figured I had nothing to lose in contacting them b/c I was fairly certain they wouldn't get back to me within 5 days & sure enough they didn't.   I'm not concerned about the VERO, it was resolved a long time ago, but when I spoke to Ebay yesterday about another matter, I asked about how to get it taken off b/c of the 5 day response thing.  I wondered what info I had to provide.   This other CSR re-iterated the 5 day rule & gave me an email address to contact Ebay's Vero Dept to see what they needed.  

Well, surprise surprise, Ebay's VERO Dept responded to me quickly & apologized for the misinformation I was given but said there was no such 5 day rule.  Period.  Does. Not. Exist.   

Just wondering what others' understanding is?  I have heard the 5 day thing many times over the years & pretty sure I even posted it here myself, b/c it was told to me by a CSR.   I should have known better 😐

Has anyone else run into this?  I'm inclined to believe the VERO dept, but to have 2 different CSR's tell me of the same rule, months apart, I'm just not sure what to believe.   I typically know not to believe the CSR's, but this is so oft-repeated, that I made the mistake of believing them.   Never again.  

[m60driver]

I have never heard of any 5 day rule.  My understanding is that you can contact a company and then they can get back to Ebay to remove the VERO violation if they choose to do so but that as a seller you can do nothing.

[slippinjimmy · Accepted solution]

I know about the "5 day rule".....

It is not as simple as you think AND it's actually a 10 day rule.

Step 1 - You have to file an official counter-notice and submit it to eBay

Step 2 - eBay forwards the counter-notice to the to whomever filed the claim

Step 3 - The complainant can initiate a court action and notify eBay or not

Step 4 - If the complainant does not respond within 10 days eBay will re-instate your listing.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/selling-policies/vero-policy?id=4349

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@slippinjimmy  Ahhh, thank you so much!   That explains a lot!  

It's not that I thought it was this simple, that's what 2 different CSR's told me.   I was actually shocked it was that easy!   That's why I called them to back to say  'ok, what do you need for me to prove it'?    Your answer explains a lot.  It sounds like it was rooted in some truth, but probably became some version of the telephone game when the CSR's were trained on it.    

I do appreciate knowing the actual steps, thanks for taking the time!

[albertabrightalberta]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

I know about the "5 day rule".....

It is not as simple as you think AND it's actually a 10 day rule.

Step 1 - You have to file an official counter-notice and submit it to eBay

Step 2 - eBay forwards the counter-notice to the to whomever filed the claim

Step 3 - The complainant can initiate a court action and notify eBay or not

Step 4 - If the complainant does not respond within 10 days eBay will re-instate your listing.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/selling-policies/vero-policy?id=4349

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@simply-the-best-for-you 

Although the law on responses to counter notices is  10 days, you may have to actually show ebay the law.  If you get an employee or CSR who isn't fully cognizant of DMCA/VeRO and the requirements of both sides, they might deny you reinstatement of the listing.

[bbravo65]

...for my VERO case back in 2016, it took 13 days total...

[luckythewinner]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

Just wondering what others' understanding is?  I have heard the 5 day thing many times over the years & pretty sure I even posted it here myself, b/c it was told to me by a CSR.     

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The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a law that spells out the steps that eBay must take in order for eBay to be shielded from liability for Intellectual Property (IP) violations by eBay users. This liability shield is referred to as "safe harbor" protection. 

It is important to understand that the DMCA does not require eBay to do anything. It simply offers eBay safe harbor protection if eBay satisfies certain conditions. 

When an IP rights owner files a Notice of Claimed Infringement (NOCI) over an eBay listing, eBay can retain its safe harbor protection as long as eBay promptly removes the listing and informs the seller that there was a complaint. 

If the seller chooses challenges the NOCI by filing a Counter-Notice, under the DMCA the IP rights owner has 10 days to inform eBay that it has begun legal proceedings against the seller. If the IP owner does not do that, eBay is permitted (but not required) to restore the allegedly infringing content while still retaining its safe harbor protection.

Note that the discussion above is all about helping eBay receive safe harbor protection. There is nothing in the DMCA or the VERO program that promises anything to the seller. 

[inhawaii]

You mean i don't respond to the email address ebay provides to me  if i have any questions?

Why provide it to me in the first place?

My last one was someone at Jack Daniels.

That email went unanswered.

[slippinjimmy]

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@inhawaii wrote:

You mean i don't respond to the email address ebay provides to me  if i have any questions?

Why provide it to me in the first place?

My last one was someone at Jack Daniels.

That email went unanswered.

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Of course you contact them, if the takedown is truly erroneous it's a lot simpler to work out a retraction. If they don't want to listen then you file the counter-notice if you are sure you are in the right.

I've had quite a few Vero takedowns over the years, the vast majority were legit claims, the rest were over such minor items it would not be worth the time or effort to fight them so I've never gone the counter-notice route.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@inhawaii wrote:

You mean i don't respond to the email address ebay provides to me  if i have any questions?

Why provide it to me in the first place?

My last one was someone at Jack Daniels.

That email went unanswered.

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If a removal is the result of a VeRO report, a response (from you) must be to the contact information on the VeRO takedown message. 

Ebay can't reinstate a VeRO removal without either the VeRO rep letting ebay know that the listing is now reinstatable (is that even a word?) or unless the VeRO rep didn't respond to the counter notice. 

[d-k_treasures]

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@inhawaii wrote:

You mean i don't respond to the email address ebay provides to me  if i have any questions?

Why provide it to me in the first place?

My last one was someone at Jack Daniels.

That email went unanswered.

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Jack Daniels?

VeRO is Verified Rights Owner, not Very Rowdy and Obnoxious drunk ...... 🙂

** Sorry, emojis do not come up in Chrome on this page.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Thank you everyone for explaining it better!  

Now that I have the email for VERO directly, I'll use it if I ever have a question about receiving one.  Obviously, the CSR's have no idea what they're talking about (what's new). 

Hopefully, I won't have another occasion to contact them.  

[km181177]

I responded to a VERO notice a week ago and never heard back from them.  By responding I mean sending an email to the address that ebay provided.   What is this counter-notice mentioned above?  Is this something I need to submit?