any options for an occasional buyer who was permanently suspended

[lasantino]

Hi, i'm posting this to ask for advice.  A friend of a friend who is only an occasion buyer received a notice from ebay saying their account has been permanently suspended  for activity that may put our community as risk.

The buyer read me all communication they made within ebay.   They did give out their phone number.   Which I told them was what most likely got them in trouble.   

If that is the only thing that they did, is there any way for them to get unsuspended?  They already contacted ebay using the chat , and call me back option.    The representative read the same message and said the issue can't be appealed.

any suggestions?   

[lasantino]

I have confirmed with the buyer that the ebay transaction that  was associated with messages that she sent her phone number to the seller,   the transaction was completed on ebay and shipping was handled through ebay.  

I can't imagine that ebay would suspend a buyer indefinitely with no option to appeal for simply exchanging contact info.  please advise.

[ten_o_nine]

I think there is more to the story, did they receive a warning before the suspension? Or just one transaction followed by a suspension.

[buyselljack2016]

not sure that just a phone # would cause a issue.   I assume that that was done before the sale, but thought the bots blocked that. of course it can be sneaked

Phone # after should not be an issue.

I get the phone # of all my buyers right in the "details" of the sale

[12345jamesstamps]

Sounds like spam....I get those every day.

The email usually starts out as "Dear.....".

[maxine*j]

Takes a lot for eBay to permanently suspend an account used only for buying.  There is much more to this story.  As for suggestions, mine is for you to just stay out of this friend of a friend's problem.

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[lasantino]

ha ha,   yeah,  that was my first inclination.   I just thought I would see if anyone had any insight.   I agree, ebay rarely suspends buyers without a warning.    

Ok, a little more info,  it's more than a friend of a friend.  Its my sister.  she lives in another state and rarely uses ebay.  she called me to ask what could have happened.     I don't want to call ebay on her behalf becuase our accounts have nothing to do with eachother.  I've heard nightmare stores about two accounts getting linked eroneiously.      I told her this and she completely understands.  I just thought i'd come post the question on our seller boards.. 

Anyway,   my sister confirmed she never got any warning.  

[simba6]

I can't help with that however, do not log into their account from your computer.  That will link you to their account and you too will be suspended.  Just a warning.

[lasantino]

Yes, i'm very aware of that. I don't  have access to her account. 

Had it been anyone else, I would have assumed there was more to the story, but she has read me every message she has sent and double checked to see if she had any warnings from ebay in the past..   nothing.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@lasantino wrote:

I have confirmed with the buyer that the ebay transaction that  was associated with messages that she sent her phone number to the seller,   the transaction was completed on ebay and shipping was handled through ebay.  

I can't imagine that ebay would suspend a buyer indefinitely with no option to appeal for simply exchanging contact info.  please advise.

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Although it is a policy violation for buyers and sellers to share contact info prior to the sale, it is plenty rare for a buyer-only member to lose their privileges, as has been mentioned. But a first offense might (emphasis on ‘might’) get a one- or perhaps three-day suspension, depending on how serious the circumstances are. But doubtful to receive a sudden life-long ban with no appeal and no warning. 

I suppose someone could have hacked into her account, though any fraudulent activity could have been seen by her in her My eBay. I’d say it is more likely that her account was linked with a restricted one and it got her shut down with no recourse. That does happen. What did the eBay message informing her of the permanent restriction say exactly? Did it give a reason?

Any possibility that your sister allowed a boyfriend, or someone else, access to her computer or use her eBay account?

[janet9988]

If the buyer was suspended for this then I assume the seller was also perm suspended?

[lasantino]

I have no idea.     

[lasantino]

Shes married with children.      I'll call her and find out her answer to your question.

[lasantino]

 @fashunu4eeuh   

of  heres additionaly information...

as I stated previously,   She is a very occasional buyer.  

so just now, I asked her if she ever had anyone log into her account.  She said no. 

I asked her to read all messages and notices in her ebay messages..

She then said, well I had to create a new account on Jan 10 , because when i tried to log in using my old account, the message said, Invalid login or invalid account.

I told her to go and check her email associated with her old account.

She doesn't check that email often.   So she then finds an email from june 2022 that says something to the effect of,  your account has been inactive for an extended ammount of time, in order to protect your personal information we are deleting your account "..

so fast forward to jan 10 2024, she attempted to log in to her account( the one that apparently had been deleted by ebay in june of 2022 due to inactivity) . When she couldn't log in,  she created a new account. 

She then commenced searching for the item she had wanted to purchase.    She made the purchase on jan 10 2024.    on jan 12 2024.. she received the message from ebay stating her account was suspended.

Is it possible that ebay suspended her account because she used to have an account that was deactived by ebay..??   there was nothing nefarious in the message she just found in her old email account from jun 2022.    

[fashunu4eeuh]

”…Is it possible that ebay suspended her account because she used to have an account that was deactived by ebay..??   there was nothing nefarious in the message she just found in her old email account from jun 2022.”

Hi @lasantino …hmmm, i would not think so. It really doesn’t make any sense, does it?

eBay does worry about inactive accounts getting hacked by those who would defraud members on the back of a legitimate user. But I did not realize they were shutting down less-used accounts. 

My suggestion is to reach out to the well-trained CS reps on eBay’s social media accounts on Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter). They have some authority to actually help. I am wondering if eBay hasn’t made a mistake and banned your sister’s account in error.

If i can think of anything else, will post it. Hopefully other posters will come along with better insight. Good luck to you, and tell your sister so sorry this happened to her.