mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@dbdataplus wrote:Well that was going to be my question - everyone threatens suits over ever possible motive - I was interested to see which subjects are getting traction.
I've long discounted customer service - they have none, don't give any, don't want to deal with it - so I was wondering what complaints actually get traction
Traction here or traction in a court of law?
@itsjustasprain wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
The Steiner's lawsuit nor the EPA is not a class action.
Given the jail terms issued I think the Steiner case was a criminal one - right? Not a civil case?
No it isn't. The criminal cases were against the individuals that performed these outrageous deeds. They were all convicted and most did or are serving jail time. Like I said, this all happened close to 6 years ago.
The remaining case is a Civil Suit by the Steiner's against Ebay.
@mam98031 wrote:No it isn't. The criminal cases were against the individuals that performed these outrageous deeds. They were all convicted and most did or are serving jail time. Like I said, this all happened close to 6 years ago.
The remaining case is a Civil Suit by the Steiner's against Ebay.
@mam98031 that's not entirely accurate and I'm surprised you would say that since I know you have followed the case.
The Steiners' civil suit named the following defendants:
The 7 security personnel who pleaded guilty in the criminal cases:
Senior Security Director Jim Baugh
Director of Global Resiliency David Harville
Security Manager Philip Cooke
Senior Manager Special Operations Brian Gilbert
Senior Manager Global Intelligence Stephanie Popp
Global Intelligence Manager Stephanie Stockwell
Contracted Security Analyst Veronica Zea
It also named eBay Inc. and Progressive Force Concepts (PFC), which is the contractor eBay was using at the time and which was technically the employer for Veronica Zea.
And it also named ex CEO Devin Wenig, ex Communications Chief Steve Wymer, and ex SVP Global Operations Wendy Jones.
The lawsuit seeks compensation apportioned out to each and every one of the 12 defendants, so no it is not just against eBay.
This was the original breakdown of what the Steiners were claiming, though the amount has been whittled down to ~$500M total now because some of the punitive damage claims were not allowed to move forward.
That number could go down to ~$300M if recent developments are allowed to stand - the Steiners have struck a deal with Jim Baugh to release him from the lawsuit (for which they sought $200M just from him) in exchange for him testifying against Wenig, Wymer, and Jones.
Wenig, Wymer, Jones, eBay, and PFC are of course opposed to that idea and are arguing the court should not accept that deal - or if the court does accept it, that the judge should at least allow additional time for depositions and discovery and lift the protective order preventing anyone from asking questions about Baugh's purported past work for the CIA and FBI.
It's all still up in the air so it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Also to be clear - there was a criminal case against eBay as well, not just the security personnel.
The DOJ brought criminal charges against the company (separate from and in addition to charges against the individual security personnel) which were deferred with an agreement in which eBay (the company) admitted to a detailed recitation of all the relevant facts involving six felony offenses, paid the maximum criminal penalty of $3M (none of which went to the Steiners) and agreed to undergo 3 years of enhanced compliance monitoring in order to avoid those criminal charges against the company going forward.
@regg1275 wrote:It would be easy for eBay to tell you what your selling cost would be if you sold your item right there on the listing. It would be easy for them to tell you that if you promoted it it would cost an extra set and tell you how much that would be. But these fees were hidden until you sell the idle they don't tell you. They will get in trouble for that. Many other companies have.
Name one fee that is "hidden".
Selling fees are covered on the policy pages for Seller Fees. Sure a seller has to read the page to see it, but then that is the responsibility of the seller. So it is clear as day what the selling rates are for sellers when they sell something.
How in the world can Promotional Fees be "hidden"?? The SELLER sets that rate. So how is it "hidden"?
Not sure what trouble you think Ebay can get into for being transparent about the fees they charge. The total fees are shown on the Order as well when a seller sells something. Also on the Payments Summary page the details of recent ins and outs of the sellers managed payment account is shown on the right side of the screen.
Why is it that you can't see the fees you are charged? Specifically what fees are what you consider hidden to you?
@regg1275 wrote:I found one on Google that settled for 95,000 about listing fees being not up front. They settled it did not go to court. The lawyer got 30,000 the person that sued got $65,000.
It would have cost far more to go to court over that lawsuit in 2013 than it would to settle it.
It isn't an admission of guilt or wrong doing. Just as all kinds of suits that are resolve out of court.
