Ask yourself what 'special' qualifications do any of the CSR types hold, whether they are in foriegn or domestic call centers. These are basically unskilled positions, filled by folks with limited education receiving the least amount of compensation eBay can get away with paying. These aren't people with MBAs. They don't want to rock the boat. They rely on the income from eBay to feed their families. They are likely receive feedback on their performance as to how well they have fit in to the guidlines eBay has set out for them. Call it CSR Performance Metrics. They won't understand these and will only keep doing exactly as they are told to do by their supervisors (yes, supervisors--these are the people who are never around when you ask to speak with them because they are too busy making sure the CSR doesnt say anything that isn't in line with eBay policy and trying to figure out what 'CSR Performance Metrics' means) to keep receiving a paycheck.
As an example, the CSR ususally won't know or understand what Seller Service Metrics means (normal people call these statistics) and they certainly will not have the ability to describe how they work and affect you as a seller--I've taken courses in statistics at the under and post graduate levels and would have difficulty making sense of it--statistics can be manipulated very easily to attain an outcome, but I digress. They have received minimal training and likely refer to an online guidebook or help database in almost all of their cases--"these metrics are provided by eBay to help every seller become better at providing quality service to valued buyers". This would be the answer no matter how many times you rephrased the question or attempted to find a different response by using e-mail/Twitter/Facebook queries. Do you think that when they put you on hold that they are conducting an emergency meeting with fellow co-workers or supervisors to help find a solution for you? The answer is no. They are using a search tool with keywords taken from the conversation they have had with you up to that point "customer is angry that I cannot answer his or her question about service metrics". They will then supply you with the imformation that pops up on their screen.--"I can understand that you are frustrated and will pass on this information to the related department". At this point, most reasonable people will know that they are wasting their time. They wil know that in the future that the eBay CSR has limited or no (almost always) ability to a) make changes specific to your account or b) provide you with a reasonable workable solution or c) provide an answer to your question that any other reasonably well informed person could.
However, some will continue to persist in their efforts to get an answer that satsifies them--an exercise in futility IMO. This is when the eBay CSR launches the all purpose WMD. They will say in no uncertain terms that they "cannot change things on the computer, wish they could be of more help and hope you have a great day/night/weekend/metltdown". When you hear them utter something to this effect, hang up the phone and take 10 deep breaths and say to yourself , “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.
mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
