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Back in prehistoric times, bosses worried that workers were using the office Internet connection to look at pornography. After that it was Amazon.com. Now it's eBay and the other auction sites.
Walk through any office around 8:30 a.m. and everyone's logged on and ready for another day. Only thing is, instead of reading the CEO's latest rantings, they're buying antique waffle irons on eBay and selling some left-over parts from that old Studebaker out in the back yard.
The whole thing works more or less on the honor system, which is pretty much how speed limits work. Our suspicion has been that if you held up a radar gun, you'd find a lot of people speeding -- and a lot of others (or maybe the same ones) not coming through with the merch.
Here are a few of the more recent complaints we've received:
George of Akron OH (06/29/08)
I have been bidding on an item which I believe is receiving hidden shill bidding from eBay. All throughout this series of bids that I placed I remained listed as the highest bidder for the item. I began bidding on this item earlier today and noticed, a few minutes after entering my bid, that the maximum bid have moved higher to the exact figure of my own maximum bid. I then raised my bid at least twice more and each time the maximum bid increased to exactly what my own highest bid was. I believe that what I have described is a result of eBay raising the item price to the same amount as my highest bid.
The price for the item in question is now at least $20.00 more than it should have been.
Liz of Carrollton OH (06/27/08)
Their newest gimmick of authorizing buyers to leave negative, with sellers' unable to respond in kind. Since the inception of their new feedback policy, our account has received ten negatives, had numerous demands for refunds and returns, despite absolutely no reason. Items were as described, and a not return policy was stated.
One woman demanded a refund because the shoes that she purchased squeaked. Another didn't like the book, turned out to be a book dealer that could not make the profit she wanted, and returned a 50-year-old book damaged. Both got their money back. Another from out of country filed a non-receipt, got $200.00 back even though eBay had the customs form, the receipt from the post office. Another buyer filed a complaint for non-receipt of a book less than a week after the end of auction.
Too much time is now taken up on refunds and returns and complaints. What used to be a 99% feedback is now on its way down. Time is money. Someone needs to come up with some competition for eBay.
Jacquelyn of Tucson AZ (06/27/08)
Recently, I listed my vehicle for sale on Ebay. The person that won my auction, lied to me incessantly, never paid for the vehicle, then left derogatory racial remarks in my Ebay feedback. Since this person never paid for the vehicle, I was forced to relist it on Ebay and pay to relist it for auction again. This person's negative, racist feedback affected my new auction, and the vehicle was unable to sell. It is against Ebay policy for anyone to use to words SCAM ARTIST in their feedback, and to also make racial remarks. This person did both.
I emailed Ebay customer support numerous times requesting that this feedback be removed and they refused to remove it even though it violates Ebay policy. Also, Ebay will allow buyers to leave negative feedback about sellers, but sellers are only allowed to leave positive feedback about buyers. I left negative feedback for this buyer, and Ebay suspended my account and is refusing to let me access my account.
I lost $5000.00 that I was supposed to receive for my vehicle auction. I was in the process of exchanging emails with different buyers for the purchase of my car, but Ebay canceled my account and I am unable to contact these buyers now. I had to pay another $50 to relist my vehicle because the original buyer never paid for the auction he won. Ebay was my only source of income and now I have been living in a state of extreme poverty because Ebay has refused to take action against this buyer that violated Ebay policy, but they are taking every action they can against me, and I haven't done anything wrong.
Tanya of Washington DC (06/27/08)
I purchased a Gucci bag on e-bay that was listed as 100% authentic. The first day that I wore the bag the strap broke and the metal pin fell out. I took it to a Gucci store , and they said to send it to the cooperate office because it looked fake. I sent the bag to Gucci headquarters and they informed me that the bag is not Gucci . I have tried several times to contact the seller as well as e-bay and they refuse to respond.
I am out money that I paid for a Gucci bag that is not authentic.
Henry of Hacienda Hts CA (06/19/08)
Ebay has blocked my account for no valid reason. After several emails that have gone with NO REPLY on their behalf and several SO CALLED LIVE HELP sessions (which is a joke), I feel that EBAY must be held accountable and one should be able to contact a real person via telephone. All their phone numbers have no value since you are given a recording on HOW to complain online to CUSTOMER SERVICE.
1) NOT ABLE TO BID ON ITEMS 2) NOT ABLE TO SELL ITEMS WHICH DOES LIMIT MY ECONOMIC STATUS.
Amy of El Dorado Hills CA (06/14/08)
I purchased a washer/dryer from this woman via E-bay/Paypal. We authorized payment of $1,330 and never recieved the items. Beacuse we paid through Paypal, Ebay has directed us to use Paypal for complaint. Paypal is saying that we are only covered up to $200 beacuse she didn't have a feedback rating of at least 50. So, where does the responsibilty fall? Based on our research we are out $1,130. Does this seem fair? Shouldn't the scammer be held accountable?
Stress, financial, feeling taken advantage of, helpless, strife between me and my husband.
Stephanie of Bryson City NC (06/11/08)
I trying to sell items on e-bay and last 2 days they keep pulling my item saying it trademake violation.I look other people are selling same as me and wording there item just like I did but there items are not being pull.Yea Iam still getting bill even with my items pull. I feel like because Iam not power seller Iam being discriminate I need help
I lost my job and Iam trying to sell items to make ends meet because I take care of my mother who is sick
Dp of New York NY (06/06/08)
I purchase DeLonghi PAC-360 Pinguino Portable Air Conditioner throught eBay $275.00. When I receive the item it is incomplete, and lemon, that missing many parts: ( 1.-Exhaust hose, 2.-window/door bracket, 3.-Electrostatic filter, 4.-Water container), and I do not possible used for all the missing parts.
I have more that 5 months contact many times the seller by e-mail, send many many e-mail and never answer me. I lost my money, because I purchase and complete DeLonghi PAC-360 Pinguino Portable Air Conditioner, but I receive incomplete and lemon air conditioner.
Terry of Plainview TX (06/04/08)
As a seller got kicked off because a buyer bought a item and after 7 days he told me it didn't work and he wanted another one I said ok just send back the one that didn't work. He said no, he would not send it back. How do I know which supplier sent me a bad product if I can't get that one back. I wouldn't want to send one to buyer from the same supplier that sent the bad one. But no so after 21 days of emails trying to get him to send the item back even offering a full refund, still nothing till ebay kicked me off ebay. Still never getting the buyer to send item back, So I don't know if my supplier send me a bad item or this buy just figured to get a free item.
No matter I stll off ebay with a large stock and more on the way, already paid for. I've not even alloud to buy from ebay and I thought that's what they where doing buy having a auction. And these people sell the same thing I was selling and listing it just like mine, they even kicked me off once because my photo looked like another photo one of their larger store has, meybe it looks like that because its the same thing and you can only shoot photos on a flat surface and it looks the same
I have products and products paid for on the way and ebay has taken over the online auction, If you can't use ebay your just stucked with your products
Terry of Plainview, TX (06/04/08)
I was selling software at a lower price than their stores. I thought that was what a auction was all about.
I had 1 person say his didn't work,so I told him to send it back for a refund. Sounds simple yes, well thats only the start. He said he was going to keep it and I was going to send him a new one.No one refunds without the return of the item.
So when I kept saying return item I'll refund you money after 21 days he went to paypal and ebay and still never returned the item so ebay kick me off. And to this day I still don't know if the item was broke,didn't work or he just sold it and wanted a free one to sell again.
The deal is other people sell the same items at a higher price. Another deal is people buying and copying software than returning it for a refund. They did that with some games. So I went to the kids in my area and had them put the games on theit playstation. it work great and because I already tried to sell them and now their not new I just gave them to the kids. At least they where happy.
Roxi of Lyman SC (06/02/08)
Listings do not start when the listed is posted sometimes it's 24 hours before my listings show this takes away valuable time from the public seeing my autions. I've complained but ebay does nothing.
This caused my listings to not be seen for the full 7 days that I paid for. This is taking money away from me. I had 4 accounts on ebay and wish to sure for each one of them. I want to be added to the EBAY CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT
Jane of Boca Raton FL (05/19/08)
Ebay advertising that pops up on live windows screen had 2 women in a pornographic type pose. I have children that use this computer! What is going on?
Elaine of Broadway NC (05/17/08)
I have had a store on Ebay now for just under a year but have been doing business on Ebay for the last 7 years under a previous account I closed myself (for no Ebay reason). My feedback was 900+ positive, 1 negative. I sell metaphysical items and jewelry. Over the last few months I have had my ads pulled for everything from keyword spamming (if you list that you have other things in your store and are specific about it.. they consider that keyword spamming?) they said that I am not allowed to list things in my auction that would draw people to my store... WOULDNT that be the point? to circumventing fees and so on and so forth. My store HAD more than 500 items listed, and thanks to Ebay fees of almost $500+ a month, I was breaking even.
I decided to keep doing what I loved to do but start a new Ebay account and sell other things that bring in a little more money. Things I saw MANY others selling. So I started selling DVDs on the new account. The first couple sold, then they started pulling one certain one (cant remember what it was to start) saying others reported it looked fraudulant. I thought that kind of odd since all of my auctions were listed exactly the same but only certain ones were being pulled. I asked for help... of course because of safety concerns they cannot help.
I relisted them a different way, coping the wording from other ebayer auctions that were NOT being pulled. YET they still got pulled. Finally they just started pulling everything. Then suspended my account. At first they said I could not open a new account. Then I received a notice saying that I was no longer allowed to use ANY account on Ebay nor any one associated with me. So needless to say I was not overly shocked when ebay put a 7 day restriction of listing new auctions on my original business account, even if it is listed under my husbands name.
I emailed them to find out what was going on since they never sent any notice to my original business as to why this happened. The suspension started last Saturday. I have emailed them 3 times. NO response. Of course you cannot call them, if you call back the number they call you from it is locked so you cannot get through. I tried the live chat... GOOD LUCK ON THAT!
My mother calls me Thursday night saying that Ebay has INDEFINATELY suspended their accounts there for being associated with mine. One account my father has been using for 7 years. They received no warning or notice except they were indefinately suspended. And Ebay refuses to talk to them or fix it.
My store was indefinately suspended last night. Now my customers are contacting me because Ebay notified them of me not being a registered user, and told them not to complete payment to me for the items they won. YET, I know they will charge me those fees. I have never... EVER receive a relisting fee credit. I find it very odd and suspicious that Ebay, allows only certain ppl to sell things on ebay and do not allow others to sell the same things.
I had no long lasting damage unless you include the over 1000 customers I am losing because of Ebay's actions. My parents loss of their accounts. The hundreds of dollars I have lost in Fees just for Ebay not to list my auctions until 4 - 8 hours AFTER I submitted them and my paid for time started, or the hundreds of dollars I paid and did not receive credit for on relisting credits. Or the hundreds of hours I have put in listing items and creating my store just for them to decide to take it away.
Robin of Kingman AZ (05/17/08)
I have been a seller on eBay for over 9 years and have over those years had many objections to incidents and/or changes as well as my attempt for almost a year now to get what has now been two PowerSeller Managers to go over what I felt to be discrepencies in my account without it ever having been addressed.
The last time I did get a manager to put me in touch with an account tech about 2-3 years ago, I spent two or more hours on the phone with him to in the end result have him tell me it's a glitch and all works out in the end, it's my money, I needed then and I need now a better explanation than that or for ebay to at least have a system that would allow the average individual to better follow their account but at month end, 00:00:00 the account page does such screwy things I could never describe it and most assuredly can't follow it to my satisfaction.....
Up until May of 2007 eBay had a standard feeback system where buyers were afforded the right to leave sellers feedback based on their perceived performance or lack thereof with sellers afford that equal right. In May of 2007 eBay inserted a star system which allowed buyers to anonymously leave comments relating to Item as described when a large number of eBay buyers never even read the item description, to comment on communication when in my 9 years selling online at least 5 out of every 100 dealt with can't spell the most simple of words or put a proper sentence together and wouldn't understand the definition of communication if their live's depended on it.
eBay further allowed these anonymous individuals to comment on shipping time when a number of purchasing individuals have absolutely no concept. I've had buyers leave me negative comments in the standard feedback forum when they've paid on a Friday night, they live 2,500 miles away and the package isn't there by Moday or Tuesday when I couldn't even ship a UPS ground package until the next business day which would be a Monday if payment had been received on a Friday evening, I can't imagine how many have left the sneak comments in the star system that doesn't allow the seller to know who may be leaving that lacking rating.
Finally,the last star criteria allows the buyer to comment on shipping charges, a buyer who has no concept, a buyer who may leave a comment through this star system re: the seller's ship charges based on simple general ignorance or possibly based on the ship charges of another seller who is equally ignorant and has no concept of actual cost of ship, cost of packaging materials, etc. The USPS has raised rates 2-4 times in the past 4 years, UPS not only does it yearly but fuel surcharges are constantly updated yet there are sellers of the same product I sell on eBay who haven't raised their ship rate once through all of it in those 4 years. What they do with respect to that is their business, when I see 4 1/2 stars rather than 5 in my anonymous star rating system it becomes my business as it most assuredly affects my business, I'm just not sure to what degree.......
All of this was bad or ignorant enough, I voiced my objections as I understand a multitude of other sellers did when this system was set in place but eventually I had to just shake my head and move on but now eBay as of last month is utilizing that criteria as well as a given seller's feedback rating along with a few other citeria I'm not quite clear on to determine where a given seller's items might show in eBay listings. As an example, I had an auction that was ending 8 minutes from the time I checked it this evening yet it was placed 10-12 auctions down the page of identical items being listed by other sellers, some of those listings not ending for 3-4 days. I find this to be completely unfair if not illegal for lack of a more appropriate word as I'm being punished for not filling out criteria such as make, driver, material, etc. in an area eBay came up with a couple of years ago that I already describe either in my auction header, my listing text or in some cases both, because I haven't checked the return policy box when I already state a clear return policy within the text of my listings.
Last but not least, both my feedback which is at 99.1 which means less than 1 in 100 have left me a negative comment, the less than 1 in 100 who haven't the common sense given a fly who simply lacked the mental capacity to grasp, comprehend or understand that which the other 99.1 in 100 could along with this star rating determine where my auctions fall in the listing order.........Now, as of May 18, 2008 eBay states sellers will no longer have the ability to leave negative feedback for buyers while the buyer can not only still leave the standard negative feedback but they still have that anonymous star system to further damage a seller's reputation, all of this being part of the criteria eBay now uses for listing placement.
Among other things that scare me half to death about this new what I feel to be totally unfair system, I sell internationally, many of them large orders in the near $1,000 range after ship fees are accounted for. The eBay seller has no recourse through PayPal, owned in part or in full by eBay for shipments to an unconfirmed address which is the case with most international destinations as those address can't be confirmed per PayPal criteria which has been bad enough, scary enough up to this point but now, after a thief international member gets wind of the fact the seller can't leave a negative comment, I fear the day will come when at least one international buyer will just take my product and run fearing nothing..........
The crtieria for where an auction fell used to be time ending soonest and since I pay heavy fees for listing and final value, it's the only fair placement........Thanks for your time, believe it or not, I've just touched the surface.
Russ of Longmeadow MA (05/06/08)
Ebay pulled my auction because in my title was the words 'Like New'. I complained and they said it violated their policy. I stated that over 20000 other Ebay auctions used the same wording - they downplayed this and said it was only possible that other auctions used or were using the same wording. It took me about 30 seconds to find these auctions. They refused to bend.
I can no longer trust Ebay. They knowingly do not care if they adhere to their own policies. I am considering ending my on-line business with them, and I am very stressed out over this.
Todd of Seattle WA (05/05/08)
A ebay customer has absolutely no real recourse when problems occur becuase there is only virtual service. There are no phone contact numbers and no humans to talk to to. My company was winning bidder in an auction for some Apple computer hardware. We were contacted by the seller and given instructions where to send a personal check since our company pay-pal account was not yet activated. I thought this was all kosher since it was through ebays internal system. He says he will call us with mailing info. This being our very first transaction on ebay I figured this was okay. A few days go by and no equipment shows up.
So I email the seller. Nothing. I try to email ebay through the trust and security center (what a joke!) but it's like navigating a frigg'n maze of leading questions where you don't ever get your own concerns addressed. Rather you are forced to chase down details that you have no ability to get through he ebay system. Finally I get an email from ebay stating the transaction and auction was null and void with NO further explanation.
Then a few hours later a possible fraud notice arrives. It appears somebody may have hijacked a sellers account and was having us do payment outside the ebay system. All though ALL communication occurred with-in ebay. Also with no further explanation. Other than a link to the same Trust and Security Center crap as before. Which asks for Seller information that ebay doesn't let me have access to! Let me get this straight. The Seller that YOU alert me is a fraud you won't even give me their user ID number and information you demand I know? What? So we cancel our check. Which appears like it hasn't been cashed. However you can't be 100% sure. Not only that, since we had set up a credit card as a back-up payment system through ebay - did this guy get money through that? I have no way of knowing through ebay.
So we track down our credit card company and they say they're not sure. Great. So do we have to cancel our credit card now too? In the mean time I get more email from the seller THROUGH EBAY telling me he was sending my stuff and thanks for payment. So is this guy the scam artist or what? he couldn't have gotten payment because we canceled the check. Or did he. I try yet again to get a hold of ebay. There are no phone numbers. There are only live help people that you text chat with. And let me tell you this is worthless because they can't tell you anything and it takes forever.
All they say is: Report it to the police. Report WHAT to the police. I don't know if anything has happened? Did this guy access MY ebay acount through Phishing? Did he get financial info off our check somehow? I can give the cops the address we sent the check. But is that the scam artist or that the legitimate seller? Ebay doesn't tell you. I have no idea at which point during the transaction this fraud happened. And again this seller keeps emailing me through ebay telling me he is working it all out.
Unknown $$$ for s potential stolen identity. $1900 for the Apple computer, maybe. So far 12 hours of my time which I bill out at $100 per hour. This is problem. I don't even know.
Craciun of Montreal OTHER (05/03/08)
USPS Canada blocked the delivery package for the Potato Slicer for French Fries or Cubes.
Because,I closed my PayPal dispute with the seller my delivery it was stopped(I believe)when the package have arrived to CANADA. So now it is 03.MAI.2008 and I wait..but it is a PARCEL INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING!
Laryssa of Orange CT (05/02/08)
I recently won a bid for a travel trailer and since bringing it home a month ago, it has had nothing but problems. The slide on the unit is sleaking and the seller claims that he never had problems with that. After pulling it apart & taking it for service, it was determined that the slide is in danger of falling apart and has major structural damage and hasn't just happened in the month that we've owned it. Now, the cost to repair it is going to be b/w $3K - $4K maybe even more. We bought it for $10K, and refuse to put anymore money into it since it won't be worth it at $14K.
The seller won't do anything about it since he apparently didn't know (which is a crock), he knew all too well. Now, after filing a claim with ebay's VPP, I don't feel at all confident that the claim will be approved. Now, I need to get two estimates (RV dealers aren't as plentiful and available like car dealers), and wait to be denied. I've been reading nothing but negative outcomes on a lot of buyer situations. When someones says buyer beware, please take that into consideration. Ebay doesn't do anything to assist the buyer except help communicate the seller -- which is pretty much useless. They are NOT on the side of the buyer, and are only interested in collecting fees. Genius idea ebay is but in my opinion, morality nor ethics exist in that company. So basically, we're out $10K for a trailer that's useless unless we put in another $4K to have it fixed, until something else goes wrong. So, don't buy anything off ebay, you're playing Russian Roulette each time.
Economic damage? In this day and age? Let's see, out $10,000, probably will be out another $3K - $4K because we didn't go to an RV dealer. Never thought I'd say this but I wish we had bought a unit from a dealer. Lesson for me, never trust anyone again.
Beth of Gulfport FL (05/01/08)
My experience is similar to Thomas' from GA. I purchased 11 items from thecellshop on ebay. I tried twice to pay through Pay Pal, but something was wrong with the seller's account. I sent the seller an email alerting it to the problem (never got an answer), and persisted the next day and was allowed to pay. When I had not received any acknowledgement of payment from the seller in a week, I wrote to them again, asking the status of my order. Still no response. I next contacted ebay, but was informed it was too early to file a dispute.
I went out of town for a few days and, on my arrival home, found the seller had filed 11 different disputes against me! I wrote to the seller a third time, but, of course, received no response. I checked Pay Pal, and my payment was there in my history. I checked the item's page on ebay, and there it stated the item had been paid for! I responded to one dispute, giving the exact date and amount of my payment, along with an explanation that the same payment covered the other 10 disputes. Only the one dispute was closed.
Tonight I spent an inordinate amount of time explaining my situation to the ebay customer support people. Their only response was that it was my responsibility to enter all the data on each of the other 10 disputes. They did not respond to my question of what action would be taken against a vendor who took my money, did not send the merchandise, never responded to multiple emails, and then filed all these complaints against me. They had no response, because there are no checks and balances. You can bet that a seller does not have to send a 3 page form to report each item disputed. Ebay's assumption is that the seller is right, and the burden on the buyer. Not this buyer, not any more.
I have been waiting for my merchandise. I needed the PDA accessories to stay adequately in touch on my out of town trip. I have spent over 3 hours trying to resolve this matter.
Thomas of Alpharetta GA (04/26/08)
Let me tell you about ebay. I purchased a book through ebay from this outfit, which is based in Canada (supposedly). I won the bid, and paid for the book immediately. After 6 weeks, no book. After sending them an email relating this, they responded that it usually takes about 9 days to send a package from Canada. This reply came after waiting 6 weeks. Another couple of weeks passed by, and when I sent them another complaint, the company finally said that there was no book coming, without any further explanation. I wanted my AMEX card credited for the purchase, but there was no indication that this outfit was going to do this. So I'll filed negative feedback against them. They persistently implored me to withdraw the feedback, and then they will refund my money! I told them that I would only withdraw the feedback when I see a credit on my AMEX statement since, at this point, they had no credibility with me.
They immediately filed negative feedback against me, saying I was rude and uncooperative! I could not believe this. So, the reason I am submitting comment here is this - I received an email from somebody called Square Trade, which apparently mediates these cases on behalf of ebay. The seller paid for this mediation, and I was required to submit my side of the story. By required, I mean to say that I also received notice from Square Trade that, if I did not respond, ebay would allow my negative feedback to be withdrawn! Withdrawn so that companies like edison can continue shafting ebay buyers who do not take the time to fight back, shifting the burden of their tactics onto the next unsuspecting buyer!
My conclusion is this - ebay is more interested in growing their business and making money off their sellers than truly protecting their buyers. Ebay has a long, complicated and impersonal process for handling trade disputes through their website. They place all of the burden on the buyer, and seem to care less whether it gets settled or not. After all, they need to keep their sellers happy, because that's where they make their money. So, the bottom-line is that I will NEVER use ebay again, and I would caution anyone that BUYER BEWARE has never been more strongly advised if you are considering doing any business on ebay. The responsibility of policing these sordid transactions should fall exclusively to ebay. But they are big enough, and popular enough, and profitable enough to know that one guy like me is of no concern to them. Aside from the fact that edison.financialgroup charged an exorbitant shipping rate for the book that I never received (and there are a number of similar complaints within their feedback history), the cost of this transaction only amounted to about $28.00. But it's the principle here upon which I am shedding light. The fact that a company can operate freely, and without recourse on ebay, as a valued seller, and blatantly rip people off, is unsettling and, frankly, unexcusable.
Kevin of San Francisco CA (04/25/08)
They closed 269 of my auctions claiming I was shill bidding, they would not reverse the fees. That was $40+ I had to pay for nothing, nevermind that I had nearly $200 in bids that they closed and notified everyone that I was in violation of their policy and not to do business with me if I were to contact them. Then they told me that the account that was bidding on my auctions had the same contact information I have, but due to privacy concerns they would not tell me who the other account was or what information was the same. If the information was the same, there would be no privacy being violated if we were the same person. I tried to get them to give me more information, but they just kept sending me canned responses about shill bidding and privacy and safety of eBay.
I think what happened is that I work at a club with public internet access. I used to tell customers about my auctions to drum up some business. I think someone used one of the computers at work to bid, the same computer I logged in on. Same IP address, hence linked accounts. And viola! eBay automatically thinks it's shill bidding. I tried to explain this to them, but they kept telling me that family members, roommates, friends, and employees are not allowed to bid on your auctions. None of those fit in my case, so they said co-workers. I gave up, they just didn't listen to me. It wasn't a co-worker either. It was someone who happened to come in to the club that day that I told about my eBay, no insider information was given. It was purely for business purposes only.
That doesn't matter, eBay won't listen to you when they link you and accuse you of shill bidding. Now they are watching my auctions. I swear they wait until there are bidders and the item ios about to close before they pull it. When they do, they don't refund the fees, give you no access to the bidders, won't allow you to relist it in most cases, the auction is deleted permanently and completely. It's like it never existed. Except for the fee you have to pay. It's not fair.
$40+ in fess, $500 in lost business
Edward of Flushing NY (04/24/08)
I won an auction from a ebay member who is unregistered under their Site as a seller and never got my item. I have followed every guideline under Ebay and all they have been doing for me is giving me the run around. The money was sent through Paypal which is unknown to many owned by Ebay. Ebay claims Paypal to be the safest method of payment however they have done nothing for me to get my money back. The seller was also unverified by Paypal at the time of transaction.
How can a self proclaimed safe company like Ebay allow unregistered sellers to sell on their site through a unverified Paypal account? The seller is not a pro hacker but just some guy who did me wrong. Ebay also has not had the seller visually listed as unregistered during the auction nor has Paypal listed him unverified. Please how Ebay is conducting business is wrong on every level and this needs to stop.
I lost 335 dollars.
Leslie of Garden Grove CA (04/24/08)
As an ebay customer I bought some items and had no problem. I decided to try my luck at selling 4 items on ebay. The items were a DVD, a metal tray, diamond ring and Thomas Kinkade painting. I listed the first 2 items with no problem. The next two items I listed but had trouble editing. I have 3 emails where I tried contacting ebay customer support for help with the edit functions. Ebay replies with automated emails including links. I also contacted live help but had the same thing. During this time I removed and relisted the 2 expensive items probably 2 or 3 times each until I was satisfied with the look of the page and descriptions. I did notice the fees go up but thought they would adjust to the correct amounts after I was finished trying to list my items successfully. None of my 4 items sold. The ring and painting had reserve prices of approx $3,000. The tray had a reserve price of $300 and the DVD approx $10.00. Ebay emails me a statement saying I owed $168.00. Considering the fees listed on ebay website I was shocked. The two expensive items have listing fees of $4.00 each maximum and states they do not charge final value fees if the items did not sell, which they didn't. I did have a couple of photo's of the ring and painting but the prices for additional pictures are very cheap.
By my calculations, and considering it on the high side that my 4 items were incorrectly listed twice each, say 8 times is $32.00 @ $4.00 per item with a reserve over $500.00. Add additional photo uploads at say $1.00 each, = $8.00 equals a grand total of $40.00 I owe ebay. How ebay came to $168.00, and using ebay's fee schedule, is beyond me. When ebay emails you a statement it only lists the balance due, there is no breakdown of how ebay arrived at the balance. Numerous attempts to email customer service, I also tried calling gave me no response. Now for many weeks a collection agency called I.C. Systems continues to call my house using 2 different caller ID numbers plus blocked call, they have also been calling my cell phone. I did talk to them and was transferred by a male, after me telling him I wanted to talk to someone as I dispute the ebay charges, I then spoke to a female.
I explained what I have said here and the person who did not give her name repeatedly parroted that I should just get you billfold out and write a check for $174.01, this is the latest ebay charge I guess. This morning I.C. Systems called again, I confirmed my name then told the female that I was willing to negotiate a payment with ebay but was not paying $174.00 without written itemized proof I oew ebay that high amount. This person parroted my address, I asked her did she hear what I had said and was she willing to talk and negotiate, she them parroted my address again wanting confirmation of it, which to this point I would not say yes or no. She then told me she will just keep on calling, I told her I was not paying that amount, she repeated she will keep calling until I confirm my address (which they already have on file anyway). I have a witness to this phone call today.
Consequences for me are, being grossly overcharged for items that clearly state otherwise, frustrated ebay will not give out itemized statements of charges, harrassment on a continuous daily basis by I.C. Systems who are not interested in resolving the matter. Damage to my excellent credit score prior to this, which occurred November, 2007. Stress that a consumer like myself has no chance of fair trading when up against a giant like ebay and their collection agency staff who's sole job is to harrass into submission.
Don of Chapel Hill NC (04/23/08)
My 15-year-old son, Colin, paid Linda $533 on eBay for a computer, and several other people did the same thing. She then closed her eBay account, and changed her e-mail address and phone number. I have managed to track down new e-mail addresses and at least one new phone number, but she refuses to talk or reply to any e-mail contacts.
My son lost a lot of money that was due to him. This is not only a financial loss, but an emotional one for someone that age, to whom $533 (not small change to begin with) represents a bigger loss than it would for an adult.
Trudy of Lenoir NC (04/23/08)
I purchased many items on ebay. I was on vacation when i bought them. I had my sister receiving the items. I did not receive several of my items. By the time I got home, 45 days had passed. Therefore Paypal won't help me. And I contacted Ebay several times, before 60 days had passed. They finally responded and said now that 60 days had passed, we can not help you, due to seller privacy. See I asked for the sellers names, etc so I could contact them by email phone whatever, to see what went wrong and to ask for my money or my items...Ebay refused to help me. Wouldn't even do a third party contact for me. I lost hundreds of dollars, and merchandise I really wanted. What can I do about this?
The economical situation that occured is I was moving into a new home. I purchased a bed, pots and pans, and dishes, and tables, that i desperately needed to have when i moved in, as I had nothing.....when i got back here i still had nothing. i had to live in a hotel for lack of furniture, and things to eat off of...i had to re buy those things, i had to buy new tables, new pots and pans, new dishes, and a new bed. i lost the money i paid for those items...lost every dime. not one seller, put the money back in my pay pal account. not one. they received the items back, and kept the items, and the money too. and ebay doesn't car. so i spent double the money. i was delayed in moving into my new home, and i was ripped off.
Ken of Woodstock GA (04/14/08)
Was selling various items on EBay including engineering spreadsheets I created, links to useful sites, and automotive service manuals. All items where being sold for $1.00 to $9.00. I had excellent feedback and made around $75.00 per week. EBay suspended my account claiming that selling a link to a file sharing software (freeware) was copyright infringment. I disputed this find and was told that Ebay makes their own rules on all matters. I files a complaint with the BBB and was given a responce that I should stop if I ever want to use EBay again. I have since searched as a guest and have found numerous almost identical listings.
I have since lost the income of ~$75.00 week and cannot rejoin EBay. The only way also to get re-registered with them is to send them a copy of a utility bill, which I don't feel is safe or good practice.
Irene of Brooklyn Ny 11207 NY (04/11/08)
I've listed an item for sale on ebay. And it was met with bids (as usual) and also numerous fraud email attempts to steal my information. I reported these cases to trust & safety, but no action was taken. And I had to relist that item several times due to this. I also received bids for $40,000, which is obviously a fake bid, and I cancelled those bids. Finally, the item sold. But it was to a FAKE bidder!
I was sent phishing emails trying to steal my info again. So far, none of the complains I made had any effect. Ebay has become infested with crooks and criminals of all kinds. AND NO IMMEDIATE ACTION is taken. I demand compensation.
Total waste of my time & money! I was traumatized by the whole experience.
Lawrence of Denver CO (04/07/08)
I opened a store on EBAY to sell video game consoles and other small home electronics. I made sure every listing I placed on the EBAY web site specifically stated does not ship outside of the United States or Canada. Outside the United States includes Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Hawaii.
For almost a week now, every sell I have made on Ebay has a Nigerian return address. Plus to list the products on EBAY again, I must absorb the charges. Their explanation, they are not responsible for the security problems. Their filters (EBAY) are made of Swiss Cheese or this is a plot by competitors to deprieve me of an opportunity to earn a small gratuity. Another possibility is that EBAY doesn't care about the small time businessman and wants to rid itself of them. In either scenario EBAY has cost me approximatel $500 in sales over the last two days.
Len of Bognor Regis OTHER (04/06/08)
I have been listing dvd's on ebay through a dropship company since Feb this year, I have only sold one so far. The dvd's are new and sealed, not copies! I got an email from Ebay last week to say that I have been suspended for 7 days because the dvd's are copies.I emailed back to ask for an explanation and who made the allegation but their reply was just to say that I have been suspended for a violation of their rules.
I contacted the dropship company who supply the dvd's and they assure me the dvd's are genuine and not copies, they have many other agents who have been selling them for a long time, and are a reputable company (DVD Dropship) I have never had the chance to defend myself or been given details of whoever made the allegation . It seems that anyone can get you suspended for any reason and you have no defence!
I have sold other items on ebay and have 100% positive feedback, I recently had an email from a buyer of a coin I listed saying he could not leave me feedback as he could not access my ebay, I was embarrassed to have to tell him that I was suspended.
Ken of Seven Springs NC (03/21/08)
Before I tell my experience, I wanted to share that usually I am not the type to sell anything I have unless I am going through some hard times then I finally decide what I don't use much and sell it to recoup some fund. When I am doing okay, I like to keep everything I own even if I don't use it as often as a person should. About two years ago after the merge/buyout of eBay-Paypal, I sold something on eBay and was billed for listing fee. At the moment, I did not have enough fund in my bank account and figured I would wait until my next paycheck (direct-deposit) before I pay for my listing fee. Well, eBay-Paypal went ahead and drafted the amount out of my account, creating additional unnecessary expenses such as Insufficient fund, putting me a step back than where I would like to be. I contacted eBay about this. They explained that when they went through a major overhaul, they set everything to default including automatic draft and instructed me how to change it to manual. So I did that...
Since then, I have sold few items (mostly video game while it still holds value) and had no problem paying listing fee manually including a couple of late fees. Now recently, I sold a game, and suddenly they drafted the amount out of my account automatically! Again, it is an insufficient fund, and it is $35 this time ($29 the first time). How did that happened if I never changed it to automatic? I strongly believe that eBay-Paypal is behind something, and they had NO RIGHT to change my account. I feel that this is illegal access to my account, changing my preference, for their financial gain. I believe it is unlawful, and it is NOT fair since eBay owns Paypal; and it is as if they can authorize everything easily!
I suffered financially twice and had to pay out Insufficient funds when I feel that it is NOT my responsibility both times. This contributed me to unable to pay other bills resulting in additional late fee because I need gas money to get to work for 2 weeks with high fuel prices at $3.35 per gallon. Also, I feel it is federal crime for eBay to modify client's financial preference by setting it to automatic and etc. Something fishy is going on!
Rebecca of Erwin NC (03/11/08)
I am a reputable seller on ebay. I sold a vintage 8mm projector on ebay. The woman received it and left me positive feedback. I left her feedback likewise. Next thing, she's emailing to tell me that she wants a refund for the projector because it is broken. I was shocked. I thought everything was o.k. I reminded her that she should have purchased insurance. She reported me to PayPal for selling her something significantly different.
PayPal made me refund her the entire amount, including shipping. My policies clearly states that we are not responsible if there is any damage in the mail. PayPal did not give me any seller protection at all. She sent me back the damaged item which was clearly in working condition when I mailed it. I lost around $50.00 as a result of this transaction.
Amy of Sunrise, FL (03/11/08)
My husband and I are getting a divorced. I opened my own ebay account for myself and daughter but ebay has blocked it. They are saying that I am affiliated with an old ebay account of my husband's and that is all they will state.
I tried to work with them but I received an email that they made their decision and they refuse to speak with me any more. I have done nothing wrong, I even faxed them my driver's license and a current bank statement. I am unable to sell things that I would normally sell on ebay to generate revenue.
Grant of North Lima OH (03/11/08)
I have NEVER set up a Seller account on Ebay, but someone sold a necklace using my screen name. Ebay, after many many emails and on line live help, still cannot understand or hear what I am saying. They canceled my registration due to non-payment for something I never sold. I told them to look at the seller account and see where the payment was supposed to go, but they are not bright enough for that.
Jennifer of Greene ME (03/05/08)
eBay sent me a message on 2/27/08, informing me that my credit card, had refused a request for payment of a $2.15 seller's fee on 2/15/08. Thus, my account was being assessed an additional $15.00 charge. I used eBay's on-line customer service chat line and, for three hours, tried to get an answer from five different agents about: 1. Why I was being charged 2 seller's fees (was one for PayPal?) and 2. Why an unknown credit card was being accessed. (I had last updated my profile on 1/19/08 to sell the one $20 item I had listed in the past year) None of the five agents, though unfailingly polite, addressed these two questions. Each explained that eBay passes on a fee that the bank charges for a denied fund request. One of the agents said she had reversed the $15.00 charge.
On 3/4/08, eBay sent me another email to notify me that I was being charged $15.00--this same charge again. I have exchanged emails with two more customer service agents, who both explained to me the same thing the first five told me in the chat room, but did not address my two simple questions. My six separate polite requests to speak with a supervisor were denied.
$17.15, if eBay manages to deduct the false charge from my last credit card number in my profile, plus 4 hours and 45 minutes trying to get answers from seven customer service agents.
Guy of Gloucester OTHER (03/02/08)
I have lost money on a fraudulent deal, purchased, and never received. eBay only sends confusing and non helpful mail. I have done everything they say and reported the matter to the police. I am afraid there is no integrity on buying on eBay. It is a scam where there is no surety you get your goods, and then definitely you get no response to emails.
March of Citrus Heights CA (02/20/08)
I ordered an item (a PSP camera) off of E-Bay in November which was never delivered due to it being lost or stolen in a shipment. I was then sent e-mails claiming that the company (Vista Gaming Products) was refunding my money and that the check was in the mail. HOWEVER, I never received a check. I have e-mailed this company at least 6 times and called them 2 times to try and resolve this matter. The company responded to my e-mails (BUT NOT MY PHONE CALLS) until the 60-day time frame expired in which E-Bay would have helped me resolve the problem. I was unaware of this time frame at the time I was going through this.
Now the company will not respond to my e-mails at all, and E-Bay claims they cannot do anything to help me. I have the e-mails from Vista Products and a copy of the cashed check. Who can I report this to? Is there anything I can do?
I am only out $64 however, I am disturbed that E-Bay claims because I sent this company a personal check, there's nothing they can do and basically they (Vista Products) can rip people off this way if they want to!
Sandra of Maplewood NJ (02/18/08)
I have been unable to login for several days. Ebay just wont help - live chat doesn't work (I was able to connect a few days ago but not since), they don't respond to my emails. How can I pay for items won if I can't login? I thought they wanted my money? My issue is not nearly as bad as those who have lost money - but how can a company stay in business if they don't correct their errors or protect their customers?
Jill of Covington GA (02/09/08)
My husband ordered a Nintendo ds from this person on Ebay. We used pay pal and paid $50.00 with a credit card. However, a day after ordering the product, Ebay took the seller off of their site because apparently he had done something wrong. We never received the Nintendo ds from this individual. We contacted Ebay and pay pal; and they said that they talked with the seller, and he stated that he did deliver the item. They would not refund our money. Pay pal told my husband that they were siding with the seller. Pay pal would not give us any information to try to contact the seller so we could get our money back. Basically, Ebay, Paypal,and Mr. James Nakagawa stole our money from us. It may only be $50.00, but it is the principal of the whole thing.
We spent a lot of time and stress over trying to just get our $50.00 back.
Tom of Myrtle Beach SC (02/07/08)
I had started selling items on Ebay recently and have had nothing but bad experiences. The two items I did sell turned out to be frauds. Someone had hacked into two different people's ebay accounts and started bidding on everything. Unfortunately I had to also fall victim to these frauds because I was one of the sellers on two different occasions with two different buyers that they became winning bidders. One poor woman I found out had $150,000 in bids out there she never bid. I have another one right now I am watching closely. It seems that my top bidder is also compromised by a third party hacker. Because of my bad experiences I now look at what the bidder has purchased in the past to see if it matches in price or items of what I am selling. What I found was this bidder has her own ebay store, she is sixty years old, disabled and on a fixed income. There is no way I believe that she would go and purchase a platinum coin that I have for sale that is worth in the low thousands. Her Ebay ID is still the top bidder for this coin.
I contacted the security department through their contact email about this. It seems to have fallen on deaf ears because I never got a response back nor has her bid been removed by ebay. I find that ebay does nothing to help the innocent people out there who fall victims to these types of scams. I also believe that by ebay not having at least a phone number for people to call into to get their concerns answered is very unprofessional. Their lack of response to serious inquirers like the above instances shows their lack of integrity as a company. I would recommend to all if you are going to continue to use ebay as a forum to sell or buy to be very careful. I will be looking for different avenues to sell my products as I can no longer trust the security or integrity of Ebay.
Lost time listing and take pictures of all items. Also false hope and sense of security. Now have to take more time out to make sure my fees get refunded.
George of Islip NY (02/06/08)
No one from ebay from customer service has e mailed me on my problem, and it's been over a week of emailing them everyday. I can't sign in to my account, and I can't buy any items from their auctions, that I buy from. I have been a customer for 5 years or longer and know that I am only a little guy who buys small quantities from their company.
Tammi of Clearwater MN (02/05/08)
I was recently suspended from Ebay without any explanation as to why. The suspension notice said I was Abusing Ebay. I have been doing business for over 4 years with them and have an excellent rating with no issues. I emailed them 3 times since January 24 with no responses whatsoever. Why does a company of this size seem to think they can bully people around and make them feel like criminals? Because they are a corporation that doesn't have to worry about the satisfaction of their customers? Their only concern is that they get their money. It's ridiculous that there is no phone number posted, and they can do whatever they want whenever they want. I will start doing my business elsewhere. Maybe Yahoo or Google would appreciate my business.
I have been made to feel like some kind of criminal without knowing what it is I have done wrong. I think Ebay assumes that you know what you did because you are automatically guilty of something in their eyes.
Tom of Myrtle Beach SC (02/04/08)
I went and tried to sell my first item on E-Bay. I did a 7 day listing. I had a reserve price on it. The item was 2 platinum proof coins that are graded perfect. The final bid came in at $1,600 more than my reserve price. Once I sent an email invoice to the winning bidder it was 3 minutes later that I get an email from e-bay stating my listing had been removed due to a bidder (not the winning bidder) had not authorized the bid and it was done through a third party. They stated in the email that they were trying to attempt to restore that bidders account access. It also stated that I would have to start from scratch and re-list my item. This is very suspicious since first it was not the winning bidder that the so called unauthorized bid came from. Second the so called bidder in question had put something up for sale of his own just one hour prior to the close of my listing and was still listed 12 hours after the incident. Third the response time from my sending an invoice through the E-Bay system to the final bidder and the actually removal of the listing due to a bidder not authorizing his bids is too fast under any circumstances. The other problem I had was when I tried to email someone my concern as to how this happened all I got back was how to change my password, retrieve my password, or report unauthorized use of my account. This makes me believe that E-Bay did me wrong and I do not even know why.
I lost 7 days worth of time put into the listing and waiting for the final results plus $3,000 loss in profit that would have happened from the sale.
Michael of Santa Cruz CA (02/04/08)
I have a $531 seller credit that I have been trying for months to get back from Ebay. Due to Ebay's frustrating refund policies, they will only send a refund to the original checking account on file. I closed my original checking account last year and opened a new one, so ebay now insists that they can now only send me my refund by issuing a check. I have asked them to send me this check for almost half a year now, and every time I check to see if it has been sent, they give me the same cookie cutter answers: Your request for check has been declined or Your request has been escalated to a supervisor etc, etc. Again, they have been playing this bureaucratic game with me for months and this is now past a reasonable limit.
I have had problems paying for my student fees and credit card bills because I have expected this money back for months.
Cory of Levittown NY (02/04/08)
Ebay overcharged me with fees. The total fees I should be paying is $47.31. Ebay charged me $184.43. I listed an item twice. It did not sell the first time, but it did sell the second time. According to ebay, they will waive the fee of the first auction if the item sells the second time. I filled out all the necessary forms online and I never got a credit. This is in their policy statement!! Then I have a charge for fees that I don't even know where they came from. It is a wrongful charge. The wrongful charge is $89.80 (I do not even know where is charge came from).
I am getting numerous harassing phone calls from their collections dept that just want money and won't help to solve the problem. I am more then willing to make the full payment of what I really owe after they make the necessary adjustments.
Jason of Prescott AZ (02/04/08)
Although I have not sold any items on eBay in almost a year, I am still being charged seller fees. Actually, it is the same seller fee five times. eBay continues to respond to the problem with form letters saying it's not their fault, but PayPal's, that eBay keeps requesting and collecting this fee over and over again. But since the request comes from eBay and the money goes to eBay, this is an eBay problem. eBay's use of irrelevant scripted responses and the near impossibility of actually reaching a real, genuinely honest and responsible representative make this situation even worse. In a couple of eBay's emails they instruct me to write to service@ebay.com. If you try it right now you will see that your email is returned. And eBay appears to have no phone number. I had to make a phone number up for them in order to complete this consumer affairs form. All charges, dates, fees, and the parties involved are well documented. I even have a copy of the original auction online.
I have had $19.96 taken from me by eBay.
Betty of Fort Worth TX (02/03/08)
I had a store with between 90 and 100 items listed and they just closed it one day! They accused me of something I did not do. They said that I bidded on my own items. I finally figured out it was my son. He got mad at me because I made him move out. He is 27 years old! He had an account with my AOL account and opened an ebay account. He knew he could not win the items because they had a reserve on them. I do not know if he knew it would get me kicked off. I think he was just messing with me maybe. Anyway, there was no warning and no way to plead my case. I called but they said I had to email security. I did that and got a form letter back. It is very frustrating!
It took me weeks to get all those items listed. I cannot even bid on anything! In the form letter it said if I took a survey I would be able to re-list my items. Not only will that take many many hours of time but I will have to pay all their fees again! I am disabled and used ebay to make some extra money to make ends meet. If not for my sales I would have to give up eating or taking my medication as I could not afford both. I did not make that much money and maybe they do not care about the little person but it is not fair! I do not like to be accused of something I did not do and not even be able to defend myself! Is there no justice for the little guy anymore? How can we fight a big conglomerate that is not even reachable? I even tried to tell them about a scam that is going around on ebay. They held a seminar here in Fort Worth to find out how to do it. They do not seem to care about the thieves on ebay! Can you help me?
Loss of income to live on! I do not get enough money on my disability to buy food and medication! I have paid fees for all the items I had listed. At least $100 not to mention the weeks it took me to get them listed. Taking pictures and writing up the auction takes a long time!
Tony of Wildomar CA (02/02/08)
I listed a truck; tech support couldn't tell me how to download a photo using my Mac. I learned and did it myself. My listing never came out as Most Recent listing. I couldn't make any changes even prior to any bid (only got 1 and wasn't valid), any many other problems. I tried Live Chat about 25 times and responded to their emails objecting to their $50 charge. Finally I connected without being dropped to their Billing Office, and they reversed charges when I promised to take them to Small Claims.
I wouldn't trust them to do the right thing, act professionally, be accessible, a long list of other things. Be very careful dealing with Ebay as you can see by all these complaints! No damage after all except for my time and frustration.
Peter of Plymouth OTHER (01/21/08)
Ebay has suspended me twice. First, they suspended me because I didn't disclose all of my correct details in 'Personal Information'. I told Ebay that since I had been the victim of identity fraud before (I was robbed of 56,000 ($110,000) then I was unhappy to have my personal details on display. In any other selling forum the consumer decides what the rest of the paying public gets to see. Not so with Ebay. Second, they decided to suspend me again because they suggested an account of mine is linked to a banned account. Not true. On both occasions, Ebay reinstated me, but when they re-banned me, they waited until I had completed re-listing my items. So, I spent 40 re-listing my stock only for them to ban me again. That is 40 thrown away, twice. I will never see those fees again. They know there are no other serious competitors and as such, they can act however they feel. The main worry is that Ebay will act on a complaint and not even ask me my opinion or for any evidence what-so-ever before deciding to ban me.
My small business is on the edge of failure. Through ebay I managed 10 sales per day. This is far more than I sell through my own website and is enough to sustain my small business. Without ebay I will go under. The ebay sales forum is huge and I need it.
Douglas of Waitsburg WA (01/08/08)
They have charged with no explanation of the charges. When I write to them they just send automated emails threatening to charge me interest. I originally had questions and found the bill on their site. Part of the charges where explained and I paid them. Part of the charges where not explained. I have also filled out a customer feedback form. I have had no response from anyone, just threatening messages from an automated system.
The charges are only $5.85 but big companies should not be able to push people around like this without explaining themselves. This is a inexusable way to do business and should not be allowed. The hassle is way beyond the amount of the charges, but I am doing this on priciple. If this is allowed to continue it could cause me a lot of grief.
Jerry of Shelby NC (12/20/07)
Ebay put restrictions on 2 of my items and wouldn't allow me to make any revisions and would not tell me why they did it. After futher review they wrote back and said the restrictions had been lifted. At this time my items had gone off the auction, I might have made a sale, who's to say. eBay told me to contact billing for a credit and I have been railroaded from one department to the other and no one is giving me credit for anything. Just about every week I get some email from ebay telling me that a problem has been solved and I haven't even written ebay about such a problem. eBay generically answers mail to look good on paper but the real problem I wrote about is ignored.
I've wasted nearly a whole week of my time over a few dollars trying to get eBay to understand my issue and I've come to believe they know the issue but they are ignoring it. I don't make that much money selling on ebay but I do pay heafty fees each month and that will soon be ending.
Steve of Chicago IL (12/11/07)
For over a year Ebay has been sending me bills and other strange notices about my account. I have never had an account with Ebay. I've never purchased anything on the internet at all. I've never sold anything. Mostly, I've never contacted and signed up with Ebay. Big problem, I have no Ebay account number so the customer service people will absolutely not talk to me. After awhile I found pages on the web posted by other people wondering how to actually contact Ebay. Many of these sites post phone numbers that are supposed to work, but Ebay is very quick to make these numbers impenetrable like the other customer numbers.
I would like to expose these Ebay con artists and their non-functioning system of customer service. I've made 30 or 40 phone calls and spent dprobably 30 hours on the phone being frustrated.
Judy of Laconia NH (12/11/07)
Dec. 7th while checking my bank acct. I noticed with fear that I would be over-drawn, as Ebay had taken out $75.00 A few weeks ago I emailed Ebay and received an email from Ebay saying that bank and or card (debit) would NOT be used. As I spoke with Dan, Dan even said that that was in my acct. Dans' supervisor, however, even after I explained over and over--had the attitude: too bad, we got it now. This was unfair practice done to me, and just because Ebay is so big, does that mean that they can get away with unfair practices?
I was overdrawn for bank acct.; overdrawn fees should go to Ebay.
Bruce of Commerce GA (12/05/07)
EBay suspended my account stating I was asscociated with another suspended account that I have no idea about. There is no way that's true. Also, they charged me fees for auctions they cancelled when they suspended my account, and I was unable to request a final value fee for an item that was unpaid and pending crediting to my seller account.
First of all, the suspension is unjustified and should not be legal. I was charged $77 of fees for services I didn't receive.
Juanita of Byron GA (11/28/07)
I tried to contact Ebay regarding payment of my account. I had funds in my pay pal account, and I was unable to access to pay. In the meantime an Ebay user accessed my Ebay account and my pay pal account linked to my personal bank account and stole my identity and $10,000. My bank returned the funds to me; but still, after having sent ebay an e-mail regarding the theft and the $50 dollars in funds, I have not been able to retrieve from my pay pal. I have not heard from them. I searched ebay's web site trying to find a live voice to talk with concerning my accounts, to no avail. I logged on to ebay's Live Help link and still only received more e-bay links with no live help. Ebay has no telephone numbers on its website for members to call regarding payment disputes, and that is not right.
I am unable to talk with Ebay, and they have sent my account to collection. Please help. I believe the consumer needs to be informed of Ebay's lack of communication regarding account payment disputes. I should have been able to talk with someone regarding my account. When my funds was stolen, if I did not have funds in another acct. it would have been a financial disaster for me. Consumers need to be informed about Ebay's flawed security system, and how someone breached it in my case. Something needs to done about their putting account users in collection, yet denying them an opportunity to speak live with someone regarding a disputed account. I feel I can't adequately settle my dispute with them if I can't talk with them.
Tiffney of Fishers IN (11/25/07)
I am a prolific buyer and seller on ebay. I have 2 buyer accounts and 1 seller account. In one of my buyer accounts, I bought about 70 items from three companies. However, these three companies were all inter-related and offered to combine all my items from all of them so that I could receive a shipping discount. Shipping discounts are a big deal on Ebay and help to greatly reduce the cost of purchasing. Nonetheless, after I bought the items I requested that they combine them for reduced shipping prior to payment. However, no response was received. A week later, they began to demand payment through the Ebay dispute form. Per ebay's policy, I communicated with them and let them know that I was simply waiting for a combined invoice. Next thing you know, Ebay shut all three of my accounts down!
When Ebay shuts an account down that means all the items that you were selling are removed, you cannot contact your buyers, you cannot get access to any of the items you purchased or anything of the like. Even worse, they do not have a phone number you can call or anyway to immediately have your accounts restored. If that is not bad enough, when they remove the items that you sell they cannot relist them with the touch of a button. The items are lost and you better hope you have them saved elsewhere or your weeks or months of listing work is completely lost. So, essentially because I did not pay the three sellers from my one account, Ebay shut down all my accounts. What is sad is that I had 100% feedback in one account and higher than 99.5% feedback in my other accounts. I have extensive knowledge buying and selling jewelry on Ebay, I know all the scams they pull and all the fake merchandise they purposefully allow to slip through. Once I get my accounts squared away and my customers taken care of, I am getting far far away from ebay!
Weeks and months of hard listing work is lost. listings are lost so you cannot make any money from them. you cannot contact your buyers to let them know they will receive their product. buyers who purchased items but see you have suspended will not pay. You cannot contact sellers regarding any items that you bought. It is extremely frightening to see all your listings wiped clear from your accounts and these can NOT be restored. You have to go back in and manually relist your items which could take weeks and weeks. I had nearly 350 listings and they all were removed by Ebay.
Natalie of Philadelphia PA (11/15/07)
Originally, an auction had been posted on Ebay for a Garmin 670 GPS, and before bidding, I emailed the seller a few questions. Soon after, the auction was removed from eBay but the seller offered the product to me at the buy-it-now option. I investigated his background making sure to check his feedback and ratings. Everything seemed fine so I told him to proceed. I then received an email from eBay giving me instructions to wire money and offering me buyer protection. I wired the $550, using Western Union, on 7/3/07 to the address the Ebay email had provided. Once I contacted the seller to verify the wire had been sent, he emailed back saying he would deliver the product upon receipt of payment. Since he was very prompt in responding to my emails, I became worried when I had not heard from him by the following day. I wrote him again on Wednesday and Thursday, and by Friday (7/6/07) I knew something was wrong and began searching the eBay site for help. I found an email address to their Fraud Customer Service Dept and forwarded them the email I had originally received from eBay. They replied writing that the email had not been sent from their company and had been fabricated by the seller. I was told to file a police report with local authorities which I did on 7/6/07. I also called Western Union the same day to file a complaint and submitted my case/information to www.ic3.gov, www.econsumer.gov, FTC, and the attorney generals office. Ebay did research my case and responded that illegal activity took place on the owner's account without the member's knowledge. Since the email that had been sent to me originally offering buyer protection was fraudulent, eBay can not provide any refund. Currently, I'm working with a detective at the Philadelphia Police Dept as instructed by Ebay and Western Union. As of last week, the detective informed me that neither Western Union nor Ebay would provide a refund. All other organizations I have contacted have also responded by basically saying: we'll log it, but can't help you.
Despina of Brockton MA (11/14/07)
Ebay claims to have buyer's protection. On Dec. 06' I made a purchase for a children's comforter set. The seller never sent item and refused to respond to emails. I contacted Ebay's dispute console. They really didn't do anything. Seller sent one bogus email to not look bad and pretended like everything was fine (this was 2 months later). I never was refunded for the money sent. I used a money order. I don't feel that buyers do have any protection. When I filed a complaint with Ebay, they did nothing to resolve my issue. They basically let this seller off the hook so she can scam people again. If there are so many limitations to the buyer's protection policy, in reality consumer's then have no real protection.
Barbara of Sacramento CA (11/11/07)
I paid for an unusual silk blouse and the Seller never delivered it. Later I found the very same item being re-auctioned for 8 times the price. I reported the whole scenario to eBay, sending e-mail documentation. To date, there has been no action from eBay, other than for them to tell me that my contact information was incorrect and suspend my account. The Seller is a Power Seller and I'm told by many that eBay doesn't mess with those. Please advise..... Barb
I'm out the shipping and purchase money.
Tom of Portland OR (10/30/07)
i buy things through ebay and try to pay via money order and they won't give me an address to send it to. then they give me a strike for non-payment. numerous times i have not recieved the item and i complain and ebay does nothing but send me repeated requests to buy for from this patron. then i try to close the account but they won't let me. then they say that if i do business outside of ebay with them it is illegal. the only solution is to put them on my spam filter. also sometimes they don't provide authentification of items that should be, and then sometimes they have exorbitant shipping chages,etc. etcd. etc.
Donald of Clarendon Hills, IL:
I opened an ebay account to buy parts to fix my motorcycle after an accident. Three weeks later ebay blocked my account saying that I was a previously suspended user who owes them fees. But I am not! This is my first ebay account. I have written dozens of emails but ebay won't respond. There is no phone number to call. The online support personnel were sympathetic but couldn't help, saying I had to use emails. No response! I was unable to purchase the used parts I needed from sellers who use ebay as their marketplace.
Josephine of Ft. Worth TX (09/15/07)
On April 17, 2007 -My account was suspended for using someone elses computer to access my account while out of town ( this person had a suspended acct . with Ebay ). I had paid Ebay $ 281.46 fees for store & listings, etc..I had over 500 auctions in my store, they closed my listing and stole my money, charged me for services they failed to render.I had always paid them promptly and was not delinquent at any time. I have asked for a refund and they claim I can go to their site, but I am blocked because of my suspension, I have emailed them on several occasion requesting a refund - which they have not granted. I want other people to know how they run their business stealing from others. I also have receipts for all my payments since I was trying to run a business.
Sincerely, Josephine Kirksey
Financial Hardship & loss of approx. $ 200.00 for services not rendered, not to mention deflamation of character.
Richard of S. Lake Tahoe CA (09/02/07)
I am being blocked from bidding on more than one Item, at al time. And I am being shut out after I win a bid by Ebay blocking all other bids I make until the seller notifies that payment has been received. This totally shuts me out of buying any other Items and actually cheats the Sellers of higher sales profits. I had only one undeserved ding on my account but had it removed by Ebay as the Seller had made a false report.
Jill of Bellmore NY (07/23/07)
I got a notification from eBay that my account was suspending. I sent an email asking why this had occurred. I never got a response. I sent a second email and I got a response that my account was associated with another persons account that was suspended. I could not get my account back until the other person fixed their issues. I was also not allowed to find out the issue with the other person's account or find out why my account was associated with this person's account.
This is completely unacceptable. I do not have access to my account and can not longer make purchases through this site because of an association of my account to another persons. I should not be help responsible for another persons actions. There is nothing wrong with my account otherwise.
Mark of Washington DC (05/02/07)
I've been trading on ebay since 1999 and for most of that time I've had postitive experiences. I have a 100% positive rating. However, the trend in the last three years or so is that ebay is becomming more and more a rogues gallery of theft (fraud), misrepresentation and feedback blackmail. One could argue that my concern is with individual sellers, however, eBays policies of protecting ex-members identities, their feedback system (promotes feedback blackmail) and their Safe Harbor program only enable and perpetuate seemingly more and more bad players on ebay. I can only hope that rumors about Google or Yahoo starting a real competitor to eBay are true.
Although my money losses have been less than a hundred dollars, the time and agravation have been significant. I only write this as a warning CAVEAT EMPTOR.
Paul of Springfield IL (04/30/07)
I purchased $934,53 worth of foreign DVDs for viewing with the intent of selling them when I was finished with them. I do this because it is much cheaper than renting.
The items pictured were described as new. When the DVDs arrived they turned out to be illegal, pirated copies.
1. They are in colored paper jackets.
2. They do not have the original artistic covers or cases.
3. They bear labels that are inkjet printer generated self-adhesive that look nothing like the original DVDs.
I already had some of the movies and thus could compare the bootlegs to the originals. What I got are definately pirated copies.
When the seller was contacted they never would claim that the DVDs were originals or legal, only that they got them from a reputable unnamed distributor. They refused to refund my money.
A complaint was filed with eBay and a claim with Paypal. I filed five, they only acknowledge four. I have a printour from their site showing the five and all the details. They continue to send me form emails and are not willing to refund my money based on the policy that the items delivered were not as described. They seem unconcerned that the items are illegal.
Tom of La Mirada CA (04/11/07)
I believe that the auction that I was involved in had shill bidding in the auction.
I paid more for the item than I would.
Leslie of New Britain CT (04/10/07)
I bought an item from this seller on EBAY for $314.99. I sent payment to this seller and for three weeks he has not sent me the item i paid for. I have tried to contact the seller numerous amounts of times and he continues to give the run around as to when i am supposed to get my item. I had delivery confirmation the the money got there two days after i sent it. I was told by the seller he would ship my item right away, he has not done so yet. In the meantime i have tried to contact this seller and he has responded very nasty. I asked that he return my money and he will not do so. I have contacted EBAY and they won't do anything about the issue, so this is why i am taking it to this level.
In result i have lost money and have not recieved the item i paid for.
Le of Plantation FL (03/25/07)
I purchased an item from a seller. The seller asked many personal questions as if phishing for information for identity theft. I left the seller negative feedback for phishing.
I was suspended from ebay for posting the negative feedback and I'm not being allowed to quit ebay because it is not allowed for anyone to quit while on suspension.
Edawrdof Bellmawr NJ (03/03/07)
i was mislead and lost money
Randal of Wheatland CA (02/08/07)
Purchased an item and never received it.
Lost $100.00
Charles of San Antonio TX (02/05/07)
I submitted a bid on a camera & lenes. I received an e-mail confirming my bid and then notifying me that I had won on an official Ebay form. I then received a message from the seller, again on official Ebay form that I had won and that if I Western Union'd the funds he would send it out the same day. I then sent a Western Union for over $800. Then over 24 after I had paid I receive an email from Ebay stating they had pulled the listing due to some inappropriate action. The story gets longer but I will try & condense. Anyway I found out from Ebay that the person I sent the money to had hijacked a real member's account. The only responce I get from Ebay is that since I paid by Western Union I have no recourse because they warn again it. My contention is that Ebay allowed their system to be hacked into and the members account hijacked AND all communication was via valid looking Ebay forms AND they notified me they had pulled the listing & not to pay a full 24 hours after I paid. I have full documention & copies of all emails. Also there is no way to communicate with anyone other than amail & then all I recieve back are form emails. I feel I am entitled to my money back & I will bet I am not the first this has happened to.
Moises of Snellville GA (01/31/07)
I bought a Maxtor 300GB(Hard Drive)Personal Kaplan Storage for USMLE.I was charged in my credit card and I never received the item.The purchase
was done throught Ebay on Dec 07, 2006
and they have done nothing to solve this situation.
I lost$365.00 in that transaction
Joseph of Amityville NY (01/25/07)
I have been a seller and buyer on eBay for five years. I recently switched banks and needed to change my bank information with eBay. When I tried to change my VISA DEBIT CARD information, it continually came back with an AUTHENTICATION FAILURE error message stating my address did not match my credit/debit card information. Yet when I went online to my bank, I was charged a one dollar fee for each attempt. I then called my bank and they stated that eBay was approved each time. In addition, I had gone to eBay Express and attempted to purchase an item using a MasterCard credit card from a well known financial instition. When I went through the checkout process, the same thing happened. i received AUTHENTICATION FAILURE messages and yet my credit card company approved one dollar transactions for each attempt. I attempted to purchase this item seven times before finally giving up. I called eBay headquarters and the operator hung up on me stating that I had to go through interactive online help. When I did this, the Customer Service rep repeatedly told me that my address info listed on eBay did not match my credit card info nor did it match my VISA DEBIT CARD info. This is totally incorrect, as I have been using my credit card and debit card repeatly with no problem and my billing information is the same for everything. eBay totally refuses to help remedy the situation, continually telling me that the error is on my side and not theirs. Finally, I attempted to use my personal checking account. That went through but then I was told by eBay in an email that there was also a problem with the address information for my checking account and I cannot use this option either. eBay has become totally impossible to deal with. Everything is the buyer/seller fault and eBay is NEVER AT FAULT!
Shirley of Palm Springs CA (01/05/07)
I accessed a live auction on ebay and purchased merchandise. It was absolutely junk and I immediately returned the items. That was several months ago and I have not been able to obtain a refund. The seller is no longer an ebay participant. My complaint is that ebay allowed their site to be used without properly qualifying the auctioner--and allowed them to live auction at that. Also, they make it very difficult to complain. Their dispute template doesn't allow a complaint about not getting a refund when items are returned. They are only concerned about not receiving the merchandise or if it is not as described. One has to be VERY careful when using ebay. That being said, I've had some very good experiences there. It's just like the saying, when it's good, it's very very good and when it's bad it's horrid.
Scott of Port St Lucie FL (12/23/06)
I contacted ebay.com in hope to buy a motorcycle. I found one that I liked and pressed the buy it now button. I signed in to ebay to buy the bike. I received an email from ebay saying they recommend the seller and that the transaction would be covered by ebay's buyer protection plan. Feeling secure that I had ebay standing behind the deal, I followed the instructions for payment. After wiring the funds i waited for the bike to show up. It never did. I was in constant contact with the seller and with ebay throughout the deal. I thought I was in good hands and protected from anything going wrong. I was wrong. I contacted ebay and they tell me the transaction took place outside of ebay and that I wasn't protected by their policy. There was nothing they could do. I contacted the FBI to report ebay and the scam I was a victim of. Nothing was done. I contacted the attorney general. Nothing was done. I contacted the bank to try to trace the account where the money was sent. I didn't have the authority. I lost $8,800 in this scam and nobody cares. I'm sure there are many others that lost the same amount of money in the same scam, but no one is doing anything. Ebay is aware of this scamming going on in their site, but they don't monitor their site to keep these scumbags out so honest people can make an honest deal. I want it to be known by the world that ebay is only interested in covering their own ass when it comes to this and that they don't stand behind the people getting ripped off on their site. Tell me they don't know this sort of thing happens all the time. Tell me they don't know who is doing it either. Ebay is a big powerful company with many lawers to protect them. What about the little guy? Can you do something about this?
Helen of Studio City CA (12/13/06)
I received a bill in the mail from a collection agency associated with EBAY for money I didn't owe them since I never have had an account with EBAY nor have I ever purchased anything from them either.
Spoke with collection representative who alledgedly assured me that the problem would be corrected. But why is it that I have the feeling this is now pasted into my credit report????
Denise of Anaheim CA (12/08/06)
I paid for 6 items which I did not receive. 5 were PayPal and the 6'th was not PayPal but I sent a cashier's check.
At the advice of eBay I also sent my cell phone number.
I have filed through PayPal on 5 items and received refund for one only.
The seller of the kerosene heater pappygol claimed to have not received my money.
I provided proof of payment to eBay and to seller.
Mr Goldner then proceeded to threaten myself and my sister (who lives in Ohio). These threatening messages were forwarded by eBay. I complained to their Security Dept and sent copies of the e-mails.
Nothing was done by eBay about either the Item Not Received or the harassment and threats complaints, both with proof sent to eBay.
However, the seller filed an Unpaid Item complaint and I was given an Unpaid Item Strike.
Furthermore, Mr Goldman continued to send e-mails and eBay did nothing. In fact EBAY FORWARDED THEM!
My repeated requests to close my account were ignored! Or denied!
Another seller insisted on a money order and refused a cashier's check or any method which provided proof of payment. And eBay AGAIN hit me with an unpaid item strike!
I paid another seller $92 (PayPal) for a Louis Vuitton purse. IT NEVER ARRIVED! I filed complaints with both eBay (not even a reply) and PayPal.
NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING!
Pat of Beijing China (11/25/06)
I am an Irish citizen who has been living in Beijing China for the past two years.I have a credit card and an account in my bank back in Ireland,which I use when needed. I recently signed to ebay and of course they insisted that I use paypal, as most of the sellers will only deal with you if you use paypal, ebay and paypal are of course thre same company. I bid for and won some items. Keen to impress, I immediately wanted to pay for them. Paypal froze my account, stating some unusual activity. whatever! They then asked me to provide documentation to help unfreeze my account. I would have left at this stage if it wasn't for the fact that I had told my son that I had managed to find a game he had wanted, so I sent them what they wanted. They then wanted proof of address, I explained that they had already confirmed that I had a valid card and bank account, what did they want my address for? Furthermore,who the hell were they?Not a bank.just a service. They refused to unfreeze my account until I produce my proof of address. I informed them that I live in Beijing, they know, and everything here is written in Chinese (surprise!) They insisted that my proof of address must be legible,to which I aske dthem if they could read Chinese! All i get is automated mail replies.Meanwhile ebay is sebding me PAY NOW emails for the items I won, HOW CAN I YOU MORONS??
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