eBay

[Stealthbomber]

So, back in April I decided to buy series 4 of Miami Vice on DVD from an eBay seller with a shop and heaps of feedback.

It never arrived.

I raised a dispute and began muttering darkly.

A day later I got a telephone call from a lovely indian man who informed me that eBay value my custum so much that they were going to send me a voucher to cover the cost of the missing DVDs regardless of the outcome of the paypal dispute.

That cheered me up no end.

So much, in fact, that I went back to ebay, found a seller with 5000+ feedback and a massive shop and ordered Miami Vice Series 4 AND Series 5 from him.

I bet you know where this is going, right?

Bingo! They didn't arrive so back to the Paypal dispute centre I go.

 

Now, that's all pretty standard stuff.

The thing that really gnaws my 'nads is that in both cases the seller de-registered from eBay and p*ssed off into the sunset without so much as a cheerio.

Surely, in this day and age it's not beyond the wit of eBay to put some automatic controls in place to stop people scarpering like this?

 

How about taking a deposit from all eBay sellers who want to de-register?

They take a deposit of, say, £500 (Yes, it is a lot. If you haven't got it don't de-register) and then email everybody who dealt with the seller over the last 30 days.

The £500 goes to pay off any disputes that are either ongoing or raised as a result of the emails.

If there are no disputes after, say, 30 days the seller gets his £500 back and can de-register.

If a seller is prepared to remain "dormant" for 60 days before de-registering then this could be waived.

 

Alternatively, let's imagine the de-registration was a 2-stage process.

You submit yourself for de-registration.

EBay tell you the process is ongoing.

Again, everybody you've sold to in the last 30 days gets an email.

If no complaints are received as a result of these emails then the persons de-registration is finalised after, say, 14 days.

Again, if a seller is prepared to remain "dormant" for 60 days before de-registering then this could be waived.

 

 

Also, how about simply not allowing anybody to de-register if they've sold items and haven't received feedback for them yet?

Again, people who haven't left feedback could be emailed automatically and asked if there's a reason why not.

Again, if no complaints or queries are raised as a result of the emails the person can de-register after 14 days.

Again, if a seller is prepared to remain "dormant" for 60 days before de-registering then this could be waived.

 

 

It seems to me that eBay aren't doing anything like as much as they could (making use of AUTOMATIC systems) to stop fraudulent sellers from disappearing into the night with suitcases full of other peoples money.

 

[summit_strike]

Wow, the combination of avatars in those two threads is a staggering mindf**k...

 

Stealth, I know how you feel - I've had the same problem before. That said, Paypal disputes and the like can be just as annoying from the other side. I sold a gig ticket recently (couldn't make it, so I wanted to make some of my money back) and Royal Mail dropped the ball in a big way and 'never delivered it'. According to the tracking it got delivered to the same house, but the signature was different.

 

I upheld my end of the deal, and was therefore apparently protected within eBay's rules (you'd imagine), but when the guy filed a Paypal dispute despite my having given him all the details he needed to claim his money back off RM, Paypal seized the money so I couldn't run off with it. Unfortunately I needed that money, and the guy then left the dispute open for two weeks with no response until I emailed him outside of Paypal, threatening to escalate the claim myself.

 

Annoying as hell. I'm not saying what these sellers have done - it clearly isn't - but rather pointing out that eBay can be just as rubbish for the seller sometimes... especially given the total morons who often shop on there.

[L4byr1nth]

Everytime I send a report or try making a complaint, I get the same bloody auto-e-mail through, with some fluff at the top from someone who obviously doesn't know what they're doing.

 

It's patronising, and goes to show that the only people really using FleaBay that much are robbers and grannies.

 

Ben.

[The End]

paypal will always side with the buyers, most of the time.

[crackisbad]

paypal will always side with the buyers, most of the time.

 

50% of the time, it works all the time....

 

 

 

This is basically why I always use my credit card whenever I make any purchases online, even through paypal because if you get screwed, the card company will refund you and work very hard to get their money back. As long as it's not their money, i.e. yours, paypal/banks/companies don't really try all that hard.

 

You should write all that in a letter of complaint to ebay Stealth, of course it will probably end up in the corporate bathroom to be deemed as emergency toilet paper