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eBay Begins A Change
ctwxman writes "If I hadn't double checked the routing, I wouldn't have believed the email I just received from ebay was real. After all, who is 'spoofed' more than ebay? But it looks like they're making some major structural changes in the way they deal with their customers. This includes, "giving our CS reps the flexibility and tools they need to really take care of you. So, to start, within the next 90 days, we'll shut down most of our automated email responses. Our users will get a "real" e-mail response to their questions - you'll hear from a human being who will try to help you with your problem or question right off the bat. We will only use auto responses to acknowledge receipt of spam or policy violation reports." Wow. However, don't read everything at its simplistic face value. When they say, "We also think the time has come to expand phone support," it's only for sellers. Still, this seems to be movement in the right direction. Now all they have to do is take a little more responsibility with fraud protection." The message is online; granted, this isn't the most exciting news ever, but it will end affecting a lot of people.
We bitch more about PayPal then Ebay. How about you fix Paypal first.
Before you get all excited about having EBay offering all this great customer service, realize that it comes at a cost. A cost that will be passed on to you - the people that use EBay, both buyers and sellers.
I'm a big tall mofo.
Making listings of your own is relatively tricky (although still not actually terribly difficult), but the vast majority of ebay users never do that.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
but until somebody can offer a guarantee to protect the little guy
I'll expect that of every eBay transaction when I can expect it of every flea market, newspaper classified-based transaction, etc. It's an information engine, not personal behavior regulator. Of course, that's what their (rather substantial) reputation database is all about. Like with phishing and everything else along these lines, it's the not-very-tuned-in people that tend to have the most trouble.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Automated replies are often useful. If the human customer reps are going to just dole out the same answers over and over, they're no more useful than automatic replies, but a whole lot more expensive.
I guess they lost too many customers to Ricardo as most people I know associate "selling" with ricardo and "scamming" with eBay.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
1. Froogle.com can search eBay and other auction sites as well as online stores. This is leading traditional eBay sellers to list on other online auctions sites such as Overstock, Amazon and Yahoo to avoid the hefty eBay selling fees, yet still be seen.
...
2. Niche Sites - The rise of niche sites devoted to one type of merchandise: Astromart for telescopes, Timezone for watches, Amazon for books, AuctionArms for sporting goods
3. Death of the collectibles market and commodization of PC parts - The bread and butter of eBay has been it's collectible market, which has taken a hit in recent years due to the economy. PC parts were another money maker until they became dirt cheap thanks to commoditization.
Already eBay is starting to disappoint in earnings, a direct result of all these niche players.
I have had quite a few friends loose money on ebay
This is why the customer service phone support is only for sellers.
News Flash: The sellers on eBay are the only customers of eBay.
Buyers are customers of the SELLERS. People don't lose money to eBay, they lose it to someone who placed an ad on eBay. Wanting eBay to reimburse a bad sale is like wanting the newspaper to give your money back on something you bought via a classified ad. Do you think the newspapers give refunds to people who list bogus classified ads?
Hit the nail on the head.
eBay is so pervasive in the auction sector, what with its continual name-dropping in feature films, music videos and so forth that it can pretty much charge what it likes and know it'll still be regarded as the de facto auction site.
Recently they made a stand about sellers enforcing a percentage rise for whenever a buyer paid using Paypal. Justifable really, since the seller loses out to the tune of ~3% otherwise.
Also, the concept of a Final Value Fee has no justification in my eyes. I can understand eBay charging a variable listing fee (depending on the item visibility & features), but to charge someone a variable percentage of whatever they sell their item for is absurd. Imagine selling a car via a local newspaper, and finding a representative at your door demanding a cut in addition to whatever they charged you to list the item in the first place!.. oh, and then finding your bank asking for their cut too for processing the money.
It wouldn't be so bad if they were a shining light in the customer service stakes, but their track record is atrocious. Not only are they notoriously slow at answering dispute resolution correspondance, but invariably they wash their hands of all but the most legally threatening (to them) issues. Feedback arbitration is practically non-existant, with malicious negative feedback being effectively permanent (even from members no longer registered and/or banned!).
As others have remarked - they will find some way to pass whatever costs they have to bear as a result of this CS initiative, whether it be to the buyer or seller (or both).
...how about they eliminate e-mail from the "ebay process" all together. I mean seriously, create a "Private Message System" that will allow both buyers and sellers to communicate, and allow ebay to communicate with its customers at the same time. Set it up so that you can choose to receive e-mail notification when you recieve a message so that you can still check your e-mail for new stuff, but keep the messages ON ebay itself. This way you can know when ebay messages are official or not. Obviously the primary exception to this would be password loss.
Bradford L.
http://www.modemhelp.net
When I report a powerseller with a 99% feedback rating, will you listen?
Even if this powerseller takes VHS quality fan tapes that have been very poorly burned to DVD-R and sells them for $25+? Even if it violates the over-the-air recording policy, dvd-r policy, and copyright policy?
Even if I point out the many many feedbacks which agree with my point of view? Even if I include the email where he sells additional items outside of eBay?
Will you be there eBay? Will you listen? Or will you continue to go after more petty things like arcade collectors selling real bootleg pac-man PCBs from the period?
Also, the concept of a Final Value Fee has no justification in my eyes
Welcome to the world of auctions. This is not some new way to cheat you thought up by eBay; from an estate auction to a livestock auction to classical art at Christie's, all auctioneers charge a percentage cut as well as a base fee.
I used a debit card, and I've already checked my account information to see if there is a credit, which of course there is not. As it is, they are only agreeing to refund my purchase and original shipping, but not the cost of shipping this crap back to them. Naturally, I will be trying to go through the fraud process if this don't agree to pay that. It's already cost me more in time than I paid for the stupid item.
What are you waiting for? They obviously ripped you off, and now they're stalling. Report them. If that doesn't go anywhere (and don't give it too much time), call your bank and tell them that somebody ripped you off. All purchases made through the credit card system, debit cards included, have 100% purchase protection for all transactions without a physical signature. Tell them what happened, and they'll take it from there.
And in the future, make all of your online purchases with a real bona-fide credit card, not a debit card. While they both have the same protections in theory, the fact that the credit card doesn't get your money until after you're satisfied with the purchase puts you in a much more advantageous position.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
"May PayPal & eBay both rot in hell..."
It's the rip-off artists I want to see rot in hell. PayPal and eBay both provide useful services. Yeah, their fees could be lower and their customer service could be better. They've just got a lot of scum out there to deal with.
I made several thousand USD in PayPal sales through my own website last year. Yeah, I paid 2.9%. But I didn't have to pay monthly fees for a merchant account, and I was able to integrate their payment notifications with my own order tracking database. And being a legitimate, responsible seller, I've had no problems with customer complaints or returns. 2.9% is an acceptable price to pay for their service.