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.

Comments

Higher Ebay Costs = Higher Ebay Fees

[bigtallmofo]

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.

Re:Walmart

[gowen]

It is not because they have any clue about what customer service is.

I think they're also helped by the fact that the vast majority of their customers never need the customer service. Feedback makes it relatively straightforward to identify reputable sellers, and if you're prepaid to pay a little more to deal exclusively with them, it usually just works. (Failings of the USPS notwithstanding.)

Making listings of your own is relatively tricky (although still not actually terribly difficult), but the vast majority of ebay users never do that.

Re:Walmart

[magarity]

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?

Yes, but will it change anything?

[AtariDatacenter]

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?