Pg1

I have been a casual seller / buyer on eBay since 2001, with Low average sales, by most accounts.

My account was “hacked”, in 2006, by someone that began selling “phantom items”, using my username and password. [ How did they get my password]?

I opened an email that said important account information from “your eBay team”.

When I clicked on the email, a page opened up that looked just like a page from eBay.

It stated that in order to maintain security, I need to log in to access the information.

The familiar box popped up for user name and password, [with the eBay logo in the corner].

I typed in the user name and password, [looking to see if the asterisks came up, obscuring the password and they did, before I clicked on the “log in button”.  Again, all seemed legit.

Once I hit the “LOG IN BUTTON”, my screen went blank and my computer was shut down with a nasty virus.  [I guess that was to keep me from seeing what they were doing right away!]

 Whoever it was, got my password and began to fraudulently use my name and password to sell items that didn’t really exist. It took a number of days to restore my computer.

 The first that I knew something was wrong, once my computer was repaired, was when I got an angry message wanting to know” where is my  CD player”? Then other things began to come up unshipped!

Lots of people were mad at me, for not responding to their questions and not getting their goods!

I tried to access my account, but the password had been changed and I was locked-out!

I called eBay for help and they found that my account had been compromised. It was locked up by eBay and they began to search for the creep that was responsible. They removed bad messages /feedback.

I blame myself for using the same password on multiple sites. This person was able to access some other web sites of mine and lock me out there as well.

I ended up closing all internet related cards accounts and sites that I had and re-open them with fresh user names and long complicated passwords.

I Stayed clear of eBay for some time, but this January I decided to try it once more. I tried to access my old account with my old password, but nothing worked. I figured that the account had been closed due to the problems I had experienced.

I started from scratch, with a new user name and much longer password. This was Jan., 2011.

My bank info had also changed since 2006, so all that was re-entered as well.

         Pg2

So in January of 2011 I was back on eBay as a seller/buyer, with a new identity in both eBay and PayPal.

I had also taken some additional steps to help keep my main computer safer. I had an older computer that I set-up for all the email traffic that floods your in-box. This computer had a unique email identity just for eBay.

I have been buying and selling since Jan. 2011, with no problems, generating almost $4,000.00 in total sales. August 31, 2011 eBay decides that I am a high risk seller, [because I have a low DSR number], “feedback score”. I am considered a new seller. So eBay, in trying to protect buyers from dishonest sellers, has put my PayPal funds on hold, until the items are delivered and positive feedback is left.

I have a list of buyers that have chosen NOT to leave feed back, even after my sending them messages asking them to. This has resulted in a low feedback score on my new account.

I have been asked, buy a few buyers, to put a group of items they have purchased into one box, [to save them money on shipping]. I have done so, but ended up still not getting the feed back that eBay deems so critical to my performance rating. [16 items in one large crate weighing 1,800 pounds!] no feed back

When I print labels and ship through eBay, I get a discount on the shipping costs. [usually about 15%]

So I have given up money on shipping, to try to help out customers that STILL won’t leave feedback!

I have no control on whether they leave feed back or not and to make things worse, there is no penalty from eBay, for buyers that do not leave feedback! But the seller is punished by having his PayPal funds put on hold, if their feedback score is low. There is something not right about this unbalanced set-up.

If I started in January as a new account, then that is the time to inform me that they will put funds on hold until I prove I am a good seller, NOT  7 months down the road, with only a few days notice.

Plus, eBay and PayPal both knew the primary name on the account and all the financial information as well.  So they knew I was not a new customer, I was in fact a 10 year old account with NO negative feedback, No disputes, NOTHING to warrant being treated like a dishonest seller.  [common criminal]

Based on 10 years of account ownership, in good standing, with no negative marks against me in that time, I should have been “Grand-Fathered-In” on this security roll-out that occurred in late August.

As it is, the hold applied to my funds on the 31st of August has resulted in overdrafts to my checking account, associated with this PayPal account. I am also unable to complete financial commitments made after the August sales of some of my eBay items.

I still had eBay fees to pay and items to ship,  but my PayPal money had been put on hold.

I am faced with another” NO-WIN- Situation”.

I made at least 16 separate phone calls to eBay and PayPal trying to get some answers.

 NOT MUCH LUCK!   I could never speak to the same person twice, They all spoke broken  English.

There were always long wait times between answers, [like they were reading from a translator].

The customer service is anything but service. Bad experience overall for me.

Trying to talk to a supervisor is like the TV commercial!   Supervisor is genius!!

 “Transfer!”  “Transfer!” “Transfer!”  “Transfer!         ”ELLOW, … dis- e-s Beggie

Ridiculous!  Why does eBay employ so many S. Asian people in their customer service area?

Well, consider who founded eBay in the late 90’s [Pierre Omidyar], who is now a multi- Billionaire.

…taking care of his own ???  He came to the US to make his fortune, … but now who is getting the profits.

It is a world wide enterprise, no doubt. But has it gotten so big that it is becoming a callas dictatorship?

I found their rules and the decisions they make to be rigid and uninterested in the harm they may be causing. … I am left feeling “guilty until proven innocent”!

With the new revelations concerning their intrusion into my bank account for funds to pay eBay fees, [which caused overdrafts], … they have added” injury to insult”!

I don’t like being treated like this.

I have NO SAY in the process. [I should not have been put into the high risk category].

I should not have been allowed to sell for 7 months, [un-regulated], and then locked-down  in midstream, with only a day or two’s notice.

The appeal process is a joke!  No way to resolve issues with people with the same morals and ethics that we strive for in America.  OH wait! You are not talking to Americans, You can hardly understand anything they say! Expecting them to understand your position, feelings, or even your language is a pipe-dream!

I was told I should have carefully read the user agreement before accepting to join PayPal.

I went back to look at it and it is 15 pages of Legal-ease, that defies absorption or understanding by most of the people I know.

I have given up on an issue regarding invoicing a customer. In summary, I needed to reinvoice them. For some reason, ebay invoiced them the new amount plus the old amount! Furthermore, when trying to call customer service, absolutely nothing got done about it. Even the customer service (in south east asia) were too confused to know what to do about it. They refused to escalate my claim and patronized me with useless apologies. The experience was miserable and lasted three days for a sum total of over 3 hours on the phone.

  I purchased an item for $350.00 with shipping. The item description was wrong and the item received was not the one pictured. I contacted the seller who eventually admitted that they sent the wrong item and wanted to send me a different item. I opted to return the defective item, within the two week return period, and asked for my money back. The seller promptly corrected the error in the description, re-listed and resold the item, keeping my $350.00.

Ebay customer service "resolved" the problem in the sellers favor. Ebay was quite happy to let a seller Defraud a buyer of $350.00.

  When I tried to contact Paypal I was simply rerouted back to Ebay. It was never possible to actually speak to a human with either Ebay or Paypal.

  SOLUTION  Never buy anything with Paypal without using a credit card as your method of payment.  I contacted the credit card company, filed a dispute for the $350.00 charge, and it was promptly resolved in my favor and the $350.00 was returned to my credit card.

  As a follow up,  I have filed a complaint with the States Attorney Generals Office, Consumers Affairs Division, about Ebay's illegal business practices.

   Fred  of  Freds Museum

Tried contacting ebay customer support about an case that had been resolved, but ebay had delivered the wrong return address.  After being transferred around from person to person and finally arriving to the buyer protection center, I was treated like criminal.  I was talked down to, told it was my fault, that I was incorrect, and should have updated my personal information correctly.  When I asked to speak to a supervisor about the way I was being treated, the representative told me no, that there was no one to talk to, and she hung up on me.

I like saving money, but this is totally not worth it.  Ebay should be ashamed.