Question
Opened my email this morning. Had 2 emails that said my ebay account was suspended. I looked at the properties and decided they were both spoofs, and deleted them without opening.
Went to ebay and brought up my seller page, and sure enough it says I am
NOT A REGISTERED USER.
I was able to sign in, and this was the message that I got is suspended from eBay
*You have been indefinitely suspended from eBay because our records indicate your account was involved in activities that violate our policy governing payment of eBay fees. Learn more about this offense.
If you feel you have been suspended in error or want to appeal this decision by providing additional information, please contact us.
An email regarding this was sent to you at *
I had 6 auctions up. They were ended.
I have been selling online 5.5 yrs. Over 2200 FB, 100 % positive.
Had not sold all summer.
This last round of auctions, it would not let me list them, as it said I had a balance on my selling account ( less than $ 5.00 ) I had to pay it with a one time payment off my credit account. Then it let me list the auctions a few nights ago. My current balance is maybe $ 5.00, as I had 3 recent auctions end with winners, so I owed for that.
I am sick. I am just gearing up for fall selling, and ebay does this to me. I am assuming it is a glitch from them. I have done nothing wrong that I am aware of.
I need a phone number or email address for ebay. I have to go to work this morning, but hopefully at noon, I can get on this problem.
Just color me sick to my stomach here.
Patti
Answer
Patti..
What did the "learn more" say???
(((((HUGS)))))
I know how you feel !!!
(offering moral support, caues I can't say anything except go thru the painstaking process to get reinstated)..
crystal
Answer
Crystal, thank you, for answering me....
This is the message, I am getting when I sign in, and try to go to seller account. I was hoping to make a credit card payment of my balance.
*Registration blocked. Users whose registered status is blocked must resolve any outstanding complaints on file before proceeding. Please resolve these issues and try again. *
My hope right now, is a email that will take several days to get through.
Maybe live help could help me ?
A phone call will probably tell me to take it to email help.
I feel like I am standing in a crowd, minding my own business, somebody walks up behind me, and hits me over the head with a ball bat, I come to, look up, and the person says,
oh hi....I just felt like being mean to somebody, and it's your turn today.....
I realize it's a billing situation problem.....but if ebay is trying to drive away their sellers....they are doing a excellent job of it.
And if you are reading this and saying
oh, it's NOT my problem...
and it always happens to the other guy....
well guess what.....
it maybe YOUR turn tomorrow.......
Answer
And if you are reading this and saying
oh, it's NOT my problem...
and it always happens to the other guy....
well guess what.....
it maybe YOUR turn tomorrow.......
Toyhunter..This is how I've felt for months..I think this is a huge problem..
I have LESS problem with the supensions, than I do with 2 anciallary issues.
1. Time to resolution - No company should be allowed to shut off service without a quick appeal process. Especially, when there are so many "re-instatements", which tells us right away that they are shutting off service when they should not be. It should not take weeks, but hours.
2. Loss of Data/Buyer Handling - All bids are ended and the buyer told not to buy from you. Your data is gone. So unless you have an AMS company or use Turbo lister, even a bogus, totally wrong, no reason to suspend a user suspension results in your buyer being told not to buy from you..and loss of data..
The above are HUGE problems to me...and displayes an unfairness that can cripple a small business owner..
crystal
Answer
And if you are reading this and saying
oh, it's NOT my problem...
and it always happens to the other guy....
well guess what.....
it maybe YOUR turn tomorrow.......
I am increasingly aware of the fact. I have been selling since January 1998 have 3000 plus feedback and a rating of 100% (although there is one neg in there). I thought that Ebay provided one of the greatest dealing opportunities since the end of the second world war (when fortunes were made dealing in army surplus), and it has put me in the best financial position of my life (not rich, but a steady living and lifestyle that I was enjoying).
Now I watch blatant scam artists get away with major rip offs of the public on Ebay, while I get an auction closed because I describe the item carefully. I know that I am just as likely to be NARU'd as the scam artist.
Ebay has become a minefield and a trap for the wary, let alone the unwary. Customer service has always been close to non-existant, but customer contempt has steadily risen over the last 18 months to levels that are just not worth putting up with.
Ebay has undermined every value it was built on, and every aspect of the market that made it work. It IS still possible to make a good living there, but it is much harder work and many bidders have been segregated away from any individual sellers auctions. Competitive bidding was an essential element that made Ebay successful, but Ebay now believes that a single bid is sufficient (and is much more efficient if the item is declared sold as soon as a single bid is received). Those who sell through auction (instead of fixed price) are held in contempt, but Ebay holds such a strangle hold on the Online Auction Industry that there is nowhere else viable to go.
I am probably going to pre-empt my NARU, and get back into a real world auction business before this gets outrageously unworkable, but I have the good fortune of the opportunity being available to me. There are many who are in a position that Ebay opened an availability to self supporting income that was not previously available, and they are now being crushed under the weight of incompetence, over regulation and market fragmentation and have no where to turn.
Patti, I am sorry that I can not lend anything constructive to your situation. I do wish you luck, and hope that you can resolve the situation quickly and easily.
Good Luck, Kevin
Answer
Patti,
"And if you are reading this and saying
oh, it's NOT my problem...
and it always happens to the other guy....
it maybe YOUR turn tomorrow....... "
The reality is more like, it WILL be your turn, it's just a matter of time..
This scenario is played out over and over again.. After 5-6 months of not selling, I listed an item for $800, got several bids, then eBay suspended my account, contacted my bidders and told them not to pay me, and that they where investigating my account for fraudulent activity. Everything in my account information was correct, my credit card was on file, no balance was due ebay, and my email address and password were not recently changed, they were the same I had used for years..
Why did they suspend that account? I still don't know.. All I know is it took more then a week to get it reinstated. they refused to tell me why the account was suspended and they refused to re-contact my bidders and let them know they reinstated the account or tell them anything... I can only assume those bidders still think I was "involved in fraudulent activity" - as that was all they ever heard from eBay.
I'm so sorry you have to go through this...
-Jim
Answer
Crystal Said:
I have LESS problem with the supensions, than I do with 2 anciallary issues.
1. Time to resolution - No company should be allowed to shut off service without a quick appeal process. Especially, when there are so many "re-instatements", which tells us right away that they are shutting off service when they should not be. It should not take weeks, but hours.
2. Loss of Data/Buyer Handling - All bids are ended and the buyer told not to buy from you. Your data is gone. So unless you have an AMS company or use Turbo lister, even a bogus, totally wrong, no reason to suspend a user suspension results in your buyer being told not to buy from you..and loss of data..
Both of these are absolutely valid, and the bigger your business or the more reliant your income is on Ebay as a venue, the more important these two issues are.
(Additional to 1.) It is near impossible to find recourse. Patti should not have to come here to ask "I need a phone number or email address for ebay." these should be supplied with all notification so that issues can be resolved with a live human being in minutes, but people who are affected wander around aimlessly, ask friends or ask on message boards for the most elementary tools that are needed to resolve a situation that may be affecting the livelihoods of a household or even an entire company. For someone who is not in the type of loop that a message board such as this supplies, there are virtually no hints on the site for how to do anything, how to appeal such a threatening decision nor how to resolve the situation no matter who is at fault. This is ludicrous.
(Additional to 2.) The entire destruction of data before proof that the seller is at fault is ludicrous. If a thousand plus listings are "destroyed" when a seller is made NARU temporarily whilst a situation is resolved, means that they may have to face weeks of work just to replace what had been destroyed through no fault of their own, or a minor infringement that resulted in quick reinstatement.
Additionally, I am amazed that there has not been successful defamation litigation by a party who has had their goodwill tarnished when Ebay has cancelled current auctions and advised all bidders that "The auction was ended due to the account suspension of the seller. All results for this auction are null and void." (I got one this morning from a CD I was bidding on). No matter that the seller may have 100% feedback rating, any buyer who is wary and recognises the seller name will remember that the seller has been suspended and may not trust the seller, no matter how quickly they are re-instated. Again, if we are talking a thousand plus active auctions, and many repeat bidders who have trusted the seller to this point, the damage to goodwill may be substantial.
=====
These are the directions that Ebay has taken. We are the customers. We are not the share price and we no longer affect the share price, so Ebay is not interested in our needs or the market that they control (YES I am overstating, but not by as much as I should be). Ebay is increasingly a lucky dip as to whether you will be de-registered, have auctions removed or have other problems. If you don't have problems, there is no drama, but if you do have problems, they may hit unexpectedly and be devestating to your Ebay business.
Kevin
Answer
This scenario is played out over and over again.. After 5-6 months of not selling, I listed an item for $800, got several bids, then eBay suspended my account, contacted my bidders and told them not to pay me, and that they where investigating my account for fraudulent activity. Everything in my account information was correct, my credit card was on file, no balance was due ebay, and my email address and password were not recently changed, they were the same I had used for years..
And the absolutely obvious first step would be to contact you directly with history/file in hand and discuss your account, take actions to *directly* confirm your identity rather than interfering with your legitimate business. It doesn't happen. There is no consideration for the imapct that their actions have and there is no taking the logical straightforward steps that would maintain all levels of goodwill before taking action.
Meanwhile, this auction was allowed to finish with a deliberately misleading title and description "with disclaimer". And the scam artist has been allowed to do it 12 times in the last month, the second listing was for an actual phone.
There is no common sense in Ebay's management or enforcement. There is no care in how they approach these issues. There is no depth of knowledge in reading or understanding auction descriptions or even a shallow understanding of how their actions and inaction affects customers and consumers. It is ludicrous.
Kevin (sorry to hog the thread with useless ranting)
Answer
{{{{Patti}}}}}
I'm sorry this has happened to you.
And I'm just popping in to say that I agree with everything that Jim, Crystal & Kevin have said regarding eBay suspensions. Where are the lawyers when you really need them!
Answer
Originally Posted by Jim
Patti,
"And if you are reading this and saying
oh, it's NOT my problem...
and it always happens to the other guy....
it maybe YOUR turn tomorrow....... "
The reality is more like, it WILL be your turn, it's just a matter of time..
This scenario is played out over and over again.. After 5-6 months of not selling, I listed an item for $800, got several bids, then eBay suspended my account, contacted my bidders and told them not to pay me, and that they where investigating my account for fraudulent activity. Everything in my account information was correct, my credit card was on file, no balance was due ebay, and my email address and password were not recently changed, they were the same I had used for years..
Why did they suspend that account? I still don't know.. All I know is it took more then a week to get it reinstated. they refused to tell me why the account was suspended and they refused to re-contact my bidders and let them know they reinstated the account or tell them anything... I can only assume those bidders still think I was "involved in fraudulent activity" - as that was all they ever heard from eBay.
I'm so sorry you have to go through this...
-Jim
Jim,
I know that what I say irritates you sometimes, and I wish that were not so, I really do. However, I still have to speak up.
First of all, I happen to agree with you 100% about this issue. And, you do have my sympathy and support.
But, to paraphrase what I have heard from many people including you (in certain situations) when I have brought up issues that I feel are not ethical or fair...
Hey, it's their site, and they can do what they want. You have to adapt, or leave.
I would assume that is not so comfortable for you to hear when the shoe is on the other foot and you know that what is happening is wrong is it?
I don't happen to agree with that "love it or leave it" philosophy especially when it comes to ebaY and other corporate entities that seek to exploit those who labor. I have harangued, cajoled, pleaded, and apparently wasted many many hours trying to convince people that they "don't have to take it." All I have for my efforts to date is lots of personal grief. Not that I am complaining.
The sadness for me is that many people who really could do something about it haven't till it affected them.
You (general you) are NOW having a problem with ebaY? It is not like you did not know you would someday. The writing has been on the wall for at least three years. Want to blame someone NOW? Certainly blame ebaY. But some of the blame rests with that person you look at in the mirror. When others had problems, you stood by and did nothing, or even worse told them to adapt or leave.
So, I have now more than likely said something which irritates you Jim, and I will probaly do so again, till you silence me, or until I finally give up or croak.
Again, I am sorry for the annoyance, but it is something I feel have to say anyway.