Complaint about ebay itself

[Ocelot0411]

Not sure if I am posting this in the right place, but anyhow I will give it a go.

 

I am losing the will to live with ebay and their ironically named 'customer services'. The only services they are providing me with at the moment is raising my blood pressure on an almost daily basis.

 

I have to confess before I begin this, that this may seem petty to some as it is purely a matter of principle at this stage, but let me tell you a shortened version of the story and you can judge for yourselves whether or not I should just give up .

 

I bought a digital camera from an ebay power seller, when it finally arrived (it took ages) it was faulty. I contacted the seller who made me go through hoops to return it, but I eventually did and they replaced it. Bit annoying so far, but nothing more. The replacement took even longer to come and when it did, it was even worse than the first. I contacted the seller again who tried to make me go throught the same hoops to return the festering thing. At this stage the whole process had been going on for about two months and I had lost patience, so I told the seller I was returning the camera and wanted a refund.

 

The refund took weeks to come and on chasing it, they simply ignored my emails. I therefore left negative (but justified) feedback. On doing so they instantly contacted me to say they would give me a refund on the condition that I retracted my feedback. Naturally I said 'no' and stated that I was entitled to the refund and they had no right to use it as a bargaining tool. They then offered me money to withdraw the feedback, whihc I again refused. They then became abusive so I hung up on them.

 

I eventually got my full refund via a paypal dispute, but was later contacted by a company called squaretrade who I had never heard of saying if I didn't enter into a dispute resolution process with them and the seller that my feedback would be removed without my consent. I contacted ebay to ask who these people were and if my feedback could be removed without my consent which they assured me it couldn't. I therefore ignored the emails from squaretrade.

 

About a week later, you guessed it my feedback had been removed and I contacted ebay to ask why. All I have had from ebay since is automated responses, emails in foreign languages (not particularly helpful) and emails saying 'squaretrade are nothing to do with us, contact them'.

 

I have not contacted squaretrade as, as far as I am concerned this is an ebay issue. As I have pointed out to them, if squaretrade is nothing to do with them (as they maintain) why will they act on their instructions in direct contradiction to mine? Also this issue would never have arisen had ebay not given me duff information in the first place.

 

This has now been going on for five months and ebay will NOT help me for love nor money. They are simply not interested and just keep trying to pass the buck. I know that I have got my money back, but I feel strongly about this as I feel that the feedback process is the very backbone of ebay and if negative feedback is just removed without the customers consent then what is the point in it and how are you supposed to warm other buyers about dodgy sellers? The other side of this is that I don't think ebay itself shaould be allowed to get awauy with treating its customers in this manner.

 

So the problem I am left with is that I am getting nowhere with ebay customer services, they ignore my emails entitled 'formal complaint' and there is no information on the website to advise me how I can escalate this issue if customer services won't help me. Also, I am struggling to find who ebay are regulated by (if anyone) as I know that transactions are covered by trading standard but don't know if the site itself would be?

 

Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.

[barracad]

I don't think eBay are regulated by anybody, as they are merely a 'venue' for the listings. Don't bother emailing them, you just get automated responses and go round in circles.

 

The only way to get any sense out of them is by phone - 0700 500 3229 - but good luck getting them to answer. They're supposedly open Mon-Fri 09:00-18:00 but usually the phone just rings out.

 

Alternatively you can use 'Live Help' online. This is only available via the US site (ebay.com) but they will deal with UK queries. Go on to eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices and in the top right you will see the 'Live Help' link.

[1stlifeline]

Have you tried posting on the ebay community forums. Im not an expert on ebay but very often read the boards and your problem seems to be quite a common one. Maybe someone on there would be able to advise.

[Ocelot0411]

Thanks. I tried both the number, which as you said just rings out and the live chat person just refered me back to the feedback team. Sigh.

[sootywooty]

Yep i agree! ebay feedback system is bad! ppl just blackmail u with they will leave negative feedback back in return, i have had a few like this and ebay dont want to know.

 

It is like alot of things now adays just run for the cash and not alot of customer service or helpful answers just go around in circles.

 

The only consolation is it happens to everyone and their turn will come, a few ppl are helpful tho and is it nice when you find one.

 

All the best, Paul.

[davethorp]

Following link may explain who squaretrade are and what has happened. I'm not sure how or why they have access to the ebay feedback system though

 

SquareTrade

[Weird Al Yankovic]

One just has to say that this is typical ebay.

 

They can drive you around the bend with their, often, bizarre and drawn out rules.

 

I really think they have the attitude of 'like it or lump it' and don't really care.

 

I hardly use the site anymore-it's gotten worse these last few years.

[Guest 10110001]

I use ebay for very small transactions, and ALWAYS use a credit card, NEVER fund a transaction with a bank account, you have no consumer protection from fraud.

 

If a credit transaction goes titsup then do a chargeback. eBay & paypal can then take all the time they want with their excuses.

 

Only use chargeback when its necessary, you might get a repercussion if Paypal is forced to refund against their will.

[Lula]

I would also pass this on to Watchdog, they have been doing an investigation into these exact things regarding ebay and feedback

[davethorp]

I would also pass this on to Watchdog, they have been doing an investigation into these exact things regarding ebay and feedback

 

Indeed yes they have. They are off until new year but they may well come back to that story when they start again

[grockle]

The answer is quite simple, if you had replied to the mail from squaretrade, stating that you did not want the feedback removed, it would have remained.

 

Some powersellers use every trick in the book to get negative feedback removed, they rely on buyers not knowing the rules.

[IdaInFife]

Can you tell us word for word the feedback you left?

 

Noone apart from ebay can remove your feedback so the above may help!

 

 

Idax

[IdaInFife]

Ok, I have had a look at that feedback etc.

 

The seller has used square trade which is a third party dispute process that ebay recommend and if you do not respond to the dispute then the feedback is removed.

 

 

Idax

[Ocelot0411]

Ok, I have had a look at that feedback etc.

 

The seller has used square trade which is a third party dispute process that ebay recommend and if you do not respond to the dispute then the feedback is removed.

 

 

Idax

 

Yes, I am all too aware of this now, however what really gets my goat is that I emailed ebay to ask them to clarify the rules regarding squaretrade and they gave me the wrong information. What am I supposed to do if I am incorrectly advise by ebay themselves?

[Ocelot0411]

The answer is quite simple, if you had replied to the mail from squaretrade, stating that you did not want the feedback removed, it would have remained.

 

Some powersellers use every trick in the book to get negative feedback removed, they rely on buyers not knowing the rules.

 

 

Yep agreed on the above, but as stated in my original post , I specifically emailed ebay to clarify what the rules were and they gave me duff information. Not much more I can do than that is there?

[Ocelot0411]

Thanks to everyone for all your responses and suggestions, I guess what it boils down to is that ebay just don't care. Its VERY frustrating though that they cannot be called to account for their behaviour.

 

I am going to cancel my ebay account out of protest (not that that will help), but I have lost all faith in the system and I also don't want them to get another penny out of me.

 

I would like more info on the watchdog option though, as I do think they should be named and shamed.