eBay Class Action Billing Suit Updates

[bargainbloodhound]

link to lawyers and background on case: http://www.fazmiclaw.com/eBay.html

copy of the Third Amended Complaint filed on July 25, 2005 in California Superior Court, County of Santa Clara: http://www.fazmiclaw.com/TAC.pdf

latest court developments:

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:  On July 5, 2005, the Honorable Mary Jo Levinger conducted a hearing of
yet another attempt by eBay to avoid liability for the fraudulent billing and other violations of the law
alleged in the Second Amended Complaint Plaintiffs filed in this case.  Each challenge was purely
technical, and each sought to preclude Sellers from enforcing their rights under the law. 

More specifically, eBay sought to dismiss Plaintiffs' claim that Sellers are entitled to notice and a full
and fair opportunity to be heard before eBay may terminate, suspend, or place a "hold" on Sellers'
auction accounts.  eBay also sought to dismiss Plaintiffs' claim that eBay has unlawfully recorded the
credit card numbers of Sellers, even though they elected to pay for eBay's services by check,
direct-deposit, or other forms of payment that did not involve a credit card.  Finally, eBay sought to
prevent the case from moving forward as a class action, claiming (once again) that Sellers' claims are
too different from one another to be adjudicated together as a class action.

The Court rejected each of eBay's arguments, except one:  That Plaintiffs had to amend their Complaint
to make clear that Sellers who no longer had an eBay auction account were not included in Plaintiffs'
claim that they are entitled to fair procedures before their accounts were terminated.  Plaintiffs have
amended their complaint accordingly.  (Click here for a copy of the Third Amended Complaint.)

eBay has responded with an Answer to the Complaint, and has asserted 28 affirmative defenses --
without facts to support them.  Plaintiffs have asked the Court to dismiss all but one of eBay's affirmative
defenses, and that matter will be heard on September 20, 2005.

The case is no proceeding to the discovery phase, and both sides are collecting information for
purposes of the upcoming motion to certify the case as a class action and, if that motion is granted, for
trial.

[amy]

If you've ever had any of the following problems when dealing with eBay you should contact the lawyers in this case.  They have a form on their web site you can use to send them details of the problem.

Double Billing
Unauthorized Use of Credit or Debit Card
Termination or Suspension of Seller Account
Improper Fee Assessed for NSF
Improper Rounding of Invoice Amt 

http://www.fazmiclaw.com/eBay.html

Case is still ongoing.  No new details since last update.


 

 

 

 
   
 
                                     

 
               


 

[mandy]

eBay Billing Problems Similar to the One's That Resulted In Last Year's Lawsuit Continue: Account fees payments made by PayPal not credit to accounts, users hit with NSF and late fees as a result of double billing,

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000171777&tstart=0

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=mandy link=topic=389.msg6637#msg6637 date=1135592894]
eBay Billing Problems Similar to the One's That Resulted In Last Year's Lawsuit Continue: Account fees payments made by PayPal not credit to accounts, users hit with NSF and late fees as a result of double billing,

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000171777&tstart=0
[/quote]

Now you know how eBay is paying for tomorrow's 10 cent listing day. 

[amy]

eBay's habit of rounding fractional amounts in its favor was one of the complaints in the class action suit filed in 2004.  eBay stopped the practice in the US after many complaints, but did it stop the practice in other countries?

A 1/29/06 post on the eBay.ca boards:

I have noticed from past that in my sellers account
that when i list items and i get chagred on the days exchange rate exmpl 1.1585569 it is not rounded off to say 1.59 rather its added and i can understand that.

BUT WHEN I AM ISSUED A CREDIT the system does not work the same way rather they give me back 1.15 not 1.1585569
in the end i know its only a few censt but if you multiply those cents by a few thousands sellers times a few thousand listings it adds up to alot of $$$

I have mentioned this to ebay but i still see this problem happening in my sellers account, and i have to spend time checking and re checking my sellers account for errors, as this should not be happening with a company this large..

http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=500002721&tstart=0

[Anita]

I don't know, Amy... pierrelebel states the billing is correct.

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=Anita link=topic=389.msg8583#msg8583 date=1138655717]
pierrelebel states the billing is correct.
[/quote]

He's wrong.  He needs to look at the additional info that was posted after his post. The billing that user is showing has the same rounding pattern as the errors eBay supposedly fixed 2 years ago.  eBay is using 2 different rounding methods when it charges fees and credits fees.

NOW WHEN GIVEN CREDIT ITS ONLY 2 CENTS AND NOT THE EXTRA CENT EVERY THIRD AUCTION AS EBAY FIRST CHARGED WHEN LISTING

BUT when they give you a credit back for FREE LISTING DAYS ETC its not done the same way as when they first charged you the listing fees

[dnc_ont]

Don't be so hard on eBay.  It's extremely difficult for a chimp to do proper rounding with an abacus.

[Anita]

He's wrong.

Then YOU tell him!  tee hee

[wayoutwest]

nice to see the improper rounding being included in the suit.  I noticed some improper rounding on my acct also back then and feel confident that they did it to everyone.