A Whole Slew of ebay Problems! (or, ebay needs a leash)

[BellisimaJ.]

From a board whose links are filtered: (bolding is mine)

I think this one takes the all-time cake.

One day last week, eBay installed some new software. Only a handful of people inside the company knew some of the secret details.

The big secret change? As of last week all eBay sellers were required to have a credit card on file. Well, not exactly "required to" but if they don't, their credit limit will be lowered from $500 to $25. You can sell without having a credit card on file but your account will be suspended every time your amount owed rises above $25.

What's that you say? It hasn't affected you? It will. For reasons no one seems to understand, this new "feature" is being rolled out to people over time.

I was hit tonight. I went to relist an item and got a message that my account had exceeded my limit. I made a payment and tried again. I didn't get that message again but every time I tried to relist something I was asked to sign in and was then taken to the My eBay page. I contacted powerseller support and got a recorded message that said "a serious error has occurred. exiting." and then a ring and the message again.

So I tried live help. The guy said my account was fine. so I tried to relist again with the same results. Then he said a limit had been placed on my account "for the safety of all eBay users." (Damn, I didn't know I was a menace to all eBay users.) He had no clue what the limit was. But he somehow decided I had a limit.

I poked around the message boards and eventually found a post from someone at eBay who said what the problem was. She also said that because they were trying to "catch some fraudsters," they didn't tell hardly anyone. And that includes their customer service reps. There are people who haven't been able to list or make changes to existing items for over a week and no one could tell them why. And clearly most of their CS reps STILL don't know what's going on.

The main reason I'm posting this is to let people know about this in case they get the message I did tonight.

Oh, and as if this wasn't stupid enough, they also have an ongoing software bug that randomly adds to people's amount owed. And when you put a credit card on file you have to agree that they can charge money to iyour card any time they want. They do not have to wait until you get your invoice at the end of the month.

Between that and the wonderful new star feedback system, I really think they are trying to run sellers off of eBay.

:blinkie: :blinkie:

[mandy]

TAG commented on the billing bug in an email it sent out last night:

************************************************************
GLITCH OVERCHARGES SELLERS AND SHUTS THEM DOWN
************************************************************
This month, many sellers found their accounts were blocked from listing items due
to their account having an "over the limit" balance with ebaY.  Unfortunately the
reason the bills were so high was that an ebaY glitch was causing balances in seller
accounts to double, triple and even quadruple, even though the sellers did not
actually owe ebaY the money.  This did not stop ebaY from preventing the sellers
from listing, even when the sellers contacted ebaY and ebaY acknowledged the
glitch.  The sellers remained shut off from listing.  Some sellers reported this
happening 2 months in a row. 

ebaY claimed the problem would be fixed by 20 May, but sellers are still reporting
the problem.

Warning!  Sellers check your accounts and make sure the amount you were charged
on the May invoice is correct.

The Auction Guild: www.auctionguild.com

eBay forum thread on billing glitch: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?t...2000370350&start=0

board whose links are filtered:

Is that the same board whose owner R.W. was recently kicked off eBay for fraud?

[accentnepal]

I was changing prices on some lots a couple weeks ago. Even though the bit at the bottom was saying there was no charge the "your balance before this item" kept going up as I slowly worked through the items. Fearing I was being charged incorrectly I checked my account.

It seems that some of my items came for renewal at the same time as I was working (5 am Heh Heh...), but then I noticed an item was duplicated in the billing, same item number and everything. Poking around I found another, this one with several hours between the two billings.

The amount of these two is only 17 cents, and I simply have not had the time to check for more. I have seen errors before that were corrected so I am not too concerned about my 17 cents. But I do not have a lot of trust in their system.


By the Way --- They say Credit Cards in the article-- I would assume they also count bank accounts. And the way it is worded it would seem that your lots would be pulled when you hit $25 so you do not accumulate additional FVFs.

[BellisimaJ.]

Is that the same board whose owner R.W. was recently kicked off eBay for fraud?

Yep, the Troll King.

A sampling of his recent feedback: (red inking is mine)

Paid for item. Never received. Thanks a lot.....
Buyer: jack-betty ( 444) May-10-07 12:10 ---- Private


never recived my item its been a month,it says i cant contact him through email
Buyer: larry3054 ( 26) May-09-07 10:20 ---- Private


I'm sorry to hear things are going rough for you, I hope they get better soon
bought on 12 feb.Never received.Seller promised refund. has been avoiding emails
Buyer: lightsnowfalling ( 30) Apr-12-07 04:34 ---- PrivateBuyer: 12bluenotes ( 337) May-04-07 18:58

OCARINA TIME Instruction Book by ZELDA SMITH Book ONLY! (#110038845841) US $3.33 View Item


NEVER RECEIVED ITEM BEEN OVER A MONTH NO RESPONSE TO RECENT E-MAILS.



Buyer: squeakyalie ( 9 ) May-02-07 10:27 ---- Private


Did not receive!!!!!!!!
Buyer: greenlowriderguy ( 134) May-01-07 18:21 ---- Private


NEVER RECEIVED ITEM- SENT 5 EMAILS NO RESPONSE-FILED A PAYPAL CLAIM-
Buyer: bhough29 ( 48) Apr-28-07 20:26 ---- Private


Item never showed up! In dispute now, still no item, hewill not refund me!!
Buyer: bobbiqueen ( 15) Apr-25-07 04:50 ---- Private


not as advertised. not happy with item.

Buyer: mrsmoneybags ( 8 ) Apr-20-07 08:50 ---- Private

Item was never recieved had to recover payment via paypal.
Buyer: ree6017 ( 17) Apr-07-07 15:45 ---- Private

Such a trustworthy seller.

[sneakymagenta]

One scammer down, 50,000 more to go until Ebay becomes a safe shopping environment.