- Report: #119745
Complaint Review: EBay - Internet
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www.ebay.com Internet, U.S.A.
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EBay ripoff We no longer will be buying or selling on eBay until the technical problems are addressed. buyers being fleeced by dodgy vendors. Internet
eBay's technical problems have caused me to lose business while selling and lose money while buying. On selling, due to improperly functioning indexing, which limits when my auctions show. On buying due to technical issues which show already paid items as paid..and then holds placed on multiple debits so refunds cannot be processed on duplicate payments. Also, as a buyer, many seller items don;t show, so I cannot bid. Luckily past sellers email me their auctions so I can bid. I am now boycotting eBay and urge all to do the same. Read below:
Are you aware that eBay has been having major technical problems that are driving customers away in mass? This isn't a recent problem; however, it is an ever-increasing problem that has become an international concern. I am pasting an article below about eBay Spain. Also, I am inserting a link so you can read about the concerns here.
We buy a lot on eBay and sell occasionally. We no longer will be buying or selling on eBay until the technical problems are addressed. I would be happy to detail the problems for you. Or you can just read about them on the bulletin board. We are finishing out bids we placed and then done. We have completed well over 500 transactions on eBay with 100% positive feedback. Now we are quitting, as are loads of others.
Since e-business is so popular, I thought this all may be of interest to you. My favorite site is now shopgoodwill.com I'm going to write to them and ask that they consider a Goodwill friends section wherein they allow users to post items with a feedback system and a percentage of proceeds benefiting Goodwill's mission. Listing fees and percentage of final value fees would significantly bring in revenue for SHOPGOODWILL.com. And, since people are so fed up, I think this is perfect timing.
There are other auction sites. I've only used one other ioffer. It is neat in that it allows prospective buyers to make offers and puts all correspondence between would-be buyers and sellers out in the open for all to read.
Anyway, here is the article and the link to the boards.
Sincerely,
Lori Karasek
330-877-1910
The array of technical problems can be seen on eBay's community bulletin board under TECHNICAL ISSUES. Here's one link
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jsp?forum=87&thread=410025078&start=440&msRange=40
Spanish eBayers in open revolt
By Lester Haines
Published Tuesday 23rd November 2004 16:37GMT
Pity if you will poor old eBay, which has of late been taking some heavy flack about various aspects of its lucrative operation, not least the small matter of buyers being fleeced by dodgy vendors.
And it gets worse. Since 11 November, Spanish eBay users have been fomenting a strike aimed at attracting the company's attention. As lead agitator Vicente Font put it on an eBay Spain forum:
I invite you to participate in a general strike on eBay Spain in protest against all of the company's current inadequacies that they do nothing to resolve and that we are sick and tired of reading about in forums.
For my part I have not put anything up for sale (nor have I bought anything, naturally) and I'm going to continue until the 31 December (if they don't shut my account down) at which time I'll resume - if we manage between us to force a 180 degree turn on the part of the unspeakable powers that be at eBay Spain so that they really offer things like "customer service" and stop winding us up with their "pituforrobotines"* and other irritations.
I ask that if you have stuff to sell you sell it somewhere other than on eBay Spain. We have to get them thinking. They pay no attention to the forums or to our complaints. A strike will surely grab their attention.
I hope to get your support for the good of all of us.
Well, it certainly did get eBay's attention, because on 12 November the "eBay team" wrote:
Dear users,
We'd like to thank you for your comments and suggestions which we read with interest.
Because of these, we have contacted some of you to try and identify more clearly what exactly provoked this. We understand that the matters which worry you most are:
Customer services Searches in categories such as Stamps and Coins, Art and Antiques or Music
Security, especially slow-paying buyers....
And so it goes on, with a few tips for punters as to how to improve their eBay experience. Sorted? Nope:
It seems you have NOT taken this on board. This is ONLY three points which, while important, are not the most important.
First up, you should sort out a more secure registration system since EBay Spain is AWASH with fraud and piracy.
By late on the 12 November, the wave of dissatisfaction had spread to Italy and France, with the latter offering a fraternal "SOLIDARITY!" By the 13th, Blighty and Belgium had joined the cause - quickly followed by a representative of aggrieved US users:
I wish you the best in your strike.
In the US customers are also unhappy and many US Power Sellers are moving their business to their own web sites or moving to other auction sites because of all the problems and eBay's complete lack of response to them.
US sellers, and sellers in many other countries have suffered through 9 months of billing problems with many sellers being overbilled by eBay, having their bank accounts overdrawn, etc. eBay is the only large corporation that does not provide a telephone number for sellers to call when they have problems, and eBay has ignored the emails of many who complained when they were overcharged. eBay has also suspended sellers who complained when they were overcharged. In July US sellers filed a Class Action lawsuit against eBay due to these billing problems.
The US site is also full of software bugs which eBay is unable to fix. There are some software bugs with the US eBay stores which have existed for over a year and have not been fixed.
eBay also does little to stop all of the fraud and fake merchandise that is sold on its US site.
eBay's US customer service is also horrible and there are many complaints Australia manned the barricades on the 14th, as did Germany and then... well, by this time it was all starting to look a little like a full-scale insurrection as the International Brigades flooded into the forum.
eBay's last comment came on the 22 November, offering:
We at eBay are listening to your suggestions and, as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the platform, want to speak to you to let you know about the improvements we're working on and discuss openly all of your suggested improvements We do not believe that a forum is the best way to conduct this dialogue and formulate proposals in a democratic and serious manner, and for that reason we have invited two of you to our offices.
We ask that you respect the suggested solution and assure you that, once the meeting has taken place, we will reopen the debate to include ideas to improve eBay, without getting into non-constructive criticisms.
The response to this olive branch was predictable: "WHY DON'T YOU KICK OFF BY TELLING US HERE WHAT THESE 'IMPROVEMENTS' YOU'RE WORKING ON ARE?" huffed another disgruntled user. And so the agitation continues - currently 800+ posts over 57 pages. God alone knows how this will end, but one thing is certain - the eBayers of Spain are revolting and it may take more than a friendly head-to-head at the company HQ to quell the uprising.
*We have no idea what "pituforrobotines" means, although our Spanish readers have offered the following: "Pitufo" = Smurf; "robotines" = robots. Therefore, we now have "robot Smurfs" or thereabouts, leading us to:
Relative your doubt about the translation of "pituforrobotines" I can tell you that this is an expression invented by one of the eBay users in Spain.
It comes from "Pitufo" and "robotines" "Pitufos" are the small blue TV personages called "the smurfs" in English "robotines" mean "little robots"
So "pituforrobotines" refers to those "small blue robots" which are living inside eBay computers & servers and are controlling everything what is happening inside eBay then sending non sense automated messages to the users, canceling accounts, etc.
The reason of double "r" is due to Spanish grammatical rules.
Cheers
Albert Nick
------------------------------------------
Lori J. Karasek
JPK Artisan Owner
JPK Authentic Cigar Box Accessories & Boutique
Visit us at Hartville MarketPlace in Hartville, Ohio.
For MarketPlace hours & directions, please visit www.hartvillemarketplace.com
Contact information
[email protected]
Studio Address:
209 South Prospect Ave.
Hartville, OH 44632
tel: (330) 877-1910
fax: (330) 877-1910
mobile: 330-388-8225
IM: 201149368
JPK is your choice for estate finds, gifts, genuine one-of-a-kind cigar box purses, dresser and desk valets, handblown glass beads (made in USA), faux furs, designer handbags (less than half the cost of other retail stores) and other treasures. We are proud that most of our merchandise is made in the USA.
-----------
Lori
Hartville, Ohio
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on ebay
Are you aware that eBay has been having major technical problems that are driving customers away in mass? This isn't a recent problem; however, it is an ever-increasing problem that has become an international concern. I am pasting an article below about eBay Spain. Also, I am inserting a link so you can read about the concerns here.
We buy a lot on eBay and sell occasionally. We no longer will be buying or selling on eBay until the technical problems are addressed. I would be happy to detail the problems for you. Or you can just read about them on the bulletin board. We are finishing out bids we placed and then done. We have completed well over 500 transactions on eBay with 100% positive feedback. Now we are quitting, as are loads of others.
Since e-business is so popular, I thought this all may be of interest to you. My favorite site is now shopgoodwill.com I'm going to write to them and ask that they consider a Goodwill friends section wherein they allow users to post items with a feedback system and a percentage of proceeds benefiting Goodwill's mission. Listing fees and percentage of final value fees would significantly bring in revenue for SHOPGOODWILL.com. And, since people are so fed up, I think this is perfect timing.
There are other auction sites. I've only used one other ioffer. It is neat in that it allows prospective buyers to make offers and puts all correspondence between would-be buyers and sellers out in the open for all to read.
Anyway, here is the article and the link to the boards.
Sincerely,
Lori Karasek
330-877-1910
The array of technical problems can be seen on eBay's community bulletin board under TECHNICAL ISSUES. Here's one link
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jsp?forum=87&thread=410025078&start=440&msRange=40
Spanish eBayers in open revolt
By Lester Haines
Published Tuesday 23rd November 2004 16:37GMT
Pity if you will poor old eBay, which has of late been taking some heavy flack about various aspects of its lucrative operation, not least the small matter of buyers being fleeced by dodgy vendors.
And it gets worse. Since 11 November, Spanish eBay users have been fomenting a strike aimed at attracting the company's attention. As lead agitator Vicente Font put it on an eBay Spain forum:
I invite you to participate in a general strike on eBay Spain in protest against all of the company's current inadequacies that they do nothing to resolve and that we are sick and tired of reading about in forums.
For my part I have not put anything up for sale (nor have I bought anything, naturally) and I'm going to continue until the 31 December (if they don't shut my account down) at which time I'll resume - if we manage between us to force a 180 degree turn on the part of the unspeakable powers that be at eBay Spain so that they really offer things like "customer service" and stop winding us up with their "pituforrobotines"* and other irritations.
I ask that if you have stuff to sell you sell it somewhere other than on eBay Spain. We have to get them thinking. They pay no attention to the forums or to our complaints. A strike will surely grab their attention.
I hope to get your support for the good of all of us.
Well, it certainly did get eBay's attention, because on 12 November the "eBay team" wrote:
Dear users,
We'd like to thank you for your comments and suggestions which we read with interest.
Because of these, we have contacted some of you to try and identify more clearly what exactly provoked this. We understand that the matters which worry you most are:
Customer services Searches in categories such as Stamps and Coins, Art and Antiques or Music
Security, especially slow-paying buyers....
And so it goes on, with a few tips for punters as to how to improve their eBay experience. Sorted? Nope:
It seems you have NOT taken this on board. This is ONLY three points which, while important, are not the most important.
First up, you should sort out a more secure registration system since EBay Spain is AWASH with fraud and piracy.
By late on the 12 November, the wave of dissatisfaction had spread to Italy and France, with the latter offering a fraternal "SOLIDARITY!" By the 13th, Blighty and Belgium had joined the cause - quickly followed by a representative of aggrieved US users:
I wish you the best in your strike.
In the US customers are also unhappy and many US Power Sellers are moving their business to their own web sites or moving to other auction sites because of all the problems and eBay's complete lack of response to them.
US sellers, and sellers in many other countries have suffered through 9 months of billing problems with many sellers being overbilled by eBay, having their bank accounts overdrawn, etc. eBay is the only large corporation that does not provide a telephone number for sellers to call when they have problems, and eBay has ignored the emails of many who complained when they were overcharged. eBay has also suspended sellers who complained when they were overcharged. In July US sellers filed a Class Action lawsuit against eBay due to these billing problems.
The US site is also full of software bugs which eBay is unable to fix. There are some software bugs with the US eBay stores which have existed for over a year and have not been fixed.
eBay also does little to stop all of the fraud and fake merchandise that is sold on its US site.
eBay's US customer service is also horrible and there are many complaints Australia manned the barricades on the 14th, as did Germany and then... well, by this time it was all starting to look a little like a full-scale insurrection as the International Brigades flooded into the forum.
eBay's last comment came on the 22 November, offering:
We at eBay are listening to your suggestions and, as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the platform, want to speak to you to let you know about the improvements we're working on and discuss openly all of your suggested improvements We do not believe that a forum is the best way to conduct this dialogue and formulate proposals in a democratic and serious manner, and for that reason we have invited two of you to our offices.
We ask that you respect the suggested solution and assure you that, once the meeting has taken place, we will reopen the debate to include ideas to improve eBay, without getting into non-constructive criticisms.
The response to this olive branch was predictable: "WHY DON'T YOU KICK OFF BY TELLING US HERE WHAT THESE 'IMPROVEMENTS' YOU'RE WORKING ON ARE?" huffed another disgruntled user. And so the agitation continues - currently 800+ posts over 57 pages. God alone knows how this will end, but one thing is certain - the eBayers of Spain are revolting and it may take more than a friendly head-to-head at the company HQ to quell the uprising.
*We have no idea what "pituforrobotines" means, although our Spanish readers have offered the following: "Pitufo" = Smurf; "robotines" = robots. Therefore, we now have "robot Smurfs" or thereabouts, leading us to:
Relative your doubt about the translation of "pituforrobotines" I can tell you that this is an expression invented by one of the eBay users in Spain.
It comes from "Pitufo" and "robotines" "Pitufos" are the small blue TV personages called "the smurfs" in English "robotines" mean "little robots"
So "pituforrobotines" refers to those "small blue robots" which are living inside eBay computers & servers and are controlling everything what is happening inside eBay then sending non sense automated messages to the users, canceling accounts, etc.
The reason of double "r" is due to Spanish grammatical rules.
Cheers
Albert Nick
------------------------------------------
Lori J. Karasek
JPK Artisan Owner
JPK Authentic Cigar Box Accessories & Boutique
Visit us at Hartville MarketPlace in Hartville, Ohio.
For MarketPlace hours & directions, please visit www.hartvillemarketplace.com
Contact information
[email protected]
Studio Address:
209 South Prospect Ave.
Hartville, OH 44632
tel: (330) 877-1910
fax: (330) 877-1910
mobile: 330-388-8225
IM: 201149368
JPK is your choice for estate finds, gifts, genuine one-of-a-kind cigar box purses, dresser and desk valets, handblown glass beads (made in USA), faux furs, designer handbags (less than half the cost of other retail stores) and other treasures. We are proud that most of our merchandise is made in the USA.
-----------
Lori
Hartville, Ohio
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on ebay
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Lori
Hartville,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Some improvement noted
#2Author of original report
Mon, March 14, 2005
We have noted some improvement with the change in leadership. We now are listing and buying, though much less than before, due to some technical problems continuing.
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
eBay helps scammers
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, November 25, 2004
I too used to buy and sell on eBay. I also have about 500 transactions with 100% positive feedback. eBay helps the scammers several ways. First, they will not remove scammers. I found a seller bidding on his own real estate listings to run the prices up. I reported this shill bidding to eBay at least twice and each time they insisted that there was no proof. Later on I was able to prove that the seller was bidding on his own listings and eBay admitted that he was doing so. The very next day the guy was back in business listing the same real estate under the same seller name! Second, eBay will permit sellers to place conditions on the sale of some items that violate state laws. For example, Arizona law requires that if you sell an unimproved subdivision lot outside of an incorporated city that you must use a licensed escrow service and comply with a number of disclosure requirements. If you look under Arizona real estate listings on eBay you will find seller after seller who requires the successful bidder to send payment directly to the seller. How valid is your title to the property if the seller did not comply with the statutory requirements for the sale? Third, eBay prohibits buyers from communicating with one another. If you know that a seller is conducting a scam, you have no way of warning bidders. (You used to be able to do this but eBay removed it.) Fourth, eBay has a poor method of verifying the identities of their members. The shill bidder I mentioned above had at least 10 different accounts and eBay had no clue that they were all the same person. (eBay even initially denied that they were the same person.) A lot of fraud could be eliminated if eBay would send a letter to each member at the address he gave to verify their name and address. Fifth, eBay conceals the sellers' identities. When you bid on an item on eBay, you have no way of knowing who you are dealing with. You cannot get the seller's identity unless you are the high bidder and then only if you make a request for it. I know of no good reason for withholding the seller's name and address. It ought to be on every listing. (I once bought some medical equipment on eBay from a seller who refused to give a name and used a PO Box. I strongly suspect that the seller was stealing new equipment from his or her employer and selling it on eBay.)
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
eBay helps scammers
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, November 25, 2004
I too used to buy and sell on eBay. I also have about 500 transactions with 100% positive feedback. eBay helps the scammers several ways. First, they will not remove scammers. I found a seller bidding on his own real estate listings to run the prices up. I reported this shill bidding to eBay at least twice and each time they insisted that there was no proof. Later on I was able to prove that the seller was bidding on his own listings and eBay admitted that he was doing so. The very next day the guy was back in business listing the same real estate under the same seller name! Second, eBay will permit sellers to place conditions on the sale of some items that violate state laws. For example, Arizona law requires that if you sell an unimproved subdivision lot outside of an incorporated city that you must use a licensed escrow service and comply with a number of disclosure requirements. If you look under Arizona real estate listings on eBay you will find seller after seller who requires the successful bidder to send payment directly to the seller. How valid is your title to the property if the seller did not comply with the statutory requirements for the sale? Third, eBay prohibits buyers from communicating with one another. If you know that a seller is conducting a scam, you have no way of warning bidders. (You used to be able to do this but eBay removed it.) Fourth, eBay has a poor method of verifying the identities of their members. The shill bidder I mentioned above had at least 10 different accounts and eBay had no clue that they were all the same person. (eBay even initially denied that they were the same person.) A lot of fraud could be eliminated if eBay would send a letter to each member at the address he gave to verify their name and address. Fifth, eBay conceals the sellers' identities. When you bid on an item on eBay, you have no way of knowing who you are dealing with. You cannot get the seller's identity unless you are the high bidder and then only if you make a request for it. I know of no good reason for withholding the seller's name and address. It ought to be on every listing. (I once bought some medical equipment on eBay from a seller who refused to give a name and used a PO Box. I strongly suspect that the seller was stealing new equipment from his or her employer and selling it on eBay.)
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
eBay helps scammers
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, November 25, 2004
I too used to buy and sell on eBay. I also have about 500 transactions with 100% positive feedback. eBay helps the scammers several ways. First, they will not remove scammers. I found a seller bidding on his own real estate listings to run the prices up. I reported this shill bidding to eBay at least twice and each time they insisted that there was no proof. Later on I was able to prove that the seller was bidding on his own listings and eBay admitted that he was doing so. The very next day the guy was back in business listing the same real estate under the same seller name! Second, eBay will permit sellers to place conditions on the sale of some items that violate state laws. For example, Arizona law requires that if you sell an unimproved subdivision lot outside of an incorporated city that you must use a licensed escrow service and comply with a number of disclosure requirements. If you look under Arizona real estate listings on eBay you will find seller after seller who requires the successful bidder to send payment directly to the seller. How valid is your title to the property if the seller did not comply with the statutory requirements for the sale? Third, eBay prohibits buyers from communicating with one another. If you know that a seller is conducting a scam, you have no way of warning bidders. (You used to be able to do this but eBay removed it.) Fourth, eBay has a poor method of verifying the identities of their members. The shill bidder I mentioned above had at least 10 different accounts and eBay had no clue that they were all the same person. (eBay even initially denied that they were the same person.) A lot of fraud could be eliminated if eBay would send a letter to each member at the address he gave to verify their name and address. Fifth, eBay conceals the sellers' identities. When you bid on an item on eBay, you have no way of knowing who you are dealing with. You cannot get the seller's identity unless you are the high bidder and then only if you make a request for it. I know of no good reason for withholding the seller's name and address. It ought to be on every listing. (I once bought some medical equipment on eBay from a seller who refused to give a name and used a PO Box. I strongly suspect that the seller was stealing new equipment from his or her employer and selling it on eBay.)
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
eBay helps scammers
#6Consumer Comment
Thu, November 25, 2004
I too used to buy and sell on eBay. I also have about 500 transactions with 100% positive feedback. eBay helps the scammers several ways. First, they will not remove scammers. I found a seller bidding on his own real estate listings to run the prices up. I reported this shill bidding to eBay at least twice and each time they insisted that there was no proof. Later on I was able to prove that the seller was bidding on his own listings and eBay admitted that he was doing so. The very next day the guy was back in business listing the same real estate under the same seller name! Second, eBay will permit sellers to place conditions on the sale of some items that violate state laws. For example, Arizona law requires that if you sell an unimproved subdivision lot outside of an incorporated city that you must use a licensed escrow service and comply with a number of disclosure requirements. If you look under Arizona real estate listings on eBay you will find seller after seller who requires the successful bidder to send payment directly to the seller. How valid is your title to the property if the seller did not comply with the statutory requirements for the sale? Third, eBay prohibits buyers from communicating with one another. If you know that a seller is conducting a scam, you have no way of warning bidders. (You used to be able to do this but eBay removed it.) Fourth, eBay has a poor method of verifying the identities of their members. The shill bidder I mentioned above had at least 10 different accounts and eBay had no clue that they were all the same person. (eBay even initially denied that they were the same person.) A lot of fraud could be eliminated if eBay would send a letter to each member at the address he gave to verify their name and address. Fifth, eBay conceals the sellers' identities. When you bid on an item on eBay, you have no way of knowing who you are dealing with. You cannot get the seller's identity unless you are the high bidder and then only if you make a request for it. I know of no good reason for withholding the seller's name and address. It ought to be on every listing. (I once bought some medical equipment on eBay from a seller who refused to give a name and used a PO Box. I strongly suspect that the seller was stealing new equipment from his or her employer and selling it on eBay.)
