eBay

brandeentertainment · ‎04-18-2014

How does that affect you on the new system for example ...

I have had 13 cases open in the last 3 weeks all closed withing a couple days because they were just trying to ask me something and filed a case instead so from my understanding this could get me booted off ebay and count as defects ...

IF that is the case will ebay do anything about it soon

rose-dee · ‎04-18-2014

'brande' -- EBay seems to deny that this is even a possibility, let alone an issue (i.e. that unsuspecting buyers will get routed automatically to a case). See the recent Wed. board discussion where this question was brought up.

This is a big concern with respect to defects, but there are a couple of things to remember:

1) Open cases are only counted against the seller when the buyer chooses "INR" or "INAD", through the resolution centre or through the "Contact Seller" link. As we all know though, this can happen accidentally, after a sale, when the buyer just wants some further information, and gets routed through to a case.

2) EBay says that cases that are found by eBay customer support in your favour or to be no fault of the buyer or seller will not be counted as defects.

I would hope that #2 above will include cases opened accidentally by buyers just wanting to ask a question. And I'd say that sellers should contact eBay every time this occurs for the next few months -- maybe then eBay will finally do something to remedy the problem.

brandeentertainment · ‎04-18-2014

This happens alot to me and it is always INR just asking either when the items shipped or if there is tracking ...

It drives me nuts

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-18-2014

2) EBay says that cases that are found by eBay customer support in your favour or to be no fault of the buyer or seller will not be counted as defects.

I would hope that #2 above will include cases opened accidentally by buyers just wanting to ask a question. And I'd say that sellers should contact eBay every time this occurs for the next few months -- maybe then eBay will finally do something to remedy the problem.

In order for a case to be found in favour of the seller, the case has to be escalated and then ebay makes a decision. That would happen when a buyer opens an item not received case and then the seller enters a delivery confirmation number showing that the item was delivered. (that would have to be done within a certain time period) The seller could escalate the case and would win because the item was delivered. So as it stands now, phoning customer service if the buyer accidentally opened a case is not going to change an open case from being a defect.

According to ebay, a buyer opening a case for item not received or not as described is an unhappy buyer who may not come back to ebay. So even if you are able to make the buyer happy...the open case is still a defect. For example, if an item is damaged in shipping and the buyer opens a case to tell me that. I apologize and refund. The buyer still didn't receive exactly what they wanted but they are not out any money so they are relatively happy. But I would still get a defect. In some ways, the defect system makes it less of an incentive to go out of your way to make that buyer happy because you will be penalized regardless.

Although I haven't had buyers open cases accidentally (touching wood as I type that) I think that it is ridiculous that it is set up like that. Brandee are you getting asked questions about delivery time? If so..are you sending a message or email giving them that info after you ship?

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-18-2014

I see you answered my question before I asked it. lol

I know you have way more sales than I do but it really might be worth your while to send a separate message or email with shipping info when you ship the item. Once I started doing that, it resulted in many less questions.

rose-dee · ‎04-19-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
2) EBay says that cases that are found by eBay customer support in your favour or to be no fault of the buyer or seller will not be counted as defects.

I would hope that #2 above will include cases opened accidentally by buyers just wanting to ask a question. And I'd say that sellers should contact eBay every time this occurs for the next few months -- maybe then eBay will finally do something to remedy the problem.

In order for a case to be found in favour of the seller, the case has to be escalated and then ebay makes a decision. That would happen when a buyer opens an item not received case and then the seller enters a delivery confirmation number showing that the item was delivered. (that would have to be done within a certain time period) The seller could escalate the case and would win because the item was delivered. So as it stands now, phoning customer service if the buyer accidentally opened a case is not going to change an open case from being a defect.

Yes, I do understand about cases having to be escalated to be found by eBay in favour of the seller or buyer.

Actually, my point was that a case opened by a buyer accidentally is, by definition "no fault of the buyer or seller". I would hope that when this happens, if sellers contact eBay, the case would be removed and not counted as a defect if the seller can show that the buyer did open it by mistake (an email to that effect from the buyer, for example?), or if eBay can ascertain directly from the buyer that the open case was accidental.

I've had this happen -- a buyer opening a case who just wanted to ask a question after a sale -- but that was before case defects were an issue. At that time, eBay suggested I simply ask the buyer to close the case, which she did.

I don't know whether a buyer-closed case would now be considered a defect or not. I'd hope not, but wouldn't mind having this confirmed by the "Pinks". It would be simple enough to ask an apologetic buyer to just close such an accidental case at her/his end if that would avoid a defect completely.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-19-2014

I don't know whether a buyer-closed case would now be considered a defect or not

As it stands now, Yes it is considered a defect because it is NOT a case found by ebay customer support to be in the seller's favour. When they mention cases that are no fault of the buyer or seller....that sometimes happens when ebay will make a courtesy refund to the buyer and say there is no fault with either side. I read a number of other boards and sellers have had buyers close a case and it has shown as a defect. Perhaps this will change but right now, that is how it works.

I'd hope not, but wouldn't mind having this confirmed by the "Pinks".

Please do. I know that you don't believe me.

rose-dee · ‎04-19-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I'd hope not, but wouldn't mind having this confirmed by the "Pinks".

Please do. I know that you don't believe me.

'pj' -- That's unfair to say. It's not a question of believing you or not. It's a question of ensuring that there isn't a gap in eBay's thinking that might create unnecessary hardship for sellers. By bringing the issue up with the "Pinks" and asking them to confirm one way or another, it may cause some eyebrows to be raised. They are in a position to be able to pass those concerns directly up the line to San Jose.

I find eBay often introduces new policies or rules and then has to "rethink" them or tweak them later on. No doubt much of that revision is a result of input from eBay members. EBay may currently be giving sellers defects for buyer-closed cases, but eBay has been known to make mistakes in implementing its own policies. This may be one area it needs to rethink.

If sellers are getting defects for buyers who close "accidentally opened" cases, I think it's worthwhile getting clarification on exactly why that is, and if so, why such a decision was made. Squeaky wheel theory 101.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-19-2014

Go for it and good luck.

I do agree that there is a gap in ebay's thinking and these particular gaps have been pointed out many times to customer service reps and to other ebay reps. If you read the FAQ, ebay believe that anytime a buyer opens a case for an item not received or not as described, they are potentially a customer that may not come back. That's why a defect is given. I am sure that they are well aware that cases are opened by mistakes but that hasn't stopped them from making open cases a defect. I am sure that they are well aware of the defects in the defect system.

But with that being said, there might be some changes in the next couple of months because phone reps and various ebay reps don't always give the same answer to the same question so as you suggest...things aren't always that clear.

I have two defects for two cancellations. For one of them, I sold a pair of gloves but when I was wrapping them up, I noticed that there was a hole in the gloves so I contacted the buyer and refunded them. They were not upset and were glad that I was honest and did not just send them the gloves with the hole. Yes, it was my mistake that I listed them and didn't notice the small hole but a defect even though the customer was made whole and was not upset??

Second defect. A blocked buyer started a new id and bought an item from me. I talked to customer service and they said it was ok to refund and to cancel. I did refund but did not put in for a cancellation as I thought that could cause problems. So I still paid fees on the transaction but apparently I was given a defect just because I refunded before I shipped??

I'm hoping to get that one removed but it is ridiculous that I have to take the time to phone and get it removed.

These are the types of stories that I'm hearing and in many cases, the "dumb" (dumb is my word) defects are not removed.

Sigh