Yet another MAJOR site issue!

[jeffglobal]

Another MAJOR site issue -- I checked out my items under "my eBay" this morning and was amazed to find several items that recently had eBay "Best Offers" submitted....

I was amazed, because I never received ANY emails alerting me of these pending offers!

Furthermore, after checking a few hours later, they are no longer showing in "my eBay", as if the offers never existed! However, when going into the individual listings, the offers are still there! The prospective buyers never retracted them, yet if I didn't know any better I would think they didn't exist!

Why are emails no longer coming through advising of the offers (prospectively costing me sales that I wasn't aware of), and why wouldn't they show in "my eBay?" Need I now have to manually search over 700 listings to see if somebody sent in a "Best Offer" today ??????

[jeffglobal]

UPDATE

I'm presently signed in to both .COM and .CA

On .CA, I can't see any "Best Offers" (even though I have some pending) however on .COM they are there!!

The items were posted to .CA and have worldwide exposure.

Never had this problem before today. Bizarre!

[miriam@ebay.com]

Hi jeffglobal,

I've asked some of our Product folks to see if there are any known issues with Best Offer right now.

I also recommend you get in touch with Live Help (either on the CA or COM site, depending on which one you are using to list your items) and ask if they have any information about this issue. They know about bugs faster on the front line than we do, and also have far more resources to get them resolved. So I always recommend Live Help as a first-line resource.

I will let you know if I learn anything through my contacts as well.

Thanks,

Miriam

[miriam@ebay.com]

Miriam here again ...

I hear from the developers that the problem is only occurring if you are using the "classic" version of My eBay. It is NOT happening if you are using the "next gen" beta version of My eBay.

jeffglobal, are you on the new version? I believe the beta is now open to all users, so the recommendation is to move over to the new version to avoid the bug. That will give you a workaround to the problem.

Now, let me know if you're ALREADY on the beta - if you are, then I will go back to the developers and cheerfully ruin their day. 🙂

Thanks,

Miriam

[jeffglobal]

Hi Miriam,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not using the new "Beta" version, but there was also never a directive that we HAD to! With so many changes taking place, if eBay was allowing us the opportunity to choose, why in the world would I willingly have chosen even more change?

There was also no heads up (that I'm aware of) that not using the Beta version would have an impact on how we presently receive notifications from eBay.

When did these changes take place officially, and was there some announcment that I've possibly missed? When something is extremely important that eBay wants to communicate, historically there would be an "Alert" message in our eBay account that we had to read.

From where I sit, I have zero interest in using the Beta version.

I post ALL of my auctions to .CA, but I'm only seeing Best Offers when I log in to .COM, and I'm not receiving notification emails for posting new auctions nor when I'm receiving Best Offers. When I send through a "Counteroffer" or I'm clicking to "End" an auction manually, the notification emails are coming through. All of my actions are done on .CA, but I'm now forced to view Best Offers on .COM. And it's not an email issue on my end, as the Best Offer emails that would normally come through to me are not visible in the "My Messages" email link.

I can't imagine that I'm the only one in this sad boat either. Again, zero interest on my end for using the Beta! So what am I supposed to do? Will this "bug" be resolved? Will these new daily suprise frustrations handed to me by eBay ever be ending?

Can't change ever be implemented without disrupting our selling practices??????????

Miriam, would appreciate a reply.

What's everybody elses take?

[recped]

What's everybody elses take?

You're being a pain just for the sake of it......

Why don't you follow Miriam's advice and see if that helps or would rather just whine?

Can't change ever be implemented without disrupting our selling practices??????????

I've been working with computers and software since the late 70's, I can assure you the answer is NO, get used to it or live a life of bitterness.

[upyoder1]

I hear from the developers that the problem is only occurring if you are using the "classic" version of My eBay. It is NOT happening if you are using the "next gen" beta version of My eBay.

Maybe the developers could learn from the sellers.

To my understanding a BETA version is still on the testing grounds with knowledgeable people volunteering their time to find & report bugs or other issues to the developers to fix. Beta versions are not released to the public unless they are fully functional with little to NO bugs & anyone downloading or switching to the beta version should be warned about possible bugs, glitches, or CRASHES.
I am not a computer geek or developer but I know enough to stay away from beta version software that may cause problems.
Check out any beta version software, operating system, email programs,or any others, there is always a warning that downloading the beta version could cause undesired effects with your system.

jeffglobal, I'm with you. There is no way I will use the "new generation" My Ebay before its final release.

[dipmicro]

Can't change ever be implemented without disrupting our selling practices??????????

I've been working with computers and software since the late 70's, I can assure you the answer is NO, get used to it or live a life of bitterness.

If we get technical, eBay (or any other service provider) should not decrease the quantity and quality of the service while charging the same amount for the services.

The advice of using the beta is a stupid excuse of a developer in an attempt to save face, while it would be much more appropriate to acknowledge the problem and apologize for inconvenience with a suggestion to the customer that they might consider using the beta because developers think it's more stable (usually not true).

I have been a software developer for 10 years and still take jeff-global point of view.

[recped]

I have been a software developer for 10 years

Then I would think you would understand, when a user has issues they have to work WITH the developer to identify the problem not just stand there yelling "it's crap, it doesn't work".

[dipmicro]

Then I would think you would understand, when a user has issues they have to work WITH the developer to identify the problem not just stand there yelling "it's crap, it doesn't work".

Recped, you are wrong. You can write the best software in the world, spend 10 manyears developing it and if you get the frustrated user and something tiny does not work, what will take you 10 min to fix, many users will still consider your software a crap. And rightfully.

Software industry is a phenomenon between industries. You do not need any academic background but cheezy certificate from Microsoft will make you a senior. There is very little QA. Users are so used to getting patches and new versions that developers do not bother testing their crap. I worked for company who was manufacturing testers. We had no QA procedure for the software and often we were coding few hours before the test system was loaded to the shipping truck. Not even peer reviews.

If electrical component manufacturer had such lousy QA as software industry, they would be loosing millions, because once you solder the chip into the product it's very hard to take it out. Making the software easy to update makes this industry a very troubled one.

[dipmicro]

Recped, do you know that NASA crashed the Mars probe because of idiot programmers who did not understand difference between feet and meters ?

[recped]

Recped, you are wrong.

Perhaps but you are entirely missing my point.

[jeffglobal]

Recped - nobody is yelling "it's crap, it doesn't work." More change has been thrown into our laps (clearly filled with glitches or bugs -- whatever you want to call them), without any warning, and I'm looking for answers from eBay for how to best resolve without continued further disruption.

It's not my intention to get into any pissing match of words with you or any other seller -- you have an impressive shooting star feedback rating, which I respect. What I don't respect is your "get used to it or live a life of bitterness" black and white way of seeing my cause for concern and request for eBay to respond. I'm a paying customer, just like you -- there is nothing wrong with questioning eBay's unanounced impactful change. If you order steak in a restaurant and the waiter brings you chicken without explanation, you're just going to accept it??

The only person I see being a "pain just for the sake of it" is you for taking the time out of your obviously incredibly busy life for bothering to type a reply. I'm clearly not the only seller with my concerns as evidenced by the reply's of others in this thread. Respect the efforts of your fellow sellers and disagree where you will, but understand that nobody is whining here. Thankfully Miriam is on side with looking into our concerns. Her constructive feedback is always greatly appreciated,...you could learn something from her regarding respectful responding.

[dipmicro]

I understand your point, do you understand mine?

The programmer is paid to make software work properly, while the user is paying for using it. Why should the user waste additional time after they already wasted it with dysfunctional software?

We both agree there is a problem, right? It amazes me that people consider faulty software normal. Hey, just update it man! Just switch to the next version (or beta).

My heart stimulator just crashed. I am just going to download new beta version of software. Ooops, no time ... breath short ...

You have your philosophy, I have mine. No need to agree.

[recped]

Maybe there's a bit of misunderstanding going on here on both sides (or is it 3 sides now?).

In any event, Jeff I hope you get your problem resolved.

It amazes me that people consider faulty software normal.

Well I don't consider it acceptable but I do find it "normal", perhaps "extremely common" would be a better way of stating it.

I'm currently in the middle of some hardware/software issue (not sure which it is), I've been in touch with various support people, they have made suggestions, mostly they seem to be pretty poor suggestions but I play along, follow the instructions and then report back "no change", one of suggestions has resulted in a change (but not an improvement), I've reported that result and we are now following a different path to identify the problem.

Jeff reported a problem
Miriam asked if this was the legacy or beta My eBay
Jeff replied legacy
Miriam suggested to try the beta to see if the problem persists
If Jeff were to try the beta and report the results this might help to resolve the issue

Perhaps I misunderstood the comment "zero interest on my end for using the Beta!"

I'm looking for answers from eBay for how to best resolve without continued further disruption.

I think you got one....try the beta My eBay and report the results.

It's not my intention to get into any pissing match of words with you or any other seller

I admit sometimes that is my intent but NOT in this case.

:-x

[lina-mallows]

WOW- a TOMcat fight for a change.......how novel.....

[recped]

It's not a fight and even if it was, claws are fully retracted!;-)

[jeffglobal]

My reason for using eBay -- it's to make money. I'm not here to be a guinea pig that test drives new software and report results back to big brother. Let that be somebody elses job.

I'm a paying customer, and the service that I continue to pay for has suddenly (without any warning that I'm aware of) been disrupted. There was no directive (again, that I'm aware of) that said we must use the Beta (which for the record I did check out a while ago, only to switch back as I did not find the design to be user friendly compared to the original).

Miriam, will these previously non-existent issues with the original be addressed?

[miriam@ebay.com]

Hi jeffglobal,

I am sorry that this is causing you grief - there has been an extraordinary amount of change in the last 8 months or so, and you have my sympathies 100%.

While no one is required to switch to the new version of My eBay, I've recommended it here as a way around the bug you're experiencing with Best Offer. The bug is only occurring in the "classic" version, and this workaround provides you with the service for which you have paid.

If you prefer not to switch, then it's a question of waiting until the bug is fixed in classic. And considering we have a new version of My eBay that is rapidly being ramped up and adopted, a bug in the older version may not get highest priority.

I realize that may not be the answer you want to hear and that you may not agree with the approach. However, it's also the reality of the situation. I want to get you back selling as quickly as possible - this is how you can do it.

For the record, I have yet to switch to the beta version of My eBay, although many of my colleagues have. I've tried three or four times, but familiarity draws me back to the old version. I know I will have to switch eventually, but I can relate to the desire to wait until necessity calls for it.

If I can help further, please let me know.

Best,

Miriam

[dipmicro]

Lina, despite how it looks like, this was not a fight. Recped has his point of view and I have mine. Despite him having different opinion on this particular matter, I still respect him very much as a fellow PS-er who helped me many times on these boards.

I have communicated my opinion on eBay incompetence on delivering functional software several times on these boards together with examples. People are very intolerant to any minor problems in other areas (your order took 5 days to ship!!!) but they are extremely tolerant to faulty software. Perhaps if more people were like Jeff, demanding what they paid for and not being overly understanding, it would create a much greater strain on developers to re-check their stuff after themselves resulting in much better software for all of us.