A quicker way to contact Ebay accounts? And what is going on?
Summary: needsmorerobots expresses frustration with eBay, having received multiple defects for out-of-stock issues despite sending products to buyers. They are close to losing their top seller status and have not received timely responses from eBay support. snoopwiz suggests contacting 'eBay for Business' on social media for a more responsive service. dobo5250 shares a similar experience with defects and suggests trying social media for appeals. reallynicestamps offers advice on creating a Facebook account and using public libraries to access it. Later, needsmorerobots reports that eBay for Business responded but confirmed that refunds initiated by sellers count as defects. They express dissatisfaction with eBay's handling and the lack of flexibility for such issues. Other participants discuss potential misinterpretations of refund reasons and suggest possible workarounds to avoid defects.
I've about had it with Ebay.
I have another defect against my account for selling a product that was out of stock ( I didn't and the buyer was sent their product).
It appears every refund, no matter what category I choose, I am handed down defects for selling when out of stock.
I have 3 defects now and I'm a defect away from losing my top seller status.
I spoke to Ebay weeks ago over the phone about my 2nd defect. They assured me I would receive a decision in 3 business days. That never happened.
And my first defect is now a year and 2 weeks old. I thought defects are wiped after a year?
Who at Ebay do I speak to and what means do I use to contact that person?
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoThe first one I refunded under "Item not received" and the second I refunded under "Item not as described".
I can see how that could be interpreted as "Being out of stock or can't fulfill", since what the customer got was not exactly what he ordered (in both cases a replacement).
I don't agree with this, but I can understand it.
rocketscollectibles
·3 years agoThis is strange. I sent refunds for different reasons a few times and never received a defect. You're not supposed to receive a defect for being out of stock unless you selected it.
The list is:
out of stock
buyer cancelled
INR
buyer return
INAD
other adjustment
shipping discount
They do not give defects for any reason other than out of stock here.
Either you select it by mistake or there is a huge glitch. If it's a glitch no one except ebay can do something.
needsmorerobots
OP3 years agoThe first one I refunded under "Item not received" and the second I refunded under "Item not as described".
I verified both of them. Those are the official reasons they were refunded.
Unless I can take this to the next level at Ebay, I'm stuck with the defects and what I was told.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoIt appears every refund, no matter what category I choose, I am handed down defects for selling when out of stock.
Don't refund.
Why were you giving the buyer money back that he willingly paid you?
If you want to give the buyer money back, without it hurting your account, ask for their Paypal address, which is allowed since you are in a transaction, and send the refund to them that way. Remember that you are still paying FVF on the refunded money and adjust according to your conscience.
It's a workaround and probably shouldn't be necessary but better the workaround than the defect.
needsmorerobots
OP3 years agoI refunded the first customer after I sent off his DVD to the wrong address (my fault, not his). I couldn't get the DVD back, I refunded the customer for their trouble and had a replacement sent out. Customer was kept in the loop the whole time.
The second defect was a refund for a CD (it's case actually) being damaged in storage or I missed the damage upon first inspection. I informed the customer, refunded and sent the damage CD anyways.
For both cases I have a message trail to back up my case. I also refunded under different reasons but not one of them was the reason I received the defect for.
What doesn't make sense to me is, if I'm going to receive the defect anyways under "Being out of stock or can't fulfill", why have multiple categories for the seller to refund under? Why not just one category if that's how it's going to be from now on?
The other questions are, why has this not happened until this year? Did Ebay change something or is this another website glitch they can't fix?
But yes, I'll take your advice in future.
needsmorerobots
OP3 years agoI contacted Ebay for Business on Facebook.
It took them 24 hours to get back to me.
I was told "Being out of stock or can't fulfill" is the only option available when a sale is cancelled (in these cases, refunded) where the buyer did not request.
Refunds (cancellations) count as defects when initiated by a seller I was told.
They are unable to appeal my case, but the good news (the person from Ebay told me) is I'm still within my comfort zone as a Top Seller.
My original defect was just deleted. I have a two defect buffer zone before I would lose Top Seller status. Considering I picked up the recent two defects very quickly, it doesn't give me comfort at all.
So it's do my version of customer service again and lose my status or **bleep** the initiative, let the customer work it out and receive a bad review.
Ebay doesn't give much room to wiggle do they?
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoWith the disappearance of internet cafes as a profitable business model, the public library has become the best way to go online when you don't have, or don't want to use, your own machine.
Books are only a very small part of what a library offers to any community.
pjcdn2005
·3 years agoAre these actually oos defects? Why were the transaction cancelled and what reason did you use? If there were messages between you the buyer proving that they weren't oos defects that might help your case.
I'm not positive, but I don't think that FB customer service reps work on the weekend so you might not hear back from them right away.
Yes defects do drop after a year but it may not disappear until the evaluation (today) or the end of the month.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoIt's possible to open a FaceBook account using a computer at the public library.
That would have no connection to your home service, if that is your concern.
dobo5250
·3 years agothanks for the info i din't know your could that -- use the library -- will llook into that again thansk for the info
dobo5250
·3 years agowelcome to my world - i have over the last year picked up 7 defects - 5 where not my fault 2 where -- none expire till june this year because of that i advice to do what the other person said and try to get them taken off -- once you go over 1.99 % defect rate all hell breaks losse on you -- sale goes to them at a much higher selling rate - my costs factor on the site are now 25 % of right off the top of the sale and then shipping costs then warehousing and extras cost -- so if you can keep it down to 15 % and around that with promo at 5% to 10 % -you can make money and promo listings do work which you lose then there fore sales are at a all time low - almost nill -- i have tried myself to appeal but to no avail -- you maybe will have better results -- since i don't do and can't do any social media and cannot use the real employees of ebay to appeal just the phone geeks from third world countries whose only advice is to sell more
hope you have better results and good luck with everything
snoopwiz
·3 years agoContact "eBay for Business" on Facebook or on Twitter. Much more reactive and able c/s agents there then the ones you phoned and got you to get off the phone with a hollow promise of being called back in 3 business days.