Demonstrating the inconsistency of support

[coxengines]

Following is a copy and paste of email dialogues pertaining to me reporting a copyright violation (the offender was given 24 hours to respond, whereas I agreed to let him/her use our listing pics if he/she acknowledged my email. The seller did not bother).

eBay.com agreed. eBay.ca disagreed.

Oh (original expression deleted at the behest of the eBay moderation team 😄 ), (name deleted).

I took the pictures myself (yes, me, with my camera). I AM the manufacturer, I OWN the COX brand and, no, they are not stock photos available to use without permission.

Anyhow, a moot point. I reported this to .com and .ca and the issue has been taken care of by your USA colleagues and the listing removed (see copy and paste of the mail from your colleague).

Amazing that two eBay reps can deal with this in opposing ways but it simply demonstrates the complete ineffectiveness of your operation.

Cheers
Bernie

Dear Bernie,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your report on Image and Text Theft.

We reviewed your report and found that it was in violation. We would like to inform you that it may take a little time for us to remove this from our site, but rest assured we have taken the appropriate action.
However, due to concerns about privacy, we can't discuss one member's account with another member, so we can't share the results of our investigation with you. I hope this assures you that your account information will also remain private.

To review our images and text policy, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/image-text.html

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing eBay.

Sincerely,
(name deleted).

eBay Customer Support

-----Original Message-----
From: eBay Canada Customer Support - carswebhelp [mailto:carswebhelp@ebay.com]
Sent: January-08-10 7:26 PM
To: sales@xenalook.ca
Subject: Re: CW=C00121 Item Description and Picture Theft [290389302874 #CA L97 A33 ?01 ] (KMM13807107I15977L0KM)

Dear Bernie,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your concern of image theft.

We've reviewed both your listing and the listing you reported.

In general, eBay doesn't allow members to use someone else's pictures or descriptions without the owner's permission. However, the pictures you reported appear to be stock photos readily available on the Internet or provided by the manufacturer. Sellers can use these types of pictures in their listings.

If the pictures you reported aren't stock photos, please write back with a link to your pictures and any information that shows you're the owner.
Or, if you have exclusive permission from the manufacturer to use the pictures, send the email from the manufacturer giving you permission to use their pictures. Once we've received this information, we can investigate further.

As a reminder, copyright laws may apply to these pictures. Copyrights generally protect things like paintings, book covers, and product packaging. Manufacturers, publishers, or other copyright owners could object to the use of their copyrighted material, even if it's scanned or altered in some way.

To learn more about our images and text policy, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/image-text.html

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
(name deleted)

eBay Customer Support
Trust and Safety Operations

[surplusdealdude]

So the first email is really a reply to .ca's email?

Did you send them some sort of proof that it is your photo? Or perhaps a copy of your trademark registration to show that you own the brand?

You've got to put the points very close together for these guys.

[surplusdealdude]

BTW, the mod squad will probably delete this post as well - you can't put the contents of an email in a post - got nailed for that myself a few times.B-)

[surplusdealdude]

Congrats on the 6000 FB, btw.:-)

[coxengines]

Thanks surplusdealdude!

Yeah, it was a reply to .ca. and I included what .com had replied (that the listing was in violation).

I am just incredulous that the left hand and the right hand don't necessarily move in the same direction.

We always let an offender use our pics to end of auction as long as they acknowledge our email. This one did not 😞

Same seller now has relisted as item # 290389776783

Have reported it but is it really a listing violation?

Curious to see how long this post stands before we get the little warning email (again) from the censors 🙂

Bernie

[surplusdealdude]

Well, there are no pictures in this listing and they're not using your logo.

I wouldn't call this a violation if they really are Cox heads.

They probably should put the little R in a circle after the name, but that's a minor issue.

Do you know if you've sold to this guy?

[surplusdealdude]

The guy hasn't sold anything since June, either.

As far as the different decisions go, it's quite possible that the poeople are responding to the different legal environments in the US and Canada.

For instance, it's illegal to download songs under some conditions in the US, but not in Canada - look at what the receording industry went through.

Our copyright laws are slightly different as well.

So the inconsistency might be a necessary thing.

[coxengines]

I was actually referring to his listing details where the seller defames his competitors.

It's unprofessional at least but was curious if it is against eBay rules.

We are sure to find out shortly I guess.

No, have not sold to the seller that I know of and would have given him/her way more slack had the item been purchased from us.

Bernie

[westernstargifts]

I was actually referring to his listing details where the seller defames his competitors.

It's unprofessional at least but was curious if it is against eBay rules.

Wow! Unprofessional is right. He is only making himself look bad and I really don't think it will help him to sell the item.

[pjcdn2005]

He is just making himself sound like a jerk.
Someone should ask him if the picture of the Morgan silver dollar is from Wikipedia too. 😉

[momoftwingles2]

The seller must have changed the description because it now only mentions that he's going to try and take his own pictures!

Susan
momoftwingles2

[surplusdealdude]

I'm old and my hands shake a lot and the lighting isnt very good, but I will try and take my
OWN picture of my glow head, Made in the good ol USA!! Mikey

Looks like he got jumped on, alright!:^O

[coxengines]

Yeah,

He changed the description and sent me an email (apologetic) that contained:

"I dont see what the big deal is. Why,on earth, would it hurt that I use your photo? "

I will bury the hatchet, explain it to him and, hopefully, he will have learned. I had previously offered to let him use the pic if he acknowledged my email. I guess he felt that he was above it all until eBay pulled the listing.

Bernie

[surplusdealdude]

He's not sorry that he did it, he's just sorry that he got caught.

Might be an idea to make him a favourite seller and keep an eye on him.

How much do you want to bet that his 'Cox' engines are made in China?

[jakeeangel]

He's not sorry that he did it, he's just sorry that he got caught.

Might be an idea to make him a favourite seller and keep an eye on him.

Yep!! I completely agree with that. He's not sorry. He's only sorry he got caught. Guys like this don't care. They don't get it and they don't care.

Something you might want to check though OP. Go to eBay.com and check your My eBay Preferences. There's something in there about you letting eBay use your photos in their stock photos that everyone can use unless you indicate otherwise by a specific date.

If you didn't see that and in effect allowed eBay to use your images in their stock catalog that any schmo can use and you change it now, it will not be retroactive.

I read that on the boards a while back and thought WTH??? I immediately checked NO to that. It's called Share Your Content. You might want to look into that.

[jakeeangel]

Oh shoot! I forgot, yes it is a violation to trash other sellers in a listing. I can't remember what the violation is under but it is a violation.

[coxengines]

No, his engines are not made in China. For when we run out, we actually priced them out in China and they were just under $24/each. Each and every Cox engine on the market was made in California.

We are only able to sell them for $15 because we bought them for 50 cents 🙂

Thanks for the tip, Jakeangel, I will look into this right away.

Bernie

[surplusdealdude]

Oh shoot! I forgot, yes it is a violation to trash other sellers in a listing. I can't remember what the violation is under but it is a violation.

It comes under the new "selling practices rule", I think.

You're not allowed to post negative comments about other sellers or anything that detracts from the professional image that sellers are supposed to uphold.

[coxengines]

Ok, I found the sharing thing under the .com help files but there is no link in our preferences, neither on .com or .ca.

I am guessing that one has to be registered on .com for this shocking rule to apply. Quite frankly, I am really shocked that this can be possible.

Bernie

[jakeeangel]

Yes Bernie you're correct. I forgot about that too. LOL You had to be registered on .com for that stock photo thing to come into play right now. It'll probably be down the pike for .ca but right now it's only for .com registrants. We registered on eBay before there was a .ca. 🙂

No that's not it Surplus. It's not new. I've had to do it before when I saw some sellers trashing other sellers in their listings.

Report:

Listing Policy Violations (improper keywords, outside links etc)

Other Listing Policy Violations

Hateful, discriminatory or racial language in an item description.