eBay

momcqueen · ‎10-28-2016

It's that time of year for me when people who don't normally use ebay find their way to my listings and feel the urgent need to send insulting messages about my products or their asking prices.

Unfortunately, that is nothing new.

What is new is that now there is no way at all to report another member using Messages to send you profanity, threats or offers to sell outside ebay. This used to be at the bottom of the message, now that section does not exist, and I cannot seem to find a number to call Customer Service about it specifically... only an endless loop of unrelated topics or unhelpful Help Pages.

This morning's salutation came from a fellow Canadian with a user name promoting animal violence (yes, for real) telling me that he (she?) already got this item for less and that I was 'delusional'. The member was claiming to have bought it for a price that is easily disproved by a simple Sold search. Rife with grammatical error and spelling mistakes. (As to be expected.)

As usual, I replied with biting politeness that I was not accepting offers on this item and best of luck in his (her?) continued search.

Block block block.

Would I go into this person's place of work and tell them how stupid they are? Not likely, I've never been one to pick on the kids already wearing the Dunce caps.

What is the solution to this problem? Is there one?

ricarmic · ‎10-28-2016

Hi Mjw, just act like teflon....it just bounces off you....

I get them from time to time as well, think of it as them doing you a big favour by letting you know they're a knob before they buy something!!!! Would be a lot worse if they do this after they buy.....

Also be glad we live in the virtual world, I recollect peers of mine with brick and mortar stores - imagine dealing with this stuff (or worse) person to person!

Waste no more time worrying on this and have a great weekend!!!

silverpinups · ‎10-28-2016

Block the buyer/messenger from messaging and buying from you..... Use a generic reason to get in touch with eBay Customer Service.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-28-2016

I have to agree with you ric. It's best to shake it off and move on. But just before I block I usually do an eye roll. The message writer doesn't see that of course but it helps me shake it off. Lol.

I sgree too that it is much easier to deal with people like that here than in a b&m store. It's easier to hide my eye rolls here. 🙂

I wouldnt bother phoning eBay about if but that's just me. If they were concerned about that sort of thing, they would have left the option to report messages.

block36 · ‎10-28-2016

I would not let it to bother me for more than 3 minutes...

One Russian saying is "dog barks — wind carries, but the caravan goes on..."

Ignore it! Have selective memory!

Of course you can be kind of sarcastic and reply to this person "Good for you" on their declaration of better buy.

And of course the BLOCK tool to be promptly used because you do not have time to read the subsequent emails from him/her...

momcqueen · ‎10-28-2016

I'm calling eBay Customer Service tomorrow afternoon (when I have more dedicated time at my disposal) to report this member.

The lack of civility is in excusable.

If this was a brick-and-mortar, I'd whistle for my security guy, Knuckles, to kindly escort this person to the door.

This kind of intimidation may be effective on newer, less established sellers but I'm not one to be shoved about. It's bullying.

momcqueen · ‎10-29-2016

I called, like I said I would.

Here is what happened:

I picked Report a Problem with a Buyer (even though this isn't) and Contact Us.

Called. Waited on hold for a few minutes. Got a lady, explained the problem. She found the message, agreed it was rude, put me on hold while she checked the policies. Came back and said something to the affect of 'While this is certainly rude, it's not in violation of our ebay policies' to which I replied, 'The heck it isn't. This person is calling me names, and accusing me of insanity. If I were truly insane, this would be an even bigger insult because they would be mocking me for having a medical disadvantage. I cannot call you up at Customer Service and just start saying these things to you that this member has said to me without getting into trouble, am I right about that?' She put me on hold a second time and then came back and said I was correct, the member in question would be reported and if they continued to contact me that I should ignore them completely.

Now I am satisfied. For whatever good any of that does.

As a buyer, I would never dream of sending a seller a message as rude as the one in question and, as a seller, I would never dream of sending a message like this to a buyer. This message I received would be immediately be deleted from the Discussion Board if I tried to post it here (not as an example but if I was in an argument with another member as part of an unrelated thread, I couldn't say this to another person without getting into trouble from the moderators) so why should I be expected to shut up and put up with it in my Inbox?

This is a place of business and we are expected to behave professionally. Or leave. That's my view. I expect to be treated as the professional that I am, not a sounding board for someone with bad manners and questionable motives. Bullies are not allowed in our schools so why should I be expected to tolerate them in my workplace?