eBay

oldspike1927 · ‎01-14-2018

I blocked a bidder last Spring after a nightmare transaction in which they filed an item not received well before the time that it can take for a parcel to reach the U.S. from Canada. I had no choice but to refund the money within the allotted 4 days specified when the case was opened. I'm sure that they probably received the item (sent airmail-no tracking number), I did send them a scan of my postal receipt that the item was received at the post office. I added them to the Blocked Bidder List and last night they bid on another of my items with a new user id-same name/address on the invoice as the previous transaction last Spring. I reported to Ebay and after speaking at length with several people in different departments that there was nothing they could do about it.

cumos55 · ‎01-14-2018

Buyers of many items on-line will set up a Flex-Delivery option...with Canada Post

Parcels go to a designated postal outlet and the buyer picks up the parcels.

A buyer's option ..... looks like buyers and sellers are expressing the same thought

Canada Post got special notice for Flex Delivery by other postal services .... worldwide.....

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-15-2018

@reallynicestamps wrote:
The Signature Option costs a whole buck fifty. Coffee and a muffin at Timmie's.
Well worth it, even if the item does not 'require' it for eBay or PP disputes.
It's a preventative, not a solution.

I notice that when I make this suggestion on the dotCOM Boards that posters will get very upset about 'forcing' the buyer to fetch their parcel.
And oddly, these are quite often the same posters who are grizzling about porch theft of parcels that don't have signature confirmation.
Americans are foreigners.

When we just had post offices and no postal outlets is was a real hassle to go to the post office to mail a parcel or to pick up something because they were just open during the week and closed at 5 or 6 p.m. There was always a line up too.

From what I understand it is like that in the US now. They don't have postal outlets and only some of their post offices are open on Saturday and some of those close at noon. It can be difficult for someone who is working full time to get to the post office during business hours so I think that's why they don't like to add signature confirmation and force the buyer to have to pick up their item at the post office.

cumos55 · ‎01-15-2018

It was a few years ago that a unique encyclopedia ... Encyclopedia of Ukraine.... valued at $400 was shipped to Arizona...

Signature required.... Parcel should not be left at the door

The parcel was eventually signed for when it was delivered to the address of the buyer..... all within about 24 hr of getting shipped back to me.. I kept reminding the buyer....

When I saw the signature..... I was absolutely... most ecstatic. most definitely a true celebration

The fact that the post office in the US most likely closed at 5:00 PM is now the best indicator why that signature was difficult to get.

This 5:00 PM closure is also a good indicator why parcels are usually "left at the door"

We must acknowledge how well off we are with postal outlets open after 6:00 PM and on Saturday and Sunday in Canada.... in large cities.

There should also be a consideration that for some remote postal outlets, in Canada, the hours of operation could be limited to 9 to 5, and closed on Saturday and Sunday.... as was found when a parcel was recently mailed to Viking Alberta.

a52split · ‎01-15-2018

You should check your Buyer Requirements Activity Log

If his original user ID is in there, he's breaking the rules.

Either way I would cancel the sale. If previously he filed an INR way too soon, he'll try it again. Even if you use tracking, he'll come up with another way to steal from you. You blocked him for a good reason. There's no need to change you mind now.

oldspike1927 · ‎01-15-2018

I have cancelled the transaction, and put his last user id on my blocked bidder list. Hopefully he does not have a third one for when I relist the item.

momcqueen · ‎01-15-2018

@a52split wrote:
You should check your Buyer Requirements Activity Log
If his original user ID is in there, he's breaking the rules.

Either way I would cancel the sale. If previously he filed an INR way too soon, he'll try it again. Even if you use tracking, he'll come up with another way to steal from you. You blocked him for a good reason. There's no need to change you mind now.

That Blocked Bidder list, you mean the one that sellers manage, right?

Because the Buyer Requirement Activity Log under Account/Site Preferences only keeps record of attempts by buyers automatically blocked due to Unpaid Item Strikes and Contrary Locations, it does not log for the seller any attempts made by buyers the the seller has manually blocked. (I know this to be fact or at least I believe it to be a fact since I know it doesn't log blocked bidders who are making offers. It prevents them from making the offer but it doesn't log the attempt.) Which is a major oversight, in my opinion. Personally, I don't so much as give a hoot what item a UI-flagged buyer is trying to purchase, but I do want to know that a manually blocked bidder is making 10 attempts to buy my most pricey item so that when that item immediately sells to a Guest User, I can make every attempt to cover my butt against problems with that particular transaction.

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-15-2018

You're right...If you look to see who has been blocked recently, it will show only the people who have been blocked due to the requirements you have checked off in buyer requirements. Any names added manually to your blocked bidder list won't show up on the blocked buyers log.

tyler@ebay · ‎01-17-2018

@mjwl2006momcqueen wrote:

Yes, that is what the Rules on ebay.ca say but there have been countless accounts of 'rules' on ebay.ca and and ebay.com Help Pages not matching because ebay.ca has not been updated to the current standard behind ebay.com AND also multiple anecdotes on the Boards on ebay.com where sellers have been told essentially what the OP heard last night. The gnashing of teeth on this issue is a semi-annual event. And it needs to be clarified for once and for all: Can a buyer create a new account to circumvent an existing bidder block to buy a seller's item, yes or no? If 'no', why does Customer Service keep telling sellers the opposite and if 'yes', why are sellers being allowed to think it is a form of protection offered to them when it is not?

tyler@ebay

That being said, can the seller guarantee the buyer is the same when, in fact, the only address may be the issue? See my example above with parcel-forwarding and parcel-consolidation services. Many buyers share the same address and it doesn't necessarily mean the address is the factor at fault.

Thanks for the tag (I love that these are working now)!

To weigh in on this: a bidder or buyer is not allowed to purchase with the intent of disrupting a seller's business. If purchasing is done with malicious intent we'd want you to report the buyer for review.

I realize there is room for further clarification on that help page, but currently it's the combination of circumventing a block with intent to disrupt that we would consider a violation.

Tyler,

hlmacdon · ‎01-18-2018

tyler@ebay wrote:

To weigh in on this: a bidder or buyer is not allowed to purchase with the intent of disrupting a seller's business. If purchasing is done with malicious intent we'd want you to report the buyer for review.

I realize there is room for further clarification on that help page, but currently it's the combination of circumventing a block with intent to disrupt that we would consider a violation.
Thanks for the tag (I love that these are working now)!

To chime in on this as a seller (this is not my seller ID) who sells in a category that can be somewhat problematic, the current definition as it pertains to blocks is problematic as we get buyers cycling through ID's and emails or using the guest checkout to circumvent blocks. Trying to get anywhere with CS as a seller is an exercise in frustration specifically for the reason you mention as the definition is entirely problematic. Bearing in mind that we are blocking buyers due to very legitimate reasons like previous instances of fraud it is a head slamming against desk exercise when we get CS guiding us to completing the transaction or risk getting a seller defect. The mechanisms for a seller to deal with situations like this are far from ideal.

hlmacdon · ‎01-18-2018

To give a real world example of the pain point this can be as a seller tyler@ebay , this is a charming fellow who used multiple accounts to use buy it nows (without paying) for multiple listings. It took multiple calls and escalations with customer service and supervisors to get this dealt with. The accounts had variations on the same username/email but different addresses and were the same individual. As they had different addresses customer service showed little to no interest in dealing with the situation pointing to the guidance listed. Really fun when a buyer can also request a seller's contact information.

momcqueen · ‎01-18-2018

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
@reallynicestamps wrote:
The Signature Option costs a whole buck fifty. Coffee and a muffin at Timmie's.
Well worth it, even if the item does not 'require' it for eBay or PP disputes.
It's a preventative, not a solution.

I notice that when I make this suggestion on the dotCOM Boards that posters will get very upset about 'forcing' the buyer to fetch their parcel.
And oddly, these are quite often the same posters who are grizzling about porch theft of parcels that don't have signature confirmation.
Americans are foreigners.
When we just had post offices and no postal outlets is was a real hassle to go to the post office to mail a parcel or to pick up something because they were just open during the week and closed at 5 or 6 p.m. There was always a line up too.
From what I understand it is like that in the US now. They don't have postal outlets and only some of their post offices are open on Saturday and some of those close at noon. It can be difficult for someone who is working full time to get to the post office during business hours so I think that's why they don't like to add signature confirmation and force the buyer to have to pick up their item at the post office.

I don't like to go to the postal counter to fetch my parcels either. This, despite going to the local postal counter almost every day. My outbound parcels are small and easy to carry, my inbound parcels are usually huge and heavy, which is largely the reason that I shop online for those items: so that I don't have to go out and drag it home. Signature Confirmation, however, is not a deal breaker for me as a receiver because I am always home, while Card for Pickup is a source of annoyance. If my always-home situation were different (and I feared porch theft) and didn't struggle to carry large, bulky items, my feelings on the matter may change.

momcqueen · ‎01-18-2018

@hlmacdon wrote:
To give a real world example of the pain point this can be as a seller tyler@ebay , this is a charming fellow who used multiple accounts to use buy it nows.....

That is nasty.

femmefan1946 · ‎01-18-2018

tyler@ebay wrote:

To weigh in on this: a bidder or buyer is not allowed to purchase with the intent of disrupting a seller's business. If purchasing is done with malicious intent we'd want you to report the buyer for review.

So.... which psychic service does eBay use to determine the intent of the blocked member now that Dionne Warwick has passed?

Frankly, this is not a situation where the buyer should have any say. The seller does not want to deal with the person. She blocked him.

That should be enough.

hlmacdon · ‎01-18-2018

@mjwl2006momcqueen wrote:
@hlmacdon wrote:
To give a real world example of the pain point this can be as a seller tyler@ebay , this is a charming fellow who used multiple accounts to use buy it nows.....

That is nasty.

Frankly speaking, what was nastier was the indifference shown by some of the ebay reps and supervisors to get the issue dealt with. Yes, it is probably just someone goofing around, but there was a lack of willingness to look at the situation, pay attention to the details of the two accounts which were clearly the same person, and actually dealing with the situation. Advising someone to call the police if they have a concern is hardly helpful when in that same situation a buyer can request a sellers contact information to further harass them. Buyers frankly speaking have a free ride to create multiple accounts and use the guest checkout to generate as many accounts as they want. Another example is of a buyer who has 3 separate accounts. Two I have blocked, one other was cancelled after refusing to pay his ebay fees as a seller (his account can be found on the boards moaning about the unfairness of seller fees), yet he is still out there using several accounts which can all be linked by name and shipping addresses.

momcqueen · ‎01-18-2018

Oh yes, the indifferent ebay reps.

That adds another whole LEVEL of being victimized to already being victimized.

I have had both outstanding service from Customer Service, along with appalling service and between the two it seems random which is assigned to my call.

Of the indifferent, I began to notice a pattern or at least similarity between them: it sounded like I was speaking to a rep through a tin can tied to a string and that the rep was speaking to me while crammed into a tin shack with literally 500 other Customer Service reps all yelling as loudly into their tin-can-telephone as mine was yelling into his/hers.

I'm not convinced that the inbound call centre to which I was being connected at that time (this was about two years ago when I was having problems with someone not far from what you noted above but not quite as bad) even had computer monitors to use, the rep would keep telling me that they 'don't' or 'couldn't' consider whatever it was that I was telling them to look at. As if they literally didn't have access to the equipment required to look at the evidence I was trying to present them. But this was something that I only noticed when I started to really listen to what they were telling me instead of simply make them see what I was saying to them. It struck me odd.

I should think that with something as important as Customer Service -- to which customers only turn in matters of desperation -- that there might be some UnderCover Calls logged to gain intel into the state of the service ebay's actual customers are receiving: the buyers and sellers who are having problem.

Because if you're being stung by a bad experience at the hands of another user, having Customer Service then fail you is just the worst, demoralizing and disheartening. And often the final straw. It's like ebay corporate gave the one of the most important roles to some of the people least qualified to offer or fulfil it.

I think it has improved lately, either that or my problems haven't been serious enough to warrant being let down badly, or I've been exceptionally lucky in the lottery draw of reps.

hlmacdon · ‎01-18-2018

@mjwl2006momcqueen wrote:
Oh yes, the indifferent ebay reps.

That adds another whole LEVEL of being victimized to already being victimized.

I have had both outstanding service from Customer Service, along with appalling service and between the two it seems random which is assigned to my call.

I think it comes down to having overly general policies that fail to address some of the behavior that goes on with buyers and the fact that there is an implicit "the buyer is always right" attitude that at least a significant portion of reps have and is ingrained in company culture. Latitude that a rep has also plays a role. The frustrating thing is when you get a call escalated to a supervisor and they say (their words) that "ebay gives buyers a lot of rope" and you have to inform them that there is sufficient rope for a buyer to hang themselves, order a casket, and dig the grave themselves when they make a death threat to another member, regardless of how likely it is to be acted upon. As a seller you shouldn't have to argue a case further at this point or implore someone to actually look at the multiple accounts being used and put an end to the behavior. As you say it is insult to injury when you get the casual attitude of oh well they are a buyer and they have special rights.

Now to be fair I have my share of great experiences with customer service reps as well. In those cases it is down to policies being levelheaded and internal systems and paths clear to those reps. This is one area where ebay needs to button up their policies and way things like this get handled internally. If you want a bigger laugh try actually reporting a buyer with a proven track record of fraud (filing multiple unauthorized payment chargebacks ) and see how you get bounced around the customer service team.

tyler@ebay · ‎01-19-2018

@hlmacdon wrote:

To give a real world example of the pain point this can be as a seller tyler@ebay , this is a charming fellow who used multiple accounts to use buy it nows (without paying) for multiple listings. It took multiple calls and escalations with customer service and supervisors to get this dealt with. The accounts had variations on the same username/email but different addresses and were the same individual. As they had different addresses customer service showed little to no interest in dealing with the situation pointing to the guidance listed. Really fun when a buyer can also request a seller's contact information.

I'm sorry to hear that this experience occurred - and that it was a difficult situation to get addressed. I'm glad that it was eventually resolved, as physical threats of harm or violence are not tolerated and should be acted upon swiftly.

I see your point regarding this and if you run into a situation where a buyer is circumventing a block with intent to disrupt or malign your business please contact CS so it can be addressed.

Tyler,

oldspike1927 · ‎02-08-2018

The nightmare with this buyer will never end, despite being blocked twice already-he has just won one of my auctions with a 3rd username (same name and address) . I cancelled the transaction but am really at wits end on what to do to end this.

momcqueen · ‎02-08-2018

That’s unfortunate. I think you need to take the advice above and call eBay to report the user, and their newest ID.

oldspike1927 · ‎02-09-2018

I reported the buyer to Ebay when it happened the first time a few weeks ago and have done so again last night. I did cancel the transaction but I am getting so frustrated, how many user names does this person have and why can't Ebay intervene on my behalf.