Defect removal requests

[electro_55]

Hi everyone! A batch of twelve items we sold and shipped a few weeks ago, were subsequently lost by our carrier. When we were notified of this situation a few days later, I contacted each buyer via Ebay messaging, text message, and phone to notify them of the situation and offer them a new order at a reduced price, and, in parallel, I canceled the twelve concerned orders (by now, I know that this last action was a huge mistake in the eyes of Ebay. I wish I had known at the time!) 

So, unaware that the reason for the cancellation was a very important matter in the eyes of eBay, I absentmindedly checked "out of stock" as the reason for these cancellations, even though these items were not out of stock, but lost. As a result, we were granted with twelve defects at once. Therefore, our seller performance level will be reduced to Above Average for a full year+, given the number of defects at issue in this case. This is an absolutely disproportionate punishment. We will now lose the advantages of the Top Rated badge. Which means less sales, more fees, etc, for more than a year.

I tried to have the defects removed via https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp/defect/action, only to receive twelve refusals, with the usual automated copy-paste out of toutch explanations many of us sellers are so used to.

Then I tried to appeal the decisions via customer service and via askEbay on X (Twitter), but no matter what I say or do, I always receive the same scripted irrelevant answers, promises that some "offline team" will write back but they never do, etc etc. In short, an exasperating and infuriating experience, into which I lost hours of my time.

This is extremely frustrating, as I I work very hard on a daily basis to earn and preserve our Top Rated Seller badge, always going extra lengths to give maximum satisfaction to our customers. And now I get more than a year of harsh punishment for something totally out of my control.

Has anyone here been able to have a situation like this fixed by Ebay? Is it only possible to go beyond Ebay's robotic, vague and irrelevant "customer service" that feels more like a firewall than anything else, and actually get an unfair situation really addressed?

[reallynicestamps]

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that means giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.


https://www.facebook.com/ebay— Message button in upper right on landing page.
#204760888466
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
 

But I suspect that your error is something you will have to live with.

The most important part of TRS is the lower fees.

You might be able to support your profit margin by raising prices, or adding a handling charge to your shipping fee.

Or you could add Promoted Listings at 2%(the lowest allowed) to get a few more Views and with luck sales.

[dobo5250]

do what ever they say in the above post --- but don't hold your breath- once you go into the bad boy book with ebay your are there till they sqeeze every last cent out of you, extra fees  lesss features to use etc extra problems i have on many occations gone to the dark side through no ones fault, trying to help a customer out etc  but that does not matter -- just hold on to your  hat reduce costs best you can and wait the freaking year from the infraction to get out of jail --- even if you sell more it doesn't matter --that extra 10 % they hit you with when you drop below the best seller mark it hurts but  it does get better at some point --- good luck hope you get your items back and maybe ask those customers to put good word in for you --- it can't hurt -- and it looks good when you get back up to selling again at full strenght

[valuestore]

Ouch a double hit, 20 year seller I've never used the seller cancel option except for problem with address, steer away from any feature I don't fully understand. Sounds like you did everything right except that one slip up. You can try to appeal to eBay, if that doesn't work, your account is not workable, throttled no visibility.. ide consider retiring the account, creating a new seller account, starting over.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

In the future, the best way to handle this is to contact eBay (using the AskeBay account) before you issue the cancellation. If you provide reasonable proof that they were lost, and show that you reached out to the buyers, I can't see why they wouldn't instruct you to cancel with problem with address and put some sort of note on the transactions.

I still think that if you cancelled 12 straight items due to problem with address, there might be an automated system that you would get caught up in.

Your best bet is to reach out to eBay's AskeBay Twitter/Facebook with all the item numbers written down ahead of time, any proof from the carrier, and try to see if they can help you get the defects removed. This seems like a fairly unique situation so I can't comment on how likely they are to be able to help you. 

I think the issue you might have with getting a proper response is not including the item numbers, and not including a very clear outline of what you are asking for.

I am reaching out for an issue that concerns these 12 orders that were all lost in transit after being shipped. 
1 - Order Number: xxxxxx - Item Number: xxxxx - Tracking Number: xxxxx - (first few words of item name)
2 - Order Number: xxxxxx - Item Number: xxxxx -Tracking Number: xxxxx - (first few words of item name)

Etc.

What I would like eBay to do:
-Remove the out of stock cancellation defects.

What happened:
-These orders were shipped. (If you have an acceptance scan, point that out)
-My carrier lost an entire batch of packages that include all those orders.
-I accidentally chose the wrong reason when refunding customers, which resulted in me getting defects. These items were never broken or out of stock. They were shipped and lost by the carrier.
-I proactively reached out to cusotmers and offered replacements when possible.

If you write up something like the above, you might not get the generic copy and paste of eBay policy. I've never had that same experience where they just copy and paste policy on the Twitter customer service - I have had that on the website customer service.

As a last resort, there is a mod here (I forget their name). Given this is a really unique scenario, if you reach out to them, maybe they could help forward your issue to the appropriate person to help you.

[recped]

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@valuestore wrote:
Ouch a double hit, 20 year seller I've never used the seller cancel option except for problem with address, steer away from any feature I don't fully understand. Sounds like you did everything right except that one slip up. You can try to appeal to eBay, if that doesn't work, your account is not workable, throttled no visibility.. ide consider retiring the account, creating a new seller account, starting over.

---

Creating a new account to get around a restriction is not a good idea at all. It can result in a permanent suspension of ALL accounts with no coming back.

https://www.ebay.ca/help/policies/identity-policies/multiple-accounts-policy?id=4232

[valuestore]

We all have multiple accounts, or user IDs to be more specific , it's common place.. it hides nothing. Sometimes accounts aren't worth continuing. It's not illegal.

[recped]

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@valuestore wrote:
We all have multiple accounts, or user IDs to be more specific , it's common place.. it hides nothing. Sometimes accounts aren't worth continuing. It's not illegal.

---

And?

I have multiple accounts as well but opening a new account to evade a restriction is a totally different matter.

Having another selling account and moving to it BEFORE you are restricted would be fine, doing so afterwards is not. The eBay policy is absolutely clear about this.

[valuestore]

Recipes, your feelings or social justice concepts don't apply, it's within the rules .. period.

[brettjet38]

@valuestore "Recipes, your feelings or social justice concepts don't apply, it's within the rules .. period."

THESE ARE THE RULES, you are very misinformed...

3 min article

Multiple accounts policy

https://www.ebay.ca/help/policies/identity-policies/multiple-accounts-policy?id=4232&st=3&pos=1&quer...

We understand that eBay members might want different accounts for buying or selling, or to focus on different product lines.

However, in order to maintain a safe and trusted environment for all our users, all accounts that a member uses are held to our buying and selling policies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there circumstances when creating another account isn't allowed?

Registering new accounts to avoid buying and selling restrictions or limits, or other policy consequences, is not allowed on eBay.

Can I use one account for buying and one account for selling? Do the same policies apply to each?

Yes, you can use the accounts in whatever way works best for you. Buying and selling policies apply equally to all accounts though, so you'll need to meet our buyer and seller standards across all your accounts.

Read our full policy

Multiple account policy overview

There are many reasons why users would choose to have more than one eBay account. For example, users who like to buy and sell may want separate accounts for each activity. Other users who maintain businesses on eBay may prefer to manage separate accounts for different product lines.

Whether you have one account or more, eBay expects users to manage each of their accounts effectively in order to meet the highest buyer and seller standards. These standards and rules regarding performance, risk, and best practices are applicable for each account and help ensure a safe and positive experience on eBay.

Users are expected to resolve issues as they arise, and follow the steps provided by eBay to bring accounts back into good standing before continuing to buy or sell with other accounts.

Learn more about how to increase limits on your account.

Activity on eBay is required to follow this policy, the eBay User Agreement and all applicable laws, as well as respect the rights of third parties. If it doesn’t, eBay may take action consistent with applicable laws and the eBay User Agreement, and may even be legally required to do so. Such actions may include, as an example only: Removing the listing or other content, issuing a warning, restricting activity or account suspension.

Please note that in some cases where a member has two accounts and one becomes suspended, their second account may also be subject to restriction.

What are the guidelines?

Allowed

Users may have multiple accounts on eBay. We understand that there are various reasons why someone would choose to have more than one account.

Not allowed

Registering new accounts or using other existing accounts to avoid buying and selling restrictions or limits or other policy consequences.

Why does eBay have this policy?

Whether users have one account or multiple accounts, eBay expects users will manage each of their accounts effectively, follow the rules, and do all that they can to ensure their experiences on eBay go well. Following these guidelines helps ensure the highest buyer and seller standards are met.

[valuestore]

The difference here is I've been selling here for yes 30 years, while you and recip are trying to decide which Cheerios box to use for your latest order. I will say this once, there are no restrictions placed on this sellers account, you CAN have as many accounts as you like.

[recped]

It's recped not "recip" or "Recipes" and yes I've only been on eBay for a piddling 26 years. I never made any mention of "feelings or social justice concepts" I simply posted the eBay policy which as I stated it very clear.

there are no restrictions placed on this sellers account

The OP states that due to to a large number of Defects they have been demoted to Below Standard which DOES mean that their account is restricted (not suspended).

You are free to do whatever you want with YOUR account(s) but to suggest to another user that they violate policy is not appropriate. In addition doing so on the Community Boards is a violation of the Community Guidelines.