eBay Consumer Reviews - Page 7

I got an email today saying that my unpaid item strike had been removed since it was my first one. Here's the message: "Thank you for contacting us to appeal against the Unpaid Item strike you received for PA-16 PA16 AC Adapter for Dell Inspiron 2200 B120 B130. After reviewing your information, we have removed the Unpaid Item strike from your account. Note that repeat Unpaid Item strikes will result in account suspension." I am VERY happy!

I am so pissed with eBay right now. I could just scream! After filing a dispute with PayPal, the seller filed an unpaid item strike against me, even though he has the item and I paid him. He has PowerSeller status, which is the worst thing in this case. The day after I received the refund from PayPal (after I sent the item back to the seller), the seller turned around and filed an unwarranted strike against me. I tried to contact the seller first, and waited 5 days to hear back from him. He promised a refund on the original listing but I didn't want to send it back until he knew I was sending it. I never heard from him.

So, I decided that since I needed my money back, I would go through PayPal. I told them that I would be happy to send the item back, which they told me to do, and then send the delivery confirmation number so they could track it. It finally got to the seller after 4 days, and I was granted the refund about 4 days later, after they looked into it. They were actually waiting for the seller to refund the money himself, but he never did. So the claims specialist took the money from his account.

I understand why he would be frustrated if I filed it and he never received the item back, but why would he file it after he has it, and I have proof that I sent it back, and that he received it? I said on the unpaid item dispute that I sent it back (because it seems like he never reads anything), but he closed the case today and filed the strike.

I don't want to be immature, but I didn't want to let him get away with this. I don't do business with eBay often, but when I do, I am honest, and I surely don't promise things that I can't live up to like this guy. So I looked up in the "help" section to see if there was any way that I could report this abuse. I found a form for Unpaid Item Abuse. I filed it out and sent it in with this message:

"I paid for this item, and received it. I even have proof that I paid for it and received it. It did not work! I filed a dispute with PayPal after not hearing back from the seller about the refund he PROMISES on each listing. I received the refund from PayPal AFTER I sent the item back to the seller (which I have proof of). The same day that I got the email stating I received the refund, the seller filed an unpaid item dispute against me. THE SELLER HAS THE ITEM, AND I PAID!!! Just because he is a PowerSeller, he thinks he can do all this damage. I recommend that you do something, please. I don't deserve this unpaid item strike. I have proof of everything!”

“Payment for the item, also showing the refund. The claim on PayPal, that I filed, and the claims specialist ruled in MY FAVOR. They stated that I must ship the item back to the seller, which I did! If they rule in my favor about the item not working, how is it that you are filing a strike against me? I want this removed, otherwise, you have lost a customer. Thank you.” I am sick and tired of hearing all the stories about PowerSellers getting away with everything. I am not letting this guy get away with this! I will keep you updated about the case.

I feel as though eBay has dropped the ball when it comes to taking care of and protecting their customers - specifically buyers. eBay wrote the following after suspending my account: Members are prohibited from bidding on or purchasing an item in order to disrupt a seller's listing or to leave non-positive Feedback or Detailed Seller Ratings for a seller, **with no intention of completing the transaction.

The above was their reason for suspending my account, yet I never left non-positive (negative) feedback with no intention of completing the transaction. I completed the transaction, paid for the part and received the part. Here's what transpired:

I purchased from a seller (alanyes888) who advertised a “1 year no hassle warranty,” (in every one of his HID kit eBay ads). One month after my purchase, the product, a part (ballast in this case) failed. I emailed the seller who responded by writing, "I can't find any log file with your purchase. When did you buy?"

I responded by email, stating that I'd purchased only the month before. I provided the eBay item number and sale date, and proof of the sale via a copy of my PayPal receipt. The seller never responded to my email. I sent the seller several emails in an attempt to obtain warranty coverage. I never received a reply. I wrote the seller through eBay's messaging system two times. I never received a reply.

I wrote the seller one final time, again THROUGH eBAY'S MESSAGING SYSTEM, advising the seller I would leave negative feedback if I were forced to purchase a replacement part. The seller never replied. I was forced to purchase the replacement part.

I left negative feedback stating that the seller DID NOT HONOR their “1 year no hassle warranty.” eBay suspended my account for leaving said feedback, using the reason above** as the reason for my suspension. How can I be accused of having no intention of completing the transaction when eBay has the completed transaction on file? Paid for. Received by me. This is at the very least, ridiculous.

I have phoned eBay four times in an attempt to reverse the suspension. Everyone I speak with is more than kind, but no one can help. They all claim that the department that handles suspensions cannot be reached by phone. I have also emailed them spelling out the foolishness of their decision. In this case, the buyer (me, with 100% positive feedback) gets stomped on by eBay, while the seller, who fraudulently advertises their “1 year no hassle warranty,” goes scot free.

I have an unpaid strike against me, which expires on September 23. It's there because I waited till the last minute of an auction for a laptop with a Buy it now price of $800. The ‘current' and only bid was $650. I won the item for $650 and I paid for it through Paypal and got the usual receipt from them. Then I got an email from the seller informing me of the ‘bad news' that whilst she was a work the cat pissed (her words not mine) on the keyboard and now the laptop won't turn on anymore. She immediately rejected my Paypal payment.

So back to square one no laptop and money back in the bank. I find another laptop on Ebay (different seller & non-cat owner) paid for the item through Paypal and got the usual receipt from them and the laptop arrives safe & well. Then, I notice that the 1st item appears on Ebay under a different seller (Her Husband) with EXACTLY the same item details she used. I kept an eye on the progress and someone else won the auction in the same manner as me, for $650.

In the meantime I get an invoice from the 1st seller (the one who rejected my Paypal) saying that “Your laptop is fine, I sent the email to you thinking I was sending it to someone else.” You can now pay for it. I accused her of being dishonest. At least if she wasn't lying to me as an Ebayer then she was actively lying to another by the use of her sending the fake claims on the cat damaged item that no longer turns on. She insisted that I had to pay and my failure to do so would result in an unpaid strike, so I either pay or reject (Remember this laptop was still re-listed at that time).

I sent back an email with ‘I reject' and proceeded to leave negative feedback, to which she replied negatively to. I complained to Ebay, sent copies of the Full Headers and everything relating to my claim to get this unpaid strike removed. Ebay have failed to actually do anything. Sure I've had countless automated responses assuring me of their ‘concern' but, nothing. Apparently purchased successfully by someone the 2nd time it was listed (in Hubby's seller id), the item in question has since been listed for a THIRD time now.

I emailed the winner (2nd auction) and informed him of my dealings in relation to the now famous laptop. He emailed me back informing me of the same tactics used on him to cancel the sale. He said they told him they had accidentally dropped it and its now no good. My standing as a buyer/seller up to this point has been 100%. How is it that this sort of thing goes unpunished by Ebay? They are obviously not interested in my claims and this sort of seller is free to deceive me and YOU in future dealings. I note today that it (laptop) passed without any bids. My unpaid strike and her negative comments still stand.

Like many, I too was suspended by eBay. Superficially, they were right to suspend me. The problem is that there are close to 1000 others selling the same items I was. They are there making money while I am prevented. Something occurred this past week regarding a case they lost in Europe that they allow people like us to sell that augers well for suspended eBayers.

The irony is eBay's statement following the ruling: "Today's ruling is not about our fight against counterfeits; today's ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive commercial practices at the expense of consumer choice and the livelihood of law-abiding sellers that eBay empowers every day". They argue for us in court and against us to our faces.

I offered eBay a solution: "I am an eBay seller who you have not empowered. If you do not want us selling these items then you must invest into policing and make sure that keyword searches like mine come up with minimal names and not the same names every day. It is not the daunting task you publicly state. If you did that, I would have no argument. If you are not willing to do this, then you must allow us to do our thing.

"I also feel very strongly that you should not listen to other sellers' complaints. What would prevent seller 'A', who is a competitor of, or one to become a competitor, from complaining about seller 'B'. 'B' gets suspended and 'A' takes 'B's business. I suggest you follow a fair policy. Let me back on and let me do my thing. The day you tell me that you know who we all are, I will be happy to withdraw all the items in question. Now we are all gone and the playing field is level.

"In preparation for this day, I will not have as many questionable items and will build an inventory of items directed to a different buyer with no possibility of question. We all win. If you receive a specific complaint regarding my listings, I will immediately remove those listings for at least one month. I will work closely with you. All I ask is that I be treated equally, not favorably."

I inserted the above because eBay asked me for my input on how to solve the problem. Strange, their response did not address my suggestion. I know I have touched a sore point. They are caught in a serious contradiction. This empowers us and maybe if we all got together eBay may treat us fairly. In their suspension letter they gave me the email of the company who reported me. I sent numerous emails and left telephone messages. No response. Yet, I believe they are bound to respond. Another strange situation.

My question to you: are you interested in complaining about your suspension or do you want to make a little noise and make this a major public outcry? I think, for now, a class action is not supportable. Ebay suspend a small percentage of violators keeping our numbers down. I am one of maybe 50 in my category while they keep 1,000 others on board.

If you have suggestions, let us hear from you. We cannot allow this bully the right to discriminate. We must find ways to beat them or have them suspend every rule breaker. Please reply directly with your suggestions and also include these reply publicly. Thank you.

MEGACORPORATION, USA -- Epinions was acquired by Shopping.com (known as DealTime.com at the time of the acquisition) in 2003, which in turn was acquired by eBay in 2005. Now I know why Epinion's winged monkeys (AKA "advisors" or "the unemployed") keep rating my reviews about eBay/PayPal as unhelpful. BTW, Epinion's "advisors" all have multiple login names. Shame on Epinions! Now on to eBay: I've been on eBay as both a buyer and seller for 10 years; unfortunately, it has really gone downhill in the past 2-3 years. Because eBay & PayPal are the same monster corporation, my comments implicate both.

Of approximately 400 transactions, I've been a seller for 1/4 of them. On this front, things worked fairly well. This is because I am an honest person, and the couple of times that a buyer complained I went out of my way to ensure satisfaction. This had nothing to do with eBay's policies (which are nonexistent for buyers), just my own personal code of ethics. Unfortunately, as a buyer things have not been so rosy, and I have finally decided to stop buying on eBay except for those sellers I've done business with before so that I know I can trust them.

My latest eBay debacle was this: I bought an expensive Coach purse that was described as new; it was to be a gift. Upon receipt, it was obviously used, with usage lint on the interior, scuffs on the outside, and even dings on the hardware. The seller claimed that it was a "floor model" from a Coach store. However, do Coach employees actually use the purses in the store (this would be the only way the purse could acquire "usage lint"). Additionally, the purse was a model that hasn't been sold in Coach stores for several years.

I was curious & began investigating the recent transactions of the seller. Turned out that she had bought this purse USED from someone about a month ago for very little money (& she doubled the shipping charges to boot). Not only is the purse an old model, it is quite unusual in color/style, and you'd be hard pressed to find another one anywhere on the internet. When I confronted the seller with this information, she continued to lie, and to add insult to injury, she was abusive. Mine was not the only transaction where she bought a USED item and sold it as NEW; in examining her transactions, this is what she does for a living.

I assume that her feedback isn't horrible for 2 reasons: eBay's worthless & abusive feedback system whereby fraudulent sellers get to hold the feedback of honest persons hostage (THERE SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC POSITIVE FEEDBACK GENERATED BY PAYPAL WHEN A BUYER PAYS WITHIN 48 HOURS. In my case, I pay immediately).

The other reason her feedback wasn't horrible was because she probably did a better job of cleaning up other merchandise before misrepresenting it as new. In other words, she only gets caught once in a while. Plus, buying many items that only cost .50 will really boost your feedback as well (why do buyers get the same feedback credit for buying a .50 item or a $300 item?).

As anyone who's been ripped off on eBay will tell you, trying to contact them is a complete waste of time. It will take you 10 minutes just to find where to send them an email, and you will repeatedly get "canned" responses. If you were to email eBay to tell them that murder was taking place, rest assured that you would only receive a canned response (within 48 hours ;o).

PayPal of course is implicated in this, as they are one and the same as eBay. They will do nothing except protect the seller. Even though this seller (as a hint, her eBay name contains the name Jessica) clearly committed illegal acts (namely FRAUD and MISREPRESENTATION), eBay/PayPal will simply tell you to return the item (minus the $15 shipping charge... She paid $2.10 to send the item)).

Additionally, you will not be reimbursed for return shipping/insurance charges. (If you ever have to deal with one of the many thieves on eBay & have to return an item, DO NOT RETURN THE ITEM WITHOUT INSURANCE or you can kiss both your money and the item goodbye.) In short, you will be abused verbally and financially as a buyer on eBay, both from the thieves that are now rife on the site as well as from the corporate behemoth itself. Even when you can provide eBay/PayPal with PROOF of fraud, they will do absolutely nothing to stop the seller/thief. This is my 3rd experience with this type of abuse, and all with expensive items.

I have more war stories with eBay/PayPal, all occurring in the past 2 years. Could be coincidence, but I think that this corporate behemoth's greed is reflected in its policies which do not protect consumers AT ALL, and encourage tricksters and thieves to proliferate. After all, eBay/PayPal makes its money from sellers, not from buyers. You can complain about other megacorporations like Amazon.com or Walmart, but unlike eBay/PayPal, they are retailers who ultimately must satisfy consumers, not feather the nests of fraudulent sellers.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- I think the public should be aware that all "No Reserve" auctions on eBay are subject to this loophole. With the way eBay has structured these rules, the "No Reserve" auctions are neither fair or real. Sellers can simply cancel bids without reason right before an auction ends (the last couple of seconds) or apparently cancel their entire auction. In this way Sellers are completely protected in this one-sided auction from selling their items at a price less than they desire. Therefore, this virtual auction does not resemble a real world "No Reserve" auction. I will post this information with reviewers and watch dog groups such as my3cents.com, etc.

I have been an eBay member for many years. Recently they have made changes their Feedback rating system & policies. I personally believe that eBay in no way protects sellers, but only buyers. Unfortunately, I am forced to sell on eBay to make ends meet in our household. I really have no choice in this matter. With the cost of living being so high & utilities going up so much where we live, we are in a very bad spot financially. So, what do the people like my family do when eBay restricts your selling abilities?

This is the most recent thing that happened to me personally. I have had a "rash" of non-paying bidders. This has significantly hurt my "bottom line" & feedback. I am not afraid to leave negative feedback for people who BID & do not PAY! Unfortunately, they leave you retaliatory feedback in return which led to this dilemma. Anyway, this morning I received an email RESTRICTING my account, because I have a 5% (YES 5%) rash of people "not satisfied."

The unfortunate part for me, is that these people DIDN'T pay & instead of them getting "in trouble," it is I who is being punished, like a small child for receiving retaliatory feedback. It is ridiculous. eBay told me, if I didn't "bring up" my feedback rating within 90 days, I will be kicked off FOR GOOD. First of all, are they forgetting WHO makes them their money? I have a 97.9% POSITIVE feedback rating & the negatives I DO have are from non-paying bidders OR people who didn't contact me to work problems out.

They are only allowing me to make 75 percentage of what I made in the last 60 days. They are taking my ability to make 25% of what I normally make! This is really going to hurt. This s a BILLION dollar company who makes THEIR money off of other people that do all the work for them! Where would they be, if we all get together on this? The feedback "community" is supposed to be an open forum for buyers and sellers. They also state that people cannot leave "retaliatory" feedback, which is done ALL the time.

They also state that eBay has no control over the feedback & its usage & can in no way remove negative feedbacks. YET, they are using the feedback rating system as a way to restrict our account, or completely kick us off for the feedback? If this is an open forum, then why is eBAY basically taking the word of the buyer over the word of the seller or vice versa? They have a complete double standard here on what they say in THEIR own FORUM!

eBay even encouraged me in their email to ask the people to a MUTUAL feedback withdrawal to up my rating! On their site, under feedback forum, they try & DISCOURAGE you from trying to have feedback removed and also say that they CANNOT remove feedback. They are, as far as I am concerned, talking out of both sides of their mouth. The Feedback Form is supposed to be people's OPINIONS, NOT a means to restrict people. SO, who is lying here?

This just leads me to believe that they are trying anyway they can to squeeze out the "little people" & just have corporations on there selling NEW items, so they don't have to mess with us. eBay was originally started for people to trade collectibles etc (USED items!). Now, they are trying to act like Wal-Mart with return policies. They bought PayPal and are using them to decide who is at fault in a "gone wrong" transaction! Do you take items back at a garage sale or antique shop??? I mean C'mon people! This is getting ridiculous.

eBay is NOT a retail store! Or is it now??? For those of us who need the money it is sad & getting harder & harder to deal with eBay! What can we do as a community? I think there are many many people being treated unfairly. eBay knows we need the money! How can we change these things??? From browsing the Net, it certainly looks like a common practice by eBay to suspend sellers reducing their capacity to make it worth your while.

They have this great I COULDN'T CARE LESS ATTITUDE toward the very people that made them what they are today. It looks to me like the Attorney General in each state should hold them accountable for their actions. I plan on contacting the Attorney General of my particular state to see what can be done.

If you really want to throw away your money just buy a product on eBay. I have bought several things on eBay and have finally learned that all things I have bought from eBay are junk. What's wrong with me? Here is my example. You spend the time to find that special item on eBay at a good price. There are item you can bid for and these items entices you to think you may get a good deal (most items are used some are new). The item you have read about may or may not be what you buy. eBay doesn't check and they don't really care as long as they get their commission.

I have learned that you never can believe what you read about the item for there are many scam artist on eBay so you should always be sure you have lots of time to ask many, many questions about the item to the buyer and even then he may lie about the product or forget to tell you all the bad features. Don't believe the approval rating given to the buyer. I think you can buy that rating - nothing is audited or verified about eBay. So you bid on the item and find you paid more than retail at your local store and now you pay shipping and handling prices that are 3 times more than the item is worth and you wait while the seller now has your money.

After several weeks you get this item you picture and printed about the item you think you bought and you look at it and your blood begins to boil for it is not at all like the item you read about on the eBay website that you had bid for. Now you go try to get your money back through “PayPal's” rebuttal and they may or may not help you (if the item cost more than $250.00 they may help you).

You then wait and wait and if you are lucky the seller may say if you want your refund send the item back to him so then you think hmmm will he or won't he send your refund? He has already lied to you. You see there is no guarantee in nothing you but at eBay. It is all a scam. So now you have sent back the item that did not meet the specification or description. You wait and wait. Then you call “PayPal” and they tell you the customer did not receive the item. You now must deal with a bigger force the United States Postal Service and they tell you they deliver the item - you must believe them. They never are liars.

O' I forgot to tell you they cannot prove they give the item to this person for they forgot to get a signature. WOW what a scam. Then now you have paid for the item, paid for postage from seller to you and back again, paid for packaging, spent a lot time to get the item back and now you have nothing. This is a good deal all brought to you by the big machine eBay and their friends and mine. (I think.)

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- I did the PayPal gauntlet. Unfortunately my other email was upgraded and roadrunner.Com had to be contacted by phone to get the new address before I was able to log in to my email account and as I was traveling and as PayPal told me to send the item back on the 12th and then told me the claim was cancelled on the 13th. I won't waste my time for being cheated for $15.00 from this deceptive seller and won't even file the other deceptive eBay claim as both eBay and PayPal have a statistical average that ''like a casino'' that continually works against consumers like me.... I did not go on eBay to gamble but seem to constantly!!!!

The major problem is that eBay.com's lax enforcement policy for their own website and this ''venue'' defense allowing profits to go before any real consumer protection and with all the Chinese imports/counterfeits being sold, eBay will not spend the money or hire enough real trained licensing enforcers to fix the problem as they wait for the licensed companies to enter the vero [verified rights owner] program. How can you stop sellers from using muse descriptions to pretend to be selling products that we in the United States see in the U.S. Stores but can be found to be something else once arriving in the U.S. Mail....

Unless eBay's muse descriptions is fixed... For only certain products sold in America and not Canada, Lithunia or China but now allegedly sold with eBay listed American addresses. Hopefully soon the cry for justice will be heard as Meg [''the empress has no clothes''] Whitman and her protective lawyers look the other way while making many tens of millions in quarterly profits. [They call it ''the perfect store!'']

As usual, till public pressure to government [who eBay.com makes excessive campaign contributions to all levels of government officials] makes eBay.com do something more to enforce action for all the deceptive behaviour going on on eBay.com.

By the way these eBay.com test commercials suck and are an insult to one's intelligence but of course the way the eBay corporate structure is conditioning uneducated mankind, just because they can use a mouse and bid, to believe this nonsense in the name of profits with little insurance protection for a seller bidding on hundreds of items a day is probably the most revolting thing about your company as one who has had to put eBay sellers in federal prison without eBay's help while also losing over $5,000.00 along with 3300 other victims who lost over $1,000,000.

Plus all the law enforcement costs and hey, that's only one seller and one month of auctions on eBay that we know about because eBay didn't destroy the blog threads between the buyers soon enough! I believe the new eBay slogan should be, ''feed the greed''! [''All the way to the bank!''] While looking the other way till pressured by government, which is exactly what your corporation does!

I had an account with eBay for 4 years. From 2001 until 2004 I never had a problem with purchasing anything from eBay. When I decided to sell in 2005 that's when I began to have problems. Someone decided to keep bidding on my items and not paying for them. eBay gave me a bunch of bullcrap steps to prevent this from happening but of course none of it worked. I forwarded all the emails and messages the person sent me, eBay agreed that it was the same person who was repeatedly bidding and not paying but refused to help me. I stopped using eBay (with a feedback score of 100% mind you) and of course they suspended my account for non payment of seller fees.

Now a year and a half later, they suspend my sister's account for association (how they knew we were associated is beyond me, but this happened the DAY AFTER someone flagged the sale of one of her items and eBay just canceled the auction without giving her the reason why, of course. Probably harassment from the same person who was harassing me). She also has 100% feedback. We don't even live in the same STATE. Never mind the same household and haven't for years before we started using eBay (and when we lived in the same state we STILL NEVER lived in the same household).

We have offered to send physical proof to show that we are not the same person, to add to the proof that they should ALREADY have on file (bank account information, addresses in different states, names, etc.) and all they say is "I understand your frustration but there's nothing we can do to help you."

How they are legally allowed to hold someone responsible for someone else's doings is beyond my comprehension. I mean really if my neighbor that I have lunch with every day shoots someone down the block can the cops arrest me because I eat with him every day? Or if my sister owed $10,000 to her credit card company and I used her card once 5 yrs ago are they allowed to sue ME for her bill? Of course not. While I know that these 2 things seem like harsh comparisons, for people who have given up their jobs, their entire LIVES, to sell on eBay and have had such illegal whims pushed upon them and have lost everything, it's not.

And you know what else? Half of their "Rules" aren't even in the user agreement, nor can they be found in search. Even the customer service rep couldn't find associations ANYWHERE in the user agreement. What, they get to make up the rules as they go along? They are allowed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed today and just STEAL people's money and ruin their lives, or just close your account for the fun of it and don't need a legitimate reason?

Maybe we should all band together and start a class action suit against the spoiled, greedy, uncaring machine that is eBay for having unclear rules and regulations and misrepresentation of their site. Maybe if we all start going to the news people like Help Me Howard or writing to people like Montel, some of us can get some justice and at the least, prevent it from happening to others.