Have you been treated unfairly by Ebay or Paypal?

antrobus

nothingventured wrote: »

Now that that particular argument has been settled, perhaps we could get back on topic?....

Then answer the question;

custardy wrote: »

what exactly do you want 'cleaned' up ....

Your OP fails to make it clear what it is you are unhappy about.

soolin

I am still of the opinion this is a lazy journalist of the Daily Mail variety trying to make a story up without fully understanding how ebay and paypal works.

antrobus

nothingventured wrote: »

...

Do honest Ebay buyers really want dishonest buyers to keep winning all the arguments and for the small independent sellers to be pushed out? ...

Is this some vague complaint about Paypal chargebacks or something similar?

Basically if you don't like the rules of the club, don't join the club.

nothingventured

I'm sorry my two posts aren't as clear as I thought they were.

I believe that Ebay (the company itself) is providing a service that is covered by consumer law, though only for sellers who are not registered businesses (as well as buyers of course). It is those regulations referred to in my first post that I believe could be used to persuade Ebay to change its t&cs for the benefit of all.

It is the relationship between sellers and Ebay and buyers and Ebay, not that between buyers and sellers during a transaction that I am thinking about.

When I talk about restoring a level playing field, I'm thinking of things like sellers now only being able to leave positive feedback about buyers so that every buyer gets a meaningless 100% rating.

RFW

nothingventured wrote: »

When I talk about restoring a level playing field, I'm thinking of things like sellers now only being able to leave positive feedback about buyers so that every buyer gets a meaningless 100% rating.

So in a nutshell your revolutionary idea to stop a few sellers from occasionally being treated badly by a buyer is to bring back negative feedback for buyers? Sheesh.

nothingventured

No, my revolutionary idea is to ask the OFT to look at all of Ebay's terms and conditions to make sure that they are fair for everyone.

RFW

nothingventured wrote: »

No, my revolutionary idea is to ask the OFT to look at all of Ebay's terms and conditions to make sure that they are fair for everyone.

The only thing you have mentioned is to bring back negative feedback for buyers, I think the OFT may have better things to do than worry about red dots. There's a pretty simple way around Ebay's terms and conditions, don't use Ebay.

If you want to be taken seriously (you've got some way to go), you will need to point out which terms and conditions you believe are unlawful or inhibit fair trade, feel free to share them on here.

porto_bello

On a very different tack, I've found sending messages to eBay only results in a generic reply, which for at least one reason is impractical and therefore highlights that the enquiry has been ignored.

However, I've usually found eBay more responsive if you actually phone them and talk through the issue.

soolin

porto_bello wrote: »

On a very different tack, I've found sending messages to eBay only results in a generic reply, which for at least one reason is impractical and therefore highlights that the enquiry has been ignored.

However, I've usually found eBay more responsive if you actually phone them and talk through the issue.

Same here, I wondered if it was just me as I always seem to get really helpful people. I even had to talk to paypal a few times recently, and one occasion the agent phoned me back later to see if the suggested fix had worked as he had another idea if it hadn't.

I just thought that I was lucky. I don't have much success with their automated on screen help though.

Crowqueen

The OFT are generally more interested in upholding the rights of consumers at the end - the buyers - rather than the rights of businesses who are 'consuming' eBay's services. The latter situation falls under business-to-business terms and conditions rather than 'consumer law', so I suggest you get yourself an elementary legal education before trying to start a campaign.

The negs for buyers thing - where else do you get people allowed to leave negs for buyers? Do you get people in shops handing out red badges for people to wear if they complain about a faulty item or shoplift the odd Mars Bar? Erm...no. Think about it. The only places which retain neg feedback for buyers are the places which are far less popular with buyers than eBay and virtually moribund. Most other sites don't award buyers visible feedback at all, and eBay has a legacy system rapidly outstaying its welcome (because it seems to convince bad sellers that buyers should have to pay for their iniquity if they complain or don't pay; the latter issue can be solved with a software strike against their account; the former is part and parcel of selling online, often back up by the same consumer law you are championing, so ...).

Perhaps you should go away and read the parts of the law you are not reading, learn the proper legal definition of a consumer and where businesses do not have the same consumer rights as ecommerce buyers, think about this properly for a moment beyond your narrow-minded horizons, and then leave eBay altogether and go somewhere where your whims can be indulged to the fullest - maybe eBid, maybe somewhere else.

Buyers are not cash-machines installed on eBay for your pleasure. They are living, breathing human beings with extensive rights and the OFT is on our side.