Ebay have refused to look at my appeal - Anything I can do?

razam

Hi
I'll try to make this as brief as i can, but probably won't succeed sorry. I noticed quite a few ebayers complaining of their selling restrictions - Unfortunately I'm another one:mad:

I am a personal seller, and probably list about 10 or so things a month, that i no longer need. I have been buying and selling with ebay since 2003, with positive feedback of over 400 & 1 neg (buyer) in the last 12 months....i will get onto the reason for neg in a bit. Never had a problem with ebay until the last few months.

I sell various items/clothes, etc., but also sell a few mobile phones - whenever my family upgrade, they ask me to list their old ones for sale. With all my listings I tick the box to state that delivery will be made within 4-5 days - as i work full-time and have a family I can't guarantee I can get to the post office the next day. However with all my mobile phone listing I post via Royal Mail Special Delivery (the insurance gives some peace of mind). This is mentioned in the listings but I am careful not to write Next Day Delivery to try to avoid confusion. On the rare (only twice in over 5 years) occasion I post after the 5 days, I give a full p+p refund with an apology.

Now recently i had been getting emails from ebay to advise my seller performance is below standard and each & every email they mentioned I need to improve my listing clarity & communication. I never thought I had an issue with these, but nevertheless worked to improve on them. This continued over a few months. Then last week I listed a few items, and 2 days later I had an email to say that due to poor performance my seller account was suspended indefinately and all my listings were removed:eek:

I had no restrictions placed on my account prior to suspension - only 2 days before I was listing items, and no mention of restrictions anywhere. When I looked into this further I noticed that there was NEVER any problem with my listing clarity or communication, but the problem was ALWAYS my Dispatch time! I did have a feeling that buyers were getting confused with the mobile phone delivery terms, as i was getting positive feedback that said things like "Great phone but delivered late" etc. even though I always posted within the listed time. (this is where the 1 neg has come from) However I ignored these because 1) they were positive feedbacks (apart from the one) 2) ebays emails never mention this as a problem. But now it seems that buyers WERE down-rating me on this despite the positive feedback.

When I realised this I phoned ebay, and they advised I should email my appeal - which I did. 4 days later all I recieved was an automated templated response (which came the day after i sent the appeal). so I then had a chat session with an ebay advisor who advised there is "No Right to Appeal". I explained this is unfair due to the problem being caused by buyers mistake & ebay's incorrect advice emails, and briefly went through my long appeal email. After 1 and half hours chat, she agreed to send my appeal to their "higher department" & that I will receive a reply within 48 hours.

4 working days later and no reply! I phoned them again and asked why I had not recieved a reply regarding my appeal. The advisor on the phone apologised and then said I would definately receive a reply within 24 hours. Today (within the 24 hours) I recieve a reply that AGAIN doesn't comment on any of the points I raised in my appeal, and just gives a longer commentary on how the seller dashboard works! I found this confusing but when I looked at the bottom of the email I saw a message sent to ebay customer support on 6th September 2012 around the time that i phoned, that simply said "[FONT=Arial, Verdana]how will I lift restriction on my account? thanks" [/FONT]So it seems that the phone advisor sent a message on my behalf (without me asking them to) which didn't mention any reference to my previous detailed appeal or long chat with the online advisor:mad: (Also what had happened to my previous appeal AND the promise by the online advisor???)

The problem i have now is that the reply I recieved today states"[FONT=Arial, Verdana]Please note that although we will read any future appeals you send, we may not respond to your inquiries regarding this restriction.[/FONT]" which i read as, "you can reply if you want but we'll probably just file it away".

But my ACTUAL appeal has never been dealt with
Anyone have any advise?
(Apologies for the long explanation).

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP can you go to your eBay dashboard:

http://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SellerDashboard

and tell us, for each of the 4 criteria, how many low scores you have and what % they measure out at.

Do you still have the tracking details for the sale where you got the negative and/or any items sent SD but with feedback comments complaining about delivery?

UnderPressure

I am sure some of these other fine posters will be able to offer you advice regarding your restriction, I just wanted to chime in and ask why you thought it acceptable to charge for top rate special delivery and then not bother sending the item for upto 5 days? As a buyer I do not look on special delivery as being a safety net for the seller but as a means of speedy delivery for me the buyer, if I had been the buyer you would have had a 1 star from me and a neutral maybe even a negative!

Do you not think it might have been a good idea to send the buyers an email after the auction saying something along the lines of:

"thanks for your payment da de dah, as mentioned in the listing I will try and send the item asap as I work full time but the very latest I will send will be da de da de da"

Or an even better idea why did you not have the auctions finishing on a day when you could get to the post office or at the very least the next day you could get to the post office.

Sorry OP I welcome EBay thinking along these lines and dealing with sellers like yourself, sorry I would support their decision :cool:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

UnderPressure wrote: »

As a buyer I do not look on special delivery as being a safety net for the seller but as a means of speedy delivery for me the buyer, if I had been the buyer you would have had a 1 star from me and a neutral maybe even a negative!

It doesn't matter how you look at it, secure delivery is required for certain items, it doesn't have to be for speedy delivery.

Whilst you may object to be charged for covering the seller, try and find something on line costing £500 that's sent 2nd Class post, even if the postage is free/cheap you'll still be covering the cost in the item price. That's life on or off eBay, you have the choice to shop down the high street instead.

UnderPressure

I can see your point but from my prospective as a buyer a perk of payer more in postage for a special or courier delivery is that usually you get the item quicker, I am sure I am not alone in this way of thinking, to pay for special delivery and then the seller hold onto the item for up to 5 working days would make me a very disgruntled buyer and the chances of me ever buying anything from them again would be zero.

The issue here fro me would be the length of time the buyer holds onto my purchase, poor organisational skills plain and simple and from what the OP has said this has been reflected by their customer in their ratings.

I know a lot of Ebay sellers really hate the idea but in order for the to succeed in the long term and encourage repeat business there are an awful lot of them that really need to up their game and dare I say it, actually provide some good customer service!

For an item costing £500 not only would I EXPECT it to be sent via courier or special delivery I would also EXPECT it to be delivered quickly not to be held onto until the seller can "pop to the post office!"

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

UnderPressure wrote: »

The issue here fro me would be the length of time the buyer holds onto my purchase

No issue at all which is why the handling time is now mandatory allowing you to make an informed choice.

UnderPressure wrote: »

For an item costing £500 not only would I EXPECT it to be sent via courier or special delivery I would also EXPECT it to be delivered quickly not to be held onto until the seller can "pop to the post office!"

Plenty of things I've purchased for high amounts have taken a long time to arrive (mainly furniture to be fair).

There's something I want on Amazon, small item and I have Prime for next day delivery but it says "usually dispatched in 1-3 weeks". Wonder what Amazon would say if I ordered today and complained tomorrow because it hasn't arrived but I'm paying for Prime...

No difference at all between Amazon's 1-3 week lead and OP's 5 day lead.

UnderPressure

I can see what you are saying as the handling time was clearly shown I can also see the OP's point of view as it all being a bit unfair, I still think though a quick email after payment letting the buyer know when the item will be sent would have gone a long way to alleviating the problem the OP now has.

I must admit handling time is something I have only recently taken any notice of for this exact reason funnily enough a purchase I made was to be sent via special delivery, I was expecting it to arrive within a 3 day period so the seller had 2 clear days to get the item sent, not including a weekend I waited 7 days, I emailed the seller to complain and then they pointed me in the direction of their handling time which did say 7 working days, I did not agree but it was there in black and white.

Had I seen it I would not have bought from the seller and this is something the OP need to consider if they do start selling again, I make a point now of checking the handling time on every purchase and if it is ever more that 2 days I do not buy no matter what it is.

Amazon Prime is a little different, I have this and not all Amazon stock is available for Prime delivery, as I am sure you well know you are told on checkout if it is Prime or not so again before you commit to purchase you know upfront.

Mindless_Clone

UnderPressure wrote: »

I can see what you are saying as the handling time was clearly shown I can also see the OP's point of view as it all being a bit unfair, I still think though a quick email after payment letting the buyer know when the item will be sent would have gone a long way to alleviating the problem the OP now has.

I must admit handling time is something I have only recently taken any notice of for this exact reason funnily enough a purchase I made was to be sent via special delivery, I was expecting it to arrive within a 3 day period so the seller had 2 clear days to get the item sent, not including a weekend I waited 7 days, I emailed the seller to complain and then they pointed me in the direction of their handling time which did say 7 working days, I did not agree but it was there in black and white.

Had I seen it I would not have bought from the seller and this is something the OP need to consider if they do start selling again, I make a point now of checking the handling time on every purchase and if it is ever more that 2 days I do not buy no matter what it is.

That's quite a valid point actually. I think it's at the point where it doesn't really matter what times are quoted; most people will expect their item within 7 days of auction ending at the very least. Even if they don't pay immediately! Such is life on ebay.
I too have in the past grumbled about how long it took for something to get to me but, in reality, it still arrived well inside the stated time. It's just a perception thing I suppose.

OP, I might suggest - if you do get your account reinstated - it would make sense for you to list things with an 8 - 10 day lead time. I would also suggest you either use a courier service (you can pick up from your home) or you list it as standard/recorded delivery but then send it special delivery (thus exceeding the customer's expectations). I might also suggest that you make P&P free and incorporate the costs into the start price. While this may mean you have more fees to pay, it will mean you're not charging lots of money for what amounts to rubbish delivery times. buyers might be more disposed to take that into account and less inclined to mark you down.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

UnderPressure wrote: »

I make a point now of checking the handling time on every purchase and if it is ever more that 2 days I do not buy no matter what it is.

Perfect, sadly not everyone does this but in the near future. eBay is fortunately going to highlight any handling times that are over 3 days which might help.

It's very frustrating to see smaller booted off when getting a few low scores in a whole year but eBay are promoting certain big companies via Daily Deals with nearly 2% neutral/negative feedback in the last 30 days....

razam

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

OP can you go to your eBay dashboard:

http://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SellerDashboard

and tell us, for each of the 4 criteria, how many low scores you have and what % they measure out at.

Do you still have the tracking details for the sale where you got the negative and/or any items sent SD but with feedback comments complaining about delivery?

No tracking details unfortunately - chucked the receipts once feedback was left & I thought all was ok

Dashboard ratings:
Transactions: 32
12 Months 01/09/011 - 31/08/12
Item as described 4.26 - 3.12% (1)
Communication 4.14 - 3.12% (1)
Dispatch time 3.75 - 15.63% (5)
Postage and packaging charges 4.20 - 6.25% (2)

RFW

Just covering the question and I have no idea if this will work, but writing a letter to an Ebay head office addressed to someone with authority may get looked at.

Most companies still tend to treat letters with a bit of respect and they can get answered.

I'd heed advice of others above and possibly use that when writing.

A clear, concise, to the point letter, tell them what has happened, what you would like to happen next and what you will do to help/change.