Anyone else had ads removed by gumtree?

janey1a_2

I registered with gumtree last week for the first time to try selling my car.

I uploaded the ad Friday night and within 2 hours we had a text from someone saying they were a marine, overseas at present and they wanted to buy the car for their son - cld they pay by paypal and he would send someone to collect the car. Seemed to good to be true but alarm bells were ringing so I put a call into paypal. They said don't do it, it's a scam. The buyer says they can't release funds until they have the car then of course you never see the money.

After this, I amended my ad just to state "payment by bank transfer or bankers draft" - to protect both parties.

My ad was removed yesterday but I had no email from gumtree explaining why. I sent a polite message simply asking why I couldn't find my ad.

First email response was a standard reply stating that my use of this site has been prohibited due to continuous breach of their policies.

I checked their posting policies and can't see anything other than the fact that I wrote the asking price in the description as well as the search field - hardly crime of the century and there are other ads listed like this too.

I replied to their message explaining that this was my first time using gumtree and I am not sure what I had done wrong, could they let me know.

I then received a downright rude reply stating that their decision was final and that any further communication would not be answered.

How rude! Their website says to contact customer services if you have queries as they will be happy to help - not in my experience!

Does anyone know what I might have done??!!

I have complained about the way this was dealt with but don't expect to hear back. What surprises me is I have just found out that ebay own gumtree. I've never had any issues using ebay or dealing with their customer service. They are far from the same company when it comes to day to day running!

Rant over!!:)

purpleshoes_2

Yes and I also got a load of nonsense when I queried it. Nothing that answered my questions. They wanted to move my ad from the category it should have been in to the services category that would have cost me to place it. Ive had others removed since.

in_the_Cotswolds

And I have. My ads were immediately removed no checking just straight into my removed file. Just use a different email address.

I've had the same when I put a car for sale. I just say "Due to reported incidents of cheque and Paypal fraud this is a cash only transaction." You then hear nothing more.

I've somehow managed to get myself banned from UK Classifieds only they just don't bother answering emails at all.

Irn-Bru-Kid

Stating in your ads "payment by bank transfer or bankers draft" is likely to get you kicked off.

Gumtree is predominately a 'cash on collection' service and ads mentioning anything other than this or PayPal will be flagged and pulled, especially from a new member.

soolin

gum tree has got themselves worried about scammers, like your PayPal for a car scammer. You might want to check the acceptable payment methods as I'm not sure they like bank transfers as they are supposed to be a face to face and cash only site.

Offering items using bank transfer leaves buyers unprotected and might have marked you out as a potential scammer.

Irn-Bru-Kid

Just like eBay, PayPal is perfectly acceptable on Gumtree but only for items you can post, and I always send tracked, charging the buyer accordingly.

I have also accepted bank transfer when a buyer doesn't have access to Paypal, but never mention it in my ads.

janey1a_2

Thanks for replies. Nice to know I've been labelled a potential scammer when I was just trying to protect myself after a con man tried to buy my car!!!!

What annoys me most is the way gumtree dealt with it. Paypal is not recommended for anything with an engine (and I was told that from paypal customer services) so I thought it would be best to be upfront with people before they viewed the car. I don't particularly want to be counting thousands of pounds of cash and I wouldn't know a fake note if I saw one!

I can't find anything in their policies about not stating how you would like payment.

I certainly won't be using gumtree for anything again after being treated like this. Just wish I could get a complaint through to them as I know customer services won't do anything with my email.

Wish I could have part exchanged my car!

soolin

Thanks for replies. Nice to know I've been labelled a potential scammer when I was just trying to protect myself after a con man tried to buy my car!!!!

Look at it purely from a 'bot' point of view. Yes someone tried to scam you, but Gumtree were not privy to that exchange. However, you flagged up as scammer purely by offering a payment that a scammer would use to cheat a buyer, the bot didn't know you were unhappy with cash, they just saw you offering an unsafe payment method.

I really think you need to rethink how this car is going to be sold, people pay cash for cars or find a way that protects both parties and you are going to limit your potential market if you don't like the idea of cash. If you really won't consider cash then selling to a dealer might be your only way forward .

janey1a_2

I guess I'm just too honest and expect people to be the same. I stupidly thought a buyer would look at the car, drive it then we could agree a method of payment. I can appreciate maybe bank transfer might not be the best option as there's too much element of trust but bankers draft is perfectly legit and the same as them withdrawing the cash.

I guess we'll have to go down the route of cash but it's not just a few hundred so I'm slightly wary. In this day and age you can't even expect cash without dodgy notes!

I just think the way it has been handled by gumtree is appalling. You can't even get a complaint through customer services who only seem capable of hitting a button to send an automated response! I've seen other forums where people's ads have been removed for no reason and some of them have paid for their ads.

My advice to all - stick to ebay!

RFW

janey1a wrote: »

What surprises me is I have just found out that ebay own gumtree. I've never had any issues using ebay or dealing with their customer service.

I knew there was bound to be someone somewhere;)
Gumtree (as far as I know) is largely automated so, it's doubtful anyone human has come into contact with your listing. I don't know what you expect to get out of anyone if you speak to them. You get what you pay for..

soolin

janey1A, consider this from a buyers point of view as well. If someone came on here and said they had a test drive of a car and seller asked them to use bank transfer and collect next day- we would tell them to run a mile .