I'm reminded why I hate dealing with ebay and Livechat

RMS2

Today's early morning chat.


Teletubby
Welcome to eBay Live Help, my name is Teletubby. How may I be of assistance?


Me
I listed an item last night, it is showing in my ebay as listed and I've checked the listing and category, but it has not populated/indexed to the ebay search pages.


Teletubby
I understand the importance of this matter to you, RMS2. I'll be more than happy to help you with this.



<snip> Cut the carp and look at the problem please.

Teletubby
May I please have the item number of your item for me to look at it on my end?

<snip> Erm.. notice that box at the beginning where you put the item/auction number in that you are calling about - I did fill it in, it kind of gives you a clue


Me
XXXXXXXXXXX


Teletubby
Thank you for the information. Please allow me a few minutes to search on this.


Teletubby
Thank you for staying connected. Upon futhere checking on your item xxxxxxxx",and I was able to locate it. For you refence. I've provided the link where I have forun it : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm


Me
Let me just check


Me
Yes you can locate it by using the auction number, but it should appear here in new listings from 8:30 last night. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html and it should appear here if you search for the itemhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?


Me
nobody is going to see it, it is there but they won't search by auction number, it should appear in the XX category along with all the others and when you search XX-XXX (the title) it should come up, but it doesn't.


Teletubby
Thank you for the added information. I really appreciate it. Upon further checking on this, Please note that, the reason why you have not found your item on your previous searches is that the item was placed through a process called indexing.



<snip> Right, so it isn't really there at all and now you're admitting it. Thanks for informing me of indexing, but I think I mentioned that right at the beginning of this session, so I do know about it, hence why I asked you and surprise, surprise, it seems to be the problem.


Teletubby
Please understand that it can take a number of hours for your item to appear in the Category and Browse pages. This is because when an item is listed, it has to be placed into our search system via a process called 'indexing'. So each time an 'indexing' takes place the site is updated with all of the newly listed items.


<snip> Thanks for that indexing thing again, but I do understand it and I've already mentioned it.


Teletubby
Updates on eBay take place all the time. Please keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of items being listed and relisted on eBay each and every day, and each one of those items must be indexed and cross-referenced for every word in their title and description. Usually this can all be done and updated within a couple of hours.


Me
It was 12 hours ago that I listed it, I have left it awhile before contacting you, 12 hours is more than a couple of hours. What do you suggest?


Teletubby
Please understand that usually this can all be done and updated within 24 hours.


<snip> Seems to have moved from a couple of hours to 24 hours very quickly, do you make it up as you go along?



Me
So, are you saying that it will be done and show up by 8:30? How confident of that are you?


Teletubby
Let me share with you, that when you schedule a listing, the indexing process already takes place the moment you have created a listing.So when your item goes live in the site, it will immediately appear on the search results page.



<snip> Yeah, not really answering my question though, is it?


Me
Okay, but for now, what about this item, do I have to cancel and relist it?


Teletubby
Please note that, the indexing process also depends on the details you have mention on your listing. In the event that the item will not appear after 24 hours, you are free to get back to us so that it can be investigated.



<snip> Not really filling me with confidence here, I'm kind of getting the feeling that I'm destined to have this conversation again and cancel/relist will be the only way to solve it.


Teletubby
I also suggest that you avoid making revisions, until the indexing process is on going as it will just prolonged the process.


Me
Right, so, you're not that confident that it's going to show up, because if it was, it would be on there by now?


Teletubby
We do not advise that you cancel and relist the item.


Me
Okay, how long should I wait for it to show up?


Teletubby
Be assured that once the indexing process is done the item will on the search results page.



<snip> Be assured that one day I will get old and die, but I don't really want to wait that long to find out.


Teletubby
Please understand that usually this can all be done and updated within 24 hours.


Me
How long do you think that will be, bearing in mind, we're already over 12 hours into that timeline?


Me
Okay, I'll see what happens today, thanks for your help.



<snip> At this stage I was losing the will to live, they had worn me down and won, I just wanted to get off the line/PC.


Teletubby
Please understand that since it is a system generated process, I will not be able to confirm the exact time, but be assured that it will appear after the indexing process.

<snip> Oh, I'm sure it will happen *after* the indexing process, but the answer I wanted was, when will this be.

campdave

You don't come across like a pompous git at all.

Brooker_Dave

""To further create a marketplace where buyers find what they want and drive positive user experience, we updated the provision regarding listing conditions to recognize that the appearance and placement of listings in search and browse results will depend on a variety of factors. So, in some situations a listing may not appear in some search and browse results regardless of sort order.""

Ebay openly admit that they don't show the adverts you have paid for sometimes.

(http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m09/i12/s01)

"In response to EcommerceBytes' question about whether eBay would refund a seller in cases in which his or her listing did not appear in some search and browse results, eBay spokesperson Ryan Moore said no. "As part of our effort to drive a positive user experience on eBay, our goal is to help buyers easily search and find relevant items that they are seeking. We consider a wide variety of factors when determining the appearance of a seller’s listing in various search and browse results. While a seller’s listing may not appear in a search and browse result for a particular query, it may appear in the results for another query. Therefore, we will not be issuing refunds for listing fees.""

And if they don't bother list your item, don't expect a refund either.

RMS2

campdave wrote: »

You don't come across like a pompous git at all.

Well, if I come across pompous because:


A) I wish to receive the service that I am expected to pay for.


Question why they want auction number that is already input.


C) Question why the tell me it is listed and then backtrack immediately.


D) Inform of indexing when I brought that up straight away.


E) Be vague about when the problem will be sorted.


F) Helpfully suggest I can always call back later if not sorted.


Then yes, I'm pompous. But I expect people selling me a service to provide it. To take note of the relevant information I have given them, to not immediately backtrack on their answer, when challenged with factual information and not to explain things that I have already demonstrated that I have an understanding of.

campdave

RMS2 wrote: »

Well, if I come across pompous because:


A) I wish to receive the service that I am expected to pay for.


Question why they want auction number that is already input.


C) Question why the tell me it is listed and then backtrack immediately.


D) Inform of indexing when I brought that up straight away.


E) Be vague about when the problem will be sorted.


F) Helpfully suggest I can always call back later if not sorted.

You're entitled to expect those. However, you dealt with the rep like a horrible, arrogant, nasty little person. Whilst you might be frustrated, acting in that way isn't going to solve the issues, and in many ways, is more likely to make the rep less helpful.

Brooker_Dave

campdave wrote: »

You're entitled to expect those. However, you dealt with the rep like a horrible, arrogant, nasty little person. Whilst you might be frustrated, acting in that way isn't going to solve the issues, and in many ways, is more likely to make the rep less helpful.

OP, turns out all Ebay's shortcomings are your fault, HTH.

alykatz

I always thought it was the case that any new items listed can take upto 24hrs to show in search.

steveE2

alykatz wrote: »

I always thought it was the case that any new items listed can take upto 24hrs to show in search.

Yes it tells you this when you list,obviously OP didn't see this,also the agent was correct in saying not to make any revisions as this puts the listing to the back of the queue again.

mrcol1000

When I went to read this post, I expected some horrendous error by Ebay customer service or at least someone who didn't get their way.

Instead got a rude person talking to Customer Services and a very restrained Customer Services agent.

It does say that it takes up to 24 hours for a listing to show. Apart from Brooker Dave jumping on another way to bash Ebay, I think that most people would agree you do not come out of this post looking that great.

Ebay is frustrating a lot of the time. Being nasty to some poor person in the Far East being paid 30p an hour using Customer Service software that pumps out fixed answers to save them time typing the same things over and over, is not going to help you. I think you have managed to generate sympathy for the poor agents who regularly have to deal with people like you.

forgotmyname

And did all these issues start when ebay began manipulating searches to favour certain sellers over others?

Getting fed up of having search results that dont have the keywords i actually searched for.

theonlywayisup

Slightly off topic, but if you want to search relevant keywords, you need to use quotes.