Ebay has wrongfully accused me of selling fake items and banned me any advice.

untoldcomics

I recently received an email from Ebay saying one of my listings was for a counterfeit item. I obviously got in touch and assured them it was not. They were not interested and suspended my account permanently. I have had an account for over a decade with 100% positive feedback. I was just approaching 10'000 feedback. I have had my name besmirched by Ebay and they have basically called me a criminal. 
The item in question was a comic book  it was a rare issue of Transformers with an artists homage to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the cover reenacted by the Transformers. This is not a counterfeit and the only thing I can possibly think is that because it said Beatles Homage in the title it raised someone's feathers. Ebay then went on to say I was a serious threat to the community and that I was permanently suspended for selling counterfeit goods. I assured Ebay I was not and everything I sold was licensed by the manufacturers and bought from official distributors in the UK. 
I am distraught I have lost a source of income and had my good name besmirched. 
Ebay have accused me of a criminal offence and I want to be able to right this wrong.

RFW

How have you, so far, been contacting them?

If it's just messaging on Ebay you need to try and escalate that.

One way is to contact them on Twitter, with a polite message. This usually gets you to be seen by a different department.

Are you sure that it was the item you mentioned that caused the problem? Did you sell it? If you still have it perhaps you could get someone to authenticate it and send the details to Ebay.

It's a fairly different situation but I'm currently having a similar problem with Meta regarding a business page. Some of the big companies are using AI bots to patrol their sites and catch out the bad guys. Some of us are getting caught in that net with no redress.

soolin

I suspect the word Beatles was what was picked up by the bots , ebay seem to dislike anything that is 'in homage to' or in the style of. 

untoldcomics

The word Beatles is what I suspected too but to straight out accuse me of selling counterfeit goods and not listening to my explanation is very strange. Ive tried messaging and spoken to someone on the phone but they are not interested. They seem to think it's fine to just outright ban me and besmirch my name. They refuse to give me a straight answer and just say that I have violated Ebay rules.

soolin

untoldcomics said:

The word Beatles is what I suspected too but to straight out accuse me of selling counterfeit goods and not listening to my explanation is very strange. Ive tried messaging and spoken to someone on the phone but they are not interested. They seem to think it's fine to just outright ban me and besmirch my name. They refuse to give me a straight answer and just say that I have violated Ebay rules.

This can be a real issue with Ebay, they seem to have a standard script for any violations that often doesn't make sense in the context of what happened. 

All you can really do is try getting it escalated to someone more senior, trying for a start to get through to the Dublin call centre, but otherwise do as RFW suggests and try social media.

born_again

untoldcomics said:

The word Beatles is what I suspected too but to straight out accuse me of selling counterfeit goods and not listening to my explanation is very strange. Ive tried messaging and spoken to someone on the phone but they are not interested. They seem to think it's fine to just outright ban me and besmirch my name. They refuse to give me a straight answer and just say that I have violated Ebay rules.

Can you get 3rd party proof it is not fake? That would seem the best way to argue your case.

As you can see it from their point of view. Of course you will say it is genuine. (no offence intended)

untoldcomics

born_again said:

untoldcomics said:

The word Beatles is what I suspected too but to straight out accuse me of selling counterfeit goods and not listening to my explanation is very strange. Ive tried messaging and spoken to someone on the phone but they are not interested. They seem to think it's fine to just outright ban me and besmirch my name. They refuse to give me a straight answer and just say that I have violated Ebay rules.

Can you get 3rd party proof it is not fake? That would seem the best way to argue your case.

As you can see it from their point of view. Of course you will say it is genuine. (no offence intended)

It's a Transformers comic book and there is currently another seller listing the exact same book with the exact same title. I expect they have used my listing. I am currently seeking legal advice as they are basically claiming im committing a criminal act. I do not sell fake goods and I never would but more so it is the damn principal of the matter.

pinkshoes

untoldcomics said:

born_again said:

untoldcomics said:

The word Beatles is what I suspected too but to straight out accuse me of selling counterfeit goods and not listening to my explanation is very strange. Ive tried messaging and spoken to someone on the phone but they are not interested. They seem to think it's fine to just outright ban me and besmirch my name. They refuse to give me a straight answer and just say that I have violated Ebay rules.

Can you get 3rd party proof it is not fake? That would seem the best way to argue your case.

As you can see it from their point of view. Of course you will say it is genuine. (no offence intended)

It's a Transformers comic book and there is currently another seller listing the exact same book with the exact same title. I expect they have used my listing. I am currently seeking legal advice as they are basically claiming im committing a criminal act. I do not sell fake goods and I never would but more so it is the damn principal of the matter.

Ultimately they're a business and can ban whoever they like as long as they're not discriminating against protected characteristics. 

Legal advice won't get you anywhere I'm afraid.

Did you remove the item immediately before trying to get in touch?

EffieTrinketsWig

soolin said:

untoldcomics said:

The word Beatles is what I suspected too but to straight out accuse me of selling counterfeit goods and not listening to my explanation is very strange. Ive tried messaging and spoken to someone on the phone but they are not interested. They seem to think it's fine to just outright ban me and besmirch my name. They refuse to give me a straight answer and just say that I have violated Ebay rules.

This can be a real issue with Ebay, they seem to have a standard script for any violations that often doesn't make sense in the context of what happened. 

All you can really do is try getting it escalated to someone more senior, trying for a start to get through to the Dublin call centre, but otherwise do as RFW suggests and try social media.

I know that getting through to the Dublin call centre is seen as finding the Holy Grail but there is a UK call centre now and they are very easy to work with, but it is still a lottery getting connected to them, I usually find calling around 9am gets the best results.