eBay CEO Devin Wenig's Anti-Social Agenda Hits Home

by: TomH

??? and the trouble was? You seem to have left out the main point of the report. Did eBay sanction the other member? Suspended? What?

by: toolguy

I'm sorry to hear that.

Sometimes eBay can be cruel, but other times they are OUTSTANDING.

My wife ordered a phone case for $10, USPS showed it was delivered. But we had not received it.

I went thru all the motions and filed a dispute.

The seller had delivery confirmation so I thought it was really a waste of time. The seller did their part but USPS dropped the ball.

Today eBay sent me this message:

Hi z50com,
We have decided to issue you a courtesy refund for this case on Oct 21, 2017 to the PayPal account you used to purchase this item. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping. Please log in to your Paypal to get refund.

They really about their customers!

by: BobNJ

@TomH

The seller said they got a notice from eBay telling them "that's not allowed anymore" and they were worried I got in trouble too. The seller didn't mention any other consequences other than the notice and I didn't get anything from eBay.

by: GameItWorks

Anyone selling on eBay for any length of time should be fully aware that eBay's policies for several years now have explicitly banned exchanging personal information through messaging.  There is no way for eBay to know, despite the messages if any money was exchanged.  If all the seller got was a warning, they are really lucky, since eBay's 2017 policies are even more restrictive.  Changes are, that seller could get suspended in the near future if they violate any of eBay's other policies.

by: TomH

@ BobNJ

Thanks, I missed that I guess.  The way that has been going lately according to various reports and threads on here, you and the other eBayer are probably pretty lucky as mentioned by another also.

by: ZZ

''They really about their customers!''

It's  a company run by computer algorithms. Looks like if you have bought X amount of items in the past, and the item you claim not to have received is worth less than X amount, you get one freeby from eBay if you claim INR with delivery confirmation.

Soon word will get out about this and after eBay pays out enough to know the word is out, they will change the algorithm. After all, proof is what delivery confirmation is all about. Without it we would have to revert to the 'good old days' of eBay, a myth much like the Reagan Era of American life.

by: Marie

The seller should have been aware of the rule.  Not many of us like it, but it is the rule so the seller should not have been surprised.  Ebay has not kept it a secret that sellers would get reprimanded for this behavior.

It matters to us that we disagree with how Ebay is applying this policy, but it is important to keep in mind that it doesn't matter to Ebay how we feel about it.  

by: pace306

eBay is DESPERATE to make every sale (unlike Amazon who now gives out buyers home phone numbers so that you CAN contact them) that even when you are RIGHT - you are still wrong.

Marie et al are %100 correct - eBay has warned people about this - even if it doesnt make any sense.

Next time say it in Italian or Hebrew or even pig latin .... eBays bots arent that bright.

by: anonymoose

I got suspended for 10 days for giving a customer a phone number of a manufacturer, since the customer had a technical question which we couldn't answer which tends to happen a lot as we drop ship a lot of products that we don't even ship ourselves. Dont give out contact info its a bad idea ebay WILL automatically suspend your account.

by: toolguy

I must be EXEMPT from this rule.

I get numbers in messages all the time and I have no problem sending out my number.

by: Marie

I don't see this crack down as Ebay being desperate for sales, just Ebay being Ebay.  They started off by not allowing email addresses to be shared in M2M.  For quite a while Ebay would warn us if we attempted to share an email address, now they have just taken it a step further and included any contact info.  And along with this change the threat of sanctions if we try it.  

by: pace306

Again - Amazon gives you a buyers phone number - so if it’s not paranoia and the quest to bump up your numbers by not missing a sale - what is it?

Boys are dumb enough to be fooled if you really want to go that way- but you would actually have to have sales for this to be happening!

by: toolguy

I remember many people saying that they would never give a customer their phone number.

Now that eBay is not allowing it people are screaming about it.

by: Marie

Ebay has given us the buyer's email address when we have a transaction with them for years, Amazon does never given that information with a transaction.

Yes Amazon provides a phone number, but a seller on Ebay can get the buyer's phone number if they want to when they have a current transaction with that buyer.  

And a buyer can get the seller's phone number on Ebay easily as well when they have a current transaction with that buyer.

Ebay allows for a buyer or a seller of a current transaction to request the others contact info if they so desire.

by: comet

@Marie--- Is this only AFTER a sale tho? There used to be certain categories like Auto Parts where phone numbers/emails were allowed in / on the actual descriptions page; presumably to prevent ordering the wrong part for your need.  Surely some went around  ebays rules and bought direct, which I can see would annoy ebay BUT is it better to have a few lost sales where the buyer will come BACK to your site again BECAUSE they were able to get what they needed OR to drive off BOTH buyer and seller by enforcing "no contact" rulez?  

 It IS annoying to not be able to check on these sort of things; even tho I.list what my parts will and won't fit I have still gotten orders from people wh.don't/can't read or are using the absurd mobile site and who refuse to click thru to actual info.

Ebay cuts off its own nose.

PS Seems Toolguy is as annoying as ever.  Must have taken the short plane to skool

by: Gemz

If you want the phone number and the address of a seller, and you really want to jump through hoops to get it, you can and without ebay knowing. 99.9% of the time it's not worth it. In the case of the card with no value on it, it was just a warning which doesn't mean much since they are just saying what the rules are. Maybe the person wasn't a full time seller or they just sold something every now and then. The computer will just issue the rules like what happened. However...Like in the case with me, I suspended TWICE! First time wasn't a warning for giving out our retail store name. The second wasn't as well when we got hit for 7 full days (I call that a vacation actually! lol) when someone wanted to come see a very large item before they bought it. It was less than 100 dollars, but it was extremely large and it was pickup only. I can see someone wanting to see it since it was the basic correlation "too good to be true" and no one in their right mind would sell something like that for only 100 dollars. Well in both regards it was true and I need the space this thing takes up! Now that ebay has made it where no one believes it, no matter how much text I put in there telling them its true and its only 100 dollars, it's never sold! I am going to end up giving it to a charity organization and taking the write off on it at the end of this year so Ebay loses 100% of their fees and I still get the tax write off. This is a total loss for ebay and just makes them look bad since how do you tell someone that it's for real and then say ...OH BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU WHO I AM, WHERE I AM, OR A PHONE NUMBER SO YOU CAN SEE IM NOT LYING TO YOU. I tell them that ebay says...(Verbatim) " They can buy it first and then see it later when they get it". After telling the customer that, I never hear from them again. Thanks Wenig! You shifty eye'd moron!

by: lalaland

If eBay was desperate for every sale, they wouldn't keep me blacked out so much.  One would think.

by: rachel

Okay eBay is now using retro Amazon policies about zero contact even though the customers have questions and Amazon is now allowing customer to call sellers with questions because it’s called improving customer service because they asked customers what they want and listened. Amazon moves forward and eBay is behind the 8 ball in their favorite corporate strategy copying Amazon or WalMart. Tool guy I’ve had my phone number on my listings without a problem for years. It’s much better to talk on the phone because with messaging or emails they can be misinterpreted. I’ve been very successful in turning sales around on eBay and elsewhere, successful business sellers routinely put in their phone numbers. Buyers can google your business or seller ID if they want to contact you and so can vendors. eBay doesn’t give buyers much credit or sellers for that matter, we are not the enemy but are leaving or cutting back on eBay due to lack of respect for sellers assuming the worst. Sellers just want to sell. No nepharious plans intended. They have websites with email and phone or Facebook accounts if someone either a vendor or buyer wants to talk to a seller. eBay doesn’t own us outside their venues or at shows and other venues or retail. We generally advertise our eBay stores in other venues to grow our business. They are shooting themselves in the foot. By being so paranoid that their sales for quality products are down and just selling cheaply made items you can buy in Chinese websites, Amazon and everywhere else. Amazon saw how they could beat eBay by exploiting their bad customer service by allowing questions between buyers and sellers like grown ups!  eBay better step up they are behind the times and need to catch up on what one seller has called their “me too kindergarten strategy”

by: Marie

@comet

Yes, after the sale we have access to each other's email addresses and phone numbers.

But Ebay has blocked the ability to share an email address in M2M for a long time.  Long before they started this recent crack down.  I'm not sure why so many are surprised.  I don't like it anymore than anyone else, but I'm not surprised by the move.  Ebay is protecting what they believe is their interest.

by: Snapped

''Now that eBay is not allowing it people are screaming about it.''

Nope.  

It's not about WHAT the choice is.  It's about having an ability to make it, whether or not it might be desired.  More significantly, not being falsely accused and convicted of making it.

And if eBay was the 'all that' claimed, this would all be a moot point from the start.  

Stick with being obtusely argumentative.  Arrogant dismissiveness doesn't apply here.