h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've had loads of hassle from ebay in the last few weeks.

I've had a couple of non-paying bidders, and one of them has been sending me abusive emails. He can't seem to understand that to send 3 t-shirts from the UK to the US costs a fair bit of money, he doesn't understand the concept of exchange rates whatsoever. He's refusing to pay more than $15 which doesn't even cover the price of his highest bid, which works out at about $18.76.

I decided to change my telephone number (to 1234567) on there as the last thing I need right now is abusive phone calls, but Mr Ebay told me that wasn't allowed, threatened me with suspension if I didn't change it back (which I did straight away), have now suspended me (to be reinstated I have to post them copies of my passport and bank account... ) and threatened me with debt collectors for the princely sum of £1.73.

I hope you have explained the circumstances to them? Maybe it's an automated system and there isn't really anyone with any nous there at all?

I did email them in reply to both the warning and the suspension emails, but no reply. It's a fully automated system it seems.

They're hassling me for money (for their percentage of the money I made selling these t-shirts) that is on a direct debit - because they've suspended my account, they've also suspended their own direct debit.... so how am I supposed to pay them?

*sigh*

I'd suggest e-mailing them daily until you get some sort of response. Someone must be responsible for replying to them. Sounds crazy to me. Are there guidelines for non-payers/quibblers?

I meant to say hi by the way !


I'm going to mail them daily and I guess I'll have to send them the copies of the documents they want.

For people that don't pay, you alert ebay and they give the buyer a period to pay. If they still don't pay, they get a mark against them - 3 marks and they're banned.

Hi, LSF!

Never sold anything on ebay. Do they have to pay you before you ship them the goods? Have you lost out on this? Is there any recourse against non-payers apart from three strikes and you're out?

Wait a moment!!!! Excuse my butting in and all that, but are you sure those mails suspending your account really came from ebay? It can be spoof, you know. I'm getting that sort of mail all the time, logo and all, and they're all fake. You may want to forward the wole exchange to their spoof department.
Also it may be that people are trying to target you and get at your data. Those demands for bank details and copy of passport sound highly suspicious to me! I'd send nothing before having made really, really sure. Sorry again for butting in, but i hate to see inoffensive (I always assume that unless proven otherwise ) people fleeced by crooks.

I was just going to say that, Delicia!

This doesn't sound like Ebay at all -

s LSF

I haven't used ebay at all, just had the occasional look. But it does sound odd for there to be no sort protection for either sellers or buyers if either goods or money isn't forthcoming. I would be suspicious of demands for bank details so soon into a disputed payment.

I would phone your bank and ask if they are aware of any scam specifically related to ebay. Mine has been psoting constant warnings on their site about scams demandinig bank details and proof of identity.

Is there a UK coustomer services phone number for ebay? I think you really need to talk to someone or if all else fails put everything in writing and post it to ebay.

There's quite some hot and extensive scam activity going on round ebay, which is perfectly logical, seeing how much money they move. It goes from identity snatching to getting unsuspecting people to handle stolen goods under the pretext of giving them a job. And now with PayPal attached i imagine all white collar crooks are simply slavering at the mouth for a chance to break in there.
But one the most frequent scams seems to be to try to get peoples banking and personal details. Like i said, i had lots of that sort of mail, and I always send them on to [email protected].
Actually a copy of an ID is far from inconsequential, in fact one is advised to carry a copy when one is abroad in case of loosing the passport, to identify oneself to police and embassy. I can't imagine ebay would really require a thing like that from anyone.

Have you seen this entry, LSF? A2651618

I see what you mean LSF, did a search for your member profile on eBay (somehow managed to guess what your login name would be ) How can they justify withdrawing your registration like that with all the positive comments from buyers that you've got
Somethine strange going on here

Lxx

I see what you mean LSF, did a search for your member profile on eBay (somehow managed to guess what your login name would be ) How can they justify withdrawing your registration like that with all the positive comments from buyers that you've got
Something strange going on here

Lxx

ps. On a lighter note, do you think there really is a Mr eBay who founded the company? Wonder what his first name is?..... What about 'Botan'

Thanks for all the replies everyone, and no Delicia you're not butting in!


Well I've tried emailing ebay a few times, and the only responses I've had are the typical automated ones. I forwarded them the email supposedly from them asking for copies of passport etc, and they mailed me back saying that it may be a fraud and they're looking into it.
They didn't answer my questions about being reinstated or sorting out the direct debit though.

I would have thought that Mr Ebay's first name would be something like, hmm... B'stard?

How're you getting on, LSF?

Any joy?

Was it a con?



I'm a member and I've had a few difficulties, but I'm glad I'm only dealing in a couple of £'s, not hundreds or thousands

I also found this: http://www.paypalsucks.com after chatting to another eBayer via email.


On a brighter note, I'm selling a cd for £10.50 {currently, 2 days to go} which has been gathering dust in my collection for a couple of years, I only bought it for £2 from Cash Converters in the first place.

By the way, have you tried this:
http://www.whattheheck.com/ebay/feedback.html

hi GB

I had an email from ebay saying that the first one was probably a hoax... then another email that was the same as the first - asking for the same proof of ID.

I haven't done anything to be honest - I've been far too busy the last few weeks, what with all the training and migraines I've been having.

That paypal sucks website was interesting, I've always been suspicious of them.

The whattheheck site was great!


Well done on the CD front.
I sold a pair of shoes on ebay for about £10 - they were about 8 years old and I only paid £1.99 for them in the first place!
It's amazing what people will buy...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1607&item=4310759334&rd=1