Wow - Ebay Suspension

[WayTooManyHobbies]

Wow - I've just been blocked from Ebay. I've had an account since 1999, which I've used fairly often over the years. The vast majority of my activity has been purchasing, and over the past few years mostly of fountain pens. I've sold perhaps five items in all that time.

 

Last month, I received an e-mail saying that my account had been blocked from sales due to some unspecified activity. After contacting Ebay's customer service, they said that an account had been linked with mine. They requested faxed documentation to prove that I am actually myself. I provided the documents, and heard nothing further.

 

I just called their customer service again today, and have been told that my account has been suspended. They will give me no reasons, and have told me that there is no one else to contact. The representative went so far as to say that if I open another account they will simply suspend it again.

 

This is amazingly disturbing to me. I did my best to not take out frustrations on the customer service rep, but I'm beyond furious. I have done nothing wrong, yet through someone else's action I'm now barred from Ebay.

 

Sorry for the rant, FPN community. I'm just very upset.

 

 

[torstar]

try and patiently find a path to get yourself back in good form

 

sorry to hear about this, so much garbage happens there

[USMCMom]

That's awful! I rarely use eBay due to issues with their policies. In searching around, I did find this ... http://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=9925

Perhaps it may help you. There should be a way to clear that up!! I'm sorry you're having to deal with that.

[USMCMom]

Sorry ... I should have added that this is supposedly the email addy for John Donahoe, President of eBay.

[zepp]

1. Not replying or doing anything after you have sent the faxes;

2. Not giving any reasons about the suspension;

3. Threatens to suspend any newly created account from you.

 

That is incredibly rude and abusive, that just sounds like 'I don't like you here, so I shoo you away'

 

You should try to call them back, tell them you have sent them the faxes, and make sure you take note of the name of representative you have spoken to!

 

I've done several calls about orders from Nestle, been promised promotional ads and banners for an entire summer, call after call, and still didn't receive anything, took every representative's name I've spoken to and gave them to the last person I spoke to on the phone (I was pretty angry at that time and called them untrustworthy and liars for telling me they will ship everything on the next order). Result? I got them on the next order.

 

Keep insisting, there IS a reason, he just doesn't want to tell you and that's not right, can they still call themselves 'customer support' after that kind of response?

Edited July 3, 2014 by zepp

[Hardcase]

I went through this several years ago with EBay. I think that part of the problem is that there is so much attempted fraud going on that the assumption is that you're guilty of whatever you're accused of and it's easier to just make your account go away than actually research the issue and see if it can be fixed. I'm not sure if that's a corporate policy (I'd be surprised if it was) or just a matter of expediency for the "boots on the ground".

 

In my case, I was fortunate to have a friend who knew an EBay executive otherwise I'm sure that I'd have closed up shop much earlier than I did. Short of having some connections, I'd say that you should start writing letters. Not emails and not phone calls, but actual letters. Send them to corporate executives and board members. Describe what EBay alleges and what you've done to appease them, then demand that your account be restored.

 

Good luck!

 

-Drew

[georges zaslavsky]

I have an epray account that I use rarely because of this except for buying very cheap things

[Sasha Royale]

i suspect an Ebay-related identity theft Close the Ebay account. Give them time to clear out the bad activity under your

name. Check with them from time to time to see if it has cleared.

 

Ebay is protecting its clientele. Patience and civility are needed.

 

Sorry. Good times make us joyful. Hard times make us strong.

[lynxcat]

...and people think i'm weird for refusing to use ebay/paypal. you have my sympathies, but other than "find some other source for what you need to buy" there's not a whole lot of advice i can give you.

 

fighting with them by word or letter might work, but might just as well work to convince them the cheapest and easiest way for them to resolve the issue is to simply ignore you forever --- keep in mind, ebay trying to find the quickest, easiest way to resolve some issue or other was likely what caused them to click their little "block this account" button in the first place. what do they lose by dropping you? they don't trade on their good reputation or goodwill, because they have next to none of either.

[gregglee]

Are you sure this wasn't a spoof or phishing? Your description of the initial email really has that ring to it. I have gotten some very realistic looking phony ebay emails.

[pen2paper]

Agree with everyone above. Be sure that your ID and personal information are secure, and separate from whomever is tinkering with your account.

 

Contact ebay again at corporate level too: by phone, email, paper, to set up a new account.

You may lose your past numerical good history, but safety is preferable over numerical reputation.

 

edited to add a validation to your rant. There's nothing quite like having your solid good reputation thrown in your face with no recourse.

It is frustrating. Time and patience will prove out.

Edited July 5, 2014 by pen2paper

[gregglee]

What I meant was have you actually been talking to ebay at all? Asking for faxes of personal info sounds like a spoof. Hopefully you didn't contact "ebay" using a link or phone number on the original email.

[elysee]

What I meant was have you actually been talking to ebay at all? Asking for faxes of personal info sounds like a spoof. Hopefully you didn't contact "ebay" using a link or phone number on the original email.

Gregglee has a very good point. Did the email that you received have your name on it, not just your email address? eBay addresses all emails to users by name, not by username or by email address. I hope that you did not reply to a spoof email.

 

I wish you all the best, and I hope that everything will be all right with your eBay account.

[sharonspens]

Had a similar experience on my husband's behalf. We were never able to straighten it out and get them to allow him to have an account. We don't even know how the "banning" occurred in the first place - he had need had an account before. We were trying to establish one for him, and they were linking him to someone else who had already had ruined an account.

 

I hope you have better luck.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[pompa]

Sounds on par with Western Unions customer "service"...

[WayTooManyHobbies]

Gregglee has a very good point. Did the email that you received have your name on it, not just your email address? eBay addresses all emails to users by name, not by username or by email address. I hope that you did not reply to a spoof email.

 

I wish you all the best, and I hope that everything will be all right with your eBay account.

Yes, I was concerned about that as well when I got the e-mail. My response was always from another computer, and only after logging in to Ebay the normal way. I also made sure that my documentation was such that it would be difficult to use for identity theft.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your kind responses. I feel better, but still pretty upset. I think I will try a few "real" letters to see if there is any effect.

[Pensible]

I had a complete different experience with ebay, but that was about 10 to 15 years ago, it is likely things have changed. I got an email that there was suspicious activity in my account. I only buy and never sell, someone had put some golf clubs for sale on my account. I called ebay and the representative was really great. I changed my password, deleted the sale and everything has been great since then. It was my fault that I had given my password away on a phishing e-mail, one of those about checking your last purchase. Since then I never click on links on e-mails. One time I reported to them an e-mail I thought to be phishing and it turned out to be a legitimate ebay e-mail.