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One thing history has taught, is that monopolies can be almost unbelievably inept and unresponsive because the lack of competitive incentives. Simply put, if there's no obvious competitor to which you can lose customers, you tend not to have much focus on providing exceptional service.
Much like with government bureaucracies, rules and procedures can defy logic and employees often just don't really care about the service they provide, or are unable to have any meaningful impact because of the system within which they work.
eBay is a prime example and here's a few short summaries of just how logic and common sense fail to have any impact on them time and time again. You won't believe just how downright obtuse eBay, its systems and its employees really are, but none of this is embellished... just the facts:
Listing are Illogical:
I've had listings flagged and removed on multiple occasions for "Brand Misuse" because I disclosed that watches contain movements from outside manufactures. For example, disclosing that the Concord Impresario Triple Date runs the Zenith El Primero 410 movement apparently makes me being guilty of SEO manipulation, trademark violation and who knows what else.
Long customer service discussions ensued (repetitively) to explain that mechanical watch buyers generally want to know what "engine" is inside, much like purchasers would want to know whether a PC contained a Intel or AMD chip or a mower was powered by a Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh engine. Sometimes CS agents get it, sometimes they don't, but it never makes a difference because they are powerless to do anything about the system.
Similarly I've had deployments removed for mentioning the watch for which they were made to fit.
I've even had listings flagged for policy violations because they contained links to.... wait for it...... my other eBay listings.
These are not one-off occurrences, but have repeated themselves over a period of years.
Pathetic Policy Violations:
Over the years I've been sent many emails warning me about "policy violations" threatening everything from account suspension to financial penalties and sales fees for attempting to share "private contact information" with prospective buyers. I occasionally call to try and figure out what their "system" has "detected" as I find the threats rather annoying.
On one call I was informed the email that triggered this notice was one I sent to a buyer where I included a the usps.gov tracking url for the purchase they had already made.
In response to another threat, the triggering event was because I offered to follow up with the buyer if the item went on sale in the future (it was an item where I didn't control the price). When I asked the CS agent repeatedly how I could phrase that without violating their policy she kept telling me I could only contact the buyer AFTER the purchase was complete.
I kid you not, I reworded the question over 15 times, explaining the buyer was not willing to purchase at the current price and the desire was to let them know if the item's price was lowered in the future so that they could purchase it. She kept parroting the same answer, over and over and over. I am 90% sure I heard her giggle more than once during this exchange as I think she was being deliberately obtuse for her own amusement.
Dispute Resolution Illusion:
There is no actual dispute resolution. It's a marketing gimmick. The eBay "system" will almost always simply default in favor of the buyer. No human is involved, no facts are reviewed. A human might get involved above a certain dollar amount or upon an appeal over the phone, but otherwise the "system" is akin to insurance companies that used to simply deny all initial requests and only review appeals.
I had one buyer open a return request against me for a new in box computer RAID controller that specified it could only be returned if still new in box and uninstalled, which is pretty common for computer components. The communication chain between buyer and myself indicated that buyer wasn't sure it would work and was further advised it was not returnable once installed.
Naturally, buyer went ahead an installed it anyway, couldn't figure out how to get it to work and then opening a case against me. I called and CS reps assured me on more than one occasion that the buyer would not be able to return the item as he had not complied with the pretty straightforward terms. eBay's automated dispute resolution system sided with the buyer without human review, despite notes entered by the CS agent documenting the buyer's actions. Buyer then returned a physically damaged controller board.
Another buyer didn't want to pay a restocking fee or return shipping on another devise and admitted this in emails. He then opened a case claiming the item did not work to escape paying either cost. He apparently forgot that he had sent me his own photos with his own camera showing the item worked (while asking unrelated questions). I uploaded the buyer's own photos and called CS who admitted there the buyer's own prior emails and photos were pretty self-evident.
Regardless, the buyer escalated the case at 5 am on a Saturday morning at at 5:36 am the "dispute resolution system" again automatically sided with the buyer despite multiple separate calls to CS who documented the details including the buyer's prior emails and photos. As a bonus, Buyer mailed back a box with 2 charity casino poker chips and a cut wire instead of the item he purchased.
I only "lucked out" in the end because the buyer used a return label provide by eBay and mailed it back from a foreign country as opposed to New Jersey to where it was shipped. That's a violation that affected eBay, so they cared.... nothing else about the case mattered to them.
This absurd behavior is nothing new. In one of my first eBay transactions many years ago, I sold a box of US Mint coins still sealed/unopened as shipped from the mint. Immediately upon receipt, the Buyer opened a case against me because he didn't like the way one of the pieces of tape looked on the shipping box.
I'm not kidding.
That your listing might specify "no returns" or "buyer pays for return shipping" is a fiction designed to make you feel comfortable, but know that it only applies to buyers who are willing to be honest.
When a buyer on eBay changes their mind, and doesn't feel like playing by the rules, they can literally come up with ANY excuse, it really just does not matter whether it's real, or even logical if it were true.
This buyer did not and could not even dispute that the box exactly matched the listing photos. He didn't have to, it does not matter.
The buyer also admitted right up front that he had already mailed the coins to a "coin-grading" service in another state.... where the box would be opened, thus proving he no longer even had possession.
The reality is that he just wanted to the "option" to return the coins for a full refund if he didn't get the professional grading he was hoping to obtain.
Despite numerous phone calls, eBay's "dispute resolution" system automatically found in favor of the buyer regardless. My "appeal" was almost immediately denied as well.
I only eventually got my money released because the buyer couldn't ship the coins back within 10 business days (remember, he no longer even had possession of them) and thus agreed to drop his case.... but this was all evident in his earliest emails where he admitted he had already mailed them out for grading!
No logic, facts, photos or documentation have ever made any impact on eBay whatsoever.
Simple Accounting:
Finally, I should also note that every billing error I've every discovered within the eBay system has always been in their favor. Coincidence I'm sure, but let me suggest that if you're not reviewing your monthly invoice carefully, you don't know what it's costing you, literally.
Your Examples?
I do want to say that many of the CS agents working for eBay have been very nice people, and many have even been very helpful. I've had instances where they've reimbursed me small sums because it was so obvious that the "dispute resolution system" was erroneous. Still, the advice and answers they have provided have been wrong more often than they have been right.
Further, it doesn't change the fact that eBay as a whole is a textbook example of the many problems that result from monopoly power.
Any one else have any too absurd to be true eBay stories to share?
Who knows, maybe if the thread lives long enough a politician or Attorney General who's NOT accepting campaign contributions from eBay or their lobbyists (should such a mythical creature exist) might actually decide this Monopoly needs to be broken up or restrained.
Much like with government bureaucracies, rules and procedures can defy logic and employees often just don't really care about the service they provide, or are unable to have any meaningful impact because of the system within which they work.
eBay is a prime example and here's a few short summaries of just how logic and common sense fail to have any impact on them time and time again. You won't believe just how downright obtuse eBay, its systems and its employees really are, but none of this is embellished... just the facts:
Listing are Illogical:
I've had listings flagged and removed on multiple occasions for "Brand Misuse" because I disclosed that watches contain movements from outside manufactures. For example, disclosing that the Concord Impresario Triple Date runs the Zenith El Primero 410 movement apparently makes me being guilty of SEO manipulation, trademark violation and who knows what else.
Long customer service discussions ensued (repetitively) to explain that mechanical watch buyers generally want to know what "engine" is inside, much like purchasers would want to know whether a PC contained a Intel or AMD chip or a mower was powered by a Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh engine. Sometimes CS agents get it, sometimes they don't, but it never makes a difference because they are powerless to do anything about the system.
Similarly I've had deployments removed for mentioning the watch for which they were made to fit.
I've even had listings flagged for policy violations because they contained links to.... wait for it...... my other eBay listings.
These are not one-off occurrences, but have repeated themselves over a period of years.
Pathetic Policy Violations:
Over the years I've been sent many emails warning me about "policy violations" threatening everything from account suspension to financial penalties and sales fees for attempting to share "private contact information" with prospective buyers. I occasionally call to try and figure out what their "system" has "detected" as I find the threats rather annoying.
On one call I was informed the email that triggered this notice was one I sent to a buyer where I included a the usps.gov tracking url for the purchase they had already made.
In response to another threat, the triggering event was because I offered to follow up with the buyer if the item went on sale in the future (it was an item where I didn't control the price). When I asked the CS agent repeatedly how I could phrase that without violating their policy she kept telling me I could only contact the buyer AFTER the purchase was complete.
I kid you not, I reworded the question over 15 times, explaining the buyer was not willing to purchase at the current price and the desire was to let them know if the item's price was lowered in the future so that they could purchase it. She kept parroting the same answer, over and over and over. I am 90% sure I heard her giggle more than once during this exchange as I think she was being deliberately obtuse for her own amusement.
Dispute Resolution Illusion:
There is no actual dispute resolution. It's a marketing gimmick. The eBay "system" will almost always simply default in favor of the buyer. No human is involved, no facts are reviewed. A human might get involved above a certain dollar amount or upon an appeal over the phone, but otherwise the "system" is akin to insurance companies that used to simply deny all initial requests and only review appeals.
I had one buyer open a return request against me for a new in box computer RAID controller that specified it could only be returned if still new in box and uninstalled, which is pretty common for computer components. The communication chain between buyer and myself indicated that buyer wasn't sure it would work and was further advised it was not returnable once installed.
Naturally, buyer went ahead an installed it anyway, couldn't figure out how to get it to work and then opening a case against me. I called and CS reps assured me on more than one occasion that the buyer would not be able to return the item as he had not complied with the pretty straightforward terms. eBay's automated dispute resolution system sided with the buyer without human review, despite notes entered by the CS agent documenting the buyer's actions. Buyer then returned a physically damaged controller board.
Another buyer didn't want to pay a restocking fee or return shipping on another devise and admitted this in emails. He then opened a case claiming the item did not work to escape paying either cost. He apparently forgot that he had sent me his own photos with his own camera showing the item worked (while asking unrelated questions). I uploaded the buyer's own photos and called CS who admitted there the buyer's own prior emails and photos were pretty self-evident.
Regardless, the buyer escalated the case at 5 am on a Saturday morning at at 5:36 am the "dispute resolution system" again automatically sided with the buyer despite multiple separate calls to CS who documented the details including the buyer's prior emails and photos. As a bonus, Buyer mailed back a box with 2 charity casino poker chips and a cut wire instead of the item he purchased.
I only "lucked out" in the end because the buyer used a return label provide by eBay and mailed it back from a foreign country as opposed to New Jersey to where it was shipped. That's a violation that affected eBay, so they cared.... nothing else about the case mattered to them.
This absurd behavior is nothing new. In one of my first eBay transactions many years ago, I sold a box of US Mint coins still sealed/unopened as shipped from the mint. Immediately upon receipt, the Buyer opened a case against me because he didn't like the way one of the pieces of tape looked on the shipping box.
I'm not kidding.
That your listing might specify "no returns" or "buyer pays for return shipping" is a fiction designed to make you feel comfortable, but know that it only applies to buyers who are willing to be honest.
When a buyer on eBay changes their mind, and doesn't feel like playing by the rules, they can literally come up with ANY excuse, it really just does not matter whether it's real, or even logical if it were true.
This buyer did not and could not even dispute that the box exactly matched the listing photos. He didn't have to, it does not matter.
The buyer also admitted right up front that he had already mailed the coins to a "coin-grading" service in another state.... where the box would be opened, thus proving he no longer even had possession.
The reality is that he just wanted to the "option" to return the coins for a full refund if he didn't get the professional grading he was hoping to obtain.
Despite numerous phone calls, eBay's "dispute resolution" system automatically found in favor of the buyer regardless. My "appeal" was almost immediately denied as well.
I only eventually got my money released because the buyer couldn't ship the coins back within 10 business days (remember, he no longer even had possession of them) and thus agreed to drop his case.... but this was all evident in his earliest emails where he admitted he had already mailed them out for grading!
No logic, facts, photos or documentation have ever made any impact on eBay whatsoever.
Simple Accounting:
Finally, I should also note that every billing error I've every discovered within the eBay system has always been in their favor. Coincidence I'm sure, but let me suggest that if you're not reviewing your monthly invoice carefully, you don't know what it's costing you, literally.
Your Examples?
I do want to say that many of the CS agents working for eBay have been very nice people, and many have even been very helpful. I've had instances where they've reimbursed me small sums because it was so obvious that the "dispute resolution system" was erroneous. Still, the advice and answers they have provided have been wrong more often than they have been right.
Further, it doesn't change the fact that eBay as a whole is a textbook example of the many problems that result from monopoly power.
Any one else have any too absurd to be true eBay stories to share?
Who knows, maybe if the thread lives long enough a politician or Attorney General who's NOT accepting campaign contributions from eBay or their lobbyists (should such a mythical creature exist) might actually decide this Monopoly needs to be broken up or restrained.
