This is a rant. And a plea for help. But, mostly a rant.
for years. I am a very careful seller. I don't break any rules, and I always make sure to resolve any issues. I have sold more than $100,000 worth of items over the years. I have maintained a 100% positive feedback with a modest 2523 score.
I am also an active buyer. I've probably spent more than $100,000 as well.
account was permanently suspended. Here is the exact email I received.
Quote:Hello thecoinguyfrommichigan,
We wanted to let you know that your
ebay account has been permanently suspended because of activity that we believe was putting the
ebay community at risk. We understand that this must be frustrating, but this decision was not made lightly and it's important that we keep our marketplace safe for everyone. Learn more about how and why accounts can be suspended.
Here's what you need to know
You will no longer be able to use your account to buy or sell items and any new accounts you set up may also be suspended.
Any listings have been removed and they can be viewed below.
We've credited all associated fees except for payments processing fees and the final value fee for your listing(s).
Any outstanding selling fees are due and will be charged to your payment method on file. If you've already opened any dispute claims for these fees, they won't be charged until the claims have been resolved.
If you have any questions or concerns, or think we've made a mistake, please get in touch. We're here to help.
No explanation of the "risks" was provided. But I was slightly encouraged by the last line in the email which seemed to give hope that I could get help.
I tried. I chatted with an agent (which seems to be the only way to get help) and was again -initially- encouraged by the offer to help. Then I was told
"screw you! we hate you and we are not going to help you even though you did nothing wrong. We don't care."
At least that's what it felt like.
Quote:Chat
Chat
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:36 PMMy account was restricted for no apparent reason.
Gaurav20:36 PMHello, welcome to
ebay - my name is Gaurav. Please allow me a few moments to review your details.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:37 PMthank you
Gaurav20:37 PMI see you opened this account 8 years ago, thank you for your loyalty.
Gaurav20:37 PMHi Moshe, how are you?
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:37 PMyou can thank me for my loyalty, but you guys just restricted my account.
Gaurav20:38 PMI am sorry to learn that your account is restricted.
Gaurav20:38 PMI will surely assist you with this.
Gaurav20:39 PMRegarding your concern we have dedicated team that will further help you with this, so that you can have appropriate resolution. May I now transfer the chat session to them?
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:39 PMyes please
Gaurav20:39 PMThank you for confirmation.
Claudette20:39 PMHi, my name is Claudette, please allow me a few moments to catch up on your conversation so far.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:40 PMsure
Claudette20:41 PMHello tehre, Moshe.
Claudette20:41 PMI understand you are concerned about the suspension on your account. I will make sure to clarify things out.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:41 PM
hi
Claudette20:41 PMLet me check your account to see what's causing this.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:41 PMthank you. It was totally out of the blue
Claudette20:44 PMThank you for patiently waiting.
Claudette20:47 PMFirst of all, I assure you that you are not being singled out as a member. In the interest of maintaining a safe trading environment, we'll sometimes ask members to verify their information, business practices, or merchandise before continuing to buy/sell on
ebay. As we need to verify your account, we stopped your activities until after the verification and thus, placing a suspension.
Claudette20:47 PMTo complete this verification process, I will just ask you a few questions about your plans in creating this account, would that be okay?
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:48 PMsure
Claudette20:49 PMDo you have the item in your possession, or are you using a drop shipper?
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:49 PMeverything I sell, I have in my posession
Claudette20:50 PMDo you have receipts for the items you're listing?
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:51 PMMost of the time I do. Some items that I sell are from my collection, and I don't have receipts for them.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:51 PMI recently provided several receipts to
ebay for a similar inquiry
Claudette20:54 PMThank you for answering these questions.
Claudette20:55 PMI have checked your account and it seems that it got suspended due to the activity performed in the usage of the account, this may have something to do with the information registered on the account, buying activity, selling activity or the behavior on the account which does not comply with
ebay User Agreement.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:56 PMthat is very general and broad. I can assure you that I have not done anything that I know violates
ebay's policy
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:57 PMIs there any way out of this?
Claudette20:57 PMWe appreciate that you wish to continue using
ebay, but I'm afraid that we're unable to reinstate your account.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:59 PMthat is crazy. you can't even tell me what I did wrong, all you can say is no
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:59 PM?
Claudette20:59 PMIt's our policy never to share exactly what gave us reason to suspend an account as this could tell a member how to avoid suspension in the future.
thecoinguyfrommichigan20:59 PMI understand that. But just suspending someone over nothing is unethical
thecoinguyfrommichigan21:00 PMthere must have been some mistake on your end
Claudette21:02 PMTo keep
ebay a safe environment, we cannot disclose details that go into our making decisions like this. There are some individuals who would use that information to get around our reviews and filters and use the website to commit fraud, so that information must remain undisclosed.
Claudette21:04 PMI don't mean to rush you. I just want to make sure that we're still connected.
thecoinguyfrommichigan21:04 PMI am very frustrated and hurt by this. I feel as though
ebay has stolen something from me. I feel that I am being singled out for mistreatment. After years of working hard to maintain a good record. 100% positive feedback and all, and
ebay drops me like
thecoinguyfrommichigan21:04 PMa hot potato
Claudette21:05 PMWhile we know this is not the response you wished to receive, there is no further opportunity for appeal on this decision.
Claudette21:05 PMDo you have any other concern aside from this?
thecoinguyfrommichigan21:05 PMWhat other concerns could I possibly have?
thecoinguyfrommichigan21:05 PMYou have taken away my account!!
Claudette21:06 PMI know this isn't the response you were hoping for. Thank you for using
ebay Live Help. Have a wonderful and blessed day ahead.
Chat session has ended
This hit me hard. I feel cheated and violated. The coldness of the
rep and policy left me chilled to the bone. I will almost certainly suffer a monetary loss after having purchased hundreds of dollars of items to sell on
. I will be forced to sell them off cheap. After a while I decided that I am victim of statistics. What do I mean by that? I firmly believe that
has algorithms in place to identify "problem" accounts. As with many algorithms, there are going to be false positives. I believe that
does a cost analysis of the cost to refine and improve accuracy vs. the cost of the lost revenue that results from shutting down "good" accounts. If they stand to spend more than they stand to gain, they leave it as is. And I don't blame them for it from a business perspective. And at the end of the day, that's all
is. A business.
If I haven't lost you all by here, I mentioned a plea for help.
Does anyone have any advice on or experience with dealing something like this. My online research seemed to indicate that there is no hope. But, a sliver of hope still exists in my naïve head. I also filed a complaint with the BBB. Not holding my breath to hear back from them.
for (part of) your livelihood. They are not your friend. You can choose to believe me or not that I did nothing wrong to be banned. I know the truth. In a moment, they can pull the rug out from underneath you. Doing everything right will not save you from this.
Posted 12/23/2021 12:14 pm
