posted on September 13, 2000 06:51:01 PM new
Just an alert---the bid for featured placement feature does not work properly. I've been told that they are working on it but I keep finding errors. 1. Do not use the "Bid the Minimum" or "Bid to the Top" options, they don't work right and don't place you where you think you're going to be. You can see this for yourself on the verify page after you place the bid. 2. Tonight I went to bid for placement on an item and was told by the system that I am "1 of 1" in the glassware category.....not very likely..... 3. When I go to the first page of an auction and repeatedly refresh the screen, my numbers for the area's I've bid on go from 335 to 2 to 335 to 2 to......you get the picture. I do believe that those of us using this feature are not getting what we are paying for. I highly recommend reporting any discrepancies to sellers-support. Amazon has confirmed to me that these features are not operating correctly and that they are working on it.
posted on September 16, 2000 03:39:17 PM new
Millicent - Call Amazon and ask them if the bid for featured placement is working..... I first reported this on 8/29, it is not working and you are not getting the service that you are paying for. Here's a cut and paste (with names x'd out):
Dear XXXXXX,
Greetings from Amazon.com.
Thank you for writing back to us. As my colleague XXXXX said, the
BfFP system is not working properly. We appreciate your patience
while we work to resolve it as soon as possible.
posted on September 20, 2000 07:11:21 AM new
Well, what a great two days of listing and then said listings sit and spin in 'opening soon'. I was on the phone for two hrs on Monday evening and same last evening. I thought it would straigten out when I checked in today, but the auction I posted yesterday is nowhere to be found.
Amazon says they are aware that others have reported same. On the good side was concern and refunds on my auctions.
I'd advise anyone to be careful listing right now, they say they are undergoing "system upgrades". That does not help me, however.
If anyone does list I'd advise not bidding for placement until this "glitch" is fixed.
[ edited by millicent_roberts on Sep 20, 2000 07:13 AM ]
posted on September 20, 2000 08:48:38 AM new
Yes, I have recently had this problem also. My automatic relists aren't working, I had 40-ish auctions just vanish last night and my bulk load from Friday also disappeared. That one never turned up, I had to reload it Sunday. My bulk load from last night is also missing. BTW - when they reset on Sunday and pulled in all the missing auctions from Friday night, they did it at 3am so now I have 75+ auctions ending at 3am. Amazon is definitely screwing up. And they have recommended not using the Bid For Featured for a while till they get it fixed.
posted on September 20, 2000 12:05:37 PM new
I have 3 emails from amazon auction-support who assure me that since they are an operating 24/7 business that system upgrades are difficult. And I believe them. I don't have many posted and was just testing the waters but they seemed to care about our problems. I do not have any on auto-releast until I determined if it was worth BFP.
One was totally lost in space but did turn up shortly after I signed in this morning. But I lost an entire day of viewing. My listing fees were adjusted. Maybe they really want people to come back?
Call them? I was on the phone 5 times. It seems to be resolved but I am afraid to post another until ALL is clear.
[ edited by millicent_roberts on Sep 20, 2000 12:07 PM ]
posted on September 20, 2000 12:25:31 PM new
Hi Millicent, Yes, Amazon seems to be more seller-oriented than Ebay but these "glitches" are costing me a lot of time and energy. The BfFP feature was not working in late August, I reported it but the rep never followed up. When you're running 600+ auctions, it's tough tracking down that missing 20 so I'm getting very aggravated. My missing relists showed up but my bulk loads are still missing. Amazon would do much better with a weekly shut down time like Ebay does but I am guessing that they don't want to do that with the high volume of international customers that they get. They are pretty good about refunds and they are responsive most of the time but I just want things fixed. My other pet peeve with Amazon is that they do a lot of self-promoting and the auction sellers (and the auction links) have gotten pushed aside. I don't disagree with the self-promotion but a little promotion for the auctions/Z-shops would go a long way towards increasing the activity. I'm considering my options because bidding has dropped off drastically. If it doesn't improve by Jan. I'll have to reconsider my options.
posted on September 20, 2000 01:57:24 PM new
Everyone knows that I am a small seller so when even ONE auction does not appear after 8 hours I start calling CS. I can't even imagine 600+. And I left amazon for many months to sell on other sites. Who have BIG problems routinely.
Perhaps shutting down for maintenance is a good idea, but on the other hand when other sites do this, they have outages, glitches and deny it ever happened.
At least amazon is communicating. And there is a number to call. Just as I said, I'm only testing the water over there again as a trial. So far 5 of 6 auctions have bids. Yes. I'll list there again and an glad to be able to use them again. Although customer-friendly has NOT been the norm for some time.
So for this, I am glad for the emails and phone calls I have received. They admitted they had problems. But I am in awe of anyone who has that many auctions posted.
Good luck.
If amazon promotes other sites on theirs, surely you must know that ebay does it even on individual seller auction pages.
[ edited by millicent_roberts on Sep 20, 2000 02:03 PM ]
posted on September 20, 2000 02:42:04 PM new
I had this problem too. Noticed it on a Saturday, put in a call to CS and they were showing up again by Monday.
It's still pretty frustrating as I have 1000+ listings. I'm not adding any for now.
Something must be up internally at Auctions and Z shops. They "SEEM" to be drifting away or at the very least focusing on areas much removed.
Bidding has dropped off dramatically for me too. It's funny, because of the big three Amazon always seemed to care more about making the customer happy and right now I'm not the happiest customer.
