posted on January 3, 2001 09:03:18 PM
After several years on eBay, I've sat through a number of outages. Most of them lasted less than an hour, although we did have one last year that went for a day or more.
I've learned not to fly off the handle when outages happen. I no longer rush to AW to post "This sucks!!!" on the "eBay Down" thread that I know will already be opened by the time I arrive. If I have auctions closing during the outage, I no longer publicly gripe about it because it does nothing but contribute to the general air of frustration and helplessness everybody feels.
I have serious objections to eBay's absurd "2-hour hard outage" auction extension policy. (For example, why are the folks whose auctions end in the first 1:59 minutes less deserving of an extension than those whose auctions end after the two hour mark? It makes no sense. It reminds me of a place I used to work where if you lived more than 15 miles from the office you didn't have to drive in during bad snowstorms, but any less than that you had to show up for work, regardless that your chances of getting into a car accident or stuck en route to work were roughly the same.as the folks who got special dispensation.) But I've found that it does no good to talk about it because we can talk here till we're blue in the face but it never changes anything -- a realization that often causes me more stress than the original gripe.
So I wait it out gracefully, confident that after the next hour or so, the system will kick back in and we'll be back to business as usual. Except this time it's not happening. The hours are ticking by and we're getting nothing from eBay, neither results nor explanations.
I have to scoff at the curt Announcement Board updates, promising us that eBay will stay in "regular communication" with us as the outage progresses. Regular communication? They're not saying anything! They haven't given us a clue as to why or how this outage has happened. Even my cable company explains to me what's going on after the third or fourth hour of interrupted service! And my cable company is the worst!
I remember in days gone by, when there were outages, our nameless eBay spokesperson on the Announcement Board would at least explain to us what they think the problem is, and how they are going about trying to fix it. And if the fix didn't work, they'd say so, and reassure us that they were already exploring another avenue. I guess the bottom line is, I used to feel that there was a human being behind the posts on the Announcement Board. The postings there now sound like pronouncements from the God of Form Letters, devoid of personality, warmth, and hope.
Worse, they're actually repeating the same message, making not even the slightest effort to inject a little extra for the benefit and comfort of those reading the message -- people like you and me, who are losing money due to this fiasco. Heck, even airline pilots try to cajole the passengers when they're stuck in a holding pattern.
Doesn't eBay get it? Doesn't anyone there have a clue about how to treat people? How to work with the public? Every corporation I ever wrote an advertisement for used to boast about their policy of "hand-holding" -- that is, guiding their customers through each and every crisis or difficulty, whether large or small, real or imagined.
But eBay isn't even trying. I could probably wait out the outage with a minimum of anger (say, ever notice how "outage" and "outrage" look a lot alike?) but the imperious tone of the Announcement Board messages are really starting to piss me off.
posted on January 3, 2001 09:21:36 PM
I wish they'd say something *meaningful*, other than "it's broke and we're working on it".
It would be nice to know what's going on, what caused the problem, and what's involved in fixing it. Something like "The widget that operates the technogadget went down and we're expecting it to take (insert time) minutes/hours to replace it, after which we'll need to (insert more technobabble here) which will take approximately (insert time) minutes/hours."
I can't help but wonder if they don't know yet what's wrong, or maybe they do but just don't want US to know, or maybe it's going to be a long time before they're back up, or maybe .....
... sigh ...
(grammar)
[ edited by thedewey on Jan 3, 2001 09:22 PM ]
posted on January 3, 2001 09:24:30 PM
OK Spaz, go back to your old method now, just for a little longer. I too don't get worked up when Ebay is down...put it in the category of things you can't do anything about, and then move on. My logic says that they as a company, don't want these outages any more than we do....of course, if people on this board have free floating agression they need to work off, then go for it!
posted on January 3, 2001 09:26:18 PM
However you prefer to put it, Spaz, you're whining. Go count all the moola you've made in ebay and well before you've finished doing that the site will be back, smiling that cheshire grin. And you'll be as happy as the Gerber baby again, saying "google....google".
posted on January 3, 2001 09:29:53 PM
I wish the fellow that was sent up for more duct tape and bailing wire would get back to
ebay's computer room soon.
posted on January 3, 2001 09:35:37 PM
I don't think it's free floating aggression that's got people worked up, susiegirl. I could be wrong, but I suspect it may be the sound of the wolf at the door that's got them rattled.
Many of us support ourselves solely on our eBay income. And I get the impression that none of us are getting rich. When eBay goes down, our profits go down. Speaking for myself, I need every possible moment of market exposure in order to maximize the final bids on my items. A day lost is money lost -- money I need to pay for heat and food and other extravagances. When the system crashes, it's a sore reminder of just how vulnerable we are. And when no reassurances are forthcoming from the company responsible for the outage -- the company we've placed our faith in -- it's salt in the wound.
I don't blame anyone for getting angry about the outage. The point of my post was that the lack of communication from eBay is making a bad situation much worse than it really has to be.
posted on January 3, 2001 10:04:49 PM
I, too, agree. This repetition of the same two or three sentences for hour after hour is insulting to all ebayers. I guess the thing I've always hated the most is: "Regards", eBay. Why don't they simply leave that friendly little closing off - we know who they are.
posted on January 3, 2001 10:14:47 PM
I agree with Spaz and why are the auctions that are ending during the outage be extended. All of the auctions that are on the board should be extended the same amount of time. This was a really long outage, the longest one since I have been selling. Oh well tomorrow is another day and maybe we will be lucky enough to have ebay stock go up so they have enough money to repair their site or at least get someone that knows what they are doing. I started with webtv and it went down numerous times but I still loved my webtv and I guess it's the same with ebay. See you tomorrow up and ready to list.
My points in regard to such an extensive outage would be these: Sure it's frustrating to get the same old non informative updates on the Announcement Board, but in the grand scheme that doesn't make a difference. I think an early technical explanation would be nice, but the bottom line for me is the length of the outage and what it does to business. I am much more troubled by the down time policy that Ebay employs. As the original poster points out, it's the people whose auctions just miss the period of time, for which Ebay extends auctions, and refunds or doesn't charge money for that get really screwed. But,when the whole system crashed for 11 hours yesterday, it essentially negated the time period within one day when people are most likely to bid on my auctions. In essence, stealing a day away from my auctions. This can be even more crucial for those who like to run auctions for the shorter time periods, such as 3 or 5 days. If an outage of this length had happened on a Sunday, I think it's fair to say that many more people would feel that their auctions had been effected whether they ended on Sunday or not, and would be questioning the fairness of the Ebay policy. I think Ebay might need to come up with a more comprehensive policy for lengthy problems,such as yesterday's, that really effect everyone who is running an auction at the time.
posted on January 4, 2001 08:43:27 AM
Rob us of a day is about right. Last night I lost a day of auctions that no one bid on for a day. I simply signed up for a ten day auction and got 9. I really am reluctant to go for another seven day auction since the earlier outages. They should extend for all, but fairness is not what ebay is known for.
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Hopping mad about ebay outages and lack of communication from same.