posted on February 25, 2004 08:19:39 AM new
Some joker (actually, I know exactly who it is) has reported me repeatedly to eBay for invalid contact info. Since all of my info *is* correct and has been so for years, I have dealt with this by doing the "Change my registration information" thing and changing "female" to "male" or back again, so that there is a record of a change happening on a certain date.
I did this Monday, in fact, while in Las Vegas. I thought that was the end of it.
Now I'm getting threatening email of the WE WILL SUSPEND YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN 24 HOURS variety, supposedly from eBay. Seems one of the support staff called (or so they claim) and:
"no one answered and there was no voicemail, so we were unable to verify your contact info"
No crap, Sherlock! I was in Las Vegas at a trade show, you moron!
So what this is saying to me is that as an eBay seller I am required to have voicemail on my telephone. You might be thinking, "Well, why don't you already?"
I did for about a year. People would call and leave totally incomprehensible messages. Phone numbers garbled, auction numbers omitted, I could never actually help any of these people. Plus they wasted money on a long-distance call only to leave an indecipherable message.
I'd rather talk to them in person or not at all.
So remember, kiddies, eBay requires you to either 1) pay for voicemail or 2) man your telephone 24/7. If they call, you've gotta answer.
It's possible I will be suspended over this, even though I responded to the message. We all know about eBay "justice".
posted on February 25, 2004 08:40:05 AM new
Fluffy, thats the stupidest thing I ever heard. I have voice mail, but it doesnt identify who I am. Just says "you have reached 555-5555, please leave name, etc., etc.
Since ebay is an internet related business, I think buyers should not be calling unless it is a last resort. I am on this computer at least one a day and have no problems getting email. I dont particulary care for it when somebody pulls my contact info. Makes me kinda paranoid. I only called one buyer after hearing a few diff excuses and waiting quite awhile on a stupid sale for 7.99. I think some people abuse the contact info thing. I dont like it.
posted on February 25, 2004 08:56:48 AM new
I don't have a problem with people calling and when I get a chance to talk to them it usually clears up the problem in two seconds flat.
And, as we all know, you have to have a valid phone number in your registered contact info. I do.
This voicemail or constantly manned phone thing isn't in the User Agreement I signed when I joined eBay. If the User Agreement has been amended since then to include it, I haven't heard about it.
I picked up a virus before I left on the trip and it incubated nicely, so I am now sicker than the proverbial hungover dog. Not to mention crabby. I'm afraid I included a comment in my email back to the eBay Support person...something along the lines of "Is eBay giving all 86 million customers a ring? Is that what my seller fees are going towards?"
posted on February 25, 2004 09:03:48 AM new
No voice mail at my house. I have caller ID and that's enough for me. I have business hours. My hours are: When I am home. If I am not at home I am not conducting business. Where does it say we have to have voice mail (no where). My email address is available 24/7. Sorry about your problem fluffy I sure hope you can correct it. Why not change your user ID. Well I guess that wouldn't help as they know what you sell they could find you that way. BTW did you do anygood at the slots?
posted on February 25, 2004 09:11:24 AM new
Didn't play the slots, Libra. Strictly a working trip. The rainy weather made it a lot less fun recreationally than it might have been otherwise.
Boy, it'll be a great thing when they get the Las Vegas monorail done and get all those cars off the Strip. The place is virtually undriveable now.
posted on February 25, 2004 09:19:09 AM new
I haven't been there in a couple of years but the improvement of the overhead walkways is great. At least you can now cross the strip and stay alive. I know what you mean about all the things going on. I do play the slots but I also collect casino chips so maybe that is an excuse to go in and play.
posted on February 25, 2004 09:23:36 AM new
toben88: Since the beginning, or at least as far back as I can remember and I was there before the beginning. You must have a valid phone number registered with eBay. It is in the User Agreement.
At one time I had my cellphone registered. That lasted only as long as it took some woman's husband to call and holler at me.
posted on February 25, 2004 09:26:21 AM new
ah Fluffy, I know how when I dont feel good it brings on a crankyness. Maybe you should just rest awhile and (bunk) everything. Thats what I do.
posted on February 25, 2004 09:33:26 AM new
My eBay contact phone number is a pay phone 2 blocks down the street. They can call
all they want to - I just won't answer. Maybe
the local bums in my run-down neighborhood
will answer the phone and say hello!
[ edited by beatnikera on Feb 25, 2004 09:34 AM ]
posted on February 25, 2004 01:16:59 PM new
Is the email legit? I have started getting these incorrect/invalid contact notices in the last week and they have all been phoney.
One way to tell is to put in fake username and passwords on th elink. Each time the fakes opened up my "account page" to enter my information.
posted on February 25, 2004 03:40:50 PM new
Actually, reamond, it's genuine. I looked at the headers.
That was one of the things I chastised the guy for, sending an email that looks much like the half-dozen or so spoofs I get every day...except this one has no clickable link to update one's info. I still think eBay should not send out such mail at all. Instead, they should use a messaging system on the site itself. They could send an email that says "There is an urgent message waiting for you on eBay. Log in to read it." No clickable link, and because you have to log in to the real site to read it, you know it's genuine.
posted on February 25, 2004 07:29:44 PM new
Fluffy,
I would send the email to [email protected] to confirm or deny the email's authenticity.
Good LUCK on the slots! Last time I was there I hit a Royal Flush on the quarter machines (of course that didn't make up for all of the times that I have played!)
posted on February 26, 2004 01:41:17 PM new
I am just tickled! A buddy that I have had listing for me just got suspended. I won't tell eBay how THEY mis-handled this and bungled him into it, but he normally pays them $300 to $700 a month in fees. And they are technically correct, too bad THEIR email failed to arrive in a timely manner.
Curiously, he is being dogged by someone in Salt Lake City that keeps reporting his auctions for inane chit, mostly. I am intrigued by the difficulty in pin-pointing the exact address of this individual as they have never bid on his auctions. It is a fun challenge. Oh, and my buddy is connected to a prominent biker group and he is not happy with the PITA doing this. So, yeah, go ahead and report violations. It's all anonymous, right?
He claims part of the problem is that eBay is now a Mormon connected company, anybody have info on that?
He mentioned this to another seller and, bingo, he is in touch with an informal group looking to form an widget specific on-line auction site. If eBay was a cop it would only get one bullet at a time. I love it!
posted on February 27, 2004 05:56:06 PM new
Ah! An answer from the Unsupport Staff.
--
Hello,
Thank you for responding to our inquiry.
We have made a note on your account indicating that your phone number is
valid and working.
At this time, no other action is necessary on your part. You may
continue to use our site as you normally would.
As a last note, the reason for this verification is that we received a
report that your phone number was false. We do not go through and verify
numbers or contact information at random, however, when we receive a
report we do take time to verify the information. This is because we
require all members to have a valid and working email address and
telephone number.
Thank you again for responding, we appreciate your assistance in this
matter.
Regards,
--
Yes, I know exactly who filed the phony "false number" report and that partcular pelorus is about to get its comeuppance.
posted on February 27, 2004 07:32:13 PM new
It has to be a buyer of your auctions that reports the bad contact info. For a bad email address they will do nothing until ebay verifies that it is indeed an invalid email address. If a seller gets a warning from ebay without ebay first verifing the bad contact info then I suspect that that seller has a long prior history of bad contact violations.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
