posted on May 18, 2001 10:30:10 PM new
I have received no response to the following from Yahoo CEO Terry Semel. If you've had a similar experience please visit http://www.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp to file your complaint. Additionally, you may write to Mr. Semel at the following address:
Mr. Terry Semel CEO
3420 Central Expressway
Santa Clara, CA 95051
5/5/01
Dear Mr.Semel,
I respectfully request that you suffer through the entirety of this letter, as I have been having problems with your Yahoo Auctions Staff that I believe you should be made aware of.
Regarding the level of service and treatment of Customers provided by your Yahoo Auctions Staff… If you write to them regarding a technical problem the standard reply is “ We're sorry, but we were unable to duplicate the problem you experienced.” (Therefore no problem exists). I have documented server problems over a period of approximately 5 days in the recent past. Basically, at the time the problems were occurring half the featured auctions and those people paying for featured were not being featured. If my cable goes out for a day or two and I call the cable company I am not met with “We’re sorry, but we won’t admit there’s a problem.” Each and every time I have contacted Yahoo Auctions with a technical difficulty it has been handled this way.
During this server problem featured auctions in the top 20 Nascar listings was upward to $20 per day. I contacted several Sellers in featured and they too were mysteriously receiving no page-hits. Different servers were displaying different numbers of auctions in featured. I have this documented. 1500 featured auctions on one server and half that amount on a different server at the same exact time, and this occurred for days on end. It’s understandable that the servers would be overloaded as the auctions were in a Dale Earnhardt frenzy, however to consistently disregard customer complaints, and not issue a refund for interrupted service when one is specifically requested is not the way business is generally handled in America. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Internet. A successful company does not treat their customers with such blatant disregard.
Neighborhood Watch is a nothing more than a vehicle for mischief when Seller competition is high. Based on the complaint of one individual (probably a competitor) four of my auctions were cancelled a while back. All had active bidding and I’d paid a lot of money for featuring. Two of the four auctions did not violate your TOS but were cancelled just the same. Just before my auctions were cancelled your team ran to my Discover Card and charged me $103.00 for featured auctions they were seconds later planning to cancel. When a customer is paying in advance for services and those services are collected for and then immediately cancelled, no matter the reason, it is customary for a business to issue a refund for the days remaining after service was terminated. Your TOS has not been revised to take into account that you are charging now. Your TOS states nothing about monetary punishment, yet that is what it is. The behavior of your auctions staff may well leave you open to litigation.
No successful company in America operates this way. Why would you allow your staff to create such rank disdain among your paying customer’s? Yahoo Auctions gives you no warning whatsoever when there’s a problem. They simply cancel you and notify you after the fact. They give you no details even when you request an explanation. If there are rules they have to be uniformly administered. I’m in contact with several people who have experienced similar problems with your auctions staff. These people are all good Sellers (paying customers) with excellent ratings, yet are being treated as though they have no rights.
It seems that a better way would be to weed out auctions that violate your TOS before charging people for services you do not intend to render. There are programs out there that do that. Yahoo Auctions is just as legally responsible as the Seller in this matter. It is no wonder the government feels they need to regulate the Internet when companies like Yahoo Auctions treats Customers as though they have no rights what so ever.
The problem I am currently having with your auctions staff seems to stem back to the original $103.00 charge I dared to dispute. Not only have my auctions been cancelled, my entire identity was deleted. An email from your staff stated a TOS violation. In the same email they said I could sign-up for a new ID. If I did something serious enough to have them delete my entire identity why would they be so eager to have me sign back up? Again, some of these auctions were featured and paid for in advance with time remaining till auction close, and three had active bidding. It is interesting to note that a charge in the amount of $103 plus some cents was submitted to my Discover Card on April 27, 2001. These charges too are now in dispute.
Over the past two years I’d accumulated 410 Excellent Seller Ratings. I have worked very hard to be a good Yahoo Seller. I have been a voice for Yahoo rallying behind new services like PayDirect. I have told people time and again how much better Yahoo’s interface is than Ebays. I have praised and supported Yahoo as Ebay’s only real competition in the auctions arena. I believed everything I stated. However, the attitude and actions of your auctions staff this third and final time they will ever affect me so adversely has left me focused not on my business, but on bringing this problem to your attention, or the attention of any governing authority that will listen. My business has been severely damaged directly relating to the actions of your staff.
I suggest to you Mr. Semel that your TOS needs to be updated. Your staff is violating the rights of the very people who make the auctions thrive. To do nothing is to allow 5 or 6 individuals (your auctions staff) to place you in a legally precarious position. I don’t think that is the direction you intend for Yahoo to take. I hope you are a reasonable man and will understand what I’ve told you from the viewpoint of a Consumer. I don’t believe you would like to be treated the way your auctions staff has been consistently treating Yahoo Customers, before and after Yahoo began charging for auctions. I appreciate your time.
posted on May 19, 2001 01:52:31 PM new
I AGREE WITH YOU AND SO DOES MANY MORE OUT THEIR, BUT THEY GAVE UP AND WENT ON OTHER SITES LIKE ME. I POST AT YAHOO BUT ONLY 2 PERCENT NOW. 98 PERCENT OF MY OTHER AUCTIONS ARE ON NINE OTHER SITES. YES I LOST MONEY TOO, BUT IT WAS FUNNY MONEY, FOR MY EBAY FEEDBACK RATING, SO I DON'T CARE. THE POINT IS YAHOO DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE SMALL TIME SELLERS, EVEN THO I WAS ONE OF THE LARGE ONES MYSELF. MY BEST ADVICE TO YOU IS JUST MOVE ON AND FIND A BETTER SITE, OR SITES, I WOULD MENTION THEM HERE, BUT I DON'T THINK A.W. MODERATOR'S LIKE THAT. I FEEL YOUR PAIN !!!
posted on May 19, 2001 03:11:20 PM new
Check out my post to the Yahoo thread "Why don't ebayers visit YAHOO more often?" if you want to see how Yahoo "victimized" me
PS - You know that it's OK for Yahoo to end your auction with no explanation and no return of your listing fees, right? This is a great scam. They offer you a service, you pay for it, they cancel your service, you ask why, they won't tell you, and they keep your money!!
Even eBay credits the fees when their VeRO bandits strike
posted on May 20, 2001 04:44:39 PM new
Thanks for your comments. I can't hang with giving up startrek. Moving on is not my way. Yahoo should not have taken my identity or anyone elses for that matter. However, I now have ample time to devote to getting this out message out there.
When something is wrong it's just wrong. The more people they hear from the better. Even if you think it will do no good... Be Heard.
posted on May 21, 2001 11:12:46 PM new
i applaud you in your efforts but unfortunately unless you are able to gather a strong force to help back you your voice will go unheard.
yahoo was bitten by the evil greed bug and has gone steadily downhill ever since.
i too was a faithful yahoo seller in the days before the so-called "site improvements"...but i jumped ship and headed on to a better place that lets me keep 100% of my profits!!
check out epier.com...free to list...and no restrictions!! you can link to your web pages and to whatever you please without fear of your auction being cancelled!!
i would speak to an attorney about this and file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, the National Fraud Information Center, and the Internet Fraud Complaint Center...all three sites have email addys.
posted on May 22, 2001 07:05:08 AM new
I have auctions displaying this letter on Yahoo and eBay which provide a link to the IFCC where I have filed my own complaint. Obviously, it will take more than just me. The more complaints the better. I believe there will be more and more Seller's eliminated in this manner until Yahoo has only Premiere and Merchant Auctions. I believe that's their goal. They are getting away with taking the money of many, many Seller's who do not realize that Yahoo's TOS is NOT the last word.
Thanks for the information and your input. I urge anyone who has been monetarily punished by Yahoo Auctions to place the credit charges in dispute, and file a complaint to the IFCC online at http://www.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp. Thanks again!
posted on May 31, 2001 07:52:27 PM new
Sent the following to Yahoo customer service--no response is expected--just felt like taunting. The pussies don't have an open forum darnit--
Hearing some bad things about Yahoo management--I have several high dollar items I'd like to feature--however, word on the web is that Yahoo management doesn't have it together--(suspending featured sellers without investigating complaints first--canceling features then charging for them anyway--suspending bidders who report illegal (bootlegged) merchandise instead of the sellers of such merchandise--the list goes on and on)
Word of Mouth isn't dead, it just travels faster on the web. Sure hope Yahoo doesn't sink. Clean house people--you're going down fast.
Sincerely,
Chel
[ edited by Chelster on May 31, 2001 08:12 PM ]
