Indefinite suspension.

[Kleidis]

Hi Folks,
Been reading the forum for a few days, good stuff.
Now wondering if anyone has any advice on the following.
I've recently received an indefinite suspension for breach of copyright/
unauthorised items. The thing is, the items were 100% legit.
I have sold questionable items in the past, and had listings pulled, and warnings issued.
A few weeks ago I received a 7 day suspension, although
after two weeks worth of emailing them, they overturned the decision.
So, I decided I'd better stick to selling legit items, and listed some Microsoft products
(I have an account with a MS authorised distributor). About 3 days into the listings,
they were pulled and I received the indefinite suspension notice. Ofcourse I have disputed it,
emailed them, spoken to powerseller support on the phone,
but might as well be banging my head against a brick wall. All I get is their pre scripted responses,
saying they have reviewed the decision, and that it was correct.
Obviously I've been through all this before, and lost accounts before,
but it's more infuriating this time, because for once I wasn't doing
anything wrong.. lol
Incidently, I owe them over £150 in fees, promptly cancelled my
paypal agreement to pay them too, and they dont have my current
address (recently moved house). I consider this held in lieu of lost
earnings, since ebay advised my customers to claim their money
back, for items I have already dispatched.
Any thoughts ?

[TotallyDisgusted]

Similar situation over here. Long & short of it: selling VeRO items/trademark violation stuff w/over 500+ fb. All of a sudden hit w/7-day suspension (probably from a twisted competitor), faxed in my stuff, reinstated and then like yourself, indefinite suspension.

My advice: yell, scream, don't bash-in your monitor as tempting as that may be and read the threads here. Very helpful people here & some great information. Go slow, think it through & create a few new accounts to start selling & make some money.

[ovidiu]

What were you selling? If it truly was not infringing, take a page from tabberone's website and file a counter-notice. I had one expire with no action from MS other than a blustery letter from their lawyer so far. Unfortunately, my 7-day suspension was already well under way before the vero issue was squashed with the counter notice.

[ebayhateluv]

HI: What you have to do is this:
a.) Get Microsoft to OVERTURN their VERO pulls--have your distributor call them, they will also have an email if u request it via ebay.
b.) Once reversed-they will consider fro reinstatement.
c.) i would also get the other company to reverse as well-- T+S will Reverse their decision if the Vero member reverses--(they are just protecting themselves with the Vero )

BTW- Your Power seller Acct Rep should have told you this..

[Kleidis]

Thanks for the responses everyone.
The items in question were Microsoft Server Client access licenses, license
only, no media, so how they deemed these unauthorised copies I do not know.
I didn't receive a VERO notice, just a removal notice from ebay for breach of their copyright policy, so I don't think Microsoft contacted them, most likely
a report from another ebayer.
After the first response to my intial flurry of emails to them, they seem to have stopped responding to me, has been about 4 days since I last emailed, and no response.
Powerseller support is a joke, I spoke to live help for an hour trying to get them to give me the powerseller support phone number, they would not issue it, as since my account was suspended, I was not eligible to speak to ps support. I would have thought an unwarranted suspension, would definitely
qualify for telephone support.
Eventually I found the number on the web. The next day, live help transfered me straight through to PS support without me even asking, I didn't even know there was a live PS support online.
The mixed and contradicting responses from them are unbelievable. One day
PS support offered to expedite my email, moving it to the front of the queue, and sure enough I received a reply soon after, the next day, they told me this
was impossible and they don't have the power to do that.
So, anyway, contacting MS doesn't seem to be necessary, as I dont believe they are involved, and ebay seem to be ignoring me.

[Kleidis]

Yep, confirming what I said above, auction-abuse@bsa.org have stated they did not
request the removal of my items. So it wasn't a report by the VERO.
Spoke to the distributor whom I buy the items from, and they said they'll be happy to
confirm that I have an account with them, but that's all they can do, and they don't
know if that'll be of any help with regards to having my account reinstated

[ovidiu]

Email Microsoft at netsafe@microsoft.com too. I'm pretty sure Microsoft does a majority or all of its "enforcement" with its own people. However, if eBay pulled down the listing on their own, I'm afraid you're up against a brick wall.

Now, I am assuming you were selling the add-on packs that add additional CAL's to a software license. Those are obviously not infringing. However, it might be against eBay policies to sell them, *or* what you are selling looks fairly similar to something that is *not* allowed under eBay rules. I wouldn't trust the T&S or Vero knuckleheads to make any distinctions, though.