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eBay Nightmare
 

I recently encountered what seemingly was a small problem that turned into a major PR problem for eBay. I had ordered a pair of shoes from a merchant on eBay only to find out that I was sent the wrong size shoe. Naturally I returned them and told the merchant to send me a pre-paid shipping label so I would not incur any return shipping charges. He sent this to me but somehow eBay charged me the return shipping of $7.86. What started out as a simple administrative glitch turned into a major fiasco (and headache for me) for eBay. I proceeded to call eBay - not once but three times to try and get this simple problem resolved. However, I soon discovered that I was knee deep in eBay’s customer service black hole. I was told several times that I would not be able to get a refund – rather they would be willing to provide me a onetime courtesy credit to use the $7.86 for a future purchase.

Going through the maze of different people at eBay (including managers) for a refund of $7.86 was a full blown nightmare. Any other store would have immediately refunded me the shipping cost and said they were very sorry for the mix-up. Not eBay. Each customer service rep I spoke to simply read out of the same book as the one before them. It was like talking to a robot. I believe their service department is based in the Philippines – not entirely sure. Even the managers were simply not prepared to deviate from the playbook that they were handed from their corporate father eBay. Simply frustrating.

As much of a travesty as this was over such a small fee it highlights the out of touch big Corporate mentality towards its customers. Outsource customer service with foreign workers that are simply handed a book outlining what should be done under all scenarios. No deviations.

I can say that after nearly 10 years of eBay shopping this event has ended my relationship with the company. I can no longer feel comfort able purchasing from a Corporate behemoth such as eBay and thus will be cancelling my account effective immediately. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

Oh so you're the buyer who wanted to return that pair of shoes a while back!


Just kidding. How did you end up here?

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

are you sure you chose the right option at the beginning, it would need to be SNAD reason, not a simple return, as you pay for that....

but yes, these companies economise on CS and end up with unhappy customers, same with banks and insurance, the CS is usually powerless to think outside the box or cannot be bothered to help, and they are just taught basics......

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

Agreed with the above post... it depends on the REASON for your return.

You might've messed up when opening the request

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

I really think we are MAYBE 1% of the amount of accounts on eBay/paypal

I think there's more "stealth" aka hacked or ⊗⊗⊗⊗ PayPal accounts for illegal things more than eBay

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

Sounds like simply the wrong reason for return was chosen. Through your whole "nightmare" I am curious if the vendor actually selling the shows was contacted. I would have been an easy fix for the seller. Pretty sure handled with one message.

I cant for the life of me understand why buyers open cases or contact ebay/paypal before ever making contact with the seller. Happens too often IMO.

Simple things that can be resolved without involving ebay.

In follow-up emails I specifically tell customers if they have ANY issues they contact us directly as going through ebay/paypal could delay or prolong the resolution as then we are required to jump though the hoops.

In this case as seller I would have simply refunded you the difference in shipping costs.

Is all this really worth closing a 10yr account?

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

I bought 5000 small printed notecards/business cards that clearly state to make sure to contact me if there were any issues and motivation to leave feedback. It's worked out so far and has been for over two years. I highly suggest everyone doing this.

5000 basic business cards only ran me around $120

Re: eBay Nightmare
 

eBay is a great marketplace once you know how to use it properly. I don't think 1 account will be missed by eBay.