Dan E.

ENCOURAGES FRAUD
CHARGES FOR DEFECTIVE SERVICE
VIOLATES CONSUMER RIGHTS
AND THEN EXTORTS THE CONSUMER'S FAMILY FOR NOT PAYING!

That is because they have the absolute WORST policies, complete lack of leadership, bad attitudes throughout the corporate hierarchy, do not properly train their staff, and in general show contempt for the consumer. If you look around online, you will see this sentiment is echoed by their own employees, including those who still work there. Even their current staff disapproves of how the company is being run.

Ebay aids and abets fraud through its policies. They violate consumer law by charging for defective service or service not received.

When it comes to buyer protection, they lack the resources and their staff lacks the proper training to effectively research and pass judgment on a claim. There is a complete lack of rational thinking and respect for the consumer, and no understanding of consumer law. All of their decisions in claims are based on inflating their bottom line, in reckless disregard for the consumer's rights or rights of the property holder.

I have lost hundreds of $ to ebay and their bungling. They have apologized to me more than once, but it just doesn't make up for the damage they have inflicted and continue to fail to address. And every time I have it out with them, I get another apology, another confirmation that I owe them nothing and that I have losses, immediately followed by a demand for $ I do not owe them. If my account balance is zero, what are they billing me for?

Every decision they make on any claim has more to do with limiting their own loss and risk, increasing their bottom line, and nothing at all to do with consumer protection or the correct, legal, or fair thing to do. They say one thing and then do the complete opposite.

Ebay tried to debit my bank for refund money in a bogus claim- money that had never been paid to me, from a buyer that had already been given an Unpaid-Item-Strike for non-payment. I was forced to change my bank account information to prevent ebay from debiting me and to sever my contacts with them.

I had to give up an ebay store where I had been successfully vending with a great reputation, which took me over a decade to build up. I was deprived of my client lists and my e-mail marketing lists and prevented from contacting my audience. I lost property as a result of ebay's errors, and I had no choice but to flea the website, fearing for the further loss of property and money, and they have the nerve to try to bill me for 2 months worth of store subscription fees that occurred AFTER they aided a con-artist and abetted fraud, during which time they left me waiting for follow-up resolution action they promised me in the first 72 hours and never provided for 2 1/2 months.

And all I get now is a promise from ebay that they will not try to debit me for that refund amount again, a worthless apology, and a request to pay them for 2 months of service that I do not want, service they themselves put on my account only because they did not follow up on the case in the first 72 hours as they guaranteed me they would, and for which their own reps have told me I do not owe. Why do I have to pay for the 2 1/2 months worth of time that they NEGLECTED me, on a fraudulent claim they never should have allowed in the first place?

I canceled and voided my contract with ebay on the basis of defective service, in accordance with my consumer rights. I would say that if a website allows another user to scam you for money they are not due, then tells you they will fix it in "not longer than 72 hours" and then does not act for 2 1/2 months, leaving you wide open to further fraud, that seems like pretty defective service to me. For ebay to then bill me for subscription fees during this time is an egregious violation of consumer trust.

I have spoken to their reps so many times, and they just do not have the mental capability to understand that any person would be unable to effectively transact anything on their website during that 2 1/2 months. How can you trust any of the transactions if any buyer can simply take money out of your bank without having paid it in the first place, and that will be not only allowed by ebay, but they will actually provide the means and method by which to steal from the seller? I am not talking about risk of loss or non-delivery here, but rather the original payment- as in, the buyer never paid, and ebay forced me to pay them instead. That is ebay-supported FRAUD.

I was on the phone with their resolutions department for over 2 hours, while they profusely apologized and explained to me that they simply never realized that anyone would use their new dispute resolution to steal money from sellers. Really? How can you put a dispute resolution system in place and be so stupid as to not foresee it being misused in that fashion? It flies in the face of reason. The mere fact that they allowed this gaping hole in their software and policies in the first place is alarming and should warrant some legal intervention.

At the end of that phone call, and after all the apologies, they invited me to open a new account and start fresh at a later date. So after my anger and dismay dissipated over the course of a year I did. I figured I would give them another chance, and see if they had fixed the enormous holes in the system. Well they shut my second account down, telling me I had "policy violations" on the first account! WHAT policy violations? Because i don't want to pay a scam artist money I don't owe? Because I exercised my right to void the contract and close the account when they engaged in shoddy, defective service that caused me to get ROBBED?

I have asked numerous account reps to confirm that my old, original account had a zero balance, and they told me yes it did, and nothing was owed, but then they tell me I have policy violations and an unpaid bill. They invited me to come back and use their site again and then shut me down for doing so. Then I got collections notices from them over this, and after showing the collections company all the info, they refused to collect it for ebay, because it was a bogus bill, and I don't owe them anything. They are just harassing me for sticking up for myself and for exposing the poorly designed system they put in place.

To add insult to injury, I ended up on the other end of an INR claim with ebay, when buying on my second account that they invited me to open and then closed when I complained, I had to file not one but TWO chargebacks for items I never received. At least I actually PAID the sellers before filing INR, and ebay was going to refuse to give my money back when I received nothing at all. So much for their new "buyer protection". It only protects them, ebay. NO one else.

Ebay made a mistake and misread the tracking info, declined me for a refund even though I never got the products, even on appeal, they simply could not examine a simple tracking system and see those items had been delivered to the wrong place. I did pay the bill and never got my purchases, so I had my bank reverse the transactions and override ebay's decision and get my money back. Every time ebay missteps and steals from me, I have to rely on my bank to shield me and protect me from ebay's bungling and stupidity.

This is because their staff is poorly trained, cannot learn to read tracking information, or they just plain don't bother to look at claims at all and make rulings based on their own corporate profit margins. If they feel they can sacrifice you more easily than the other party, then that is how they rule the decision, even when no money has been exchanged! They do not care one iota for the consumer. They only care about money. IF the buyer is making them a higher profit margin, they rule in his favor. I guess I just wasn't making enough money for ebay, so they have a standing policy of throwing me under the bus.

Can you see what is happening here? I've got 3 cases in the space of about 2-3 years- one case where I was ordered by ebay to repay money that was never paid to me. THAT IS FRAUD. SUPPORTED BY EBAY.

And then 2 cases where I was guaranteed protection against non-delivery, where I DID pay the sellers, and was refused a refund by ebay, despite bogus and faulty tracking. And in all 3 of those cases, ebay has been proven WRONG and responsible for my losses.

BUT WAIT! IT GETS WORSE!

After all of this, my mom wanted to sell some things on ebay to make some extra $, and despite my warnings against it I could not convince her otherwise. "Forget it and move on" was the attitude, because we figured what were the odds of this happening again? And we've got the bank on speed-dial now in case of any claim being filed against her or me on ebay, we simply call our bank and change our bank account info before ebay even responds to a dispute, as a preventative measure, as we know that ebay has a history of doing the wrong thing and siding with the wrong party.

So I helped her out by giving my mother some of my things to sell on her own ebay site, which was registered solely in her name, at her address, in a different state, with completely separate registration information, separate banking info, and account history going back years.

There was no connection between the 2 accounts other than the fact that we are related, and I gifted my mom my old childhood toys (which were already stored at her own home, shipped from her home, some of which she herself paid for 25 years prior when I was a child!) for her to sell and make some $.

And ebay had the nerve to shut down my mother's account and instructed her to take action on my old account and to pay my "bill". The same bill that I DO NOT OWE them, that their own account reps recognize as a giant BLUNDER, because they have no right charging me, and I canceled my contract with them.

I have even called them to argue about this and settle it, and have been told by more than one customer service rep that my account balance is zero and I owe nothing, and that "someone failed to finalize the release of your account". Then they put me on hold to go do this, come back on the phone, and ask me for $200 again!

And then they shut down my mom's account and literally instructed her to "take action" on my account, which is ILLEGAL. That is EXTORTION. I do not have any legal rights towards my mother's account, and she does not have any legal rights toward mine. I'm an adult. I'm in my thirties! My parents are not legally bound to pay for my billing disputes.
Yet here is ebay refusing my mother service on her account which is in good standing and telling her that she can't get service until she pays a bill in someone else's name for the sole reason that we are related. Is ebay a loan shark now? Is that the behavior we can expect from ebay in the future? That is what the mafia does. Is ebay the Mafia? Because they sure do act like it.

She doesn't even know my password and had no way to get into the old account. And it is nearly impossible to get any help from customer service. It is just non-existent. We've got customer service telling us to respond by e-mail and e-mails that say we can only call to get a resolution. When the original fraud occurred on my original account, I was left on hold with ebay for over 40 minutes just to be disconnected without ever speaking to an account rep. It took them 2 1/2 months to call me back. 2 years later, and when my mother calls to fix her illegally restricted account, she is referred back to her e-mail, which refers her to call which refers back to e-mail...
Bottom line: EBAY SCREWED UP and they are shoving my entire family under the rug for it.

We asked the state's attorney's general's office in our home state of NJ, and they were mortified that ebay would demand that my mom take action on an account that does not belong to her, for $ that is not owed (by ebay's own admission), and all because ebay goofed and allowed a fraudulent INR claim to be processed over 2 years prior.

This is the kind of vindictive, unlawful behavior that ebay has become synonymous with. This is why on chat forums the world over it has achieved the nickname "evil-bay".

This company needs to be gutted from the top down, and it's corporate leadership entirely replaced with people who have a soul, an IQ, and a conscience.

I have gone as far as to lodge complaints with BBB and the states' attorneys general, and I got a reply from ebay's office of the president that complained about my "attitude". HA! MY attitude? Are they kidding?! In light of what has happened, I don't think my own attitude is the one at issue here. And just imagine telling any other customer anywhere in a retail situation their mother should pay their bill because of their attitude. They are just begging for a lawsuit.

Please excuse me if this reads as a rant, but that is what ebay deserves: A RANT that exposes the corruption and utter lack of ethics that have become the core character of what was once a simple classifieds list. How far they have sunk! If I could give them a negative star, I would F-- and please picture me spitting on the floor in disgust.

It just keeps getting better! I have nothing but glowing praise as both a shopper and a retailer with 15 years of experience.

I adore this site. I have 3 storefronts on Etsy currently, and with each passing season I have seen dramatic improvements and innovations.

I first tried Etsy several years ago with only passing flirtation, not completely convinced, but with time it has become my #1 favorite for both buying and selling.

The site design is easy to use and attractive, but not overbearing as some retail sites can seem. I love the interactive potential that it offers, so people can window-shop and "favorite" items, show support of their favorite things, without feeling pressured to buy, and without feeling overly confidential about everything or worrying about a "big-brother" presence, which I have not seen any other retail site quite match up to.

Etsy seems to effortlessly straddle that fine line between retail shopping and social networking that so many other retail sites seem to stumble over and collapse. They copy but cannot seem to capture the magic of Etsy.

I sell my own handmade, up-cycled furniture art there with great success and positive atmosphere. On other sites, I felt as if I had to mask or make excuses that I was selling old stuff turned into something new, for fear of big brother's disapproval. On Etsy, this kind of artistry is encouraged. Years ago, sites like ebay had restrictive rules about selling custom goods or handmade, which are now mostly prohibited there. Etsy has become my refuge for my old-become-new art without having to write my own website, and I get immediate, fast support and search engine status just by listing something wonderful, artistic, and unique. I am not scared to put my own personality into it in public forum.

I also set up my mother with her vintage collections of pottery, glassware, collectibles, and interesting objects. And then I set up a 3rd storefront to sell my own collections of vintage toys and ephemera, which I also shop for to purchase on Etsy. And all of the storefronts we have tried there have been successful. All the sellers I have bought from there have been wonderful to deal with.

Years ago I fled ebay after being scammed terribly, which ebay only worsened and provided no support for over 2 months. I fell through the cracks there and abandoned an ebay store with great reputation of over 10 years! I would go so far as to say that other retail sites, especially ebay, through their terrible misguided corporate policies, only worsen problems and risk for buyers and sellers alike. It makes for a negative atmosphere that discourages business.

Since I have come to Etsy, it's been completely problem free. Ebay and Etsy are like night & day. Ebay is nothing but problems and a lack of support, and Etsy has been totally problem free with wonderful support. It's not just the availability or speed of support, but rather the quality of the response- on Etsy, the support is well trained with rational thinkers who treat everyone fairly and ethically. I never got that from ebay.

I had one problem as a buyer on Etsy, which was quickly resolved dealing directly with the seller. It was a case of simple mail loss, which can happen anywhere you buy or sell.
I had one claim as a seller, which was also quickly resolved through Etsy, and Etsy provided courteous, unbiased, and reasonable help and intervention. Etsy backed me in that claim by seeing that the shipping carrier's insurance was going to cover the damage and not forcing me to repay a sketchy claim in advance. The insurance did cover it, the buyer got a refund and thanked both me and Etsy, and all parties were happy. I could not be more pleased.

Compare that with ebay, who once attempted to debit my bank account without my consent for refund money that a buyer had never even paid to begin with. Ebay is SCAM CITY in my experience. I've never seen those problems on Etsy.

Aside from fair, unbiased, and conscientious dispute resolution, their payment practices far exceed what other sites offer. Since Etsy put the new creditcard shopping cart in, my sales soared! Providing customers a choice of payment methods, including old-fashioned checks/MOs, the ever-popular (but sometimes risky) paypal, and also letting them pay directly through Etsy's own creditcard shopping cart system has made a huge impact on my selling and buying there.

Many online shoppers prefer to simply enter a creditcard for payment. People do not want to have yet another account just for paying. Giving people open choices for payment has made a positive impact on Etsy. Sales over the x-mas season were fantastic and far exceeded my expectations, and many of them were direct creditcard sales through Etsy's shopping cart system, deposited directly into my bank within 2 days. It was easier and cheaper than paypal, and the buyer's loved it.

And lastly, the costs are extremely reasonable, FAR cheaper than sites like ebay or amazon. The ability to print reduced-cost postage right there on the site is extremely convenient and helps with the bottom line as well.

Tracking numbers are automatically generated and sent to the customer, and yet I can still do my postage, fedex, UPS, or freight delivery arrangements off site. Navigating sales history and receipts is a breeze.

I have nothing but good things to say. I feel safer. I feel supported. The atmosphere is open and accepting.

I have 15 years of experience with internet retail, and in my opinion Etsy has fixed a lot of the problems caused by other internet retail sites. Many of these other sites could learn a thing or two from Etsy. Thumbs up Etsy! And THANK YOU!

Misleading terms, confusing payment instructions, and a shelter for sellers who violate consumer law.
I have made 2 purchases with proxibid. Both were difficult in dealing with both the auctioneers and the customer service department.

When signing up, you place a creditcard on file which they warn you may be used to pay for the auctions you win. Smart online shoppers will often use a specific creditcard for online auction purchases so that they have chargeback rights in case of fraud or non-receipt. This leads the consumer to believe that his payment method is on file and may be charged by the auctioneer at the close of a sale to the card that the consumer choose when signing up for the site and which the consumer has already deemed safe and comfortable.

However, many of the sellers circumvent this and subsequently demand sensitive financial information, such as creditcard info, over the phone after an auction or they demand payment through paypal instead of the card on the buyer's proxibid account.

This in turn leaves many buyers giving out their personal banking information to strangers over the phone or in using a funding source that may not have any protection with it, such as bank draft through paypal. These sellers will also sometimes ask the buyer to pay an additional surcharge to pay over the phone, in addition to the existing buyer's premium and handling charges, which in some cases may violate card association rules.

On Proxibid's "trust" page (http://trust.proxibid.com/) it says, "Marketplace Promise:... We focus on making sure problems don't happen... We don't discourage the use of credit cards or trick you into using your bank account. "

And yet that is EXACTLY what the sellers on proxibid do on a regular basis.

I won items in 2 auctions within the first couple of months using proxibid, and both of those auctioneers attempted to get me to pay in an insecure fashion I was uncomfortable with outside of the creditcard I had already registered for payment when signing up.

In one of those cases, the auctioneer asked me to pay over the phone for an additional fee. When I refused to do so, the auctioneer did process my card on file on my proxibid account without charging me the fee, and I subsequently received those items from that auction as promised. I alerted Proxi to the problem with that seller, and received only a canned response.

In the second case, the seller demanded payment by money order, over the phone, or through paypal (which in turn meant drafting my bank account, exactly what Proxi says it will not make you do). I refused to pay this and canceled the order in accordance with my state's cancellation rights of a consumer contract, and I filed a complaint with Proxibid against the seller. The company instead of reprimanding the seller or helping to resolve the issue placed a "black flag" on my account which prevents me from ever bidding on other items. (who would want to after that?!)

Here is the rest of the "Marketplace Promise" on proxi's "trust" page:
"Auction companies participating in Proxibid's marketplace are professional businesses that care about buyers. They only ask that buyers pay promptly when they win an item and to be realistic in the time it takes to ship. We know that in a very small number of cases a neutral party is required to help resolve disputes and we have resources available to meet this need. Our Marketplace Promise to you is that we will help when you need us... but our focus is on making sure you never do."

Not a single word of it is true. I have called them a third time in the last 24 hours, as i found one more item I was interested in on their site and thought I would give them one last chance. Seeing some website redesign since my last use and reading their "trust" page, I thought that perhaps things had improved. Unfortunately they have NOT. I am being made to jump through hoops just to bid on a small item worth about $5. I called their customer service and was transfered 3 times to have the bogus "black flag" removed so that i could bid, and yet I am still prohibited from participating in that particular auction. I called the auction company, who told me my new creditcard that I just placed on file that day had declined, which was 100% FALSE. In fact I paid something on another retail site within the hour which cleared, and they are only running an authorization not a charge. There is no way there's any problem my card.

I also discovered illegal terms on other auctioneers' listings, including the term that if you do not pay within 10 days, you forfeit your items but they still force you to pay the full amount of your bid and a buyer's premium WITHOUT receiving a product! This is 100% ILLEGAL! And 100% VIOLATES card association rules. It is not lawful to charge a customer electronically the full amount of a product without delivering anything. I know this from experience, because I am an internet retailer myself.
And this term is written just below the term which quotes the UCC rule that basically makes it legal for the auction company to shill their own items, so long as they tell you they do this in the fine print. Personally I have no problem with them shilling. I'm willing to bid what i am willing to pay and no more. But to state in the terms that they can collect from you the full amount of a bid plus buyer's premium and never delivery anything is completely and utterly illegal.

On the whole, I'm very disappointed in Proxibid. I am a seller myself, with 15 years of experience and some basic knowledge of consumer law. I can tell you they are violating several points of protection in my home state as well as others. There is also the matter of statutory cancellation rights of a contract- in many states you have 3 days to exit the deal no-questions-asked. Proxibid sellers (and by extension the website itself) is forcing people to pay regardless of whether or not they receive a product. They coerce you to pay in a fashion inconsistent with their own marketing promises and then if you find that your rights are being violated, they use this against you to block you from doing any further business there.

Everything I have seen so far from this website wreaks of sketchy and probably illegal business practices.
I have 15 years of experience as an internet retailer and have dealt with dozens of live auction houses in my profession. My collectibles are photographed in price guides you may have read, and my items have been shown on TV, newspapers, and magazines. I am not an attorney, but I am speaking from experience as both buyer and seller, including auction formats as well as counter retail. Something is just not right with this site.

I am going to give them one last chance to fix this for me this week, and if it doesn't work the way it should, in a legal and straight-forward, respectable manner, this will be their 3rd strike as far as I'm concerned.