Business sellers contacting eBay Customer Service by email, are no longer to be treated with respect

[sandown_sweets]

I have tried really hard, as a busines seller, to contact eBay UK regarding issues (I call them complaints) during the past 6 months by email. It was once a positive action to take, but alas another change by eBay means that the emails now go unread & unanswered.

Recently I had an auto-reply come back, claiming :-

"Your question is very important to us and will be treated with our full attention and respect for your needs. If you have received this auto-response, your email has been received, and it is not necessary for you to resend it.

You will receive a response from one of our customer representatives on your specific question within 24 to 48 hours of receipt of this mail. "

Now, I would take that to mean what it says, pretty straight forward, eh?

Sadly less than 3 minutes later you now get kicked in the teeth with an auto-reply stating :-

"Hello ,

Thank you for taking the time to send your email. However, the address you sent the email to is not available to contact eBay Customer Service directly."

So I can only assume that as business sellers, we are no longer important, do not have their full attention, my email was not received by anyone, I will never get a reply in 24/48 hours and no longer be treated with respect for my needs. 

But...................... I've still got to make sure that I behave like a good seller and make sure their fees are paid each week otherwise they might have to contact me!

I must sort out my auto-reply for them ................................

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Try live chatting, I know its not the best option but you may get a response and your problem looked into.

[myriad*seller]

Is it the "photo glitch" issue you mention on your listings?

You would be better off asking here 

I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed to change photos or description on any listing where items have sold, so this is possibly the reason you can't alter your photos but someone may be along to correct me, if I am wrong! 

[fatbobfan]

These forums can be a lot easier and less painful

As @myriad*seller  if your able to post here, do so,  as a rule youll get a sensible answer. 

[ett1954]

You can actually change the photos and description.  I do it for both each time an item sells.  The condition of second hand books and magazines varies a lot.  After one sells I take the next from stock photograph it then replace the photos and amend the description before setting the stock back to 1.

[sandown_sweets]

Thank you. Once you are able to chat with a human, they do listen take notes and the last conversation (25.1.24) I was actually told that it would be classed as 'high priority'.  Wait and see......

[myriad*seller]

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@ett1954 wrote:

You can actually change the photos and description.  I do it for both each time an item sells.  The condition of second hand books and magazines varies a lot.  After one sells I take the next from stock photograph it then replace the photos and amend the description before setting the stock back to 1.

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Does that allow you to list another near-identical item on that listing out of interest, or could you change it to eg a bucket and spade and completely alter the listing? Or does it have to be in the same category/listing title? 

[sandown_sweets]

Thank you.

The photo glitch is a problem with the eBay platform that has been there since June 2021. I was told that it was their problem, my problem, they were fixing it, they weren't fixing it, it has been passed to the back office (there is no back office).

In speaking to an eBay technician in person, he was fully aware of the issue, telleng me about it before I had finished the sentence, but they are unable to fix it and it doesn't affect everyone, so it is not on their 'top ten' of issues that need addressing.

[sandown_sweets]

Thank you.

Interesting current topic that I was fully aware of, regarding HRMC & tax implications.

It is touching on some of the points that I have been trying to raise with eBay for 6 months now.

Namely private sellers trading as a business, and breaching eBay policies.

And they being able to cut costs because they do not have business expenses but do get free listings and cheaper final valuation fees.

Maybe more people are complaining about it, and that is why emails have now been suspended.

[ett1954]

I set my stock for most items at 1.  If that sells I revise the item by putting fresh photographs of the identical book or magazine replacing it.  After changing the photos I amend the condition part of my description if required then reset the stock level to 1 whereby the stock becomes visible again to prospective buyers.  The only thing that has changed are the photographs and maybe the condition part of the description.  Once I have sold the last issue or copy of that book I end the listing.

[myriad*seller]

Sometimes issues like this can be fixed, simply by using a different browser

Have you tried that?

eBay tell you your issue is high priority, but you probably won't even receive a response...

So you will have to fix the issue yourself

Try a couple of different browsers will ad blockers etc turned off and see if that fixes the problem

It's often something simple, but eBay won't help you