[oldnemesis]

Originally Posted by oldnemesis";p=&quot

And that is what I sent to Meg Whitman, eBay CEO

And here is what I got back (not from Meg):

Thank you for taking the time to write eBay with your concerns regarding item #200045606198. My name is Lilah and I will be assisting you on behalf of Ms. Meg Whitman.

First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in our response to your letter. We have been experiencing a larger then normal level of volume and are working diligently to address all of our members concerns as soon as possible. Your concerns are important to me and I appreciate the opportunity to assist you at this time.

I'm sorry to hear about the item you received from blown-z. As a frequent buyer myself, I completely understand your frustration and concern in this matter. Please know that it is our genuine intention for you to have a pleasant and successful buying experience on eBay.

In addition, I will forward your email to the appropriate department, regarding the "hacked" mp3 players, for further assistance. You should receive a reply regarding this matter shortly.

The information you submitted indicates that you were not the winning buyer for the item number in question. This is most likely due to one of the reasons outlined below:

1. The item number you submitted or the User ID you signed in with does not correspond with the item you purchased.

In the event that your report is related to an item you purchased on eBay and the item number or User ID you used is different than the information you submitted, please respond to this message by using the reply function of your email program. If you reply, we ask that you include as much additional information related to the transaction as possible, including the seller`s User ID, the User ID you used to purchase the item, the ending time and price of the listing, and the item number that corresponds to the item you purchased. A number of tipsfor locating an item number can be found at the following address:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/rn...orm-faq.html#8

Once we have received your reply, a representative will be able to fully review and respond to your report.

2. The item in question was purchased outside of eBay.

Off-eBay transactions include items purchased directly from a seller, items that ended without a winning buyer, and items that did not meet the reserve price. Transactions of this nature are not eligible for the buyer protection services offered by eBay. If you purchased an item outside of the eBay site, we encourage you to take as many of the
following steps as are applicable:

- Contact your payment issuer and/or the service you used to send payment.
- File a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center.
- Contact law enforcement in your area as well as the area the seller resides.

More information on these as well as other options available to you can be found on the following page:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-fraud-non-ebay.html

3. The issue you are reporting is not related to the topic you selected when submitting your report.

The email topic you selected is reserved solely for buyers who are making a report related to an item they purchased on eBay. If you are not reporting an item you purchased on eBay, please resubmit your report by selecting the topic most applicable to the issue you are reporting at the address provided below:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/index.html

When making your report, keep in mind that eBay acts as a venue for buyers and sellers to meet. Although we will investigate any reports we receive and we will sanction accounts that violate our policies, we are unable to take action on a member`s behalf and we are unable to directly
intervene in disputes between users.

Thank you for your time. It is my pleasure to assist you and I hope that this matter will be resolved in a favorable manner for you.
Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future with your questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Lilah
eBay Customer Support

So what we can see?

1. Somebody still reads those postal mails, which is good

2. The eBay support team definitely cannot do their job. Could you please go to eBay site, click on "advanced search", enter the item number "200045606198" in the approriate field, check the "Completed listings only" checkbox, and find the item? I can find it. Why the support team cannot do it? Don't they know about "completed listings only" checkbox?

3. The rest of email is just full of sh1t. The only suggestions they had were that I made a mistake, or provided a wrong item number. Probably it is just generic eBay attitude to buyers, who knows?

And that's my reply:

Hi Lilah,

Thank you for taking the time to reply me. However I still have some concerns.

First, I do not know why you were not able to locate the item I purchased. I just tried it again, and was able to locate it using the method described in eBay help page - by using "Advanced search", entering the item number "200045606198" into the "item number" field, and checking
the "Completed listings only" checkbox. Had you checked this checkbox, as mentioned in appropriate help page?

Second, and more important - I am sure that most people would not consider such a delay a reasonable reaction time for trust and safety department. It took you more than a MONTH(!!!) to just reply to my message, and I still see
no reaction regarding those fraudulent items. Considering the fact that the large majority of eBay auctions are completed in seven days, and a lot of fraudulent items are sold on one-day auctions, this means that eBay currently
is not able to handle this amount of transactions rightfully. I also know from the users from the forum I frequently visit that so far nobody of us has received any reply from eBay (except the automatic reply from unmonitored mailbox) on ANY report - from fraudulent items to excessive shipping. And I believe that the only reason I got this response is because I sent a letter to your CEO.

Yes, the volume has increaded during Thanksgiving - Christmas period. But it was the same for EVERY company in USA, EVERY year. As far as I know, eBay top management are highly rated professionals, graduated from the best universities around the world, and they have a lot of experience in the field. And you are telling me that this increase in sales volume (and complains, as a result) preceding Thanksgiving - Christmas period caught you
unprepared? Sorry, I cannot buy it.

Anyway if it tooks you a month to even start an investigation, this means that at this moment eBay is completely unable to protect the buyers from fraud. Therefore we need the government to be involved at legislature level. We need a law to make auction holders like eBay liable for fraudulent sellers, and we need auction sellers to be licensed to lower the fraud level. Therefore I will send my petition to my elected representatives tomorrow, and will spread the word about it in the Internet. If anyone who had to deal with fraud on eBay sends a petition to their congressman/senator, we will have such a law to protect us.

Usually I hate government involvement into business relationship (because usually it hurts more than protects), but probably this is the case when we really need it.