Dealing with EBay trolls and ratbags. (Should we protect their privacy?)

[trout]

I am that disappointed in eBay I haven't bought a single coin since the first of this Month and I haven't even bothered looking
I may get back in there but at the moment I just cannot be bothered with dealing with some of the vermin that inhabit that site.

[ausjack]

it will only get worse as other things get worse if feebay don't stop it before it gets too out of hand, people are just getting desperate and getting cut off benifits will only add to it, just look at the US and their crime rate and poverty so that's the sort of thing we have to look forward to while ever they keep trying to make up like them..doin a bloody good job so far as most aussies speak yank now and not australian MATE COBBA, so while ever my bum points to the ground I will try and keep our good old aussie lingo going..digger :laugh2:

[emu666]

Trout you have not experienced the full range of delights possible in the ebay experience until you have a buyer that refuses to pay and then leaves negative feedback on receipt of a non paying bidder dispute.

[trout]

Trout you have not experienced the full range of delights possible in the ebay experience until you have a buyer that refuses to pay and then leaves negative feedback on receipt of a non paying bidder dispute.

I have in fact had that" delightful " experience a couple of years ago Mate.
I did however manage to get eBay to remove the feedback :good:

[ausjack]

WOW and they wonder why I don't want to get into it, I get stressed enough without having to put up with that sort of malarky, my heart bleeds

[Fulvio]

on April 1, 1957, BBC aired a scene of people harvesting spaghetti from a tree.

A few years later, Dan Webb did a similar story on HSV7, about the spaghetti worm infesting our crops. They threaded black cotton through the middle of the spaghetti, which he then broke open to reveal the worm inside. The story had a similar effect to the BBC one, and remains one of the best TV hoaxes ever pulled.

Watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fACJ22ixzhg

[JeffH]

I am that disappointed in eBay I haven't bought a single coin since the first of this Month and I haven't even bothered looking
I may get back in there but at the moment I just cannot be bothered with dealing with some of the vermin that inhabit that site.

Jim,
There are still plenty of good sellers and I am sure you have sussed some out.
Here is one I recommend -very good and the name might appeal to you too!
Items for sale from oldbrowntrout26

[trout]

I am that disappointed in eBay I haven't bought a single coin since the first of this Month and I haven't even bothered looking
I may get back in there but at the moment I just cannot be bothered with dealing with some of the vermin that inhabit that site.

Jim,
There are still plenty of good sellers and I am sure you have sussed some out.
Here is one I recommend -very good and the name might appeal to you too!
Items for sale from oldbrowntrout26

I have bought many a coin of oldbrown trouty :good:

[JeffH]

I see it didn't take you long to get back Jim.

Anyway point of this post is to mention another bit of bastardry on eBay.
You need a mate and you both bid up something to an unrealistic price.
One of you wins it but you never reply to any seller messages and definitely never pay.
Eventually seller lodges non payment claim (which, of course you ignore).
Sale is later cancelled and seller refunded fee.
Seller is not out of pocket but has lost at least two weeks farting around.

But, you say, eBay will cancel those fake buyers after three strikes. So what, that is six silly games between them and they might get away with a few more before eBay catches up.
And, how easy is it to open another eBay account in another name?

{Wondering out loud -can eBay identify internet account a user name was registered from? Then if all accounts originating from that IP number were cancelled and attempts to open new accounts barred that would slow them down. That's the sort of thing Fulvio or Mark might know.}

[Fulvio]

Then if all accounts originating from that IP number were cancelled and attempts to open new accounts barred that would slow them down.

IP filtering is a bit of a blunt weapon, because it doesn't resolve to a single device, unlike a MAC address, for example. So if you block an IP and it happens to have a thousand users, you've blocked them all.

Same deal applies to spam emailers. Optusnet was blocked a while ago for having an open mail relay, and therefore every user was treated as a spammer.

IF IPv6 ever gets off the ground properly, and IF its handled correctly, this problem should go away. But I wouldn't bet on it. And even if you can pin down the machine, you can't know if a visitor has borrowed it to log in on their own accounts...

[Ozcoins]

{Wondering out loud -can eBay identify internet account a user name was registered from? Then if all accounts originating from that IP number were cancelled and attempts to open new accounts barred that would slow them down. That's the sort of thing Fulvio or Mark might know.}

IP address is probably too broad - they are most often not fixed to one customer, however there are other things which can (and probably actually are) to counter that sort of thing.
I will provide more detail in PM.

[trout]

OK,
I just received this email from eBay.
All sounds pretty good BUT I wonder if they actually do anything regarding this Ratbag:-/

Hello Jim,
Thanks for contacting eBay. I understand that this frustrates you as you paid for the item through bank deposit and yet you received an unpaid item record in your account that could affect your reputation as a good buyer.
I know that this is upsetting in your part as the seller is threatening you trying to revise the feedback that you left to their account. Let me help you with this.
Jim, I am pleased to inform you that the non-paying record has already been removed. You may check this on your end to confirm. Just go to your resolution centre under account tab and locate the item. You will see that the record has been cleared out.
For more information about unpaid item policy, please refer to:
http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/unpaid-item.html
Let me assure you that you no longer have any non-paying record that may restrict you from buying more items on the site.
In regard to the feedback, sellers should not manipulate their buyers to change or to remove the feedback you left. Seller should figure things out with you without trying to demand to leave a positive feedback.
 As a buyer it is your right to receive a resolution or a refund as you paid for it promptly and you deserve to receive the item as described, it doesn't need any conditions as it is your right as a consumer.
If you feel that they deserve a negative feedback you have to be firm in your decisions and eBay will support with you as long as you will not violate our feedback policy.
Threatening to leave negative Feedback, demanding the withdrawal of Feedback, or requiring a specific Feedback rating in exchange for goods or services not included in the original listing is considered Feedback extortion.
To learn more about our policy, go to:
http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html
Since they are trying to threaten you through phone I strongly encourage you to report this to proper law enforcement authorities, as well as the member's local phone company should he threaten you by phone as well.
If you do contact police, let them know that eBay may be able to help their investigation and that they can contact us by going to:
http://pages.ebay.com.au/securitycentre/law-enforcement.html
We appreciate your time in bringing this to our attention. Rest assured that we've done the appropriate investigation to their account if they violated one of our policies their account may be at risk for suspension or restrictions. We have a Privacy policy in place that does not allow us to disclose account-specific information and I trust that this makes you feel confident that your account information also remains private.
Thanks for choosing eBay and have a great day ahead.
Sincerely,
Jessa B.
eBay Customer Support

[markn]

IP address is probably too broad - they are most often not fixed to one customer, however there are other things which can (and probably actually are) to counter that sort of thing.
I will provide more detail in PM.

While you'd like to think they'd stop people having multiple accounts and take measures to ensure they don't I am almost certain eBay take almost no measures to prevent it.  We are aware of one eBay seller who has many, many, many alternate ID's that he uses to sell items, bid on competitors items, and in many cases simply make trouble with them (including habitually making damaged packaging claims seeking a partial refund).  I simply refuse to believe that someone who behaves in such a (frankly) crappy manner has enough technical know-how to get around even slightly sophisticated measures taken by eBay to prevent multiple ID's.  So my only conclusion is that eBay take NO measures to stop people signing up for multiple accounts.

[JeffH]

So my only conclusion is that eBay take NO measures to stop people signing up for multiple accounts.

:i_agree:
We have two accounts with eBay Australia to separate our various activities; to make it easier to keep track of things. My wife also has an account with eBay UK so she can purchase things there -she has a forwarding address in the UK but many sellers won't accept bids from another country  eBay site.
All set up from same computer and same internet account without any problem.

[ausjack]

here here
their account may be at risk for suspension or restrictions

this is the sort of thing that annoys me..MAYBE MAYBE what the hell does that mean, how much do you have to do before they act, sounds like a lot to me