Posted on 03/18/2008 10:25:07 AM PDT by Stoat
Ping
Simple fix. Don’t use the outdated 1999 website called ebay.
Ebay has recently changed their “checkout” page, and it is a complete and total piece of garbage, complete with OBVIOUS security flaws, freight and insurance miscalculations, elimination of the ability to make mutually-agreed-upon changes to an invoice, and reductions of choices as to payment methods. It is generating howls of protest and ebay blithely talks past the complaints and objections in a magnificently Orwellian fashion. Under the guise of “convenience” these changes are sure to create massive, massive problems requiring literally millions of hours of corrective work on the part of users. It’s quite unfathomable. Half of my “favorite sellers” have left ebay or, at least last I checked, are not offering anything for sale (and these were 500+ pieces-of-crap-for-sale sellers)
Classic case of fixing what’s not broken. I am taking an ebay sabbatical after I complete my current round of buys. These changes just suck.
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Kitty doesn't like it.
On Saturday, I was proceeding to pay off a bill on eBay for 4 small lots from the same dealer. The bill I received in my email was correct, but when I went to checkout, the bill was padded by $25 for “insurance” (not the dealer’s fault, but eBay’s). There was no way for me to correct the amount and after half an hour of trying to fix it, I had to go and pay the amount manually on PayPal, bypassing eBay’s checkout (meaning no recording that the individual lots had been paid off).
Yet another one of eBay’s “problems” were their modifications to the multiple-auctions page to leave feedback. When you roll the mouse over one of the lots to begin a preview, it freezes the whole page and takes upwards of two minutes for the preview to appear (I don’t want the preview, it takes all of 10 seconds to just click on the link). Thanks to that mess, it took me an hour and a half to leave feedback for about 70 lots whereas previously it would take about 15 minutes prior to their “helpful upgrade.”
I cannot believe they are not receiving an epic number of complaints at the f’d up mess they have made. The checkout alone (which if you’re not careful, you’ll fail to notice that when you’re paying off a SINGLE lot, that EVERY OTHER LOT YOU HAVE BID ON is also on the page, too — why the hell are all those there when you’re dealing with just ONE lot ?!?!? Imagine you’re paying monthly bills, and you’re trying to pay off the gas bill, and when you go to pay it off, every other utility, grocery, entertainment expense, etc. is all there too ? F’d up, totally).
9 years I’ve been on eBay and it has NEVER been worse.
You’re echoing each and every complaint I have about it, PLUS...and few know this...when you pay via PayPal but DON’T use ebay’s “pay now” button (visible on your completed, won auction) there are some subtle losses of buyers’ protections that can occur. To escape this so-called “convenience” you have to go and contact the seller and request a separate invoice. Esp if you have mutually agreed to combine shipping. It’s truly a PITA.
The bauble sounds like a version of the VPN Token we use here at DHS. The number on the token is randomly generated and that in combination with a PIN is your password for logging in.
lol
They have also screwed up how someone searches for items, taking Buy It Now, and other search variants off, and onto the sidepage, but you have to click on the box and manually hit “buy it now” in a new smaller window and also a search within a set search is screwy too.
FeeBay’s motto: If it’s not broken, fix it.
I joined Ebay in 1998 and was a very avid user for years until they ramped up rates and “buyer protections” to the point where I was getting scammed once a week.
Last time I logged into my account I found that it had been hacked and “designer” clothes were being sold through it. 500+ positives and 1,000 + total sales and I’m out completely.
I’d love to walk away from eBay, but I mainly just do business with about 5 dealers and there’s nowhere else I can get these items from (because of their obscurity). Why they have initiated these “changes”, which I have no doubt 90% of eBayers oppose for making doing business incredibly inconvenient or just completely confusing, I have no idea. Why they especially decided to do away with the option of pay all your eBayers at once and FORCE IT upon you without a choice makes me red faced with outrage. If I could get a contact number, I’d complain immediately. A task that took me 5 minutes to do months ago took 45 minutes on Saturday. Absolutely outrageous.
I don’t know why they don’t have two versions of eBay, the previous one that worked and that 99% of eBayers prefer to use as an option, and the new version that the .0000000001% of eBayers that are masochists can choose to option. Y’know, the ones that don’t mind paying $25 of insurance on a $5 lot.
I’ve seen a lot of price gouging with respect to shipping. Since I buy paper-sized items (usually no larger than a sheet of paper), the costs shouldn’t be high. I give them some leeway of wanting to add a buck or two (and I understand adding perhaps 50c per lot, since PayPal and eBay add on the listing fees), but I remember 5 years ago a guy charged $6 to ship a single sheet of paper. When I got the item, it had obviously cost about 75c or so to mail (the item itself only was a buck or two, but I’d have paid $10 for it excluding shipping) and I left “neutral” feedback, saying he shipped cheap and charged high. He went ape$hit and insulted me in email. What bugged him was that he had already left me positive feedback before I had and he couldn’t retaliate.
Fortunately the ones that engage in funny business like that don’t last long on eBay at all. I had one guy sign up to sell a letter I wanted. He was probably expecting it would sell for $50 or more. I won it for a few bucks (you take a risk on buying from somebody with a zero feedback, but, as they say, you have to start somewhere, and you’re not taking much of a risk on something under $5) and after repeated attempts to contact him, he never answered back and soon deregistered from eBay.
Several years ago I bought eight small ashtrays for the minimum eight bids and sent a check. The check cleared but he never shipped and would not return my messages. One day I emailed him and told him I was filing a Mail Fraud charge with the USPS and tax evasion charges with the IRS. I had a reply in 3 minutes asking for my address. Got the ashtrays 4 days later.
Every time I posted a negative on him he reciprocated. My only negatives I ever had...
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