EBAY is failing to support it's membership

Written by: Guest writer - Angela Carin

Ebay has done it again...it has started a crusade of being paranoid. A good friend of mine just had his account shut off after being a member in great standing for 5 years. He wasn't a very large member grant you, but he was still a very good member with a 100% in his favor on the responses he got. I don't want to mention his name because....well you'll hear about him in the national news soon enough...he's suing Ebay for $75 million. That's right he's suing them for $75 million for all the abuse he has under gone in the last three weeks.

Well it all started three weeks ago when my friend contacted Ebay and asked them how he could sell products with his account. They gave him the generic tips and posts that helped him connect with third party drop shipment company. A drop shipper is a company that holds the inventory, handles the sales and ships it to your customer, then cuts you a check. Well after Ebay recommended this company to my friend he signed up and he was on his way to selling on Ebay. Then Ebay shut his account down and told him he couldn't use a 3rd party to sell on Ebay....huh...that's strange they recommended this vendor now he can't use it...doesn't make much sense now does it...wait...it gets even better. Now that his account is shut off he inquires why...they say they don't believe he's the account holder....so they ask him to fax his personal information to number that goes to India...that's right....personal information (That Ebay says never do...) is now asking for him to send it right away. They asked him to fax his drivers license, Social Security number, three utility bills and a birth certificate....all in order to sell again on Ebay. Sounds a little fishy doesn't it, so my friend decided to contact the head quarters and yes it was a new policy of Ebay's. So he did fax it...and they still didn't believe him....well this went on back and forth for three weeks. He faxed a total of 112 pieces of information with his information on it and still nothing.

Now he was very upset and stressed out over the whole situation...he didn't know where to turn and wanted to stop the Ebay abuse, so no one would ever have to go through that mess again. My friend seeked out legal advise and decided to file legal action in the form of $75 million. I asked my friend do you think you have a chance of winning....he stated that's not the point....the amount I'm suing for will get an executives attention to see how stupid Ebay is and hopefully they will modify their practices. Well, that shows you how important high quality employees really are and how good communication skills could have avoided this situation for Ebay. Personally, I hope the judge throws the book at Ebay to show that the little guy does matter and just because your a large corporate monster, doesn't mean you have the right to abuse anyone. Well my friend good luck and hopefully your stress levels will lower as this situation passes.

Now if you've experienced anything like this with Ebay or another company share your thoughts with us today.

V-Day is over now what?

Written by: Guest writer - Sara Keller BusinessChicago.com

Well did you have a great Valentine's Day or was it a big bust? Or does it really matter. Flowers, Candies, Love oh my....wow what a holiday. If you get the wrong gift it could be a mess and if you don't get enough it could be the end. Well my sweetie and I decided not to take part this year....wow what a relief. You really should try to just take off one or two hallmark holiday's....I mean really if you really do love someone why do you have to impress them on every holiday. Instead of buying hundreds of dollars on gifts...how about donate the money to a charity of your choice or pay down your debt.

Now the next holiday coming up is St. Pat's day....and my advise on that one is...enjoy it...no cards or gifts, but enjoy your friends and family with a little irish flare (Cabbage and Cornbeef). If you're going to drink...make sure you don't drive....get a designated driver and buy them with food and coffee.

In summary, on the next hallmark holiday that comes across your plate...instead of spending the monies on yourselves give a donation to your favorite charity and spread the word on this idea....yes this will hurt holiday card sales, but it will make a difference in the world.

Ebay - Warning

Ebay - WARNING

Written by Andy Watkins - Editor

I need to share with our readers about one of our members experience recently with ebay. Owner of several web sites and ecommerce stores was shocked today when a security issue occurred with Ebay and once he reported it Ebay officials seemed not to care. He listed a few products and then they removed for an unauthorized reasons. Now that's the problem...here's the major warning he came across. He decided to contact Ebay and use the live chat. A representative named Rick appeared online to answer his questions. After hearing his concerns he decided to ask a lot of account information, once that was over he then asked a very upsetting request. Rick asked our member for a copy of his Drivers License, Social Security card and a copy of his utility bill...even after verfiying the account information. He gave our member a toll free number and our member decided to look into where this number actually was pointed and he found out that it was ending up in India. So the warning is clear...DO NOT give information to employees at EBAY that could be used for other reasons...it's just not worth it. EBay officials don't seem to care and obviously their own staff doesn't seem to have a problem.

Help us help our member and if you use Ebay share your disappoint with their security. Only when we share our views as consumers will products and services improve.