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Ebay problems, please help

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_aja_

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NY

I don't know what to do about this situation I have found myself in. Alright, here's the story -

I was a self-representing art seller on ebay up until about a week ago when an ebayer reported me for shill bidding. These accusations are false and I tried working with ebay but all I get are automated responses and statemets like "your case is now closed" and I am "indeffinately suspended". I have asked about details behind the investigation conducted to conclude that I was shill bidding and have received the same automated sorts of responses.

I know the person who reported me was my competition, this person has been harrassing other sellers through the ebay mail system and reporting others with claims that range from keyword spamming to email harrassement in my case, shill bidding. This seller even eludes to it in emails to people but since it isnt through the ebay mail system, it can't be reported. I know for a fact it was a certain seller cause we had problems before (artists - different views on certain things and she just didnt like the way I saw it...silly stuff) and in a thread on the ebay A&A boards I mentioned my sisters ID in a thread she had posted. Mys sister had been over my house and signed in to check her "my ebay" and watched items and never signed out when she was done. I went into a thread and commented on something and realized it was my sis's ID. I signed out, signed back in with my ID and said that I just wanted to make it clear that what was said was said by me, that I didn't want anything I say attributed to my sis as it was a heated topic and since it was a topic posted by this nasty seller I didnt want her to get emails from the seller for a comment I had posted. They said my sis shill bid on my auctions which wasn't the case - my mother actually won the auction in question. I did not know she had bid on it (it was a last second bid and ebay can see this through the bidder history) and she didnt know anything about shill bidding or the suspicions that can arise from family members bidding on an auction. I offered ebay a pic of the painting next to a newspaper with the current date on it but I guess thats not good enough. They didn't even mention my offer in email correspondence. My mother wrote them, I wrote them 15 times, my sister wrote them, I asked to speak to someone live about it, nothing...just automated, canned responses.

In 2002 I was reported for shill bidding as well - I was new on ebay and didnt know what it was at that point. I watched peoples auctions to see marketting and selling strategies and noticed a pattern in a few sellers bid histories so I thought it was a common practice. After I was warned about it, embarrased by my nievity, I sent an email apologizing about it back to ebay and never did it again. I thing because I was warned once that this time when I was reported they just checked to see if I had a warning and said "well, she's been warned" and suspended me without even checking into it.

So yesterday I finally received an email from what seemed to be a person and it said that when I was warned in 2002 my sisters ID was involved!!! Thats not even possible, she wasnt even a member! I dont understand why they would now lie about it and I have found myself between a rock and a hard spot. I responded telling them how impossible that was and have received nothing back yet, course they say you will get a response within 48 hours so....

Is there anything I can do here? It was my livlihood and now it's in shammbles and my credibility has been tarnished by these untrue accusations. Sorry for the long winded story, but wanted to get everything out there.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this....

EDIT: I just read the "Suspended from ebay unjustly" thread thats scarily familiar so I guess I have done all I can do. I have called to and gotten customer service reps as automated as their emails....Thanks.
 
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W

WD1940

Guest
It's inconceivable that anyone would start selling on eBay or at any other auction type marketplace and not know that shill bidding is not an ethical part of the process. Everyone else was cheating....so I just went with the crowd...tsk, tsk.
 

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