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Humour me for a minute.
Today I received the dreaded, "You're below standard" email from the wonderful folks at eBay. Turns out in my past 365 days I have had four (4!) low ratings (1s and 2s) on Shipping Time. 4 out of 107 ratings. And you know what? I'm shocked it's that low. I'm in Canada and despite shipping within 48 hours at the most, I know it takes longer and I know that many buyers don't take the time/don't care to take that into account.
So in any event, the notice is extremely vague regarding potential selling limits etc so I called them up. After an acceptable wait time (10 mins) I got a guy who was clearly dumb. You know, just one of those guys who doesn't process things quickly. Nice guy and I wasn't the slightest bit rude. But he couldn't come anywhere close to answering my question of "what are the selling limits I may face". He had no clue. I politely asked to speak to a supervisor and was patched through. This woman had somewhat of an answer ("If you don't improve by the next evaluation period, you may not be allowed to list"). That led to this exchange:
Me: My problem is that I'm at a severe disadvantage by selling 99% of my items internationally. I will always be at risk for this.
Her: I understand your frustration.
Me: Is there any thought to having separate ratings for international transactions?
Her: All of our sellers are under the same rules.
Me: Exactly. That's the problem, isn't it?
Her: But sir, if you improve your shipping time, you'll be fine.
Me: Ma'am, I'm not blowing smoke. I can't improve. I honestly ship everything within 2 days, most often one day.
Her: Well then you'll probably be fine on the next evaluation
Me: [sigh]. In one year, four people have said I shipped slowly. Four. And that's not acceptable? Four people were likely annoyed that mail took a while and either didn't realize I was in another country or didn't care. How do I compete against that?
Her: I understand your frustration
Me: Is there a way to find out when the low ratings were left? So I can understand when they'll drop off?
Her: No, all of our ratings are anonymous.
Me: [finally noticeably irritable] You realize this is insane, right? I know you can't admit that and I know this has nothing to do with you but you must understand that this is mind-bendingly crazy, right?
Her: [silence]............I understand your frustration. Maybe if you sell more items your percentage will decrease with better ratings
Me: But the way for eBay to get me to improve is to perhaps stop me from selling, right?
Her: Yes, possibly.
Me: There isn't anybody who can help me in the slightest, is there?
Her: I can try to be of assistance for any problems you many have.
Me: Look, thank you for your time and letting me vent, but no, nobody can be of any help for this.
I feel for these people. It's a shatty job I'm sure, and of course it's not their fault. But, cripes, I'd rather take my chances with Jack Bauer than every trying that again.
I know I'm like the 500th person to bitch about this on here. But I just truly cannot comprehend what an insane system they have. Adam Carolla's right: When I was a kid, I never knew adults were so dumb.
Today I received the dreaded, "You're below standard" email from the wonderful folks at eBay. Turns out in my past 365 days I have had four (4!) low ratings (1s and 2s) on Shipping Time. 4 out of 107 ratings. And you know what? I'm shocked it's that low. I'm in Canada and despite shipping within 48 hours at the most, I know it takes longer and I know that many buyers don't take the time/don't care to take that into account.
So in any event, the notice is extremely vague regarding potential selling limits etc so I called them up. After an acceptable wait time (10 mins) I got a guy who was clearly dumb. You know, just one of those guys who doesn't process things quickly. Nice guy and I wasn't the slightest bit rude. But he couldn't come anywhere close to answering my question of "what are the selling limits I may face". He had no clue. I politely asked to speak to a supervisor and was patched through. This woman had somewhat of an answer ("If you don't improve by the next evaluation period, you may not be allowed to list"). That led to this exchange:
Me: My problem is that I'm at a severe disadvantage by selling 99% of my items internationally. I will always be at risk for this.
Her: I understand your frustration.
Me: Is there any thought to having separate ratings for international transactions?
Her: All of our sellers are under the same rules.
Me: Exactly. That's the problem, isn't it?
Her: But sir, if you improve your shipping time, you'll be fine.
Me: Ma'am, I'm not blowing smoke. I can't improve. I honestly ship everything within 2 days, most often one day.
Her: Well then you'll probably be fine on the next evaluation
Me: [sigh]. In one year, four people have said I shipped slowly. Four. And that's not acceptable? Four people were likely annoyed that mail took a while and either didn't realize I was in another country or didn't care. How do I compete against that?
Her: I understand your frustration
Me: Is there a way to find out when the low ratings were left? So I can understand when they'll drop off?
Her: No, all of our ratings are anonymous.
Me: [finally noticeably irritable] You realize this is insane, right? I know you can't admit that and I know this has nothing to do with you but you must understand that this is mind-bendingly crazy, right?
Her: [silence]............I understand your frustration. Maybe if you sell more items your percentage will decrease with better ratings
Me: But the way for eBay to get me to improve is to perhaps stop me from selling, right?
Her: Yes, possibly.
Me: There isn't anybody who can help me in the slightest, is there?
Her: I can try to be of assistance for any problems you many have.
Me: Look, thank you for your time and letting me vent, but no, nobody can be of any help for this.
I feel for these people. It's a shatty job I'm sure, and of course it's not their fault. But, cripes, I'd rather take my chances with Jack Bauer than every trying that again.
I know I'm like the 500th person to bitch about this on here. But I just truly cannot comprehend what an insane system they have. Adam Carolla's right: When I was a kid, I never knew adults were so dumb.