The purpose of this page is to provide unhappy eBay Users with information on places to complain or get assistance with their issues. eBay does a pretty good job of hiding it’s real customer service and contact information, but you can usually find it if you look hard enough. While you should always give eBay a chance to resolve your problem by contacting them through the normal channels, there is a good chance they’ll blow you off, ignore you or jerk you around like they do everyone else and you’ll wind up here anyway.

Getting Your Complaint Ready to Go (Complaining 101):

I advise people who have a complaint to get their complaint in writing as soon as possible, so you don’t forget key facts like who you spoke to and when you talked to them. Write your complaint out in a word processor like Notepad or OpenOffice (or whatever else you use) and get all the details down in chronological order.

This can be as simple as a numbered or bullet list that lists the events in the order they happened. Be sure to note who you spoke with, how you spoke with them (phone, fax, e-mail, etc) and generally what was said. Keep notes of anything shocking that was said, for instance if the rep called you a “good for nothing lowlife moron”, be sure to make a note of that, little quotes like that help. Put quotes around statements that are verbatim from the conversation, so you can later recall whether the person actually said that or if you are just giving a synopsis. Think of this more as an outline of your complaint for your own organization, you probably wont want to send this outline in as your complaint.

Once you have the outline completed, compose a letter in your word processor that will serve as your formal complaint. Use your outline to organize your letter. In fact, I find it helpful to simply make a copy of the outline and then flesh out the complaint using additional information. In general, the shorter your complaint, the more likely it is to be taken seriously. Long complaints that are several pages long often give the impression of being drawn out, but sometimes it is unavoidable to go into several pages for a complex issue. The very best complaint is a single page in length, but chances are if you are at this site you already long ago exceeded what could be covered in a single page.

State your entire complaint (to date) in your first letter and be sure to leave nothing out. If you are forced to add onto or change your complaint, it will give the impression that your story is changing or that you are being untruthful, regardless of your honesty. People looking to discredit your complaint are very good at picking up on this and will jump at the chance to kick your complaint in the knees when they see this. Don’t give them the opportunity to do so.

In your complaint, try to start from the first event and continue on through subsequent events to the final (most recent) event. Make your complaint read like a good novel, minus the fictional aspects. Good complaints are just as engaging as a good book. They keep the reader going from paragraph to paragraph, page to page, to find out what horrible atrocity was inflicted upon you next. Speaking of paragraphs, be sure to use them. I have seen some of the things people post online devoid of paragraphs, they are extremely hard to read and will not be taken seriously. Also, avoid typing in all capital letters, this is also hard to read and quite annoying.

Never threaten legal action unless you fully intend to sue them. Not only is it unprofessional and cowardly, it can also get you sued for harassment. Your initial complaint should almost never include a threat of legal action except in extraordinary circumstances (like my complaint) when there is little to no chance of eBay resolving or paying attention to your complaint unless you take them to Court.

So to recap, here are some Dos and Donts for handling your complaint:

Do:

• State your entire complaint to date in the first letter.
• Include enough detail to sway the reader, not so much detail that you bore them.
• Include who said it, what they said, where/how they said it (phone, fax, e-mail, etc) and when they said it.
• Keep yourself organized so that you understand your own complaint.
• Include memorable quotes from conversations that illustrate your point.
• Respond promptly to requests for information even if the other party does not do the same.
• Keep your complaint as short as possible and to the point.
• Remain professional in your complaint and state what you expect them to do to address your complaint.
• Contact eBay first before pursuing complaints against them in other venues.
• Explain exactly what you want the reader to do that would satisfy you and resolve your complaint.

Don’t:

• Make up details about your complaint even if eBay is wrong. The ends do not justify the means.
• Threaten legal action in your complaint unless you are prepared to undertake it.
• Use profanity (except when quoting a past conversation) in your complaint.
• Attack representatives of the company, instead attack their actions, inaction or decisions or the company itself.
• Cover the same ground twice. Say it once and maybe highlight it at the end again in a summary paragraph, but avoid being redundant.
• Skip around in the chronological sequence of events.
• State requests as demands, except when writing legal threats.
• Be unreasonable. If you are expecting a financial settlement, don’t require them to send certified funds. These demands, while empowering to make, turn people off and will close thier ears to your needs. eBay is not likely to write you a bad check, but if they do, there is already a law in place to deal with it and they know this. No need to mention it.
• State the obvious obviously. If you need to point out that something that was said or done was unprofessional when it obviously was, find a novel way to say it without saying it directly.
• Complain on the telephone. Put complaints in writing so there is proof of what was said and when it was said later on.

Don’t let anyone fool you, complaining is an art. Like any art, there are alot of people who are no good at it at all and a few who are quite gifted. If you have been slighted, you have every right to complain, every right to seek redress through whatever means available and don’t allow anyone to make you feel otherwise. eBay’s Seller Central forum (and all of the eBay forums in general) is full of people who love eBay, think that everything eBay does is glorious and that the user is always wrong. Some even hypothesize that many of the posters who work there are undercover eBay employees trying to avenge the eBay name. I don’t know about all that, but I know that no matter how legitimate your complaint, you’ll always find a bunch of users who will disagree.

Do not allow this to persuade you away from pursuing your case. After all, they aren’t paying your seller fees or help run your business, so they shouldn’t be rendering verdicts on your complaints, either.

Better Business Bureau of Silicon Valley:

Complaining to the BBB often seems like a waste of time because the BBB invariably sides with businesses, especially when those businesses are also members of the BBB, which eBay is. However, the BBB does gather statistics about the numbers of complaints coming in about a business and serves a repository for complaints. So, if a lawsuit comes up years down the road about a practice of eBay’s, there may be support for the lawsuit based on a pattern of misconduct when there are years of complaints on file at the BBB about this topic. As such, its important to at least register your complaint with the BBB if nothing else to go on record as having a complaint to begin with.

Filing a BBB complaint online is easy and costs nothing. This can be accomplished by clicking here to get started. Just follow the on-screen directions. When you file online, it will give you a case number. Be sure to retain this as you can revisit their website to check the status of the complaint or add follow-ups. If you prefer to file by mail so you can include supporting documentation, signatures or call recordings, the address to do that is:

The Better Business Bureau of Silicon Valley
700 Empey Way #110
San Jose, California 95128-4705

You can also file a complaint by fax, the number for doing that is: (408) 278-7444. The BBB also has an automated system that will provide general info and is available 24/7 at (408) 278-7400. At that same number, between the hours of 9 A.M. to 12 P.M. & 1 P.M. to 4 P.M., you can get a real live person.

Be warned that while the BBB gives eBay 30 days to respond to your initial complaint and each of your follow-ups, they will only give you 10 days to reply. If you fail to reply, your case gets closed. So keep a look out for the letter and be quick on your feet with your responses.

And for those interested, you can view eBay’s BBB Report by clicking here.

Resources for Consumers (Usually Buyers):

If you are a consumer, you can complain to the Attorney General’s Office for the State of California. Note that the AG generally does not consider eBay sellers to be “consumers”, but it cannot hurt to file your complaint with them anyway. The representatives I have spoken with at the California’s AG claim to consider most eBay sellers businesses and therefore not entitled to consumer protection. But if your complaint is about something you bought on eBay, this is probably a very good place to start.

The AG takes complaints through their website, so you can submit it electronically by clicking here. If you have documentation that supports your claim, or feel better sending your complaint in my mail, The AG provides a printable form by clicking here.