Called Ebay Help - Huge Hassle Ensues IDK What To Do / Rant

[WingsOfMasquerade]

This is such an instance of a mole hill turning into a mountain.
The step by step of what happened

Buyer buys a pair of shoes
Pays
I send the shoes with ebay label
Shoes come back "undeliverable as addressed / unable to forward"
I contact the buyer
She admits to writing in the wrong address when she signed up to ebay & says she'll re-pay & fix it
I can't print the label for the shoes again, it will only do the wrong (old) address even though she fixed it
If I change the address in the label, it threatens me with "You will lose seller protection!"
I look for help online & can't find it
Call ebay help line..........

The account was in my dad's name, they want to talk to him to access the shoe auction and fix the woman's info, but he died. I tell them as much and they're like "oh well we have to suspend you right now".
I'm like "......What?"
I have open auctions! How am I supposed to get the shoes to my buyer who PAID me if you suspend me for 72 hours! I'm going to look horrible like a criminal when all the watchers on my auctions come back to bid & see the account is suspended....it won't even say WHY (like it should tell people "Account suspended during ownership transfer" or something so no one thinks its an offender account). They're going to think this account is a thieving account or something & will lose all trust.

She says "Wellllllllll this conversation on the phone is recorded and you confessed that he died so now we must suspend you until you send in all this documentation (Which we have, but hassle/whatever) then after 72 hours call us back and wait another 20 minutes on hold so that we unsuspend you.

I'm like...all I had was a simple 2 minute question how to solve a shoe issue and now I get bashed by this. (Messing the house finding 3 certificates, papers, lockbox, etc etc)

But now...they still have not suspend the account.
Why? Now I even got bids on stuff, what will happen if they suspend at the final hour of the listing? How do I fix the shoe lady? I can't send them the documents until they actually DO suspend the account (process won't start otherwise) so I'm just left hanging now, I guess.

I wanted to rant about that because gee whiz, it turned a tiny thing into a landslide of tasks/hassles/and making my account look bad. I doubt this ever happened to anyone else but just in case your ebay acct is not under your name/it is a family account like ours is/was, this sort of thing can happen. It made me spend like 1.5 hours dealing w/them over something so small. And it's still not over because I'm afraid to list or bid from now on incase they suspend.

*There was no ponies or horses on it so no one here will be affected
Whew, it feels better now to have typed it all out

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I can understand why Ebay/Paypal are concerned... if the accountholder is deceased, you need to start over with another account.  Otherwise, the financial info is still tied to your deceased father's bank account and credit history.  I am surprised the bank didn't go over all this with your family as trustees.    And how does the representative have proof that you are the authorized trustee on the account?  You could be calling from Somalia from all they know...

Hope you are able to get this resolved soon! 

[hathorcat]

I am going to pop this over to Trader Support for you. As much as this is a rant you have also asked what to do and you will get the best advice over there.

[bluerose9978]

I had my husband put my name on my eBay account because I was hassled by eBay when I had called them with a problem I had before, too. I use a separate paypal account than he does and my paypal is actually the primary paypal on the account...LOL.

But, as others have said, when everything is said and done and all the paperwork is finalized and if eBay is still being stupid, it may be worth it to open your own account under your own name so you don't have these problems. I know starting over is hard, but it might be worth it to avoid this kind of problem because you will be the primary user.

[Tap Dancer]

I'm sorry about your dad. However, it sounds like too much of a hassle to send in papers and wait and call back. Just open a new eBay account (and PayPal, if necessary) under your own name. Anything that was tied to him needs to be closed or this will eventually happen again. Businesses always want to deal with the account holder. I appreciate that because it makes me feel like they're protecting me against fraud.

[Miss_Pompon]

Regarding the shoe's buyer, can't you just cancel the transaction and sell it directly to her via paypal ?

I will advise you to open your own ebay account and for the bidders, tell them the truth, this account is gonna be suspended since your father passed away but you're gonna list the item again with your new account.

[Sebby6]

Do you need to print the PayPal label? Couldn't you just write the address on the parcel? Or if she is sending more money for postage - print the label in your PayPal account?

[ponylady]

Unfortunately that is the way Paypal works, along with eBay. It is for your protection, not to cause you a problem.  Paypal does not even allow a living person's account to be switched over to someone else's name. So they are not trying to be difficult. It's just part of their terms and conditions.

I think the only choice you have is to end your auctions at this time until you open your own account. It will save you a lot of headaches when the auctions end. There is not going to be any other way around it to be honest. Just send them the proper documentation.  The documentation will then be reviewed and, if approved, the account will be closed.

[silverdawn]

I have buyers do this to me at least 2 or 3 auctions out of 100.  I would just refund her the money, minus the shipping costs, and cancel the transaction.  Whenever a buyer asks me to ship to an "alternate" address, I immediately cancel and refund, otherwise I have no protection.  I also want to avoid any buyers who might be using stolen credit cards or accounts.  It sucks because you lose the sale, but so far I haven't found any other way to deal with it.

Silverdawn

[h1m3.]

I'm sorry about your dad. However, it sounds like too much of a hassle to send in papers and wait and call back. Just open a new eBay account (and PayPal, if necessary) under your own name. Anything that was tied to him needs to be closed or this will eventually happen again. Businesses always want to deal with the account holder. I appreciate that because it makes me feel like they're protecting me against fraud.

This. And for the shoe lady maybe cancel the transaction and selling her directly the shoes would solve that problem?

I'm very sorry about your dad, you got my condolences.