Ebay can set up a seller for automatic billing to pay their fee's or other charges each month.
Twice now Ebay has attempted to collect fee's from me even though I'm registered to make automatic payments each month.
They send alerts, these will divert and redirect you directly to their alert whenever you log in at ebay. They can verified by checking "my messages" within your "my ebay" section.
I received an alert that stated my account was due, even though I have been using the automatic payment method for quite some time. This alert was sent exactly one day ahead of the date when their own automatic payment system deducted or charged my personal bank account for the same amount due.
They send these special "Alerts" that redirect your browser directly to this message and the message contains a large explanantion mark within a box to make it appear as something very urgent. To say it gets your attention is understatement, it redirects your browser when you log in or choose a location on eBay that requires you to normally log in. You have no choice but see the "Alert". You are forced to view it.
Of course I verified the "Alert" within "MY MESSAGES" in the "My Ebay" section of my own account. It was there.
I paid no attention to the "ALERT" simply because I knew my account was set up to make automatic payments and it had been making the payments all along. Secondly eBay had done this before and I fell for it, so I ended up making a manual payment only to learn that immediately following this manual payment that the auto payment system went into effect. I had now made two payments for my amount due. Ebay said they issued no refunds per their policy but did give me a credit. They advised me to setup an automatic payment plan to avoid making manual payments in the future... DUH!
This latest attempt to send an urgent message via their urgent alert system made me think twice of course. I wondered how many other members would do what I did in the past and fall for this scheme by eBay to virtually trick people into paying their accounts because they make it look so official and urgent. It's a nice little trick that they can excuse themselves from by saying almost anything. The bottom line is that are sending urgent messages in a form that is not usual, appears important and urgent, and then following it with their usual system of auto billing. They get double the amount and offer no refund.
How this is legal blows my mind. My imagination goes wild. It forces people to list things because that's the only way to recoup their money back. It forces people to continue to be active on ebay whether they want to be or not, it's pure trickery and deceit. I'm sure it also increases their books, people are forced into listing things in the future because eBay burned them into paying fee's due with a trick.
You're not just a seller on eBay when they dupe you into over-paying your fee's you are now a slave to eBay if you want that money back.
I have been set up to make automatic payments for a long time.
I have made automatic payments through their system regularly.
They sent me this redirecting urgent and important message even though they sent me an invoice and then followed that up the very next day by making the automatic payment.
My account balance is 0.
My account shows the payment being made through the automatic payment system and list a date that is exactly the very next day after the "Alert".
I have over-draft protection on my personal bank account.
The amount due was under $50 and at no time in at least the last year (my account doesn't display for more then that) has my personal bank account fallen under $500!
No, there was no issue of insufficient funds, in fact they manage to get my money automatically each and every month at the same time.
How many people are being duped by eBay into paying their bill due only to discover that they are charged and extremely short time later, automatically and a again? What other practices are they using to trick sellers into paying double?
Knowing that they will not refund over-payments and that the only way to recover any over-payments for a seller is to have a credit or close the account puts eBay in a unique position to gain from something that is not theirs. That pretty much defines stealing.
They tricked me once, not this time but I can't help wonder how many people pay them manually when they get a message like I did? Knowing that a customer has been set-up to make automatic payments and sending them this redirecting, urgent, and highly important message a day or so ahead of when their own automatic payment system is going to collect anyway?
"Oh we made an error, oh we changed our system, oh that's an error and we'll apologize for the mistake" PLEASE! For crying out loud... This is designed, this is a tactic, this is a scam and it not only violates the consumer it defrauds the investor as well because they can inflate their numbers to make gains by duping money and not returning it with their slave owning ways to pad the books.
Gregory
Farmersville, Missouri
U.S.A.
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