Fed Up with Ebay: How Safe is Your Information?

I am writing this article out of absolute frustration with ebay and I would love it for all who read this to please comment with your ebay experiences, both good and bad. A little into my history with ebay... I have been a member since 2001 and mostly make purchases, but have on occasion sold things I had no use for. I have a 100% positive rating and have never held an ebay account other than the one I currently have. Throughout this year I have twice received notification from ebay stating that several unsuccessful attempts to get into my account had occurred and for security reasons they had changed my password. The only way I could re-enter my account was to use a special link through my email and input a new password. The second time this happened I sent an email out to ebay raising concern about the safety and security of ebay. I have never received a response from ebay in regards to this issue.

Fast forward to this past October when I try logging into my account. I wanted to check the status of an item I had purchased just days earlier, but instead I receive a page telling me that I cannot get into my account because they believe I am a previously suspended member that went by the name bigron3180. Who is bigron3180 you ask? I don't have a clue. Your guess is as good as mine. I of course go into a panic thinking someone has hacked into my account, has my personal information and for all I know is having a shopping spree on my dime. I frantically search for a telephone number or help of some sort from ebay only to come up empty handed. Live chat help is suspended because my account is suspended, and they have no phone number leaving me helpless with nothing more than the ability to email ebay. I immediately send them an email and after a week of waiting and wondering what is happening I get frustrated enough to send a second email. A week after the second email is sent I finally receive a response. You'd think I'd be happy, but it left me angrier than I was in the first place. This email response answered none of my questions and specified what I needed to do to prove myself and be reactivated as a member. How ridiculous that overnight, for no reason known, I am shutout of my account after no wrong doing and now I have to jump through hoops to get back to good!

Angry, but sitting here three weeks after making a purchase with no product in sight and no way to remedy this issue or contact the seller until my account is reopened, I decide to oblige and jump through the hoops for ebay. The first step on the list is to sign an affidavit stating that I will no longer abuse Ebay's policy. To me, this sounded more like an admission of guilt and apology so I wrote plainly that I had never abused this policy to begin with, had been following the rules all along and would continue to follow those rules before signing my name. I also had to send them a copy of my bank statement with name on it and utility bill with name and address plainly listed. Along with those documents I had to send a copy of my driver's license and I was angry, so I typed up a letter claiming my innocence, reason for concern, and requested I be told what caused them to believe I had anything to do with this other member they claimed I was to start with. All of these items were faxed over to the number given to me in the response from Ebay I had mentioned above. These were faxed over on Saturday, November 3^rd, 2007. As of today's date, November 8, 2007 I have still not heard a thing from Ebay, am still locked out of my account, and am still without the product I bought and paid for on October 26, 2007. Ebay has my hands tied.

Funny thing is, Ebay had the audacity to send me an email a few days ago asking me to take a survey on the quality, ease, and timeliness of their customer support.. Isn't that a joke! I can't possibly be the only one to encounter issues with Ebay. So please, I'd love to hear your comments, concerns, issues, etc... whether good, bad, or indifferent I'd love input on your experiences with Ebay.