Am i in the wrong here?

[MiniFighter]

Hey all, well....what a day!

All this talk about being shafted on the net has made me post this, i wanna know if this time I was in the wrong?
Back track 7 days..

I listed my camper for sale on eBay, it was an older camper but one we have owned for a while now, loved, used, and (like most things) also our poured some $$ into. I started the auction at $3k, no reserve wanting $5k but knowing id get minimum $4000-4500.
Over the next few days i had answered no less than 50 emails, set it up, pulled it down to show it around 5 - 6 times and made multiple calls and sent multiple MMS texts to people that wanted more images. Id even posted a massive listing explaining EVERYTHING. Id really made an effort with it.
5am this morning i was awoken by an email ( i love my iPhone lol ) from eBay international stating the following.. (names are replaced with *** to avoid any site rules it may break )

"Dear ***** Based on your account information and activity, it looks like user ID ********** is associated with your account. This usually indicates that both accounts belong to the same person. Because the other account is restricted or otherwise not meeting minimum seller standards, we've changed the amount you can list on eBay. You can now sell up to 15 items or up to $3,000.00 per month, whichever comes first. After 90 days, we'll reassess your account and may increase your limits based on your selling performance. You can also increase your limits sooner by resolving any open issues with the associated account. We've already sent instructions for resolving these issues to the email address registered to that account." I was quite shocked as i had no idea what so ever who owned the other account, i contacted eBay and explained this and the answer i received is that it would take 24-48 hrs for there resolution dept to contact me, until then the restriction stands. Ok, yeah i get it. But why with 8hrs to go, on an auction that was already at $3200? I called them back to let them know i couldn't revise my listing and/or end the item as i didn't want it to sell for $3000. They said "An auction cant be revised or ended with in 12hrs of finishing and had bids placed, best thing to do is cancel each bid once its placed"

I was horrified at there solution! they had the right to email me and restrict my account due to a possible scam/scammer account. I understand this but they also had no way of ending my listing due to there restriction of my account. The response i got from the 3rd call

"You'll still be able to get $3000 for it"

Again...i was horrified, and somewhat speechless?

With about 3hrs left, i was getting swamped with emails and bids, i didnt know what to do (at this stage i was freaking out and came home from work) So i called a mate, got him to put a MASSIVE bid on it and at worst, if the system failed he would win it.

I phoned one of the main bidders id spoke to the day before, he was bidding. He was a nice bloke, very genuine (sounding) I told him the situation and that id actually bid on the item to assure i didnt loose it for $3K as eBay would cancel all bids above my monthly selling limit of $3K

He then proceeded to get aggravated with me. Claiming he was being outbid by a non genuine bid etc, Id wasted his afternoon as he was watching it etc. I listed it for $3k start with NR and i should have honored the winning bid.

I told the guy on the phone, i was so stressed and down by the whole situation id pushed the camper back in the shed and changed my mind on selling it. He wasnt real impressed.

An afternoon wasted?? I had wasted a whole freakin week, PLUS afternoons showing it, $9.49 in eBay listing fees.. plus today off work!

what i want to ask, is what i done wrong? should i have let it go at $3k even though i knew id get much more?

I have such a headache thinking about it, the panadol aint helping and either is the Scotch :/

[ricktas]

Ah ebay. the joys!

[Mark L]

1- don't worry if you've p....d someone else off through something out of your control,
2- you can always sell later,
3- what's eBay,
4- read first line of my signature, and
5- red wine would have been better than scotch with panadol.

Can't really see how you're in the wrong.

[bobt]

I suspect that you are possibly the victim of the ebay bureaucracy, and caught between the letter of their laws and morality of common sense. Sometimes behemoths like that lack the flexibility to cope with real life situations which somehow haven't been allowed for in the "rules", and therefore by default they'll step back behind the rules rather than exhibit flexibility. My sympathies.

[zollo]

i think you are in the wrong...
about calling the bloke with the wasted afternoon. i wouldn't have bothered.

[I @ M]

#1 Use it as a learning curve.
#2 If you had that day, put it in perspective and think that maybe you were just one of 10,000 people that probably went through exactly the same thing that day.
#3 Think about those other 9,999 people that also coughed up the listing fee to the company that provides so much safety to buyers and sellers.
#4 Nobody believes all the stories of hacked accounts ---- until it happens to them. It is great to belong to such a safe site isn't it.
#5 Do a fairly complex mathematical and alphabetical equation, eba$ + pa$pal = ? I forget the formula but it does work and gives only one answer and that is "shafted" or a word to that effect.

No, you weren't in the wrong and in this case and probably 9,999 others that day both seller and buyers missed out, ebay still got their fees and yet people still go back to that site.

[ameerat42]

Nah! If as stated, Oboe were the stumbling block(heads). Let them know in terms that are not uncertain what their bureaucracy did.
Find an alternative means of selling.
4-get about the irate bidder. He was on E-bay, wasn't he? What he said in here...

He then proceeded to get aggravated with me. Claiming he was being outbid by a non genuine bid etc, Id wasted his afternoon as he was watching it etc. I listed it for $3k start with NR and i should have honored the winning bid.

is coy. About your only mistake was not to tell him the whole thing was off, no other explanation about E-Boo required.
A(IMO)m.

[Bennymiata]

Sue e-bay for restriction of trade and forcing you to lose genuine bids.

[Mark L]

How's the panadol going Wayne?

[MiniFighter]

How's the panadol going Wayne?

Haha good mate thanks, just trying to now sort out the invoice for listing fees ive been sent