FAO Gazza and Mark. mis use of blackball facility

[HannaHolly]

Hi Gazza and Mark,
I'm concerned that the ability to remove an undesirable bidder from an auction is being misused. Buyers are bidding on auctions in good faith, but (if the forum advice has been taking place) some are having their bids removed by being 'blackballed'. I understand why people have been giving this advice, ( seller makes mistake in listing, item sold elsewhere etc..) However i really don't agree that the way to resolve a sellers mistake is to blackball the buyer. If I were a new buyer on EBID and had placed a bid in good faith; only to find my bid remobved or the auction had disappeared. I would not be at all impressed with ebid.

In my view sellers who make genuine mistakes with their auction listings should contact EBID support to explain the position. support would then decide if it is appropriate to make the auction null and void, and issue an explaintary email to the bidder.

Where a seller sells an item elsewhere- the seller should apologise to the bidder and accept that they may get negative feedback ( It's a risk any of us take if we list in two places. if you don't accept the risk- don't double list!)

I wouldn't like to see the blackball facility removed - i think it's important a seller can choose who not to sell to ( before they bid ) and I know the system is very useful when sellers have malicious bidders posting all kinds of 'questions' on their auctions. However I would like to see guidance published on what are appropriate reasons to blackball a bidder; and I think it would help if sellers had to give a 'reason' for blackballing someone who is already bidding on their auctions, and that a copy of the reason is sent to EBID admin at the same time the blackball is set. This would enable EBID to monitor the system for abuse

[stitchysyl]

I agree...I have just posted on another thread.about the same thing.

I had a magazine up for sale...and had a bid on it. Then I found a page had been damaged and I hadn't seen that before I listed the magazine ( i llisted around 100 so mistakes are made)
The bidder had bids on my other auctions, so blackballing wouldn't have worked, even if I had wanted to use it...it would have deleted all her bids.
I couldn't email her as I couldn't get her details until the auction was ended.
I did edit the title to tell people NOT TO BID...

What you are suggesting is a good idea...

"In my view sellers who make genuine mistakes with their auction listings should contact EBID support to explain the position. support would then decide if it is appropriate to make the auction null and void, and issue an explaintary email to the bidder."

.I would go further and say that there should be a link for that in the edit option,

[buttons-and-bows]

I think val is having a go at me Syl and i am not about to sit here and not help a very new ebider that has just joined us from Italy and has made a very big mistake, done in error because he didn't know any better at the time, get his self into a mess with NO help from anyone else. Its been done for others and should be done for him. If you have anything to say about me Val, say it to me NOT someone else who has better things to do than nit-pick. Why didnt you put more effort into getting the sellers of fake good removed instead of backing them. I am very very anoyed and am not about to sit here getting made a fool of by you. You would be far better putting your time into helping the new sellers from europe getting out of the messes they are getting theirselves into.

[buttons-and-bows]

And if anyone has a problem with that, well I don't give two hoots.

[ladylauraac]

I dont see anything wrong with blackballing someone for 5 minutes while we correct a mistake in an aution, or have to end an auction.

[Anichka54]

I've advised a couple of people to do this if they've made a serious error on pricing or have had malicious or dodgy comments posing as questions, the only one i have a problem with is the one where the 'seller' wanted to end it with a bid on as it had sold elsewhere, i find this unacceptable, an item should not be listed in 2 places unless 2 can be provided, in the event of getting a buyer on both listings.

[paintinglemonjane]

And if anyone has a problem with that, well I don't give two hoots.

OH!! OH!!! Sent you a PM.

[HannaHolly]

And if anyone has a problem with that, well I don't give two hoots.

I wasnt in any way having a go at you B & B. i've seen lots of people giving the same advice, its the system thats flawed not the advice giver . I was raising whith admin what i see as a genuine issue.

I know how much help you give new users and fully respect that.

For info i didnt back sellers of fake goods- I campaigned against the incidences of bullying I saw.

Anyway it's been a cr*p week for me all round and i'm sorry if i caused offence- it wasn't my intention at all.

edited to show example from yesterday http://helpdesk.ebid.net/showthread.php?t=87875

[stitchysyl]

I think val is having a go at me Syl and i am not about to sit here and not help a very new ebider that has just joined us from Italy and has made a very big mistake, done in error because he didn't know any better at the time, get his self into a mess with NO help from anyone else. Its been done for others and should be done for him. If you have anything to say about me Val, say it to me NOT someone else who has better things to do than nit-pick. Why didnt you put more effort into getting the sellers of fake good removed instead of backing them. I am very very anoyed and am not about to sit here getting made a fool of by you. You would be far better putting your time into helping the new sellers from europe getting out of the messes they are getting theirselves into.

I hope I didn't annoy you.....

I didn't say I had any problem with using the blackball function...just that it isn't always feasible and that there should be some way for an auction to be ended once a bid has been placed, and for a good reason.

Then possibly the newbies might not get into such a mess.