EBay's move to a new billing system has some sellers seeing double--double entries of debits and credits on their auction accounts, that is. Company executives say the software snafu hasn't caused any overcharges, but some sellers complain the auction giant is too slow to address the problem, and that the ongoing fix is adding to the confusion.
The company first acknowledged a problem with the new billing software April 8, with a notice on its General Announcement Board in the Community section of the site. In its message, EBay noted that some sellers were seeing erroneous debits and credits on their invoices, and promised to resolve the issue within days. In the meantime, the firm offered to suspend automatic withdrawals from affected customers' accounts to prevent overcharges.
Nancy Spaulding, an EBay seller from North Ridgeville, Ohio, says she's been dealing with the problem since well before April 8, but got only automated replies from EBay's support services until recently. And despite the company's pledge to suspend withdrawals until the situation is cleared up, she says in the last week EBay made an automatic withdrawal from her PayPal account without assuring her the problems are resolved.
Spaulding, a frequent contributor to EBay's Community pages, says the company's fix for the software problem led to hundreds of small debits and credits on her invoice, which were nearly impossible to decipher. A longtime EBay buyer, in the last six months she has also become a regular seller of clothing on the site. But the company's slow response to this problem, plus ongoing concerns about billing, prompt her to question whether she'll continue her EBay commerce.
"They need to make some sort of public announcement--not just on the board," Spaulding says. She's aware of more than 100 other sellers experiencing similar problems, she adds. "If they had apologized at first, and switched back to the old software until they had this corrected, that would be one thing. It has been disgraceful how they haven't kept anyone informed."
Executive Claims Glitch
EBay has been completely up front about the billing problem and careful to avoid overcharging anyone, says Hani Durzy, a company spokesperson.
"It was a glitch and we're in the process of fixing it, but it's important to know that we have not double charged anyone," Durzy says. "We only started charging again after we reconciled their accounts."
Durzy says EBay has been migrating its huge customer base to the new accounting software, which offers many seller-requested features, since the beginning of 2004. The company encountered no problems until early April, when employees realized some sellers found February charges duplicated on their March invoices. Durzy declines to disclose how many sellers the glitch impacts, but he says EBay contacted all of them by e-mail as well as posting the announcement.
But solving the problem requires making the invoices more complicated at first, he notes.
"In the process of migrating these accounts over, and making the fixes to this glitch, at different times different sellers are seeing debit and credits that are part of the fix," he says. Those numerous debits and credits are what turned Spaulding's invoice into a 120-page document that she says she can't decipher.
"I didn't see any human way for me to figure that out," she says of the redundant report.
A Friendly Voice
Hours after PC World contacted EBay about the billing situation, Spaulding says, two EBay staffers called her to discuss the problem. Although they couldn't explain the situation to her complete satisfaction, she says she's now fairly confident the company hasn't overcharged her.
A few minutes on the phone with a person helped her situation immensely, she says, adding that EBay should offer the same service to other customers experiencing these problems. Instead, the company continues to post ineffective messages that acknowledge the frustrating nature of the problem but fail to offer answers, she says.
Inadequate customer service is at the root of this problem, agrees another EBay seller, who responded to a PC World inquiry but declined a formal interview.
"What EBay needs badly is a customer service number with someone that can assist you," he says. "This 'I feel your pain' stuff doesn't cut it when we are talking accounts and money."
Most people will find sufficient information and support in the Community board posts, EBay's Durzy says. Those who want additional help should contact the company through the regular e-mail-based customer support system, he adds.
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