Legal Advice - eBay's After Me for $13,000+

[kalimusic]

David,
I would take this very seriously.
I would seek legal counsel who can find a way to cut thru the **** and talk to ebay's lawyers.
It may cost you something, but i don't think this is something you can laugh off. They can close down your financial life in a way similar to identity theft.
If they decide to get a judgement against you they can really screw things up. You'll win in the end - it sounds like you have documentation to back up your position - but it's one thing not to be able to buy ricks online and another not to be able to use your bank account for months.

Do you have a Paypal account? Is it linked to a bank account? Paypal and Ebay are one company. 'nuff said..... best of luck with this.

[doctorwho]

David, I probably shouldn't stick my nose in this, but here goes anyway ... this is how I would approach it; of course, it might not work ... and remember, I'm a chemist, not a lawyer ...

1. Where is eBay located?

http://pages.ebay.com/aboutebay/contact.html

eBay Inc.
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, California 95125

2. Does San Jose city government have a web page?

Yes: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/depts.html

3. Is the city attorney listed?

Yes: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/attorney/

Office of the City Attorney
151 W. Mission St. San Jose, CA 95110
tel. (408) 277-4454 fax (408) 277-3159

4. I would call the office and see whether they can do anything, or if they can refer you to a department that can.

5. If that doesn't work, I would make copies of all the documentation that you have and send them (not the originals!) with a cover letter by registered mail wiuth delivery confirmation to:

eBay Inc.
ATTENTION: LEGAL DEPARTMENT/COUNSEL
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, California 95125


In the cover letter I would write something like:

"(after a chronological account of eBay's shenanigans and your responses thereto) ... As can be seen by the enclosed documentation, eBay's current action is an attempt to obtain money from me fraudulently. THIS IS FELONY FRAUD AND/OR EXTORTION. It is not my desire to have eBay and its officers arrested for this crime; rather, I would prefer that eBay get the record straight (as it did earlier before its SECOND error was committed) and send a letter of apology for the stress they have caused me, a loyal customer."

Of course, I'd probably prefer to have eBay's officers arrested, as it would make great headlines ...

[jingle_jangle]

Gary, that's the best-written and best-thought out advice I've seen on dealing with online companies who make it difficult to reach them on a one-to-one level.

Didn't Bush recently have Meg Whitman up for some official position, which she declined? (Probably because of the vetting procedure and what it would uncover...)

[simer4001]

Dave, how did this turn out? Well, I hope!

[xcoyle]

David, I work for a large bank, on the brokerage side and answer customer complaints. Complaints that are routed through regulators (SEC, NASD, OCC, etc.) are very effective. If you can tie this to Paypal, I would think that Paypal must be a bank (but don't know for sure) and under the regulatory authority of the OCC. Every complaint the OCC receives is forwarded to the Bank in question, which must provide a written response and all supporting documents to both the OCC and you the customer.

If you really want to hit them hard, send a copy to all the regulators at the same time. I hate when people do this to me, it is a lot of work.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Office of the Thrift
Federal Reserve
Your state banking regulator
Ebay’s state banking regulator

[rickenbrother]

...and I was going to post an auction this weekend...yikes, scary!

Good luck David, I hope they fix the situation.