Ebay

Feedback is key on eBay - definitely negative for the company

eBay is a great platform for buying and selling and works brilliantly as a rule...but, should you ever need to contact them for anything the problems start.

eBay seem to believe that the dominant position they have created thanks to those of us buying and selling on their platform allows them to dismiss any notion of good customer service.

I have had the misfortune of contacting eBay on numerous occasions over the 8 years of using it. I would estimate that of the 20 or so times this had happened, only once has the response been viewed positively. So a 5% success rate - impressive for a company that promotes the use of feedback so strongly.

I also feel that the way in which sellers are now forced to take payment through Paypal is nothing more than an abuse of position. As a business I have the ability to accept card payments through a third party merchant services provider run by a well known bank.

However, I am unable to use this on eBay, instead having to use Paypal charging 3.4% on all transactions. This is 2.3% more than I would normally be charged on credit cards and worse still, the fixed fee of 12p on debit cards.

There is a definite opportunity for somebody else to create a rival platform that would be guaranteed success for no other reason than the total dissatisfaction customers have with eBay.