Late Friday night, leading online auction site eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) apologized for a service outage that had crippled its site for nearly 24 hours. By that time, however, the damage had already been done. Disgruntled eBay customers vented their frustrations on online message boards and eBay stock fell more than nine percent, dropping 16-13/16 to 165-7/8 on Friday.
I find it interesting that E-bay doesn't want its customers knowing the toll-free number to reach customer support. I posted a number that I found through a Yahoo search and they erased it. They sent me the following letter. Perhaps it's time for E-bay to MAKE customer service "cost effective." The number is 1-800-322-9266. Letter below: Hello ormarr, I noticed that you posted eBay's phone number on an eBay Board. Since eBay does not have the staff to handle large quantities of incoming phone calls, and increasing our staffing levels to handle an increasing number of calls would not be cost-effective, we would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from providing the number to others, especially in public forums such as discussion boards and chat rooms. We certainly appreciate your willingness to provide help to other users and I know that providing the phone number seems like the correct thing to do, especially when a user appears to need emergency help; however, providing the number to large groups is counter-productive. Since we don't have the staff to handle these calls it only increases the frustration levels of both members and staff. Thanks for understanding that I had to remove the post and send this request on to you. I know you were only trying to help out. :) Regards, Deann eBay Moderation Team
we have found a contact phone number for eBay in the UK which seems to handle worldwide calls for them. The number is +44 700 500 3229 (+44 700 500 EBAY) we called them and our problem was resolved after a few calls. good luck.
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eBay Tries To Recover from Outage
Posted by: Andy Wang June 14, 1999 12:00 AMLate Friday night, leading online auction site eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) apologized for a service outage that had crippled its site for nearly 24 hours. By that time, however, the damage had already been done. Disgruntled eBay customers vented their frustrations on online message boards and eBay stock fell more than nine percent, dropping 16-13/16 to 165-7/8 on Friday.
Letter below:
Hello ormarr,
I noticed that you posted eBay's phone number on an eBay Board. Since eBay does not have the staff to handle large quantities of incoming phone calls, and increasing our staffing levels to handle an increasing number of calls would not be cost-effective, we would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from providing the number to others, especially in public forums such as discussion boards and chat rooms.
We certainly appreciate your willingness to provide help to other users and I know that providing the phone number seems like the correct thing to do, especially when a user appears to need emergency help; however, providing the number to large groups is counter-productive. Since we don't have the staff to handle these calls it only increases the frustration levels of
both members and staff.
Thanks for understanding that I had to remove the post and send this request on to you. I know you were only trying to help out. :)
Regards,
Deann
eBay Moderation Team
we called them and our problem was resolved after a few calls.
good luck.