eBay PowerSeller Bo Corsillo, one half of the team of "Frik 'n Frak," got an email from eBay last Saturday telling him that his User ID was in violation of eBay's profanity policy, which prohibits the use of language that is "racist, hateful, sexual or obscene in nature in a public area."

He replied to the email, but he thought it might be a phishing attempt by identity thieves and sent the email to Spoof@eBay.com for verification. He didn't hear back from eBay, so he forwarded it twice more that day. But Bo worried during the day that the email might really be from eBay, and he finally forwarded the email to PowerSeller support.

Four days later, Bo got an email from support saying it was indeed a valid email, and they had forwarded his response on to the "proper department." And on Thursday evening he had still not heard from anyone at eBay.

Bo, an engineer who trades on eBay under the name www_frik-n-frak_com, sells wooden puzzles and brainteasers. But it was Bo who was puzzled about the reason for the email warning stating that he had 24 hours to change his user ID, a name he had used since August 2003. Bo was even more surprised to find that a moderator was discussing his case in the eBay discussion forums. According to the post by the moderator, "the violation in this case should have been identified by our enforcement team as the representation of a URL in their user id (which is not allowed in any userids created after November 2001), not offensive language."

Not only did it disturb Corsillo that his case was being discussed in a public forum by an eBay employee, but that he had never been notified of the actual reason for the policy violation notice.

In reviewing eBay's policy on allowable User IDs (http://pages.ebay.com/help/new/user_id.html), it's easy to see why some users might believe IDs like www_frik-n-frak_com would be allowed.

A quick check of a list compiled in September showed that nearly 15% of the top 500 feedback sellers on eBay used a URL as their username. But when eBay changed its policy in 2001, it allowed existing URL User IDs to remain under a grandfather clause.

"Where we tend to draw the line," explained eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy, on the reasoning behind the rule, "is on those that have the W's in the front or a "com" at the end and something to separate them. We don't want to draw people away from the site, and this is for the community's benefit."

Bo feels differently. "If eBay didn't allow the name, why did they let me transact business on their site for the past year and a half? In that time I've spent good money on business cards, stationery, a web site, all with the name Frik 'n Frak."

eBay's Durzy concedes, "I do believe the way in which we contacted this user and what we told him initially was less than ideal, to say the least."

So why did eBay suddenly decide Bo had to change his User ID, nearly one and a half years after he created it? According to the eBay moderator, "Apparently their userid was reported by another member."

"Sometimes mistakes do occur in our policy enforcement," the eBay moderator continued in her post. Yet if Bo's case is any indication, users feel powerless in trying to fix those mistakes. Despite the attention the problem was getting on the eBay boards, and despite Bo's best efforts to find someone at eBay to communicate with about the request to change his ID, he didn't hear anything until Friday, the same day AuctionBytes contacted eBay's public relations department inquiring about the matter. But during that phone call, he was told again he would have to change his User ID.

On Tuesday, Bo said he had received several phone calls from eBay representatives offering to free up the user name "frik-n-frak" as part of a "gentlemen's agreement," but with no guarantee - Bo would have to hurry and register the name when it became available.

Bo remains unwilling to change his User ID since, he says, it is not a URL and eBay has not addressed his original concerns about brand equity and costs, such as reprinting stationery. Bo doesn't know what will happen next, but is considering legal action if eBay changes the User ID upon which he's built his business. "It is a lose-lose principle battle, but I'll do it. Because doggonit, eBay has done the wrong thing here." Echoing a sentiment heard by many sellers, Bo said "Lately it seems eBay is just sucking the fun out of it. Would you please just let us sell so you can make more money?"

"eBay has been good to us and has blessed us in many ways," Bo said. "But the machine is broken. The system is wrong. I believe things that are broken can be fixed."

He says he welcomes the opportunity to work with eBay in the future to fix it.

Edited on 10/20/04