eBay users have always been vocal, and eBay has had to respond differently to its customers than companies in other industries. One fairly unique way of addressing concerns is through monthly online "Town Hall" meetings in which the President of eBay North America Bill Cobb answers pre-screened questions live through an audio broadcast.

eBay members never seem to lack for concerns to call or write in about, and sellers in particular ask some tough questions. At the last event, held on February 22, 2007, many sellers called in with questions about technical problems. The next event takes place on Thursday, March 29, and eBay users have already left pages of questions on the thread devoted to the meeting. eBay accepts questions via telephone and via postings on the Town Hall discussion board.

Concern has been growing over eBay's decision to retire Turbo Lister, forcing users to adopt the new version, which they say has problems. And that is one of the questions posed on the discussion board for Thursday's meeting. Other questions cover issues such as the new Sell Your Item form (not popular with some sellers), fraud, shipping issues (including excessive S&H charges), the length of time it takes for items to show up in eBay search, fees, feedback and even several questions about harassment.

One seller asks, "The attempted upgrades to Half.com have resulted in further "glitches" about which there are many reports, but we've had no announcements, acknowledgement, or projected fixes. Why no communication?"

Another writes, "Hi Bill and team, The countdown for TurboLister 1 going dead will be at 4 or 5 days when this Town Hall happens, and TurboLister 2 is still not working with Microsoft Windows Vista. So what's going to happen first, extending the life of TurboLister 1 or getting a working copy of TurboLister 2 into Sellers hands?"

Bill Cobb will again lead a panel of eBay executives on Thursday in answering questions submitted by users. eBay will broadcast the meeting live over Internet radio via wsRadio. Users can listen in via Windows Media Player or Real Player.

http://pages.ebay.com/townhall