I got a letter from a reader recently about an auction of his, and he wanted to know why it had been cancelled by eBay. Based on the information he gave me, I guessed it was either because of VeRO or "keyword spamming." I wanted to be able to send him the URLs linking directly to eBay's policies about these issues when I replied to him. I went to eBay to find them. While there, I encountered an icon for eBay Live Help, and decided to put it to the test.

Below I've included a transcript of the Help session. (At the end of the session, it asked me if I wanted the transcript emailed to me, and I said yes. This is a very handy feature.)

I corresponded with an eBay Live Help operator named Matthew. When I asked him for help on the specific auction and asked why it had been ended, he said, "I'm sorry. I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars of a member's account." I have a feeling that users will have to get used to that phrase. Live Support can only help you with policies and features. The operators cannot access records about specific members or transactions.

I asked Matthew to point me directly to the URLs that outlined eBay's policies on VeRO and Keyword Spamming. He was quickly able to provide those links. However, the URL he provided on Keyword Spamming only went to the general Rules & Safety page; you would have to know to click on Listing Policies and scroll down.

In general, I was pleased with the feature since it didn't take much time, and I got some help finding the pages I needed. There is no question that the feature would be greatly improved if it had the ability to call up specific information about transactions and member information. Live Help is no substitute for being able to talk via phone to a customer support specialist who could help with unique problems.

The Live Support icon can be found at the top of eBay's home page with times of service: 9am to 9pm Pacific time, which would be noon to midnight my time.

>>>>BEGINNING OF TRANSCRIPT

From: "eBay Customer Support" support@ebay.com
To: ina@auctionbytes.com
Subject: Transcript of your chat
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 21:45:37 -0400

The following is a record of your online chat.

General Info
Chat start time Jul 11, 2002 9:41:14 PM EST
Chat end time Jul 11, 2002 9:45:21 PM EST
Duration (actual chatting time) 00:04:07
Operator Matthew

Chat Transcript
info: Your request for eBay Live Help is being sent now. The estimated wait to reach an eBay Customer Support representative is approximately 0 minute(s). All Live Help requests are answered in the order they are received. Thank you for your patience.

info: You are now chatting with Matthew Matthew: Hello. How may I assist you?

ina: I saw that item # was pulled. Was it because of keyword spamming?

Matthew: I'm sorry. I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars of a member's account

Ina: is there a place on eBay that talks about a) keyword spamming AND b) the VERO program? (If you had URLs you could direct me to, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Matthew: http://webhelp.ebay.com/cgi-bin/eHNC/showdoc-ebay.tcl?docid=539&queryid=vero

Matthew: that is the link about the Vero Program

Matthew: Keyword spamming is defined in the Trust & Safety pages

Matthew: Which can be found through the following site

Matthew: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/index.html

Ina: Thank you!!

Ina: Good bye.

Matthew: g'nite

Matthew: thanks for using eBay Live Chat
<<<<<<<< END OF TRANSCRIPT

By going to the pages describing eBay's policies, you can find what VERO and keyword spamming are:

VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) enables copyright and trademark rights owners "to request removal of allegedly infringing items." More information: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-program.html

Keyword Spamming is the "excessive use of key words, including (but not limited to) brand names, which are referenced for the purpose of attracting or diverting buyers to a listing will be considered key word spamming and is not permitted." More information: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-wordspam.html

People have told me that many times, the people who complain to eBay about Keyword Spamming are doing so in order to get their competitors' auctions pulled. In some cases, keyword spamming is a gray area, in my opinion. It sounds like eBay enforces the policy in a very black & white manner, however. If no one reports you, your auction stands. If someone does complain, your auction is ended.

Comments? Confused? Have a similar experience? Visit the forums to tell me why: http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php