I just received an email from ebay informing me that they've updated their user agreement, and this line got my attention: "We clarified the scope of the class action waiver." My thoughts immediately went to their ignoring of counterfeit coins being sold on their platform. So I decided to browse that section, and it make me chuckle. In section 19 "Legal Disputes" B.3. you are waiving your right to be included in any class action. All claims are on an individual basis. They must be resolved through arbitration, but B.7. "in the event that there are 25 or more individual Demands of a substantially similar nature" they will "administer the arbitration demands in batches of 100." This sounds like "class action arbitration", which is why I chuckled. You can't participate in a class action lawsuit, but they can dump you into an arbitration class of up to 100. Not being a lawyer, it all sounds wonky to me. It seems designed to shield themselves from a large punitive damages award over their practice of ignoring the sale of counterfeit coins. https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement?id=4259 has all the gory details. I'm not sure what changed with this update but I wasn't aware that I've agreed to not being allowed to participate in a class action. Perhaps others weren't aware of that either. Those things have mostly never netted me more than a few bucks anyway, although one against AVG anti-virus software did net me $148 last year (they sold personal information without permission). If you disagree with this, you can delete your ebay account. Yay!
Imagine if we all deleted our accounts and joined in a class action . . . In exchange for trying to intimidate us into cowering that would reward'em with a twofer!
Nope, not now. John is gone and Yoko is too busy. We ain't living in the 60's! Although it seems that way.
You know that fellow who wrote that song, "United Breaks Guitars" after a mess with United Airlines? Do you think he could write something about eBay?
I went to "Weird AI" and it spit out this poem for me. I rather like it. O eBay, digital bazaar of dreams, Where silver gleams and copper schemes, A marketplace with endless scroll, Yet riddled deep with tarnished soul. I search for coins of weight and age, With history stamped on metal page, But lurking there with polished grin Are fakes that laugh at truth and tin. They shine too bright, they age too fast, Cast yesterday, sold as the past, A dragon’s hoard of lies and lore, Struck not by time, but by a mold. “Authentic,” cries the typed-out vow, While error rings in every how, And though reported, flagged, and shown, The listings live. The fraud has grown. Where are the guards of trust and care? The watchmen sworn to vet what’s there? They count the fees, they close their eyes, While counterfeiters multiply. So buyers learn the bitter rule: The honest pay, the crooks play cool. And eBay hums its cheerful tune As truth is drowned in fake patina’s bloom. A market thrives on faith alone— Once cracked, it turns to plated stone. O eBay, hear the collector’s plea: Stop selling lies as history.
Good for you for reading the fine print. I'm glad some folks do that. I just shrugged and deleted the email without reading it. TL/DR.
I normally see "updated user agreement" and just delete it too. But "We clarified the scope of the class action waiver" got my attention, because I've posted in various threads that the only way ebay will do anything about counterfeits is if there's a large lawsuit. Obviously they're way ahead of me. I don't go there anymore anyway so it's no skin off my nose.
Anybody pick up on this (emphasis added): 6. Fees and Costs Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the applicable NAM fee schedules (the "Fee Schedules"), but may be reapportioned between the parties in accordance with this Agreement to Arbitrate, as follows: if you complied with the Informal Dispute Resolution requirements in Section 1 of this Agreement and the value of the relief sought in the Dispute is $10,000 or less, at your request eBay will pay all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees associated with the arbitration. The parties shall bear their own attorneys’ fees and costs in arbitration unless the arbitrator finds that either the substance of the Dispute or the relief sought in the Demand was frivolous or was brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)). To the extent, following a presentation on the merits, on its own motion or a party’s, and after affording a reasonable opportunity to respond, an arbitrator determines that a party who commenced arbitration did not bring its claim(s) consistent with counsel’s Certification and the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b), the arbitrator may, as part of its award, impose sanctions by ordering that the initiating party reimburse the responding party for all arbitration costs and arbitrators’ fees the responding party incurred under the Fee Schedule. All we need is a bunch of retired people willing to follow all the procedures carefully to reach arbitration...
