I could get quite annoyed about this

[desperance]

I have never actually used eBay for anything, either buying or selling. On the other hand, I have poked about a bit heretofore, and it's not at all impossible that I might have registered an account there, in anticipation of a future need.

I've come quite close these last days to buying a camera, and I just noticed an instance of it is being sold on eBay, with an hour to run on the bidding and current bids significantly below retail price. Far enough below to make it worth dropping a bid in. So I thought I'd do that, see what happened.

What happened on my regular browser was that, when I tried to register, eBay told me it was refusing to accept cookies. Which was quite likely, because I'm fairly rigorous about those things, so I went into the settings and told it to accept anything from eBay.

Went back to the bidding, and it told me it was still refusing to accept cookies.

Pfui. Change browser. Okay. Register. Can I use chazbrenchley as a username? Nope, somebody else is using that. Which there cannot be another Chaz Brenchley in the world - indeed, I know there is not - so either somebody's using my name for their username, or I did indeed register before. Pick the most likely, and toss in my default password. Not recognised: wrong password for that username. Okay. Click the I've-forgotten-my-password button. Get a form asking for my username. Give them chazbrenchley.

Username invalid. Huh, what? They just wouldn't let me register under that, because it was in use already, which makes it, um, valid. Doesn't it...?

Click the I've-forgotten-my-username button. Get a form asking for my e-mail. Give them that. They tell me my username has been sent to my e-mail.

Not so far, it hasn't, and that was twenty minutes ago. Er, guys? This is bollocks, y'know?

And yes, of course I should busily be registering under another name because time's ticking away on that camera, but if their system can fuck up this badly this quickly, I'm not much inclined to start funnelling money through it.

I don't need a camera. Hey look, here I am not spending money credit. Compulsory virtue. Be nice to me, I saved money today...

Comments

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

"eBay - wasting people's lives since 1996".

[carandol.livejournal.com]

Look on the bright side -- most bids are well below maximum with an hour to go. All the serious bidding takes place in the last minute. I discovered long ago that if there's something you *really* want to buy, you're only likely to get it using the "Buy It Now" button. Serious bidding is for people who either (a) don't care what they buy, or (b) don't care what they pay.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Did you check your spam filter for ebay email?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Actually, no: and most of my spam is filtered out at ISP level, it never gets this far. I did just get an eBay related spam, though, and I would be reluctant to think they would let spam through but filter out the real thing.

Still, you may be right. Happily, I care less with every passing minute. I just do get foolishly enraged when things don't work the way they ought to, or don't do what they say they do. (And no, of course, I should never have gone near a computer...)

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

You are aware that you will be plagued by demands from Chip in Wyoming as to why you haven't paid for that gold plated Harley Davidson he had shipped to you in New York.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention that: I did just get a spam about an unpaid eBay account. I didn't read it.

And I remember now, the last time I poked about on eBay, I did very suddenly get a flood of eBay-related spam. Is their security really that bad? I was wanting to put it down to coincidence...

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time it's enemy action.

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't know, eBay has been a reliable source of mucho reading matter and semi-precious books to me. I've recently acquired some M.P. Shiel and E.R. Eddison 1st print hardcover editions for something close to peanuts, after pretty much no harsh bidding. Mind you, the price of the books is peanuts, but the overseas postage pushes it a bit higher, but what with the strength of euro vs dollar or even pound, it works out pretty well. Besides, I live in France; traveling to second hand bookshops in England or the States would cost me much more.

eBay is just like everything else. You use it, and don't let yourself be used by it.

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

Online shopping is a Snare and a Delusion, and far too easy. I do not dare approach E-Bay The Debenhams Sale, though - get thee behind me, Debenhams!