I've been meaning to post this interesting link - an on-line article about "Conversational Terrorism" - for some time now. With the advent of the Internet, it's much easier to catch this sort of thing. Learn how to defend yourself!

I hate Freud, but Jung had it goin' on! He knew that we all have a dark side, the shadow self, and that we need to befriend our dark side, as it has hidden strengths that we can use to our advantage. That shadow self concept is the only useful thing I ever got out of therapy.

I wonder what Jung would make of constantly making self-deprecating remarks in the hopes that people will boost your ego? That's more like pandering to your shadow self, not trying to understand it. Something to think about. Another thought - martyrdom is not selflessness.

Yay! We now qualify for health insurance!

Boo! It's going to cost over $240 a month! Good thing we don't have any of that there socialized medicine in 'Merica!

A few simple questions and your soul is examined, explained, and encapsulated in handy meme form! (I don't do too many quizzes, so you can tell I'm procrastinating!)

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time. You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult. You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

Yes, I love eBay. It's a great concept, allowing people to buy and sell trash and treasure on-line, all over the world. And, at pennies a listing for the majority of the auctions, they make a good deal of money, little bits here and there that really add up.

But, have you ever tried to reach their customer service? I have, and would love to share my tale of woe with you.

As most of you know, we moved a few months ago, so my bank account changed. This was the account that was hooked to my eBay sellers account. It ran low on funds, so, about the middle of last month, eBay couldn't get 20 bucks that I owed them. So they e-mailed me.

Problem # 1: it's impossible to discern a genuine mail from eBay. This is the fault of spammers. All spammers and con artsists should die a painful death.

At this point, eBay shut down my account, and I found this out when I tried to make a bid on something. Fair enough. They should have their money, I don't dispute that. I paid them via credit card, and expected that, since my balance was showing at zero, and since they were obviously all computerized, that my account would be reinstated automatically.

Problem # 2: eBay has a crappy computer system. What's up with that?

Next, after seeing that my account wasn't going to get reinstated, I look through their Help pages. I send an e-mail. I get a canned response telling me to pay my account. I DID THAT ALREADY! I send another e-mail. Nothing.

Problem # 3: It's bad when a computer based company does not answer e-mails you send them!

After days of waiting, Godfrey finds their phone # on-line, on a different (read: non eBay) web page, I might add.

Problem # 4: (and this is a big one) NO WAY TO PHYSICALLY CONTACT EbAY!!! NO mailing address, no phone number listed on their web site!!!!! How can they get away with doing business like this??? If any other company were to run their business like that, they'd be run out of town! Why, they'd be considered A BUNCH OF CON ARTISTS!

So I called the number. The first thing the eBay phone people do is ask you where you got the phone number! The first lady I talked to said to use the "Live Help" feature. Fair enough, I hadn't tried that before.

Problem # 5: Ebay's Live Help employees are about as friendly and helpful as a bunch of rabid wolverines with heat rash. The first one I talked to told me that I had e-mailed the account reactivation address on December 1, and it would be 48 hours until I heard them. She implied that every time I e-mailed them, it would be an additional 48 hours before I got a response. Since I was chatting with her on December 3, that does indeed make 48 hours since my last e-mail. I checked. I did the math. She abruptly ended our on-line chat session. Basically, she hung up on me. Yeah, great customer service. So I waited, and heard nothing. I decided to Live Chat again after three more days of waiting.

Problem # 6: In addition to being unfriendly and unhelpful, eBay's on-line help staff lies. "Kerry" told me that she (or he) had "No way to contact that department". "You can't e-mail them? You can't call them?" I replied. At this point, Kerry terminated our chat session. So, the first person could call up my e-mails, but "Kerry" couldn't even pick up the phone? LIES MAKE BABY JESUS CRY, KERRY!

So I called the 800 number again. This person actually had a conscious, I could tell, or maybe she could tell I was ready to crawl through the phone and hurt someone. At any rate, she had the decency to so at least sound apologetic. She said they couldn't do anything, it was up to the "accounting department". So I'm not really sure WHY they have a phone staff, if they can't ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING.

So there you have it. Ebay has the world's worst customer service, and all I can do about it is post this account of my horrible experiences with their employees, along with their phone #s:
(408) 558-7400
(408) 558-7401
1-800-322-9266 (This is the one I've been calling)
1-888-749-3229
1-408-376-6554 FAX

*See May 26 update below for a new number

Really, I don't know how the little guys of the Internet can tackle this monster. They are totally unaccountable!

UPDATE: Behold the power of the blog! My blog brings all the eBay customer service reps to the yard! Less than 24 hours after making this post, my good eBay name has been restored! Coincidence? I think not! Well, if we've learned anything from blogging, it's that people read this crap! Even eBay!

UPDATE:5/26/06 Received an email from Tim with a new number for eBay. 800-717-EBAY (800-717-3229).

UPDATE: 6/29/06Thanks to comment spammers I must temporarilly disable comments on this post. If you have additional information about eBay you would like to add to this discussion, please send me an email. P.S. - comment spammers, I feel certain there's a special place waiting for you in Hell.

I survived my first semester as a T.A. / Grad Student. I go now to turn in my "little darlings'" (aka freshmen's) grades, and hand in The Seminar Paper That Ate My Brain!

I did a lot, learned a lot, taught a few - but I'm so glad it's over. I'll be taking a Technology Break for a few days. Everything has been "e" - my students "e-submitted" all their assignments, most of my research was "e-search" - I need to not stare at a monitor for a while. Plus the typing is hurting my arms. Well, that combined with trudging across campus with the actual books I did need to check out of the library. As no modern woman can resist the Internet for long, I'll be back soon.

As of two minutes ago, I have gone through four boxes of Kleenex since this weekend. Sure, one box was pretty low when I started, but still - numbers like that are pretty impressive. Or horrifying.

I'm pretty sure this is not how I want to spend the rest of my life.

Godfrey's Visor PDA (December 2001 - December 2004) passed away this afternoon after a sudden encounter with gravity. Those of you that know him realize what a shock this is, as he is rarely seen without it. Truly, it was an organizer and a friend.