eBay President in North America insincere and insulting claim protesters as boycott weekend looms

Released on = September 7, 2006, 5:38 pm

Press Release Author = CORE

Industry = Internet & Online

Press Release Summary = CORE, the Campaign Of Rebuffed Ebayers, responds to Bill
Cobbs Town Hall meeting

Press Release Body = CORE, the Campaign Of Rebuffed Ebayers, has responded to
yesterdays comments by Bill Cobb, President eBay North America, who indicated recent
changes which have so infuriated eBay users globally would stand.

A spokesman for CORE said; "He [Bill Cobb] repeated the same company justification
that has been offered since July which, in many peoples view, is looking
increasingly out of touch with reality. He failed to adequately acknowledge the
depth of international user opposition to recent policy changes and this, in many
commentators opinion, is a mistake. In our view he came across as insincere and
insulting to the smaller community members that claim they can no longer afford to
trade on eBay. He referred to their plight as simply 'unfortunate'. His Q&A session
was basically of little interest to the fee paying user he was addressing."

CORE is calling for an international four day 'Clean Up Ebay' protest (CUE) from
21.00 GMT on Thursday 14th September until the same time Monday 18th September 2006

They say this is intended to be more than a listing strike and are asking all
eBayers to get involved. They want buyers and sellers to stop trading on eBay during
this four day period and donate some of the time saved to report many of the
obvious, so called, 'scam listings'. This campaign has quickly been reported around
the globe and CORE claim the volume of emails, phone calls, press inquiries and
messages of support they've received is "amazing". They say the issues they are
raising are important and eBay should not be ignoring them.

The many complaints received by CORE from eBay users have widened from the original
fee issue which seems to have been the catalyst for this latest wave of protest.
Failings to police the site adequately for bad listings, removing some sellers
listings from search results, frustratingly inadequate customer services, increased
handling fees charged to buyers, the opening up of the site free of charge to far
eastern sellers, the convoluted list of alternative brand activities and continual
changes to the eBay site are all raised with alarming regularity.

Their spokesman summed up; "As you can imagine, none of us involved with the
campaign on any continent are getting much sleep right now! We are working hard to
bring all eBay users together, regardless of their location. We believe in the old
fashioned adage that 'Customer is King'. Users throughout Europe, Australia and
Canada are all affected along with the US. We aim to highlight the need for eBay to
clean itself up and get the site back on track. We are increasingly concerned that
current direction within eBay threatens both the user and shareholder investment
alike and it needs to be checked."
END
Notes for Editors:
1. CORE spokespeople can be contacted via: ebayprotestgroup@googlemail.com
2. The idea for CUE was inspired by the Clean Up The World Weekend (CUW). Now in its
13th year, CUW, held in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), mobilises over 35 million volunteers from more than 100 countries annually,
making it one of the largest community-based environmental campaigns in the world.
More info on CUW: http://www.cleanuptheworld.org/Main.asp?Requesttype

Web Site = http://

Contact Details = CORE

ebayprotestgroup@googlemail.com

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