The Corner Penthouse

This is another in a series of articles about eBay, who lets sellers that it likes get away with scamming and harassing other users. I will do my best to inform the public about the bad sellers that cross my path, so other buyers can avoid them, as I wish I could. The bad seller I will be writing about today is: Aaron Mallia of Grosse Ile, Michigan, operating under the eBay ID: nostalgia_r_us

On January 16, 2024, I bought a signed David Gerrold "The Real Ghostbusters: The Hole in the Wall Gang" episode script from Aaron Mallia (eBay ID: "nostalgia_r_us"). He originally had it listed for the outrageous price of $50, but I managed to get him down to $35. Little did I know that I was being scammed even at that price.


A month later, I found that the signed script originated on author David Gerrold's TribbleToys.com website, where it can still be purchased for a mere $10 ($15 if you buy it with his "Adventures in Slime & Space" script). Since Mr. Gerrold is still producing and hand-signing copies of the script, Aaron misrepresented the script when he said it was "vintage".


Since Aaron lied about the age of the script, and scammed me for $25, I left him negative feedback so as to alert other potential buyers about him. It was a simple bit of text to the effect of, "Seller sold me a signed script for $35 that the original author is selling on his own website for $10. Never again." I could have went into more detail, but I kept it simple and to the point. In less than 24 hours, eBay let Aaron easily and quickly remove my LEGITIMATE negative feedback (a benefit sellers get as part of eBay's Concierge service), so that he could appear to have a spotless record.


As if that wasn't bad enough, Aaron Millia then sent me several harassing and THREATENING eBay private messages, in which he gloated about being able to easily and quickly remove the valid negative feedback I left for him.

From: nostalgia_r_us
Sent: Feb-13-24 11:20
I suggest you message the seller next time you have an issue instead of blindly leaving bs negative feedback. You're a trash member

From: nostalgia_r_us
Sent: Feb-13-24 11:21
Btw this was being sold for a friend, I had zero clue thus was being sold elsewhere. This negative feedback will be removed within 24 hours but nice try

From: nostalgia_r_us
Sent: Feb-13-24 11:21
Loser

From: nostalgia_r_us
Sent: Feb-13-24 11:23
Better watch what you sell from now on buddy. I'll be returning the favor

Bear in mind, Aaron went on this lunatic tirade all because I left him negative feedback... which eBay allowed him to easily remove! (That sellers can remove any negative feedback they get makes the eBay feedback system even more useless and pointless.) I did not say or do anything to Aaron to warrant these THREATENING remarks. I can't believe that eBay wants a person who talks to customers like this to still be a part of their site.

Here's the thing to understand about this matter. My intention was just to leave the negative feedback for Aaron Millia, so potential buyers would know the truth about him, and then move on. I was willing to accept that he scammed me out of $25 and would have put this matter in the past. Instead, Aaron chose to insult and threaten me.

I just now (on February 13th) used eBay's "Report an Issue With a Seller" form to report Aaron for his abusive messages. I doubt eBay will do anything against him, as eBay gives preferential treatment to users that they like. If anything, eBay will probably take action against me for having the gall to report him. eBay doesn't like whistleblowers, such as me.


I also sent an e-mail to concierge@ebay.com informing them of the matter and telling them what I would like to see happen:

1. The negative feedback that I left for "nostalgia_r_us" to be reinstated.

2. A refund of $25 taken from Aaron's seller account, symbolically the amount he ripped me off, which will serve as reparations from him for his abusive messages to me. I think my dignity and respect is worth at least that much.

That is what needs to be done to make this situation right. We'll see if eBay will protect Aaron Millia or if they will do the right thing. I will update this article with further developments, should there be any.

[UPDATE - 2/14/2024]
I have been spreading work of this incident through my social media network, which caught the attention of eBay's Facebook team. I restated the matter to an eBay rep through Facebook private message. On February 14th, I received the following reply from eBay rep Maranda (line beaks inserted by me).

Hi Paul, thanks for reaching out to eBay about the issue you've had with this seller.

Whenever you have an issue with an eBay member, we do encourage you to report them to us so that our trust and safety team can do an investigation and with those findings we can take appropriate actions. I can send you the link so you can complete this action for us: http://spkl.io/61824xB1u

In regard to the feedback removal, I appreciate you sharing additional details and I understand how frustrating it can be to have feedback you left and feel is valid, removed from the site. When feedback is administratively removed, this is not saying you did anything wrong in any way. While we unfortunately are unable to disclose exactly why feedback is removed, I can assure you it is only done in rare circumstances. We hold sellers accountable in many ways, so rest assured that even if the feedback is removed, we take your concerns with them seriously and we can still access your feedback comment internally if we ever need to reference it during an investigation. Once feedback is removed, it cannot be reinstated.

In regard to a $25 refund, that would only be possible if the seller was to voluntarily refund you for the order. Once you place an order on our site, you agree to the price at checkout when you submit your shipping and payment details. I understand that you feel ripped off considering other people are selling the same item for less, but as with supply and demand changing prices periodically for a particular item, prices are something that is out of eBay's control and is left in the hands of the market demand. ~Maranda

That mish-mosh of canned text really boils down to, "Aaron Millia is one of our beloved 'top-rated sellers', so we allow him to do anything he wants". This tells me everything I need to know about eBay.

For the record, I already used that link to report Aaron Millia on February 13th, and no action was taken against him. He's still peddling his wares and he still has his fraudulent, unearned "100% positive feedback".

Since I never received a reply from concierge@ebay.com to the message I sent two days ago, I've reached out again to see if eBay would like to give a more official response to this matter. I also CC'ed in the executive addresses I found online: Cornelius Boone (coboone@ebay.com), Stefanie Jay (stefanie.jay@ebay.com), Jamie Iannone (jiannone@ebay.com). Are they really going to allow Aaron Millia to go unpunished for his abhorrent behavior?

[UPDATE - 2/17/2024]
My e-mail to the corporate addresses was forwarded to ootp@ebay.com (Office of the President), from which I received this lengthy response from from eBay rep Emmitt Allgood (methinks that's not his real name).

Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2024 16:28:46 -0700 (MST)
From: ootp@ebay.com

Hello Paul,

Thank you for contacting eBay Inc. My name is Emmitt and on behalf of eBay, I am happy to address your concerns.

First of all, I'm sad to hear you had a disappointing experience with your purchase order number 14-11059-99904 and that your seller's subsequent messages were less than kind. We want our members to have positive buying experiences on eBay and we greatly appreciate you choosing to use our eBay platform these past 21 years. That being said, I'm happy to review your recent order to see if I can provide clarification or some assistance.

After reviewing the details of the transaction and the associated seller's messages, I agree that this behavior is unprofessional and not what we would like to see on eBay. As such, I will report this behavior to our Risk team, who will check for other selling patterns and determine if disciplinary action pertaining to their eBay account status should be taken. Hopefully, as the messages were only sent on February 13th, 2024, and did not continue, this seller was very heated in the moment and they do not have patterns of this type of messaging with other buyers. I see you took the high ground and did not respond to the negative messages. We appreciate your efforts in remaining civil when you could have easily exacerbated the messaging conversation.

I applaud your conduct and empathize with feelings of frustration you may feel at having found a better price elsewhere. However, upon reviewing your feedback and the listing, I have determined that the price was agreed to at the time of purchase and thus the removal of the feedback is considered a valid decision in accordance with our Selling Performance and Feedback policy (http://tinyurl.com/nbchmctz).

Sellers are free to list items at the prices they choose, and if their prices are higher than other markets, they may not sell quickly or experience low demand. Some sellers may post items for years before their items sell or they may allow best offers knowing they priced high or are in need of clearing their inventory. Unless an item is considered an essential item for living, we would not consider higher than average price points to violate our Price Gouging policy (http://tinyurl.com/4dv5k5rt). This being said, while I appreciate your report, I am unable to grant your feedback reinstatement and reimbursement requests.

Moving forward, if you would like to avoid the possibility of this seller ever purchasing from you, I would recommend adding the seller nostalgia_r_us to your Buyer Block list. This can be found under your Selling Preferences inside your Account Settings page (https://www.ebay.com/uas/selling-pref). Doing so will ensure that they cannot buy from you if you decide to sell in the future. As your settings currently block contacts from users on that list if it's at least 90 days from a purchase date, I do not foresee you receiving more messages from this seller. If for some reason the seller tries to circumvent your blocklist by creating a new account to purchase from you in the future, please know you can cancel those transactions for the reason of problem with a buyer's address.

Once again, we appreciate your choice to use our platform over the years and I am glad I could report this seller for you today and provide some clarity. I sincerely hope you will choose to continue being a valued eBay member and use our platform in the future. Wishing you the best.

Respectfully,
Emmitt Allgood
eBay

As expected, eBay will not do anything against Aaron Millia for the MULTIPLE wrongs he has committed.

1. Aaron Millia listed an item as "vintage", when it wasn't, which is illegal. eBay doesn't care. Emmitt didn't even address this matter in his reply.

2. Aaron Millia clearly price-gouged me on what could be considered a "hand-made item" created by David Gerrold. So, not only did he rip me off, but he also ripped off Mr. Gerrold. (Aaron took a sale away from Mr. Gerrold.) eBay doesn't care. The eBay "price gouge policy" only applies to pandemic-era "essential" items, which makes it quite pointless, as nearly everything sold on eBay falls outside of that narrow policy.

Emmitt states, "I am unable to grant your feedback reinstatement and reimbursement requests."

3. Aaron Millia deserved the negative feedback I left for him, and no eBay policy gives a valid reason as to why he was allowed to have it easily and quickly removed, so as to misrepresent his "business" with fraudulent, unearned "100% positive feedback". No one at eBay has told me why Aaron was able to have my valid negative feedback removed.

Emmitt states, "Upon reviewing your feedback and the listing, I have determined that the price was agreed to at the time of purchase and thus the removal of the feedback is considered a valid decision in accordance with our Selling Performance and Feedback policy."

What Emmitt is really saying is, "You agreed to let Aaron Millia rip you off, so he doesn't deserve the negative feedback you left for him". Is that not the biggest load of bullshit you ever read?

4. Aaron Millia sent me disrespectful and threatening messages, yet no punitive action was taken against him by eBay. He is still allowed to sell his wares with his bogus "100% positive feedback".

Emmitt states, "As such, I will report this behavior to our Risk team, who will check for other selling patterns and determine if disciplinary action pertaining to their eBay account status should be taken. Hopefully, as the messages were only sent on February 13th, 2024, and did not continue, this seller was very heated in the moment and they do not have patterns of this type of messaging with other buyers."

The logic behind this statement is akin to saying, "This person may have robbed a store, but they didn't rob anyone before that, or since, so no punitive action should be taken against them." If a person does something wrong, they should be punished for it, end of story. It doesn't matter whether they did it before or again.

I have no idea why Emmitt gave me information for preventing Aaron Millia from purchasing from me on eBay because I DO NOT SELL ON EBAY! That all ended on September 28, 2021 at 10:42 PM Eastern when eBay stopped allowing me to be paid directly with PayPal, as I documented here on The Corner Penthouse. I have my own shop here on Spook Central where I sell my goods.

So, to recap, eBay is letting Aaron Millia get away with lying about the age of the item, price gouging, removing valid negative feedback, and harassing and threatening me.  Meanwhile, his victim, that being me, gets no reparations in the end.  Story of my life.

[UPDATE - 2/21/2024]
Since Emmitt failed to satisfactorily resolve the matter, I sent a reply to ootp@ebay.com asking to speak to Emmitt's supervisor. I wanted real, not pre-written, answers from someone high-up at eBay to these questions:

1. Why was Aaron Millia (nostalgia_r_us) allowed to easily and quickly remove my negative feedback?

2. Why is eBay refusing to reinstate the negative feedback?

3. Why has eBay not punished Aaron for all of the wrongdoings he has done, such as misrepresenting the age of the item, and of course, sending me insulting and THREATENING messages. Failure to punish Aaron means that eBay condones both behaviors.

Aaron sold me an item under false pretenses, as he lied about the age of the item. It is not "vintage". By eBay's own policy, I am entitled to my money back.

4. What kind of reparations is eBay going to make to me, on behalf of Aaron Millia, for the insulting and THREATENING messages he sent to me?

Although I asked to supervisor - there are definitely people higher up on the eBay corporate ladder than Emmitt Allgood - I received a reply from Emmitt on February 20, 2024.

Hello Paul,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Although I understand you have concerns regarding my authority in speaking to concerns of this matter, I assure you I am a representative of eBay's Executive Office and I am able to offer a final resolution on behalf of eBay, Inc.

To further address your concerns, I tried calling the phone number you have on file with us, unfortunately, it went straight to voicemail with a notification that a voice mail box has yet to be set up for that number. As such, I am responding to the bullet points you've provided via email.

1. Why was your seller allowed to easily and quickly remove your negative feedback? And why are we refusing to reinstate it.
   1. Sellers are allowed to request feedback removal when the feedback is solely about an already agreed to detail at checkout. In this case before purchasing, the price point of $35 was agreed to - whether you found the item available at a different price does not negate this fact.
      1. Your feedback was "The seller charged me $35 for a signed Real Ghostbusters script that the script's author is selling himself on his own website for a mere $10"
      2. To further illustrate why we allow feedback removal for this scenario, I'd like to provide the example of products sold at a brick-and-mortar store. Many items sold in department stores or even grocery stores are sourced in wholesale from different brands or manufacturers. A buyer may be able to find those items cheaper at different store chains -- or by going directly to the manufacturer/wholesaler. However, the brick-and-mortar store wants to make a profit, so they price it higher and do not direct customers to where they can find items at cheaper prices. As this is a common business practice, unless the item is considered an essential item required for basic living purposes, we do not consider setting higher prices than other locations to be price gouging (http://tinyurl.com/3pa978k4). Supply and demand will determine if items sell at a seller's listed prices.
   2. To further address the possibility of feedback reinstatement, once feedback is removed, it is unable to be reinstated. However, if an eBay member believes feedback was removed in error, we are happy to review the transaction for applicable training and improvement opportunities. In this case, we consider this a valid feedback removal.
   3. I noticed in your referenced blog post; you mentioned eBay sellers can have a limited number of feedbacks removed as a courtesy if they are eBay Concierge members. Please know, while this was something offered in the past, this benefit has been retired and is no longer a provided service. If you would like to read more about the benefits of being an eBay Concierge member, please visit our eBay Concierge help article (http://tinyurl.com/3dtes24f).

 

2. Why has eBay not punished your seller for all the wrongdoing they have done, including misrepresenting the age of the item and sending insulting and threatening messages?
   1. I agree the seller's messages after you left the negative feedback could have been more professional. The messages seem to express surprise and anger at the possible reputation damage the negative feedback could cause and disappointment that they were not notified of dissatisfaction before it was left.  Due to the content of the seller's outbound messages, I am unsure if the seller would have offered an amicable solution if a message were sent to them prior to leaving feedback. Seven days have passed since the messages were sent, so I believe they were composed in the heat of the moment. Either way, we do not condone inflammatory behavior by eBay buyers or sellers, so I assure you we keep track of member reports for monitoring and disciplinary action purposes.. If this seller's poor messaging behavior resumes, please let us and I'd be happy to revisit reviewing the seller's account.
   2. Please know, if a If a buyer feels an item was received not as described in the listing, our eBay Money Back Guarantee allows for a buyer to return the item for a refund within 30 days of receipt even if a seller has a no returns policy (http://tinyurl.com/ar9cdu5v). Sellers are held to certain metrics, including how often buyers open not as described returns, and if those metrics are high, this can result in paying higher selling fees, demoting listing placement in search results, or even temporary or permanent seller restrictions (Service metrics policy: http://tinyurl.com/54e3ym2b, Seller Performance Policy: http://tinyurl.com/mwuc8e8d).

 

3. What kind of reparations is eBay going to make to me, on behalf of the seller, for the insulting and threatening messages they sent?
   1. I understand this has been a negative purchasing experience and you would like the seller to be held account. As the messages were sent by the seller, the seller has been reported for their behavior and will be monitored for further actioning. As for what types of disciplinary actions are taken on a different member's account, that information is confidential in upholding the integrity of our User Privacy (http://tinyurl.com/yd4a5u5y) and other marketplace privacy responsibilities and regulations.
   2. If you feel the item you received was not as described in the listing, you can open a not as described return within our 30 day eBay Money Back Guarantee window. 30 days are almost passed since the delivery of your purchase, so if you would like to open a return, please do this as soon as possible. Here is a link our Return an item for a refund page, just in case you'd like more info about opening a return: http://tinyurl.com/3tbapvpp

Once again, we appreciate your choice to be a buyer on our eBay platform. I sincerely hope your future purchases are positive ones and thank you for providing me with the opportunity to clarify this matter further. Wishing you all the best.

Kind regards,
Emmitt Allgood
eBay

Emmitt says that the reason the feedback was removed was because I mentioned the price-gouging in the feedback text. That is completely laughable. If I hadn't forgotten to also mention the lying about the age of the item, would the feedback still have been removed?

Emmitt also says that because I agreed to be price-gouged by Aaron at the time of purchase, he was justified to have the feedback removed. That is victim shaming, and is a horrible stance for eBay to take. I sincerely hope that Emmitt never gets a job as a rape counselor.

That Aaron not only had it quickly and easily removed, but then gloated about it afterward, tells me that Aaron knew in advance that he could get the feedback quickly and easily removed. So, if Emmitt is right that eBay ended the negative feedback removal "feature" of the Concierge service, then how did Aaron know he could get the feedback quickly and easily removed? I get the feeling that this isn't the first time Aaron price-gouged someone who then left negative feedback about it afterward. He probably saw my negative feedback and said to himself, "Oh look, he mentioned the price-gouging. I can get this feedback easily removed." That's why he gloated about it afterward.

You will notice that Emmitt was able to quote the exact feedback text I left.  This means that, as expected, the feedback still exists in the eBay system.  Thus, if eBay employees wanted to reinstate it, they could.  So, its not that they *can't* reinstate it, it's that they don't *want* to reinstate it.  There is a big difference between the two. Remember, this is eBay's very own system, so the eBay employees can do whatever the hell they want with it. If they want to add 100 negative feedbacks to Aaron's account, they can do just that.

If the issue with the negative feedback I left for Aaron was that I mentioned the price-gouging, then why not delete the feedback text, but leave the negative feedback itself (with no text)? That's what eBay did a few years ago when I left negative feedback for a seller who sold me inventory that was not his own; he drop-shipped from Amazon. I paid him for merchandise from his own inventory, not to shop on Amazon for me. I am more than capable of shopping on Amazon myself. In my feedback, I mentioned "Amazon" since that's where he bought the item from. eBay removed the feedback text, but left the negative feedback. Of course, eBay also punished *me* for mentioning Amazon. (Have I ever mentioned how petty eBay is?)

Emmitt mentioned that the return window for the item was still open. I had thought it closed a while ago. So, although it was never my intention to return the script for a full refund, on February 20th at 3:22 PM Eastern, I opened a "return request". My plan was then to buy the "Hole in the Wall Gang" script from David Gerrold's site for his original price; adding it to my open order of the "Adventures in Slime & Space" script.

About 10 minutes after I initiated the return, I received a refund of the full $38.02 that I had paid, without the need to return the script.  While I still feel like the negative feedback I had left for Aaron was justified and should be reinstated, I will consider this a "happy ending" to this matter and put it behind me.


I can't help but feel that this is what eBay should have done all along. After I first e-mailed the general corporate ootp@ebay.com mailbox, Emmitt should have said to me, "We're sorry that you had to endure these abusive and threatening messages from Aaron. While we will not reinstate the feedback, we will give you a full refund out of our own funds as a way to apologize to you on his behalf. We hope that you will not let this incident affect your decision to continue shopping on eBay."

Considering the rather large amount of money eBay has made in fees off of all of the items I bought just in the past few months alone, the company could have easily covered a $38 refund. This is "small change" for eBay, and would have gone a long way to making me feel more willing to continue patronizing the site. This would have been considered good customer service.

It would have been a win-win for seller and buyer alike. Aaron would get to keep up the facade of having "100% positive feedback", and would have gotten to keep the money he received, while I would have gotten my full money back (coming from eBay's wallet). Instead, eBay chose to protect the seller, while doing nothing to make things right for the buyer. That is considered poor customer service.