Well, I finally have an account. Here is the whole dirty, nasty thing, as it transpired. It almost makes me thankful for the people who steal my email to use on sites where it’s so incredibly easy to change all their information. . .
This is what hubby sent May 24, 2006, when we discovered that some person using the username lilfred01b3bu had used my email address:
Home > Help >Account Information and Billing>Managing Your eBay Member Account>Closing Your eBay Account
Message: Please close this account – it was set up with an incorrect email address
May 28th response:> Hello,
Thank you for writing to eBay with your concerns. My name is Sera and I
understand that you want to close your account.
We’re sorry to hear that you’re interested in closing your eBay account.
For the fastest resolution of this request, please go to the following
location and follow the instructions provided:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/closing-account.html >> >>Thank you for being part of the eBay community.
Regards,
Sera T.
eBay Customer Support
_____________________________________________>
_____________________________________________>And I wrote back:
Sera, as I stated in my request to close the account, someone else used my email address to create the account, and as such, I cannot answer the security questions needed to close it via the link you provided. I am at an impasse – while I appreciate the security features of the site, in this case they are working against me. The person who set up the account obviously cannot use it, since back in 2004 when he set it up, his security information was sent to me. Naturally, back then, when an email from eBay to lilfred01b3bu arrived in my inbox, I would have deleted it without opening it, assuming it to be spam. So. . .he has an account in my name, which he can’t use, and I can’t open an account of my own, because he used my email, which can be used for only one account at a time. I can’t change the information or close it, because all of the security information is his, not mine. And since it can’t be closed, I can’t open a real account for myself. You can see the conundrum. If you could assist me with this, I would greatly appreciate it.
Their response, May 31st:
I’m Pablo from eBay Customer Support and we’re sorry to hear that you’re
interested in closing your eBay account.
For the fastest resolution of this request, please go to the following
location and follow the instructions provided:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/closing-account.html >> >>Thank you for your valuable time.
>
>Strangely familiar, eh? so I wrote back:
Pablo, this is what I sent to Sera:
– Hide quoted text –
THIS ACCOUNT IS FICTITIOUS, AND I CANNOT OPEN A REAL EBAY ACCOUNT UNTIL THIS IS CLOSED, BECAUSE YOU ALLOW ONLY ONE ACCOUNT PER EMAIL ADDRESS AND SOME CLOWN IN OHIO USED MINE TO MAKE THIS ACCOUNT. I CANNOT “CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW” BECAUSE HE ENTERED HIS OWN SECRET ANSWER TO VERIFY IT WAS HIM, AND SINCE I DO NOT KNOW HIM, I CANNOT EVEN TAKE A WILD GUESS AS TO WHAT THE ANSWER IS. THIS ACCOUNT MUST BE CLOSED BY YOU, BECAUSE I CANNOT DO IT MYSELF.
Of course, you, Pablo, and Sera, are undoubtedly fictitious as well, so I’m certain that this reply will be just as useless as the first one. I’m getting a little angry here, as I hope some real person will eventually find out.
To which I got the response, on June 12 – took a couple of weeks for someone to catch on. . .Thank you for writing eBay in regard to email address being used by
other eBay Member.We’ve reviewed the situation and discovered that another eBay account is
already registered using this same email address.
How did this happen?
Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) recycle email addresses after a
period of inactivity. The email address you tried to use might have
initially been issued to someone else. Then after a period of
inactivity, the ISP could have reassigned the address to you. If the
former owner of this email address registered an account with eBay using
this email address, it explains the problem.
What can you do next?
In order to use this email address, we need to first verify that you’re
the current owner. We’ll send you another email shortly, asking you to
verify ownership of this email address. Please follow the instructions
in the email you receive from us. If we can verify that the email
address belongs to you, we will be able to process the removal of this
email address from the current user.
>
I’m getting a wee bit pissy at this point, because I am not some stupid n00b who doesn’t know how the internet works, and I know for a fact that I have explained how this happened, but it’s not sinking in over there, and I send back:
Actually, the problem is that my address is alison@alison.com >>, and since it’s so nice and easy, lots and lots of people use it as their own. Trust me, I’ve had this address for many years, and a huge amount of spam is generated for me in this way. > >>My full name is Alison M****, and I cannot give you my user ID because I have not been able to establish an account. This Fred Rabnud person (or, likely, a relative of his named Alison) established an account using alison@alison.com >> back in 2004. My address has not been recycled, it has been hijacked.
> >>> This must have actually hit a real person, because this reply is also dated June 12:
Thank you for taking the time to write eBay with your concerns. I’m
happy to help you further.
We have initiated the process that will enable you to use this email
address on an eBay account. While we have removed the email address from
the former account, it will take 30 days before our system will release
it for use on another account. After the waiting period has passed, you
can register the address on a new account by clicking on the “Register
Now” button on the eBay home page and following the listed instructions.
In the meantime, you may want to register a new account using a
temporary email address until our system releases the one you wish to
use. If you do not have another email address you can use, you can
obtain a free email address from providers such as Yahoo! or Hotmail.
Please be aware that eBay requires you to place a credit card on file
when registering a free (anonymous) email address from such a provider.
If you already have an eBay account (or choose to register using a
temporary email address), you can update your email address to the one
you originally requested once 30 days have passed. To update your email
address, click on the “site map” link at the top of any eBay page, and
then click on the “Change Email Address” link.
I appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We are committed to making
your experiences at eBay pleasant and rewarding.