Trade me Shenanigans

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ajobbins

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#210476 29-Apr-2009 11:46

Balchy: As said, this discussion is not about the debt it is about their right to cancel accounts without proper investigation or authorisation, same with transferring funds from one account to a totally separate account.

The debt side of things is an ancillary issue and not entirely relevant to the discussion

Trade Me, in my view, have taken very reasonably steps here given the information you have told us.

I would suspect in this case the issue has been exagerated by the fact you and your wife share a birthday, albeit a year apart.

Trade Me would be looking at a number of factors, and this is one piece of the puzzle, which combined with the other things you mention (Same Credit Card, surname, address etc) have let them to believe you and your wife are one in the same (Which, in some ways may be true).

Changing the year of birth is a common way for people to avoid paying debt, and in your case it is an unfortunate coincidence.

However like I said, if you pay the debt i'm sure they will be happy to restore both accounts.

Like I said earlier, you would never be in this situation if you did not breach their Terms and Conditions by not immedaitely paying your debt.

Pay what you owe, and be thankful all that happened was a suspended account, and not a black mark against your credit rating.

Balchy

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#210477 29-Apr-2009 11:50

Again, fair cop about the debt, but again I state it is the principle. As has been stated what if was flatmates?

They are now refusing to even look at the ID's until the debt was paid, now is basically assuming guilt without a thorough investigation.

I was fully intending on paying the account on payday, but now as far as I am concerned they can stick their money. I have provided them with PROOF that we are separate people with separate accounts and they won't even judge that on its merits. It is unethical and frankly just poor customer service

The plus side I guess is that my wife won't be able to buy any more inane crap off the site

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ajobbins

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#210478 29-Apr-2009 11:51

Balchy:
bcourtney:
Balchy: The debt side of things is an ancillary issue and not entirely relevant to the discussion

No I don't agree with that. If there was no debt on your own account then this problem would not exist.

Well you are quite wrong there. They stated they disabled the accounts due to multiple memberships not the fact that one of them was in debt.

By not paying the debt, you bring the account to their attention and give them reason to suspect the account is a multiple.

You use a shared payment method, a credit card, which combined with the other information makes it look like you are the same person. Not an unreasonaly conclusion to come to at all.

Out of curiosity, when was your wifes account created? Before or after yours was closed? And were there payments on this account after yours was closed?

Balchy

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#210480 29-Apr-2009 11:54

She created hers independantly of mine and if memory serves me right before. And there have been plenty of payments on her account since it was created.

And again yes it may have brought the accounts to their attention, but that does not negate the need to actually look at the documents provided and make a judgement call and not rely on their system, I mean I gave them a copy of her passport, and my drivers licence what more do they want?

ajobbins

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#210482 29-Apr-2009 11:55

Balchy: Again, fair cop about the debt, but again I state it is the principle. As has been stated what if was flatmates?

They are now refusing to even look at the ID's until the debt was paid, now is basically assuming guilt without a thorough investigation.

I was fully intending on paying the account on payday, but now as far as I am concerned they can stick their money. I have provided them with PROOF that we are separate people with separate accounts and they won't even judge that on its merits. It is unethical and frankly just poor customer service

The plus side I guess is that my wife won't be able to buy any more inane crap off the site

Flatmates would not share the same details (Birthday, surnames, credit cards) so it is much less likely to happen.

If I were them I would be refusing the look at the ID as well.

You are married and using shared resources (Computer, Credit Card). Who's to say it wasn't you and you just got your wife to agree to say it was her account?

Pay the debt and the problem is solved. Trade Me are taking reasonable steps given the information they hold to recoup money you owe them.

bcourtney

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#210484 29-Apr-2009 11:58

Balchy:
bcourtney:
Balchy: The debt side of things is an ancillary issue and not entirely relevant to the discussion

No I don't agree with that. If there was no debt on your own account then this problem would not exist.

Well you are quite wrong there. They stated they disabled the accounts due to multiple memberships not the fact that one of them was in debt.

Apologies then.

I can understand where they are coming from though. They've probably seen this similar situation occur many times before where the user has been deliberately trying to attempt to get out of paying a debt on one account by opening another under their wife's/partner's name etc. They fact that you're NOT deliberately attempting to do this is difficult for them to determine.

You've been unfortunately lumped in to a situation where someone has ruined things for the masses.

I flatted for a number of years with others that also had Trade Me accounts and we had no issues whatsoever. We never let our accounts incur debt though so this is probably why Trade Me never had reason to look at our situation - they were making money of all of us and we weren't incurring debt.

Surely the quickest resolution is to pay the debt though? If it's small then do it right now - then your wife can get back to her Trade Me-ing :)

Balchy

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#210486 29-Apr-2009 11:58

adamj:
Balchy: Again, fair cop about the debt, but again I state it is the principle. As has been stated what if was flatmates?

They are now refusing to even look at the ID's until the debt was paid, now is basically assuming guilt without a thorough investigation.

I was fully intending on paying the account on payday, but now as far as I am concerned they can stick their money. I have provided them with PROOF that we are separate people with separate accounts and they won't even judge that on its merits. It is unethical and frankly just poor customer service

The plus side I guess is that my wife won't be able to buy any more inane crap off the site

Flatmates would not share the same details (Birthday, surnames, credit cards) so it is much less likely to happen.

If I were them I would be refusing the look at the ID as well.

You are married and using shared resources (Computer, Credit Card). Who's to say it wasn't you and you just got your wife to agree to say it was her account?

Pay the debt and the problem is solved. Trade Me are taking reasonable steps given the information they hold to recoup money you owe them.

So you too would make a decision based on assumption and incompete information? how is that fair or even logical.

As I said the usage history, payment history, the identification I provided all add up to the fact that they are separate accounts.

But hey you have your opinion and I have mine so lets agree to disagree. There needs a be a degree of flexibility in any system such as this, and to simply refuse to even investigate is against all principles of natural justice. As I said I had every intention of paying the debt, but now they will be raking sand uphill to get a cent out of me

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Balchy

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#210490 29-Apr-2009 12:03

bcourtney:
Balchy:
bcourtney:
Balchy: The debt side of things is an ancillary issue and not entirely relevant to the discussion

No I don't agree with that. If there was no debt on your own account then this problem would not exist.

Well you are quite wrong there. They stated they disabled the accounts due to multiple memberships not the fact that one of them was in debt.

Apologies then.

I can understand where they are coming from though. They've probably seen this similar situation occur many times before where the user has been deliberately trying to attempt to get out of paying a debt on one account by opening another under their wife's/partner's name etc. They fact that you're NOT deliberately attempting to do this is difficult for them to determine.

You've been unfortunately lumped in to a situation where someone has ruined things for the masses.

I flatted for a number of years with others that also had Trade Me accounts and we had no issues whatsoever. We never let our accounts incur debt though so this is probably why Trade Me never had reason to look at our situation - they were making money of all of us and we weren't incurring debt.

Surely the quickest resolution is to pay the debt though? If it's small then do it right now - then your wife can get back to her Trade Me-ing :)

Yeah, fair comments dude, the few ruining it for the masses. That being said they should still look at evidence that is presented to them.

And yes the debt is small, I think just over $10 so there is no issue with paying it at all. I just like to make a stand on the principle.

And I might not pay it jsut to get my wife out of her trade me addiction lol

ajobbins

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#210492 29-Apr-2009 12:06

Balchy:
So you too would make a decision based on assumption and incompete information? how is that fair or even logical.

You make the best decision based on the information you have on hand. In this case the information is not in your favour.

This is your doing. PAY THE DEBT.

Balchy

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#210493 29-Apr-2009 12:08

Yes, based on the information at hand, but do you then refuse to look at further information that comes to light?

As I said, you have you opinion, I have mine, lets leave it at that

freitasm

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#210496 29-Apr-2009 12:22

Since we all agreed to disagree I will lock this discussion now :)

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