The participation of the chamber members is measured in part by the responses we get in attendance at events and from the responses to information that we send out. I am happy to say that we have an active and vibrant membership!

The issue at hand is the response that has come back following the mass email that was sent yesterday regarding an upcoming event: The Kootenai County Tea Party. While in theory this is not a political event sponsored by any specific party, in actuality it falls into the gray area of perception.

“The question of perspective can be controlled somewhat by the form into which the rhetoric casts the remarks. The audience renders a decision based on the articulation of values with which the listener already agrees or disagrees.” R.H. Carpenter

What the heck am I saying, you ask! Whether you agree with the premise and values of this event is not the issue, the issue is perception of what is being said, by whom, and whether it belongs in the Hayden Chamber at all. While this event is sponsored by a collection of groups in Kootenai County, it still is a political rally. By informing our membership of it, have we promoted the chamber and the goals of the chamber, or have we diminished our reputation and sided with one political group or another? I don’t have the clear cut answer to this question!

I have posed this question to the Government Affairs Committee and asked that we have a policy of sending out information in the future. Basically what was decided was that the board should look over anything that is going out and try to be balanced and fair in the decision to censor or change content. Personally, I just would like to see our membership be sensitive to the fact that we choose not to be a partisan group and that perception is everything to content!

There are more valuable ways of getting partisan information out than mass emailing our members. Individuals or groups should be responsible to incur the cost of advertising things that do not benefit the group as a whole. If we set the precedence that you can call Cat Smith and ask her to send out a mass email and she does it, then she has to do it for everyone that calls and asks. It should not be her responsibility to make the decision as to the appropriateness of the mass email. Let’s not put her in that spot!

Please email the board if you have something that you feel is worthy of going out to the general membership. This means that you will have to get that to us prior to our monthly meeting, the third Wednesday of each month. Then we as a board can decide if we feel it meets the goals and criteria of the chamber. I know that we cannot please all of the members all of the time, but I think that we can collectively decide if the content is going to be perceived as a political statement. If we feel it is one the chamber is willing to put out as an official opinion, then it will be approved to be sent out by mail. Luckily we have the structure to do that. This board was elected by the membership and is a good representation of all aspects of business and commerce. Let’s use it the best way we can and avoid putting our staff in awkward and no win situations.

Cat asked me to apologize for her. While I appreciate her sentiment, I think that we have all learned from this situation. Let’s work TOGETHER to make this the best chamber ever!

Nancy Lowery, President – Hayden Chamber of Commerce

NOW MY RESPONSE (about which, I have not heard back. My store, Unique Motif is a member):

Nancy,

While I can appreciate your viewpoint I cannot accept your premise. First and foremost, this is a chamber of commerce. Though the organization has become diluted in the last few decades by incorporating government representatives, schools, lawyers and such, the fact remains we are about commerce. Taxation and regulation are the largest impediments to commerce. In that respect, to stand up against taxation is not a partisan issue, it is a commerce issue.

Thank you for your concern. However, I was not offended by the Tea Party notice and I would tend to suspect that most commerce-oriented members of the Chamber, whether Democratic or Republican, were not offended either. I would suspect the government-oriented members of the Chamber were more likely to be offended. But their opposition is in the spirit of their careers and not in the spirit of commerce.

Sincerely,

Dean Isaacson

Several friends and acquaintances of mine who have been active with eBay are now pulling out. Some cite policy changes and the fact that sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers (but buyers can still leave negative feedback for sellers). Some cite their scalping fees, which continue to climb. Even when they go down – they go up. Right now insertion fees are down, but selling fees are all over the map, depending upon the type of product – and it can be as high as fifteen percent. They don’t make it easy, and if you blink, you get scalped.

One of the problems I see on eBay is their “best practices” to begin auctions low and without reserve. That might have worked in the past, but now there more sellers and fewer buyers than there used to be on this service. At the same time, eBay is promoting itself to buyers as the place to get something for nothing. Everything they do works against the seller, and now, at least in my case, the beatings will continue until the morale improves.

Right now, I am not selling anything on eBay. Maybe later, I might return but only in a limited fashion – and only because I have not found an alternative market. But I will never reopen my eBay store – period. Amazon will get my store business before eBay does.

What got us in trouble with eBay was a complaint from a customer that we would not ship her the product she purchased. However, in her letter, she acknowledged we had shipped it once. It was returned to us because she had not picked it up. We offered her the opportunity to be refunded the difference of our shipping and the price she paid, or for an additional fee, we would re-ship to her. She elected to have it re-shipped, but she kept postponing payment, just like she was negligent in picking up the product the first time. After several warnings, we refunded her and put the product back in inventory. She complained, hoping eBay would force us to re-ship (however, she still had not sent the money). EBay took her side in this argument – as usual, they always side against the party that put in the most effort, the seller. Here is the letter I sent to eBay in August. Five weeks later, I have still heard nothing (like I expected), so it is only fair you should have the opportunity to read my side of the story.

23 August 2008

attn: Chairman, CEO

eBay, Inc.

2145 Hamilton Avenue

San Jose, CA 95125

RE username: phastmotors

THIS LETTER IS FOR ANYONE IN THE COMPANY WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT ANY SMALL SELLER WHO IS THINKING ABOUT LEAVING YOU FOREVER – AND TAKING TEN FRIENDS WITH HIM.

On the 21st of July, you sent us an MC008 SNPC NOTICE. In that notice you stated:

“Our records show that you have generated greater than 5 percent buyer dissatisfaction based on negative/neutral feedback, Item Not Received complaints and/or Detailed Seller Ratings in a rolling 30-day timeframe. This exceeds the minimum standard for buyer satisfaction. If your buyer satisfaction rate does not improve over the next 30 days, your sales activity will be fully restricted.”

• Our buyer satisfaction rating is 98.8% Our Detailed Seller Ratings are 4.65% and above.
• You received a complaint from a buyer that we had not delivered her product AND YOU WOULD NOT LISTEN TO OUR SIDE OF THE STORY. Furthermore, had you even read her letter, it would have become clear that WE DID DELIVER her product. In her letter, SHE ADMITTED that we had delivered the product. In her letter, SHE ADMITTED we had provided an option for her to have the product re-shipped to her.
• THIS BUYER HAS NEVER GIVEN US NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. She was negligent on the first opportunity, she intentionally negligent on the second opportunity, even after several warnings, so we refunded her money. She did not want her money, she wanted the product – however, we gave her two opportunities and she squandered both of them. You never listened to our side of the story.
• The ONLY NEGATIVE FEEDBACK we have received is from a man who, right after we shipped, emailed us we were supposed to give him some free object that we never agreed to. After exchanging emails, he immediately gave us a negative – the same day we shipped! This was a month before you provided the option to appeal this. So we recalled the package and gave him a full refund. He still complained to you and PayPal because he wanted punitive damages!!!
• The ONLY NEUTRAL FEEDBACK we have received was from a customer who had a complaint and never contacted us. I cannot vouch for the breakage of the needle (that costs 10 cents in the store) but I can vouch for the condition. It was new, and inspected by me. And she bought the item for pennies. Some people will complain no matter what – and she never complained to us or gave us an opportunity to make it right.

Twice, I contacted customer service about the MC008 SNPC NOTICE and twice they told me to appeal to Trust and Safety (Trust). The first time I appealed, Trust returned an email stating that they made their decision and they might reconsider after thirty days – meaning there is NO APPEAL. The second time, Customer Service assured me I could appeal and that Trust would listen to my case, but the second response from Trust was to ignore my email.

It is becoming clear that you do not value your sellers – at least not the small guys. It is becoming clear in your policies that you are favoring buyers over sellers, when it is the seller who is hiring you to provide the platform and it is the seller paying your expenses. Your costs continue to climb while you encourage your sellers to compete at less than cost.

This letter is sent only to satisfy myself that I corresponded with you before I left for good. I am not delusional, in that I think anyone in eBay will read this letter – or care about my concerns. If I do get a response, I have every certainty it will be a canned letter about your policy and some hope that I will improve in the future. Don’t even bother as that will make me more upset than I am. I have closed my store, closed my auctions and both my accounts are dormant. I may use your services once in a long while – but in every way possible, I will work around you, or without you. The more eBay sellers I talk to, locally and as I travel, the more I am getting the same feedback.

While you rest on your laurels, maybe someone else will quietly restart the service you used to be and maybe in the future, eBay will be a name that brings back nostalgic thoughts and remembrances of an era and no one will remember why you aren’t in business anymore.

Sincerely,

Dean Isaacson