San Jose, California-based internet auction house eBay Inc has had more than its share of negative press lately. First came a system crash on Wednesday December 9. Next, customers who complained about eBay’s poor management on the site’s customer support board found themselves suspended from eBay altogether. A lawyer for the company told Wired News that the support board is not a forum for comment on eBay’s business or management decisions, and that inappropriate messages will be deleted and the posters suspended. Finally, eBay has reportedly suspended a user who is under investigation for up to $100,000 worth of fraud. The Oklahoma regional postal inspector’s office is investigating eBay user Sonny Stemple for accepting money orders for auction items he did not deliver. The company has apparently refused to refund money to customers who fell for the con, making Newsweek wonder whether this stock market darling, one of the fastest growing of all ecommerce sites (CI No 3,526), is even capable of protecting its users from this type of fraud. EBay CEO Meg Whitman told the magazine that while the company sympathizes with the victims, they need to take up the issue with local law enforcement.
