Since I had all of these auctions closing and all this money coming in, I freaked out. I thought someone was really try to steal my account.
Here are some quotes from the notices I received:
quote:eBay Listing XXXXXXXXXX Cancelled - Results Null and Void
The listing in which you were a bidding participant has been ended by eBay. Since the listing was ended by eBay, for the transaction itself is null and void.
To protect the privacy of all eBay members, we can't discuss the details of the listing removal. We hope this assures you that your account information will also remain private.
At the same time I also got an e-mail saying:
quote:A26 Account Security Notice: Restored Account
It appears your account was accessed by an unauthorized third party and used to bid on items without your knowledge. Additionally, the email address on your account may have been tampered with, which is why you may not have received any emails about these bids.
To regain control of your account, please complete the following steps...
With regard to any items won with your ID, please send a quick note to each seller and briefly explain what happened. The sellers will be able to request credits for all the relevant fees to be credited to their accounts.
Should you receive feedback or Unpaid Item notices as a result of this activity, please click "Help" on any eBay page and then select "Contact Us" to request that the feedback or Unpaid Item notices be reviewed for removal.
In order to better protect your account, we encourage you to obtain a Security Key. Learn more http://www.ebay.com/securitykey
The completely ridiculous thing is that all these canceled auctions were long finished, the goods delivered, and the feedback left.
After a sleepless Sunday night with the eBay "Trust and Safety Unit" I was able to get my account restored. I was so freaked out by the whole affair and so relieved to have my account restored that I never questioned eBay on what really had occurred.
Now with the perspective of time and distance the message eBay is sending is clear: don't use sniping services or we are going to mess with you big time, possibly even close you out of your account permanently-- and by the way get our little "Security Key" thing too so you'll definitely never be able to snipe again.
Unfortunately in my case, I think they won. My carefully cultivated seller account is very valuable to me, and I've got alot to sell in the coming months. Unless I open a separate bidding ID, I'm too scared to use Auction Sniper any more.
I'm pretty bitter about it, but don't see there is anything I can do because eBay has all the power.