The Return Of Myron Global

The corroded battery compartment of the "new" heart-rate monitor I had ordered from Myron Global.

A few friends forwarded me an article from the BBC a couple of days ago.

It's a news story about eBay's recent decision to ban the ability of sellers to post negative feedback about buyers.

"EBay said problems were occurring, and slowing down trade, when buyers left negative comments about sellers who then retaliated with their own views. From May, those selling on eBay will not be able to leave unfavourable or neutral messages about buyers.

"The move, which will affect users worldwide, has angered many sellers.

"... Critics of the changes argue that by taking away a seller's right to complain about a problem buyer they will have very little recourse for action when a sale goes wrong."

Regular readers of this blog know that I was engaged in my own nasty dispute with a seller on eBay recently. In fact, my three postings about that dispute ("My Bad Experience With Myron Global," "My Bad Experience With Myron Global Part II," and "Myron Global: The Final Chapter") continue to generate dozens and dozens of comments on this blog from other readers who've had identical or similar experiences with the same company.

In my case, I had ordered a Garmin Edge 305 GPS device for my bike from an Atlanta-based company called Myron Global back in July 2007. When I received the supposedly brand-new item, the battery compartment of the heart-rate monitor was badly corroded.

Attempts to contact the company by e-mail and telephone were completely unsuccessful.

Consequently, as the only recourse left, I posted negative feedback about them on ebay and also wrote about my experiences on this blog.

A short time later, I discovered that Myron Global had the gall to leave the following negative feedback about me on eBay (click to enlarge):



Outrageous.

I wrote about that on this blog, too, and was subsequently contacted by e-mail by a sales rep from Myron Global, who tried to explain that the whole thing was a big mixup, that some rogue sales rep at Myron Global had left the negative feedback about me erroneously.

I believed him, and we both agreed to remove the negative feedback we had posted about the other. I received a new heart-rate monitor in the mail a few days later.

Incredibly, however, others on this blog and elsewhere report the same exact scenario -- with Myron Global flaming them on eBay in retaliation for having left negative feedback about their own terrible experiences with that company.

One guy has even started his own blog dedicated solely to documenting problems with Myron Global.

He wrote to me:

"I wanted to let you know that I have been fighting this company as well. After reading your blog, I was inspired to create my own. I hope you'll read it. I'm a cyclist as well by the way. That's just coincidental."

I really wonder if the change in policy at eBay was specifically caused by problems with Myron Global. It's hard to believe there are other companies out there conducting business in a similar manner, but it's possible, I guess.

Stay tuned!