Facebook Marketplace Problems - Safe Harbor for Scammers

OK folks, I have had enough. I pretty much do not use social media, but to buy or sale anything nowadays you have to use Facebook Marketplace. This is fine if Facebook did not suck so much. Let's get to the problem.

To start off I am on my second Facebook account because the first one was shutdown by Facebook because I was on Marketplace trying to negotiate a price. They asked me to send them my ID and afterwards said that I was not who I am so they closed my account even after I objected to their decision through their online process. This brings me to the first issue,. A company as big as Meta does not have any customer service people to call. How insane is that. You are running a marketplace where a number of crazy things can happen and the most I can do is leave feedback that generally gets ignored, WOW!!! That is pitiful customer service. Are we so addicted to this crap that we cannot tell up or down, right from wrong, come on people go back to Craigslist. Yeah it is not perfect but it is 10 times less intrusive than Facebook.

So I created a new account and the first thing it ask when I tried to shop on Marketplace was to verify my phone number to prove it is me. I give it my phone number and the system tells me I cannot use it because it was used to verify another account. Yes it was but it was an account that Facebook closed on me. But to not release my number, then to tell me my options are to wait for an unspecified amount of time before the number is released or option #2 use another phone number. Yeah like I just walk around with 2 different phones. So I had to purchase a Trac phone and use that number to validate my identity. What a joke!!! So I go on to buy 2 things and sell one thing on Marketplace, so it appears I am good to go now, so I post 6 other things to sell. Now the identify yourself with your ID loop is back. What! I just had 3 great interactions now you want to stop me again. So I sent my ID and am now waiting the 48 hours they say it could take to verify that I am who I say I am. If they close my account again I am done with Facebook and will just have to live with less consumers on Craigslist, but at least I am free from big brother Lording over me.

This brings me to One More Thought. If Facebook is this strict how in the world are there so many scammers on Marketplace. I am starting to feel as if this is like a conspiracy or something similar, whatever that would be. The scammers live on day after day. Even with people complaining about them Facebook does nothing but yet they are hammering honest everyday people just trying to sell items to make a honest buck. But what Marketplace has no phone support for its customers. Amazon does, Ebay does, Craigslist, well they do, but it is not very good and they usually do not respond. The truth is you never need them because they will not interfere with your account. This does increase the number of scammers but also does not frustrate the good sellers into running to another platform either. Subscribe and shoot me an email of what you think and we can continue this conversation.

Here is a video that may help you get back on track if this is happening to you:

https://youtu.be/KRajHu-ZlOM?si=T2JYMXBDktMdqMa8