eBay Reviews

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – Great work atmosphere, wonderful and talented people

Cons – Company began outsourcing local workforce to save costs, lowered quality of service provided to members

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at eBay full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Lots of great people, deccent pay and benefits for the job. If you had a good manager then it could be a very good job. Potential to work with people all over the world. RRSP matching and stock purchase plan. Reasonable raises combined with options or RSU bonuses.

Cons – There were plenty of bad managers, and if you got one they could make your life quite miserable. Most micromanaged to the point it demotivated the employees, i.e. would rather an employee be silent and just meet their targets than do 200% and actually talk to your neighbours. Closed the entire burnaby centre before most could cash in on their options or RSUs as they took years to vest. Options were worthless for most people as the stock tanked and the closed the centre one month before they were to payout those with worthless options. 24x7 environment so people would be scheduled at times when transit would be closed and impossible to reach.

Advice to Senior Management – If you want a results driven company you have to create an environment that balances fun with work focus. Outsourcing may save dollars in the short term, yet isn't the best idea when you've saturated your market and need to focus on retention. Find a vision and follow it, don't 180 every quarter. Know your product and execute well, don't try to become something you're not (Amazon).

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – The 4 years that I worked at eBay before the Burnaby office shut down is a mixed bag; the were very accommodating in scheduling but I didn't find it to be the friendliest environment because no one talked. It wasn't until they opened the call centre that I became more social, but it was hell on earth to work at. Everything went downhill when they outsourced and lied and told us that the outsources were brought in to "help" us, when in reality they were developing an exit strategy and eventually closed our office after outsourcing everything.

Cons – They outsource everything at the cost of providing acceptable customer service to their customers.

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – Dynamic, changing and intense teamwork. Lots of employee events after work and on weekends. Reasonable raises for a few. Management open to suggestions and having employees create project plans and deliver. 4x10hour shifts generally available for a 4 day work week. RRSP 4%. Stock options or RSU's for additional bonus. Profit sharing ~6% for most, at least in the earlier years.

Cons – Metrics are a hurdle for some. Quality constantly measured and evaluated.. fair but invasive at times. International coverage requires some pretty strange shifts. 4am-12 noon. 6pm-2am. 10pm-6am. Ongoing challenge from other employees to retain your preferred shift days off/times and risk getting bumped to an confused work schedule. Especially true when parents are forced into working graveyards or 4am shifts.

Advice to Senior Management – Outsourcing appears to have helped the company slide through rough times, but has likely hurt the company as a whole. Tenure is not a great measure of effectiveness. Look carefully at some of the existing managers/employees.

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – Intense, dynamic, rapid change and a focus on working hard/playing harder. Lots of employee engagement functions. Recognition for a job well done.

Cons – Regional restrictions on opportunties. Internal politics sometimes get in the way of getting the job done. Top heavy with Directors.

Advice to Senior Management – Look carefully at some of the existing managers/employees. Tenure is not a great measure of effectiveness.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – - People there are nice, friendly and young.
- Fun and relaxed environment to be in.
- Free drinks!
- Pay is decent for the type of work that you do.
- Great inside look of people wanting to buy or sell on eBay

Cons – - Hours are not set, shift work.
- May get very busy at times handling multiple customers.
- No free parking on premise

Advice to Senior Management – Employees need more feedback in regards to how well they are doing. Need more room for advancements within the company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – Great social events, all the coffee, tea, soda you can drink, fitness gym, fun contests, prizes, great people. Fun environment due to the casual setting. You can decorate your desk and show your personality. Charities are an important part of eBay's value.

Cons – Surprise laid off announcement. Depends on which department, there may be politics. Work can be very repetitive. Due to many internal information, it can be frustrating to explain why certain things is the way it is to the customers.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't be a Nazi, sometimes being nice and trusting goes a long way.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – The people at eBay were amazing, they made it fun to come in to work. Most times members would be very grateful for the support which made it easier to deal with the angry members. Agents were always eager to learn and in turn I learned a lot from them.

Cons – Members can be very mean spirited and difficult to deal with. There are some people who worked harder than others meaning that sometimes you would have to pick up their slack.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop outsourcing. I've had many interactions with outsourcing partners and in large part they are not fun to deal with - I can only imagine what members experiences are.

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – great benefits
wonderful people
challenging work
excellent opportunity for advancement and growth

Cons – vision was not as clear as it could be, no direction
communication of decisions was poor

Advice to Senior Management – more clarity. get back to basics

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at eBay

Pros – - Great benefits
- Excellent lower level supervisors
- Tools that make it easier to help customers quickly
- Work-life balance

Cons – - Unclear directions
- Too many changes for members on the site
- Misleading promotions
- Upper management does not often ask employees who deal with their customers on a regular basis what main issues on the site are
- Too much outsourcing (while there are some excellent reps in other countries, there are numerous problems with outsourcing phone support. Many members are not able to understand outsourcers or do not feel their concerns are understood by outsourcers)

Advice to Senior Management – Pay more attention to the issues that are affecting members on the site by asking employees on the front lines. Do more to educate members on changes to the site and use less fine print.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend