Going, Going, Wrong...

I despise eBay. Truthfully, I hate them, loathe them, despair of them. A large online conglomerate making decisions about the little people who deign to buy and sell within their worldwide empire of stuff.

Okay, I’ll tell you why I hate them.

I recently sold a bag under the auspices of eBay; a satchel bag from Zara to be more specific, attaching a high resolution image from the store’s website and stating my ‘NO RETURNS’ policy. Tagging various additional elements that I perceived also accurately described the bag, I also added a blurb extolling its values. So eBay Bitch (a.k.a. “The Buyer”) sidles up – metaphorically speaking – to request further information on height, width and depth of the bag. I duly responded and once the sale ended the transaction was complete and I posted out the bag to the buyer – at added cost to myself to ensure it arrived in pristine condition but I only charged standard posting costs out of courtesy.

Less than a week later, she requested a refund based on the fact the bag was not as described. She claimed it to be green not tan as tagged in my description, though later relented to khaki after I came back to her and reminded her that I have a ‘no returns’ policy. She asked that I make an exception in this instance… I’m sorry, but have any of you been into a store with a clear ‘No Returns’ policy and been successful in asking them to make an exception just for you because you don’t quite like the product you’ve bought for whatever reason? Besides which, colour is objective, and I tagged ‘tan’ because I thought it an accurate shade – after all, khaki (and pale khaki at that) is a fine line between light brown and light green… and eBay don’t have the option of ‘khaki’ in their tagging anyway.

After numerous emails back and forth, aggressive from her, polite from me, she lodged a dispute with eBay demanding I pay her a full refund and when I reiterated my stance on the ‘No Returns’ policy she escalated the case enabling eBay themselves to make the final call. She lodged it Friday night at around 9.30pm, eBay had settled it by 9.30am on Saturday morning. And with no weekend number seemingly in operation all I could do was wait until this morning to challenge them via phone. I had been unable to file my own case against her for harassment and speaking with an eBay representative this morning my concerns that the seller is left with little or no protection were confirmed. They said their decision had been made based purely on the fact that the case had not been resolved; my guess is they didn’t even examine the evidence. So much for innocent until proven otherwise…

I explained the situation to the rep and stated clearly that on account of the aforementioned reasons I would not be issuing a refund regardless if eBay Bitch returned the bag to me. They refused to reconsider their decision while the case was open and said once the bag was returned – and only IF it was in poor condition – that I could then appeal the case. I think this is a travesty and on hearing a friend of mine incurring an even worse debacle involving an iPad that eventually called for the involvement of the police; I am hereby affecting a personal boycott of eBay in a bid to protect myself from further harassment, foul play and disgusting conduct by both eBay and the individual who bought my bag.

In an age where the majority of activity – financial, leisure and social – is carried out online, one would expect a greater degree of protection and democracy extended in this arena. Until that happens, eBay, the only bid I’ll be making is for more stringent online parameters.

A Blog's Life

I have become a sort of mentor of late, with friend's parents deferring to me as the guru of 'how to get into journalism'.



Despite my 20-something years, I have been through the media mill (to some extent), from education and careers fayres to countless work experience placements and even redundancy (not entirely shocking given the current economic climate), but still the past 5-6 years has provided me with a microcosm of events that appear to bestow me with insider know-how and tips for wannabe writers.

Of course the first thing I would recommend for those reading this that may indeed be thinking about how to get started on the path to journalism is to consider where in this diverse industry you may fit. Essentially, if you have a certain skill set (writing, design, proof-reading, editing etc) it can traverse across many different areas within the media industry. But decide if you want to go down the newspaper route, the broadcast route or the fiction route. And how do you discover where you fit if you are currently unsure? Work experience.

I knew I wanted to write. I knew I wanted to write for a magazine. So I did work experience at local titles, niche titles, national titles and even international titles. Each experience endowed me with some new nugget of expertise and insight. It taught me where I fit in personally and how to adapt myself to each unique house style. It may take several placements and jobs to finally find where you fit - it is only now at Christie's that I finally feel I'm somewhere that's me.

And if you can freelance, great. It's more for the self-motivated individuals who can network and multitask, but it's great work if you can get it.

Depending on where you are with your career/life, journalism courses are a good option also. I did a masters at London College of Communication (formerly Printing), and there are plenty of other courses via the University of the Arts London [http://www.arts.ac.uk/] that will enable you to specialise in whichever sector of media you wish to pursue. The NoSweat Journalism college [http://www.nosweatjt.co.uk/] is great for shorter courses and is recognised and approved by The National Council for the Training of Journalists. London's City University offers one of the most widely sought-after post-graduate diplomas though can be tough to get onto and is rather more expensive than other options, and Cardiff offer an equally covetable course.

N.B. Work experience and a portfolio (of your by-lined works) are crucial when applying for these courses. Try the smaller publishing houses and local publications first before approaching the big names (IPC, National Magazine Co, Conde Nast, Hachette Filipacchi, emap etc) as you are more likely to get a placement and get to write, thereby building your portfolio. If you are at university, join your student paper/magazine and/or radio station - great experience and great for your portfolio.

Network!! I cannot stress this enough - seize every opportunity to speak to people, you never know who they know and who might be able to give you a leg up. Make a good impression at all your work experience placements, even if you're only making the coffee and feel completely invisible - you don't know who might be watching and whether a role might be about to appear that needs filling.

Read!! Newspapers, magazines (even the trashy ones), newswires (reuters, bloomberg etc), twitter, journals... from helping you out in interviews ["oh yes, Martin, I loved your feature on the impact of the iPad on the next generation" / "exactly, the issue of IVF is an increasingly pressing topic for the current medical landscape"]; to keeping you informed and providing you with educated conversation when networking - it is vital.

Social Media - get on Twitter, link it to your blog, share it on your Facebook page and update your LinkedIn with all the new contacts you accumulate. Social Media sites enable you to network, promote your skills, and raise awareness of your profile to a broad and international audience. Don't underestimate it!!

With these fundamental tools under your belt you are ready to set off on your path to written success. Laptop, set, get typing...

NYC & Social Media

Having spent a week in New York meeting a variety of PR and ad agency folk, it would appear that the importance of social media in securing the success of current marketing campaigns is high on the agenda, however they are crying out for people with these digital skills.

Moving further into 2010 the internet will continue to provide brands and companies with free and essential advertising opportunities. Digital marketing is central to any PR and marketing strategy and for most people nowadays, the web is their first port of call for information and research. Twitter is the most powerful form of free marketing, so companies utilising it to full effect in this current digital media climate will thrive. For example, Stephen Fry has been using it to promote his new book in time for the Christmas season and subsequently driving people to his website. For PR agencies and their clients Twitter has become the most effective way of spreading the word about what a PR agency is doing for its client, but also what the client itself is doing. The online visibility afforded via social digital media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and their synergy in working together to create a widespread and dynamic network gives agencies and clients a portal through which to generate new business and effectively maintain existing clientele by staying current and ahead of competitors. The iPhone and Blackberry and other social networking mobiles, including the new Samsung Genio, have become integral in assisting the functionality and success of social media and digital marketing. The Compare the Market front-animal, Aleksandr the Meerkat is another great example of digital media worked at its best, with almost 6.000 fans on Facebook and hordes of followers on Twitter. Understanding how these networks work and exploiting them effectively will play an important part towards the success of PR agencies and their clients in 2010.