The consolidation of eBay’s North American customer service operations is expected to capture efficiencies and facilitate the delivery of new service programs designed to improve the customer experience with eBay.

For Australian buyers and sellers, the closure of the Vancouver customer service facility will mean the transition of support services, including telephone, email and live chat services, to existing facilities in the US and the Philippines by early August.

eBay’s Manila facility, which currently supplies a significant level of email and live chat services to Australian members, will expand its services, and eBay’s US facility in Salt Lake City will increase its services to the Australian market.

eBay is committed to supporting the individuals impacted by the Vancouver closure, and the Canadian facility will be closed for 24 hours to allow staff members time to consider details of the announcement. During this period, email and live chat services will continue to operate, while phone support will be available again from Friday morning, Australian time.