How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Hi;

 

Hope you guys can help. I've been using eBay for years, no issues, but I encountered this issue about 5 months ago and noone seems to be able to resolve it within eBay. Its ridiculous.

 

In July 2021, I purchased an item with eBay gift cards. The order status was "Payment pending" after a week, so I contacted them and they said it was something at the seller's end, something to do with their email is not correct with Paypal or something. Bottom line is, the issue has nothing to do with me. eBay advised to me wait, it should either go through or be refunded. 5 months later, it has done neither. The payment is still stuck in "payment pending" and for some reason the seller is now "no longer registered", no idea what happened here.

 

So my funds are stuck in limbo. I have contacted eBay support numerous times and it has been "escalated", but nothing happens. It should be a pretty easy issue to fix. I paid for something, it wasn't delivered, so give me a refund, I don't understand why it is taking 5 months and counting.

 

Is the AFCA (formerly FOS) an appropriate ombudsman to contact regarding this issue?

 

Thanks advance for any assistance.

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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

It is ludicrious to accept the fact that eBay do not keep track of all gift vouchers used for transactions. This is like your bank asking you for transaction IDs and merchant IDs for a disputed transaction. All you need to give them is the time and date and the amount of the transaction and they can do the rest.

 

So I sent support one final email to say, I've already began to collate all of the chat logs and transcripts of our interactions in preparation for legal proceedings. My issue is very simple, I paid for a transaction, the seller said they can't collect the funds, so the funds are stuck, I should get a refund. I do not accept the fact that eBay cannot find the voucher number in their systems and I can't get a refund unless I gave them the exact numbers. I said they would most likely be laughed out of court. I've also asked them for an Australian address to send the letter of demand.

 

Miraculously, within 12 hours, its all sorted.

 

I'm just wondering, what were they doing for 5 months? I knew this issue would take if not hours, maximum of days to resolve. They must be very incompetent or very smart in milking as much wages as possible out of eBay. Maybe they aren't paid very much, so eBay doesn't care. What a deal lol, to stretch something which takes hours to do over 5 months. They are either very incompetent or very smart, don't know which lol.

 

After they fixed it, no apology, nothing. Pretty bad customer service.

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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Were these the physical cards that you buy from a store?

If so, is there a contact number on the back which you can try?

 

It's possible that the seller you were trying to purchase from was reported as a scammer, or they did something bad enough for Ebay to close their account, or they simply decided not to sell anymore. Maybe the account was suspended.

 

If there is no number on the back of the card, you might have to go into a store to look at the cardboard packaging they are attached to as that might have further details.

 

Even though they are gift cards, were they given to you, or did you purchase them just to use occasionally? Either way, if they were funded with a credit card, the person who purchased could contact their bank.

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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Further to what Jelly said, if the seller's account is showing as no longer registered, then it's probable that ebay shut them down. If you choose to close your account, it has to have 6 months of no activity before it happens. They were probably found out as being a scammer.

 

Did you use the gift card through Paypal? If so, open a dispute there for item not received.

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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Its been so long, I don't have the physical gift card with me anymore. They keep asking me for the gift card number, which I don't have after 5 months from the transaction. 

 

They should be able to find this information in their system, it makes no sense that they can't. 

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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

No, I didn't get it through PayPal. I think its a physical gift card, but I'm not sure.

Message 5 of 18
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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Something is not adding up. 

 

Why don't you have the information/cards? The problem showed up as soon as the order was placed, so why would you not keep the card and related information until it was resolved? That just seems......weird.

 

Five months is a very long time to wait. A few days, maybe a week,.....but 5 months?

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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

If the sellers account is closed, then it’s highly likely that all transaction information has disappeared with it, so you will definitely need the card info from your end.

 

Honestly, I don’t know why you would get rid of the cards if the situation hadn’t been resolved! It seems extremely odd and counter productive.  

Anyway, you can’t provide the info needed, and the seller is gone, so info regarding refund owing etc, is lost so it looks like you may have to chalk it up to a blunder on your behalf and try and learn from it! 

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Message 7 of 18
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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

It is ludicrious to accept the fact that eBay do not keep track of all gift vouchers used for transactions. This is like your bank asking you for transaction IDs and merchant IDs for a disputed transaction. All you need to give them is the time and date and the amount of the transaction and they can do the rest.

 

So I sent support one final email to say, I've already began to collate all of the chat logs and transcripts of our interactions in preparation for legal proceedings. My issue is very simple, I paid for a transaction, the seller said they can't collect the funds, so the funds are stuck, I should get a refund. I do not accept the fact that eBay cannot find the voucher number in their systems and I can't get a refund unless I gave them the exact numbers. I said they would most likely be laughed out of court. I've also asked them for an Australian address to send the letter of demand.

 

Miraculously, within 12 hours, its all sorted.

 

I'm just wondering, what were they doing for 5 months? I knew this issue would take if not hours, maximum of days to resolve. They must be very incompetent or very smart in milking as much wages as possible out of eBay. Maybe they aren't paid very much, so eBay doesn't care. What a deal lol, to stretch something which takes hours to do over 5 months. They are either very incompetent or very smart, don't know which lol.

 

After they fixed it, no apology, nothing. Pretty bad customer service.

Message 8 of 18
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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Very weird indeed. Its even more strange that they miraculously resolved it within 12 hours after I threatened legal action.

 

Must be a Christmas miracle!

Message 9 of 18
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How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact?

Ebay legal team, millions. Your legal team, Dennis DeNuto at best. I don't think so. Purely coincidence. Ebay laugh in the face of anyone threatening legal action, that's even if they notice at all, which 100% of the time they take zero notice of,

 

You may think you had a legal win. You didn't. Sorry to burst your bubble.

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