Ebay $50 gift card not working who can help
Summary: The initial post by wishy_washy raises an issue regarding a non-functional $50 eBay gift card and seeks assistance. lezned-toycollector initially responds, engaging in a brief exchange with wishy_washy, but no resolution is detailed in this thread. Subsequent attempts by wishy_washy to address the issue receive responses from springyzone, but again, the details and resolution of the issue are not provided in the discussion. The conversation primarily revolves around attempts to get support for the malfunctioning gift card.
Hi all I wanted to post about a $50 gift card that expired, apparently .. according to ebay
I can not remember exactly when i received it because the date of issue has not been filled out by who ever sold it, I used $20 of the card back in around April or May then within the hour decided against the item I purchased and got a refund sent back to the card, went to use it again a couple months later and it would not work, tried to check the balance on the ebay gift card balance checker page and when i enter the card number the page just resets back to blank and does not tell me the expiry date or balance, it just resets the page back to blank..
So i called ebay customer support who tell me the card balance expired and the credit has been forwarded to my state revenue office (Tassie) assured me not to worry because its a simple process to get the funds back by contacting the sro and many before me have had no problems in doing so, its common and easy, yea right?
so on advise from ebay staff i contacted my state revenue office and they advised me pretty quickly they do not deal with expired gift cards and there is no option for retailers to send expired card balances to them, they told me to go back to ebay and ask them again as they definitely have nothing in their systems to do with gift cards.
SO .... around the merry-go-round we went for about x4 more phone calls, explaining the whole thing over and over to multiple different ebay customer support team members and asking them why i was told the balance was sent to the state revenue office when the sro is telling me it was not, so who is lying? I just want to know (if) it expired then who holds the monies? I have wasted so much time on this! finally I requested the matter be escalated but promises to call me back with an outcome never happened, each time I would have to call ebay back after about two weeks only to go through it all over again with the next person on the phone, man.. how exhausting,
I do accept some blame for not using the balance in a timely manner but also its a legal requirement for the date of issue or expiry to be clearly written on the card which it is not, I was not to know when it expired? I still dont know that I can only believe what ebay customer support tell me?
Now im actually offended by the last ebay customer support team staff member which i spoke to, they were getting maximum pleasure in not helping me, we were on the phone for over an hour for they/them to basically say mate you aren't getting your 50 just give up, bad luck.. go away!! no matter how many times you call you ain't getting your $50 back buddy
So I requested a callback from a senior supervisor regarding the matter and they promised me i would have a callback from a senior supervisor within 24 hours, reference 1500278842271 .. Well that was about three weeks ago now and still no call, crickets ..
MAD!
Any ideas who has my $50 would be greatly appreciated I have spent more time on this than its worth because the card was a gift to me from someone who really couldn't afford it and I feel horrible to have wasted it.
Cheers ..
Matt
wishy_washy
OP9 months agothanks Springyzone I appreciate the input even though its not looking like there will be an ideal outcome
I have been getting worked up a little about the endless promises from ebay customer support to call me back, so much for all the BS they go on with when you first call "thankyou so much for being such a loyal ebay member with an account of more than 20 years we value your loyalty blah blah yader yader bs bs ... ""
then they don't even have the common decency to honour a $50 card (they tell me) is expired
Or or bother to have supervisor call me back as promised ...
PFFT
lol sorry just venting!
springyzone
·9 months agoIt's okay to vent.
Sounds like the typical ebay spiel. I think it is automated, they keep to a script.
Ebay is fine when things go smoothly but it can be a royal pain in the neck if they don't, and you need to contact customer support or open claims.
I have read of some people who had positive experiences with them but on the whole, you're better off to avoid trouble where you can so you never have to deal with them.
I'm extra careful these days who I buy from on ebay or anywhere else for just that reason.
It's a shame about your gift card, I think it happens to a lot of people. Sometimes I think it is better to just give cash as that doesn't expire (yet).
wishy_washy
OP9 months agoHey Toycollector, thanks for the reply sorry ive taken so long to get back i had such a busy week i forgot about this..
Interesting about the funds going straight to ebay and the fact they would be sitting on it and just being hard-assed about helping ... that just frustrates me further, they got $50 for nothing! meh,
if only the date of issue had of been printed on the card likes its legally supposed to be this would not have happened, and as for ebay telling me they send the funds to the state revenue and state revenue telling me they have not/ can not .. flat out lie about it, just rude
Not sure what im going to do but im not done with this yet
springyzone
·9 months agoI'd strongly suspect ebay just keeps the money in their coffers, same as happens with other companies when these cards expire.
I think it is a rort myself, gift cards should not expire or if they have to, they should have a long life span eg 10 years.
I did read that the government was considering stepping in with legislation to stop gift cards only having a short shelf life of 12-24 months etc. Can't happen quickly enough, in my book.
I'm sorry, I think you've lost your money, which is a shame.
lezned-toycollector
·9 months agoIt's all over, red rover. You've been told the gift card has expired... that's the end of the story.
As you are aware, once the gift card expires, you forfeit any unused balance. It's right there in the terms and conditions (see below).
https://pages.ebay.com.au/ebay-gift-cards-terms
General Terms
wishy_washy
OP9 months agoHi Lezned, yah i get that to a degree .. but
For one I don't know the three years is up there is no way of checking it, when i put the card number in to ebay balance checker it just resets, it does not tell me its expired or anything else for that matter.
Its also in the terms and conditions that the card is to clearly have date of issue or expiry printed on it, which it does not.
Besides all that, I am wondering where the $50 ends up, who has the $50 that I never got to use? eBay tell me the state revenue office, state revenue office tell me not? someone is sitting on it i want to know who!
Cheers 🙂
lezned-toycollector
·9 months agoIt's my understanding that gift cards are in essence a prepaid credit card (or digital credit) which can only be used in the specified company/group. Following the initial purchase, the money doesn't go anywhere.
Just as BCF gift cards are purchased from BCF and Bunnings gift cards are purchased from Bunnings, eBay gift cards are purchased from eBay. At the point of sale, the company receives the funds - so in your case, eBay received the funds. eBay then accept payments by means of using some/all of the prepaid credit balance - remember, they already have the funds.
The eBay gift cards terms & conditions state that once the gift card expires, any unused balance is forfeited. At this point, no money moves anywhere. eBay were paid over 3 years ago, back at the point of sale. It's just simply a matter of them no longer accepting the expired card, and refunding no portion of the purchase amount - again, they already have the funds.
As for the balance checker not working as expected... I can think of 2 possible reasons. Either the gift card has expired (as you've been told), or it may be associated with a different eBay account. As you are aware, eBay gift cards are automatically linked to the account from which the first use occurred, and they are not transferable. If this is what's happened, try checking the balance while signed in to the account linked to the gift card.