topic Re: How to submit a complaint or which regulator do I need to contact? in Buying

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

exabytecorp — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 20:40:42 GMT

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.

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

jellybirddesigns — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 08:36:37 GMT

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.

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

*sons_and_daughters* — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 08:58:32 GMT

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.

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

exabytecorp — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 09:09:42 GMT

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.

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

exabytecorp — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 09:10:21 GMT

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

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

jellybirddesigns — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 00:52:11 GMT

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?

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

janeababe — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 01:33:05 GMT

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!

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

exabytecorp — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 08:58:42 GMT

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.

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

exabytecorp — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 09:07:03 GMT

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!

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

*sons_and_daughters* — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 11:21:22 GMT

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.

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

exabytecorp — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 12:18:00 GMT

Call it whatever you want, I got the resolution I wanted, which is what I should get anyways.

It doesn't matter how many lawyers they have, if they are in the wrong, nothing the lawyers can do.

I didn't have a legal win, it didn't get to that stage, what I have is a win for common sense. Just by threatening legal action, it put a rocket up someone's behind in eBay, so they did their job.

Hope my experience helps someone else who is getting the run around with eBay support. Be assertive. I was prepared to take it to court.

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

gutterpunkz05 — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 12:36:23 GMT

Wonder what the reprisal will be, most who make legal threats, without having it forwarded via a lawyer, seem to find their accounts are suddenly restricted.

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

exabytecorp — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 01:15:56 GMT

They restrict accounts of Karen’s who have no legal basis, they just want to make noise.

This obviously do not apply to me, I’m in the right and if I took it to court, I’d win easily, it’s an open and shut case. Paid for something I didn’t receive, therefore I should get a refund, quite simple.

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

jellybirddesigns — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 01:32:59 GMT

Glad you got resolution. You don't have to justify yourself here - although I would only say that usually customer service are hopeless at solving the most basic issues, so it seems your message just got through to the right person at the right time.

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

exabytecorp — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 04:03:45 GMT

I agree, and I expected to be bounced around to a few incompetent people before having to escalate it to get it resolved.

I didn't expect the issue to drag on for more than 5 months though. Being told conflicting information which are provably false. That's just next level incompetence.

One team told me "the refund has been processed already (but the gift card still had a zero balance and I didn't use it after that transaction)", another told me it was never charged at all, the transaction didn't go through. Why would they just make up stuff? I knew those answers were incorrect. The incompetence is just mind boggling, and its all in writing, its just not like they said this to me over the phone, I specifically avoided using the phone, preferring to contact them via live chat and email so everything was in writing.

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

jellybirddesigns — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 04:58:08 GMT

Customer service are notorious for making stuff up. We get a lot of complaints in the forums about the things CS say, but often the information is unreliable or simply untrue.

Part of it, I think, is that the reps are low paid workers in developing countries who most likely have never really used Ebay themselves either as buyer or as seller. They just read from scripts or promise to "escalate" or pass on to the "technical department". Their abilities are pretty limited.

These forums are a huge wealth of knowledge, but gift card hassles are a very rare (if ever) topic of discussion, so not a lot of information/experience on what to do when things go awry.

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

springyzone — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 22:03:40 GMT

I am glad it got resolved.

I don't believe it was somehow a coincidence that the matter was resolved after 5 months, just when you were getting forceful with them and threatening to take things further.

Mind you, I think trying to go to court against ebay would be costlier than the loss of the gift cards. What has probably happened is one of their reps has decided to actually make an all out effort to sort it out instead of fobbing you off. It probably helped that you had all the facts, dates, conversations etc at your fingertips.

I suspect the other reps could have fixed things much faster if you had been able to quote voucher or card number etc. They fobbed you off as they didn't know what to do without that information.

I agree with you that it should have been sorted many months ago, but I also agree with others that you probably made things harder for yourself by not saving the gift card. I don't know if you simply mislaid it or if you got rid of it after using it but it's a lesson to always hold on to things like that till a transaction is totally completed.

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

exabytecorp — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 22:34:45 GMT

I’ve started to record all gift cards I use on eBay. I only pay with gift cards because I get them at a discount.