Ebay unfair coupon code practices

[mraj69]

I just bought a sumsung s10 phone which was advertised by ebay with an AU$40 discount if i used the code "pizzapie". I went to pay but pressed on picture of the item - next thing there was no box to enter the promotion code when i proceeded and it paid for my order without applying any discount (i was expecting to proceed back to the checkout). I immediately phoned ebay australia to seek assistance to apply discount and got nowhere except a lecture on how to buy an item with discount (I've bought 20 items this week). It was pretty obvious i wanted the discount advertised (by ebay, not merchant, beneath item listing) and the fact ebay, who i contacted within minutes of the payment, refuse to entertain any form of credit is not only completely unfair and poor customer service but is misleading and deceptive conduct noting i had no opportunity to enter promotion code. Very disappointed in ebay treatment of this (the item was advertised with discount, one wonders why i should even have to enter it) and demand my $40 credit advertised!!

[collect247]

You should have chosen the call back from ebay which you would have got someone who might understand what happened but instead you called them which you then get an overseas doofis.

[digital*ghost]

Not all coupon codes are the same - some are only co-funded by eBay. If this was not a side-wide discount, and only available at one store, or one of a selected list of sellers, then the discount is funded by both eBay and the seller. In those cases, they would not have the authority to apply or provide the discount retroactively, nor would they be contractually responsible for the full amount of the discount.

Sometimes buyers will get a courtesy voucher if a coupon code doesn't work when entered, but there has to be an actual attempt at using the code and it subsequently failing due to a technical issue (as these can generally be verified), since the fault (and therefore responsibility to honour the code) then lies with eBay. You would need to argue that there being no oppotunity to enter the code at any stage is eBay's fault, not buyer error. 

[springyzone]

I can remember a while back, something similar happened to me, in that I had a code (not as good a one as you had, mind you) but when I went to buy the item, there was no place to enter a code.

Luckily for me, I had been on these boards and had read about this problem and I didn't proceed. I started over again, placing the item in the cart instead and lo and behold, there was a spot to enter a code. But those posts proved that you're not the only person who has ever had trouble. And ebay aren't likely to honour it without the code at the point of sale. From what I can gather, these codes aren't aren't always site-wide, not everyone gets them or gets the same ones, it's a bit of a dog's breakfast.

I agree with you that it should not be rocket science for ebay to include a box for a promotional code right at the start of every sale. I am on a few different sites ( I am remembering photobook sites in particular) where this happens, so it CAN be done.

Asking a seller to cancel a sale might work in some instances (obviously not yours, if the seller had already posted) but puts unnecessary extra work on the seller and for each cancellation they lose a small amount of non refundable money, so the best solution would be for ebay to make it more straightforward to use the codes in the first place.

In the meantime, if it ever happens again, don't proceed with the next click, keep going back till you find a way to include the code-which usually seems to work if you use the cart.

[mraj69]

In fairness, i should reflect that ebay have now resolved this to my satisfaction.

[springyzone]

That's good news. What happened? I'd love to know if they gave you the discount or maybe another voucher to the value of $40 or whatever for a future purchase?

[countessalmirena]

I'm glad that you were able to get this resolved.

[mraj69]

They gave me a coupon voucher as a one off after review. Whilst now moot, I maintain that i thought i was going back to checkout after going back to reveiw product from checkout (as i wanted to see if iscount had increased). Anyway, as a suggestion to improve ebay software (or cater for the moron factor as the case may be), maybe the final pay button should be red or, when ebay itself advertises "take $40 off item" alongside product and no promo code is entered upon finalisation, it should ask eg "dont you want to take $40 off?"! In the meantime, i will defintely be sure to finalise ebay purchases a lot (as in a thousand times) more carefully.

[springyzone]

I think the easiest solution would be for every purchase to have a discount or gift code space right at the start of every transaction.

Just where it says something like "Enter Discount code if applicable".

A lot of times a buyer won't have a discount code, but it would take care of any problems if that box was there anyway before anyone has to click on the 'buy' button or commit.