Canceled eBay Plus months ago but keep being charged for it

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Just looking for anyone with a similar experience or suggestions - I canceled my eBay Plus membership in December 2021, and it has been canceled (asks me to try the free trial if I sign into eBay plus etc). However, every month since then, I keep getting charged for the eBay Plus membership fees. I have had to go to the Customer Service live chat every month this year (January to May) to get it refunded and every time they tell me it’s a glitch and has been referred to IT and it definitely won’t happen again, only for it to happen again the following month. Other than going back to the Customer service live chat for the fifth month in a row, does anyone have any suggestions about what I might be able to do to get this dealt with once and for all? It’s a bit ridiculous to have to spend 30+ minutes going through the same conversation every single month only to have the same issue each time. I’d just cancel my eBay account, but it would take 60 days after the last transaction which means at least one more of these would go through and then stop it closing because it then would have me wrongly listed as being in debt/doing another transaction to restart the time. Any ideas? Thanks!

Thanks!

[jellybirddesigns]

Telling customers that it has been "referred to IT" is code speak for the fact that they have no idea how to solve your issue.

What does it show under your Account settings -  Subscriptions?

You don't have any sale transactions on this account, so I'm assuming that you're only using this account for purchasing? You could also approach your bank and tell them that you want to block that specific deduction, especially if the description reference is something like "Ebay Subscription" and is obviously for a set amount each time.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestion - I might have to see if the bank can block the transaction, though that doesn’t stop it coming up as in debt in my account. There’s no subscriptions under my account, and the transaction each month in my account is labelled “eBay Plus”. And yes, other than one time listing something (was supposed to be no listing fee for that one) that I later took down, which was a couple of years ago now, I only use eBay for purchasing.

[countessalmirena]

This is unusual, in that we normally see eBay Plus posts that appear to complain about automatic payments for eBay Plus where the person did not cancel their membership before payment was to be taken.

I'd treat this as any other recurring card payment situation.

1. Instruct eBay in writing that you withdraw the authority for eBay to take this payment for eBay Plus subscription. Traditionally you would send this by registered post with signature on delivery; you should probably check with Live Chat (during business hours) for the address to which you send this. In addition to sending it by mail, it wouldn't hurt to convey the information by Live Chat, and have the transcript of the chat emailed to you.
2. If eBay charge you again, take a copy of the correspondence withdrawing the authorisation with you to your bank, and present them with it.
3. Your bank should then handle the situation by disputing the transaction, informing eBay through those financial channels that their client (you) has withdrawn the authority for them to charge you for this cancelled subscription.

The sort of letter that you'd want to send to eBay would be along these lines:

Dear Sir/Madam,

CANCELLATION OF RECURRING PAYMENT AUTHORITY

This is to formally advise you that I hereby cancel my authority for you to deduct recurring card payments from my account, effective immediately from 11 May 2022. The details of this recurring card payment authority are as follow:

• In respect of: eBay Plus membership
• Subscription account: [you'd have an eBay Plus account number or some sort of reference number...? I'm not sure; I've never subscribed to eBay Plus, and would never do so.]
• Amount of recurring charge: $4.99 [eBay Plus monthly membership?]
• Frequency of recurring charge: [every month? ... e.g., first of every month]
• Payment method: [card? direct debit from bank account? PayPal?]
• Payment account details: [use xxxx for most of the number - just give the last 4 or 6 digits, e.g., xxxx xxxx xx18 1234

I cancelled my eBay Plus subscription on xx December 2021. (Please see attached confirmation of cancellation.) I was nevertheless charged on xx January 2022; eBay Customer Service refunded me after I contacted them through Live Chat on xx January 2022 to inform them of the issue. I was advised at that time that the problem was a technical glitch and that it would not happen again. However, I was charged again on xx February 2022, necessitating further communication through Live Chat for another refund and another assurance that it would not recur. Unfortunately, the situation was repeated on xx March 2022, xx April 2022, and xx May 2022.

I therefore seek your formal assurance that you have definitely cancelled this recurring card payment and that no further attempts to debit my card/account will occur. Please confirm this in writing.

Yours faithfully,

[Your name]

This is really the only way to make sure that the charges stop.

I am assuming that you have indeed, definitely, without question, cancelled the eBay Plus membership on your eBay Plus membership page. If that page looks like this...

... and doesn't show a monthly membership with your next payment date and payment method, then I would say you have definitely, certainly, undoubtedly cancelled your membership.

If it does show a monthly membership, then it would be your oops rather than eBay's oops.

I hope that helps. Please keep us posted about what happens; this will help the responders on these boards to be sure about the advice!

[jellybirddesigns]

Worst case scenario - you could just close the ID and start a new account. You don't have to wait 60 days as you're not selling anything.

[domino-710]

Did you pay through PayPal - as a recurring payment.

If so turn it off :

Login PayPal - go to the settings wheel up top - click - then click payments - it will come up with manage automatic payments - turn off eBay.

[jellybirddesigns]

@domino - Great solution for the OP if that's the case!