Ebay abusing punishing customers for using ebay gift cards that is sold in almost every supermarket

[brex3038]

The first month using this account I made 20 purchases, almost every time checking out I had to deal with my cards being frozen, customer service told me it is because I have a new account without many purchases.

Now months later I have over 20 purchases with a 100% positivity rate I bought a card just for $180 USD, and I went to purchase something on sale, and "No balance". card frozen, and not only that, all the checkboxes for my remaining other card funds from month ago just simply disappear. Customer service never is able to help fix this bug (Ebay cant even have a properly functioning checkout page apparently and cant help with it).

I tried to return my card to the supermarket I bought it from, they had to get the manager, manager told me Ebay is holding onto the funds and wont return them so cannot return my card for my money...

I go to customer service chat, their English level is very poor and they dont even read everything I tell them because they keep asking questions about things I already explained up to 4 times. Since when was buying things on ebay supposed to be a part time job communicating with foreign customer service? I asked why my card got frozen this time? They simply told me they dont need to tell me, so did they lie to me the first month? My item probably will be gone by the time my card gets unfrozen... This is straight up abuse.

[mtgraves7984]

I've not used gift cards in awhile, so help me unravel this ball of yarn... and correct me when I'm wrong.

It sounds like you were able to pay for purchases with the first set of gift cards. If you pay with a gift card and don't use the whole balance, doesn't that  gift card balance pre-fill (become 'used up' first) the next time you checkout... before you enter another card number? If so, it would explain the statement, "... all the checkboxes for my remaining other card funds from month ago just simply disappear."

You then say you bought a gift card for "just" $180... an odd amount. 1) Did this  gift card come from the Retailer, and did you pay the Retailer $180? -or- 2) Did this gift card come from another source... possibly from an eBay listing or from another site? (Your verbiage "just" makes me think you bought a larger gift card for less money... you scored a deal.) If so, that might be the problem... maybe your 'score' wasn't such a score after all, but a scam.

And regarding the phone customer service... it's laughable. The most intelligible responses come via email, starting with a message on the eBay facebook page. I'd recommend that.

Tell me if I'm warm or cold...

[simba6]

First off, 180 dollar gift card?  That did not come from a retailer.  If you can buy those cards, why not just pay the same way when buying on eBay?  If you buying those "discount" cards from card re sellers, you asking for trouble like this.

[brex3038]

No it is the ebay card sold at most supermarkets that lets you load an amount up to 200 at the register... All the ebay cards I used were obtained this way. Hence why I said in the OP I tried to talk to the manager of the supermarket to get my money back..

[brex3038]

I got this error checkboxes dissapear error last month and its really annoying, only way to fix is to reenter all your older card numbers, which sucks now because my older cards are more than a month old and I may not find them... Customer service wont help me with this... Yea when funds are used up it eliminates some of the cards, but because some of my previous cards got frozen, some items I wanted to get got sold before I could buy them because I had to wait, and im stuck with the card that had funds for something I couldnt buy anymore... You would expect one of the largest ecommerce websites to make this more simple like a credit balance, or atleast not having a buggy checkout..

No I didnt buy from a 3rd party, in the OP I mentioned I bought at the checkout at a supermarket as I did with all my cards. If you think 180 is an odd amount I dont know what to tell you, keep in mind I am trying to combine this with the funds from my other cards I got stuck with when this freeze happened to me the last time and screwed up my plans for purchase.

[brex3038]

Oh and the supermarket is a huge multistate corporate one incase any of you are wondering its a small privately owned supermarket.. So it really should be official ebay cards that I am buying...

[brex3038]

Also I tried replying to the customer service "We need specific documentation to complete our investigation" email and got no response about a full day passing since. Would love to get a native English speaker to give me an explanation why I am being frozen like this again.

[mtgraves7984]

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@brex3038 wrote:

Oh and the supermarket is a huge multistate corporate one incase any of you are wondering its a small privately owned supermarket.. So it really should be official ebay cards that I am buying...

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Well... curiouser and curiouser. I think you've stumped the panel.

First, find the cards. You are correct that customer service won't help you at all without those. (How would they know what to check without them?) When you do, check the balances through the eBay Help & Contact page to make sure you do have an issue with the balances. (I still don't know if it's the cards, proper, or the way they've been used previously.) If you find out there is no balance on the cards, then reach out to eBay through a message on their facebook page. Separate yourself from emotions and present the facts... the card numbers. Be brief and concise.

You'll quickly receive an email from a qualified, understandable human. You can reply to the email and if the Rep needs to hand you off, he/she will... so another more qualified Rep will reply. You can escalate your problem (if necessary) to decision-makers. It might take 3 emails to 3 different Reps, but what else are you doing tonight? Good luck.

[brex3038]

They should give you a job there, but I am assuming they are too cheap and would rather hire cheaper non native speakers 😛 .. You articulate yourself well. I don't use facebook. As I mentioned earlier I sent an email as a reply to customer service card investigation email and still received no response. Also I dont think there is a part of the help page that will show you your card balances. Not surprised Ebay would expect me to use a invasive criminal corporate censorship platform like Facebook to get proper customer service, what does that say about Ebay?

ALSO UPDATE: THE ITEM I BOUGHT THE CARD FOR WAS SOLD, SO NOW IM STUCK WITH THIS CARD AND CANT EVEN BUY WHAT I WANTED WITH IT!

[fredoniatreasures]

Wow, I have no experience with ebay gift cards and now I certainly don't want to. Someone gave me an amazon card once and I just entered the number in my account at their site and the balance became available as a credit in my account immediately. I didn't even need the card anymore. Something for ebay to think about.

[soh.maryl]

Have to ask:  Why buy gift cards to pay for an item listed for sale on eBay?

Why not just make your purchase with a credit card?  

[releasethekraken_1]

Some people can’t qualify for a credit card, or don’t want to be tempted by a large credit limit.

[popblox]

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@brex3038 wrote:

Not surprised Ebay would expect me to use a invasive criminal corporate censorship platform like Facebook to get proper customer service, what does that say about Ebay?

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I think it says they're giving us a way to contact them via the most widely used digital platform in the world. For free.

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[mtgraves7984]

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@brex3038 wrote:

They should give you a job there, but I am assuming they are too cheap and would rather hire cheaper non native speakers 😛 .. You articulate yourself well. I don't use facebook. As I mentioned earlier I sent an email as a reply to customer service card investigation email and still received no response. Also I dont think there is a part of the help page that will show you your card balances. Not surprised Ebay would expect me to use a invasive criminal corporate censorship platform like Facebook to get proper customer service, what does that say about Ebay?

ALSO UPDATE: THE ITEM I BOUGHT THE CARD FOR WAS SOLD, SO NOW IM STUCK WITH THIS CARD AND CANT EVEN BUY WHAT I WANTED WITH IT!

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@brex3038 

Why, I feel a full inch taller... thank you! As a general rule, I don't 'use' facebook, either. But... when I had a problem that eBay's lousy phone service couldn't even comprehend, I reverted to it... on advice from these boards. (Actually, it's the only time I've had to reach out during this whole pandemic.) I was AMAZED at the qualified, articulate Reps that helped me resolve my problem in record time. (Three emails that I could open/reply to on my  time... DONE in about an hour.) So, if you have  a facebook account (even if you don't 'use' it), consider that possibility. 

And, yes... you can  check your balances through the eBay Help & Contact pages, if you can find your cards.

I went to Help & Contact, searched 'Gift card', ticked on 'eBay gift cards' and scrolled down to a big, blue button that says 'Check your gift card balance'. The page will prefill and all you have to do is enter your 13-digits per. Easy-peasy.

The non-response from eBay customer service seems to be the new norm. We all hate it, but create workarounds. I am still flummoxed, but empathize with you. Don't give up just yet... 

[brex3038]

Good information, I just think its insane you would have to go to facebook of all places to get proper customer service, is like saying I should go to the USPS website (which would probably be safer than Facebook) to get Ebay customer service because they are the largest business partner of Ebay, or most used shipping service...

I would have to put the codes in the checkout page anyways, and punching in the codes of my multiple cards would be a chore in itself (these **bleep** situations have been like parttime jobs many months this year, worst ecommerce experiences in my life) so I think I will just do them there to save time (I really hope I didn't throw them away)... Like what @fredoniatreasures just said above its counter intuitive they would have this buggy checkout page where card checkboxes just disappear, why dont card funds just become credits...

Thank you for your support MtGraves, in an ethical world, this soulless entity known as Ebay would be rewarding you for your actions.

UPDATE: For documentation just recieved an email from Ebay:

"Hello Brex,

 Thank you for your patience while we investigated the eBay gift cards you reported as not functioning. I have reviewed the situation and am happy to inform you that I was able to resolve the issue and the balances from the following cards are available for immediate use:

 xxxxxxxxxx - $180.00"

I responded to this email asking for an explanation on why my card was frozen AGAIN, and voiced my grievances on how I cannot even buy the sold product which I purchased this gift card for in the first place... This has happened to me about 3 times this year (earlier they said it was because im new), and I want to know how to prevent this next time, for myself and others that will read this. Will keep you all posted on their comment.