6 months later eBay still won't delete my account.

[electronics510]

This is an FYI as well as a request for answers. I was here in 2020 asking questions about how to deal with a number of seller issues. That was last year, 6 months ago now. Based on the extremely snarky and unhelpful answers I received here, as well as a lack of resolution from eBay customer service I resolved to delete my account. I was met with more snark, people happy to see me leave and some joking that I would be back.

Well, I have not sold in 6 months, no activity whatsoever. Yet I am still unable to delete my account. I have nothing outstanding, no negative marks. No action items with this account at all for 6+ months. Yet I am still unable to delete it. In the latest runaround(I will spare everyone the first 3 attempts I made), eBay has claimed I have a 'subscription' that they 'can't find'. If eBay can't find my subscription, it's safe to say I have no subscriptions. Because I have no subscriptions. They have assured me 'I am not being charged for the subscription'. The subscription is obviously just the latest red herring. They keep giving the runaround about deleting my account. It's been going on like this for 6 months.

Let this be a warning to everyone how unethical eBay has actually become. They are not responsible handlers of your data and regularly dole out false or ridiculous information in an attempt to blow you off. Pure gaslighting.

Once and for all; Please. Delete. My. eBay. Account.

And delete all my data! I have moved on. There is no reason to retain my data. No sales or transactions of any kind in 2021. Cool? Cool.

Any suggestions that would help get my account deleted are appreciated.

[jonathankirkland]

At the risk of sounding stupid, have you tried following these instructions (and doing so more than once, after some time has gone by, just in case?)

https://www.ebay.com/help/account/changing-account-settings/closing-account?id=4199

[lightlily_arts]

There isn't any reason for eBay to prevent you from closing your account if 180 days has elapsed since your last delivered transaction was completed.  I say 180 days because a buyer can still open a case up to 180 days on PayPal.  After that you are done forever.  If I wasn't planning to sell or make any further purchases I would want my account to be closed and deleted as well due to the possibility of some hacker using a dormant account to defraud someone.  That's a bunch of hooey for them to claim you have a subscription when they can't even provide evidence.  This just demonstrates how inept eBay's employees are that they will say anything to prevent a user from accomplishing what should be a simple task.  Have you tried reaching them through their Facebook page?

[electronics510]

Yes, have quite a few visits to that page. I get the;

________________________________________________________

Your account can't be closed at this time

We can't close your account at this time because:

•Unfortunately, we can't close your account yet, because it has been suspended, restricted, or is otherwise not meeting minimum seller standards. Until you have resolved your suspension, your account must remain open. If you would like to appeal your suspension or have your account reviewed by a member of our Trust & Safety team, please contact us.

•We can't close your account yet because you still have active subscriptions. To cancel your subscriptions, log in to My eBay. Under "My Account," select "Subscriptions." Click the "Unsubscribe" link next to any active subscriptions.

________________________________________________________

Literally none of that stuff applies to me and they've admitted as much at this point.

I've contacted them 3-4 times and the 'subscription' thing is the latest claim.

[jonathankirkland]

---

@electronics510 wrote:

Yes, have quite a few visits to that page. I get the;

________________________________________________________

Your account can't be closed at this time

We can't close your account at this time because:

•Unfortunately, we can't close your account yet, because it has been suspended, restricted, or is otherwise not meeting minimum seller standards. Until you have resolved your suspension, your account must remain open. If you would like to appeal your suspension or have your account reviewed by a member of our Trust & Safety team, please contact us.

•We can't close your account yet because you still have active subscriptions. To cancel your subscriptions, log in to My eBay. Under "My Account," select "Subscriptions." Click the "Unsubscribe" link next to any active subscriptions.

________________________________________________________

Literally none of that stuff applies to me and they've admitted as much at this point.

I've contacted them 3-4 times and the 'subscription' thing is the latest claim.

---

Aha so you receive this message each time you try to fill out the form and have never actually received the email stating your account is in the deletion process?

That is worrying...

Have you tried following that process from different web browsers or devices? I can't imagine it would possibly make a difference but clearing cookies might be worth at least trying? Shot in the dark, I know, but I don't really know any other suggestions.

Other than that I would contact ebay on Facebook and see if they can assist you.

[electronics510]

Exactly. I just went through my notes to detail the chain of events.

Excuse 1; you have to wait 30 days.

-I waited 30 days and tried again.

Excuse 2; you have to wait 60 days.

-I waited 60 days and tried again

Excuse 3; you have to wait 90 days.

-I waited 90 days and tried again

Excuse 4; please hold I will get this taken care of for you

-CS agent hangs up

Excuse 5; you have a subscription that we cannot find. Please check back in a few days, we'll find it

-waited a few weeks and tried again

Excuse 6; we only have so much power here in Customer Service in regards to subscriptions

-That brings me up to date.

Pretty clear they are hanging onto my data for dear life. So unethical.

[terrycece62]

i  do not believe you can ever delete your account you can close your account once your subscription has ended but it is my understanding that your data will remain  available but without activity you would be somewhat hidden someone would have to be search for your id lto find your info

Your status will be  termed 'unregistered' but your ID and feedback file information remains

When I  first attempted to close my store due to health reasons I recall receiving a message that my subscription was active until  (date)  and that I would still owe the store fee until then.

it is possible that you have yet to come to the end date of your subscription?

[electronics510]

Yeah, 30, 60, 90, heard all those. It's been more than 180 days, too.

I suppose after they exhaust the 'subscription' excuse they can move on to requiring 360 days for deletion.

My paypal isn't even linked to this account anymore.

[electronics510]

---

@terrycece62 wrote:

i  do not believe you can ever delete your account you can close your account once your subscription has ended but it is my understanding that your data will remain 

Your status will be  termed 'unregistered' but your ID and feedback file information remains

When I  first attempted to close my store due to health reasons I recall receiving a message that my subscription was active until  (date)  and that I would still owe the store fee until then.

it is possible that you have yet to come to the end date of your subscription?

---

Never had a subscription.

I'm coming to understand the "Close account and delete my data" button is a ruse. Like many other things about eBay.

[jonathankirkland]

---

@electronics510 wrote:

---

@terrycece62 wrote:

i  do not believe you can ever delete your account you can close your account once your subscription has ended but it is my understanding that your data will remain 

Your status will be  termed 'unregistered' but your ID and feedback file information remains

When I  first attempted to close my store due to health reasons I recall receiving a message that my subscription was active until  (date)  and that I would still owe the store fee until then.

it is possible that you have yet to come to the end date of your subscription?

---

Never had a subscription.

I'm coming to understand the "Close account and delete my data" button is a ruse. Like many other things about eBay.

---

Okay but as I said above, your last ditch effort is to try reaching out to ebay on FB. Though I have personally not had to do this yet I have read many, many success stories of people receiving actual help there instead of getting the run around like they do with the CSR's on the phone.

[electronics510]

Yes, I saw that when you wrote it initially.

Will consider turning my Facebook back on to contact eBay on Facebook. If it works, will provide an update here.

Shoddy that eBay is even worse with our data than Facebook. Not a good look. Thanks for the suggestion.

[jonathankirkland]

---

@electronics510 wrote:

Yes, I saw that when you wrote it initially.

Will consider turning my Facebook back on to contact eBay on Facebook. If it works, will provide an update here.

Shoddy that eBay is even worse with our data than Facebook. Not a good look. Thanks for the suggestion.

---

Good luck

[lamber9347]

@electronics510 I've used Facebook twice now to contact eBay and each time someone responded within one hour. Make sure you do this during regular business hours so that your message doesn't get lost with others. Go to eBay for Business and just hit send a message, type in what you wrote here and see what that person has to say. I think terrycece is correct that you'll never officially get all your data removed but you can get it officially closed. Best of luck to you....

[forward-motion]

Hopefully we were nicer this time 😁

[toysaver]

"I was here in 2020 asking questions about how to deal with a number of seller issues.... Based on the extremely snarky and unhelpful answers I received here, as well as a lack of resolution from eBay customer service"

There is likely more to the story.  What exactly were the seller issues?  With only a few sales and electronics in your name you would have been a target for scammers.  If you had any sort of transaction that went south and was as you claim 'not resolved', chances are you owe eBay money.   They will not close accounts that owe money.  That's like charging up 10K on a credit card and then asking to close the acount, not going to happen.