Sale Cancelled by eBay Due to a "Systems Issue"

[shiraikimiaki]

This just happened to me on an order I sold a day ago. Luckily I didn't ship it out yet, otherwise it appears eBay went and refunded the buyer on my behalf, even though eBay itself was the one who cancelled the order...

Has anyone else experienced this?

[mam98031]

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@janet9988 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@jbbowers12012 wrote:

Does anyone know if this issue has been resolved???

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Not yet, however I haven't seen any new complaints.  It is likely we will learn more about what happened in the next couple of days, when the work week starts and all the staff is back.

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I wonder how ebay will handle this considering sellers refunded... and relisted the unpaid or perhaps paid for item..... or not maybe......or did not?

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All good questions.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring some answers.

[mam98031]

@turnsby777 

There is no need to feel that your post was annoying.  I didn't see it that way.  I responded, but you have every right to your position and/or opinions as does everyone else.

Yes Ebay has had some pretty significant issues the last few days.  I just don't see it the same as you do as I don't think it warrants News coverage.  Internet sites have issues from time to time, it is the nature of computers.

Because my opinion is different than yours does not mean I'm criticising  you, it only means we have different points of view.  There shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

You are correct, the emails that went out last week regarding the tool offered inside the Calculated Shipping program to allow buyers to receive the shipping pricing representing the online shipping discounts can't be related to the various problems represented on the threads the last few days.  Completely separate thing.  Ebay doesn't have to reprogram the Calculated shipping function as it has always had the ability for sellers to do this if they want.

The two statement are related.  "the site is having issues" and "ebay is cancelling sales".  Now those are definitely related to each other along with a few other issues in the listing form.

IDK if they know what the problem is, Ebay hasn't said anything yet that I'm aware of.  They very well may know what the problem is and are working to get it fixed or they may be still trying to identify the issue so they can fix it.  

You are likely safe to list the item again.  It wasn't the item that caused the cancellation.  It was either something about the buyer or something that Ebay did wrong, not you.

FYI, I never said any of this wasn't a big deal.  You are reading things into my post I did not say or intend.  All these issues are a big deal to members affected by them.

[mam98031]

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@janet9988 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@jbbowers12012 wrote:

Does anyone know if this issue has been resolved???

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Not yet, however I haven't seen any new complaints.  It is likely we will learn more about what happened in the next couple of days, when the work week starts and all the staff is back.

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I wonder how ebay will handle this considering sellers refunded... and relisted the unpaid or perhaps paid for item..... or not maybe......or did not?

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I do not know.  Like I said, we will likely find out more tomorrow or the next day.

[devon@ebay · Accepted solution]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Wow, that is a new one on me.  I've never seen or heard of such a message.  And Ebay refunding the payment is really unusual as they have NO idea if you shipped or not if you use some other label system other than Ebay's.

I think we need some clarity on this.  I'm going to tag the thread, but the staff won't be back until Monday.

kyle@ebay 

elizabeth@ebay 

devon@ebay 

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Hey @mam98031! We recently identified an issue that caused a limited number of orders to be shipped to a buyer’s alternate address. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and are moving quickly to address customer concerns. 

[valueaddedresource]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

Wow, that is a new one on me.  I've never seen or heard of such a message.  And Ebay refunding the payment is really unusual as they have NO idea if you shipped or not if you use some other label system other than Ebay's.

I think we need some clarity on this.  I'm going to tag the thread, but the staff won't be back until Monday.

kyle@ebay 

elizabeth@ebay 

devon@ebay 

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Hey @mam98031! We recently identified an issue that caused a limited number of orders to be shipped to a buyer’s alternate address. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and are moving quickly to address customer concerns. 

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devon@ebay so just to confirm - the "systems issue" cancellations are definitely all related to the issue with the address issue?

What about sellers who have already shipped the orders? Several impacted sellers are currently reporting that refunds have been taken out of their funds even though the order has already shipped and they have been unable to get any help from support.

[mam98031]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

Wow, that is a new one on me.  I've never seen or heard of such a message.  And Ebay refunding the payment is really unusual as they have NO idea if you shipped or not if you use some other label system other than Ebay's.

I think we need some clarity on this.  I'm going to tag the thread, but the staff won't be back until Monday.

kyle@ebay 

elizabeth@ebay 

devon@ebay 

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Hey @mam98031! We recently identified an issue that caused a limited number of orders to be shipped to a buyer’s alternate address. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and are moving quickly to address customer concerns. 

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devon@ebay 

Thank you for that information, it certainly helps.  It still leaves me with a question.  In this circumstance it makes good sense that Ebay would refund the buyer since there was a ship to address issue.  But what about the seller.  What if the seller had already shipped the item?  

Is Ebay requiring affected sellers to contact Ebay for a refund to them for likely a lost sale / product?  What is the proper way to help sellers deal with this issue?

[wastingtime101]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

I wonder @valueaddedresource if it has something to do with the old address issue on the app? Or it could just be coincidental timing.

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Based on Devon's response, it seems my instincts were pretty good on this one.

Here's the sitewide ticket number on that iOS app issue, if any sellers affected by the order cancellation (they already shipped but refunds were pulled from their account) plan to contact CS:

Members are facing issues with shipping address as it reverts back to old address in IOS App (April 18,2024)

Reference ID: ALERT15269

Not sure if that will be needed, but it won't hurt.

[vintageartandmorestuff]

I recently received a message on April 20 informing me that my order was canceled due to a system issue. Although it assured me that it wouldn't cause any problems, I've noticed a defect as a result. Despite attempting to rectify the issue, my request was declined. Now, I'm attempting to contact the specialty team, but unfortunately, they're currently unavailable.

[dhbookds]

Concerning the "system issued cancels"..........have we gotten any more info?

Apparently, buyers are being issued a refund.....that's coming out of sellers pocket.....even if item was mailed as per ebay instructions.  Are sellers being issued refunds in this event?

Now some sellers are reporting defects being charged to sellers.......even if items weren't mailed.

@wastingtime101 

@valueaddedresource 

devon@ebay 

Anyone have any anecdotal info as to what's happening? Any automatic reversals of defects/refunds or do sellers have to try to contact/explain to CS???

[ittybitnot]

Anyone have any anecdotal info as to what's happening? 

@dhbookds 

The only post I noted was from some seller who was a victim of this "cancellation by eBay" fiasco that got negged by the buyer.  The request for removal of the red donut was denied. 

[valueaddedresource]

@dhbookds anecdotally, I've heard from two different sellers who had already shipped the canceled orders, had the refunds taken out of their funds, and "got in touch" with support per the instructions in that email.

Both of them report support first tried to suggest they should contact the buyer to request that they pay again if the address was correct and the buyer received the item (by sending a PayPal invoice of course because there's no way to actually do it through eBay) and/or they should send a return label or schedule a carrier pickup (presumably at their own expense) to try to get the item back if it was delivered to an incorrect address or it was received but the buyer didn't want to pay again to keep it.

Both also report that after very directly refusing those options and telling the rep exactly what I'm sure most here will be thinking just reading that....support now says a refund will be processed to them in 3-5 days, but neither of them are holding their breath and will believe it when they see it.

Not surprising that's how this appears to be being handled but still so very disappointing - as usual it sounds like the plan is to try to fob responsibility for working out a resolution on to the buyer and seller, but maybe some squeaky wheels will get the grease if they are loud enough.

I'd love to hear that those two experiences were not representative and those reps just "need more coaching" but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one either.

[janet9988]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

@dhbookds anecdotally, I've heard from two different sellers who had already shipped the canceled orders, had the refunds taken out of their funds, and "got in touch" with support per the instructions in that email.

Both of them report support first tried to suggest they should contact the buyer to request that they pay again if the address was correct and the buyer received the item (by sending a PayPal invoice of course because there's no way to actually do it through eBay) and/or they should send a return label or schedule a carrier pickup (presumably at their own expense) to try to get the item back if it was delivered to an incorrect address or it was received but the buyer didn't want to pay again to keep it.

Both also report that after very directly refusing those options and telling the rep exactly what I'm sure most here will be thinking just reading that....support now says a refund will be processed to them in 3-5 days, but neither of them are holding their breath and will believe it when they see it.

Not surprising that's how this appears to be being handled but still so very disappointing - as usual it sounds like the plan is to try to fob responsibility for working out a resolution on to the buyer and seller, but maybe some squeaky wheels will get the grease if they are loud enough.

I'd love to hear that those two experiences were not representative and those reps just "need more coaching" but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one either.

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Right. After all the message was clear that Ebay is taking care of the customers by refunding them out of the sellers funds.

BUT we all agree that we use this site on an "as is"  basis and ebay specifically states that ebay is not responsible for any glitch, bugs, or errors.

[wheredidiputthatremote]

Yes, it happened to me last weekend. And the buyer never came back to repurchase it. My loss and eBay's loss too.

[gpmemories]

Nope the tool £1043 back from my account and refunded the buyer for a item I had already shipped. Have spoke to eBay who said it would be resolved and I would get my money back but nothing yet 

[mam98031]

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@gpmemories wrote:

Nope the tool £1043 back from my account and refunded the buyer for a item I had already shipped. Have spoke to eBay who said it would be resolved and I would get my money back but nothing yet 

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Didn't they give you a timeframe in which the refund would happen to you?  If not, maybe you need to contact them again to get that timeframe, so that you know.

On each Ebay page there is a link to contact Customer Service at the top of the page and again at the bottom of the page.

I would suggest that you contact Ebay for Business on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the better trained CSRs.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.

If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.

If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

https://www.ebay.com/help/home