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Ebay stole my gift card balance and banned me for life. Won't say why.
On September 21 2023 I purchased an ebay gift card for $150 at a local store. That same day I purchased an item on ebay for $125 and paid with the gift card. The purchase went through, but after the purchase I received a notice that my account was permanently suspended for putting the ebay community at risk. I contacted customer service and they told me that my account was linked to a suspended account and that all my accounts were permanently suspended. I have two other accounts with the same name and address and neither of them are suspended. I asked what account they were referring to and why they think it belongs to me but they said they can’t tell me. The customer service agent said that my suspension was permanent and that it could not be appealed. I asked about the gift card since you need an ebay account to use the card. I was told that the card balance is not refundable but I can sell the card to anyone who has an ebay account.
Then in May, I checked the card balance on ebay but the card had $0 balance. There should have been $25 left on the card. When I reported the missing balance to ebay, the customer service agent told me that the card had been reported stolen. I replied that I have the card and receipts as proof that I didn’t steal it. He sent me a link to send in a photo of the card and receipts which I did. An investigation was opened (SR# 1-477770568502). And the result of the investigation was that my gift card is linked to a suspended account and the only way for me to use the card is through that account. But ebay won’t let me use that account because it is suspended and not eligible to appeal the suspension.
I contacted ebay about this and was told that I will not be able to use the card until the account is reinstated. It seems they suspended that account as an excuse to keep my balance. My account was suspended immediately after I used the gift card and only the account with a gift card was suspended. My other two accounts are in good standing even though ebay told me that the suspension applies to all of my ebay accounts.
abdurya0
·10 months agoSimilar thing happened to me as well, I only had two business transactions with Ebay in my lifetime:
1- I bought a toy to my friend that she liked a lot as a kid but lost track of it. (~10 months ago)
2- I had a gift card of $200 and bought a drip coffee maker. Then I realized that was not the size I wanted and cancelled instantly, requested refund. The coffee maker was $149.90. They refunded it to my gift card then suspended my account to make sure my loss from the situation is $200. (2 days ago)
Now, they deemed me as a danger to the community and banned for life.
P.S. I dont even have a credit card debt.
kh-adrian
·10 months agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
nirout_79
·2 years agoThis is my suspended account. It didn't even realize I was using it LOL.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoThis is my suspended account. It didn't even realize I was using it LOL.
@nirout_79
Thanks for the update! Now you need to see if you have any gift card balance...LOL.
nirout_79
·2 years agoEbay reinstated my account. I had a couple shots and felt like arguing so I contacted ebay about the gift card. I asked them if the account was suspended as an excuse to steal my card as repayment for a debt of the former owners of my house. They said that ebay doesn't do that and i can't use the card because the account is suspended. I told them that I don't want to lose any more money on ebay and asked if I buy another gift card will ebay suspend my account and take my card. They said they couldn't answer that but they could put me thru to the suspension department. The person I was talking to seemed to not know why i was suspended either and was trying to help. Then they put me thru to a man who reinstated my account. He just said "in 3-5 minues you will be able to use your account" and that was it. After months of going back and forth with ebay they finally decided to give me the account back rather then tell me why it was suspended.
blotto-half
·2 years agoNot related to selling but had an issue re bank info on file...i got jerked around, told things that didnt happen one was trying but the language barrier was awful...finally i got csr svc rep who was in the USA & the problem was solved in less than 5 minutes!
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@nihat_psu,
"And at what point is the debt paid?"
There may not be a debt. Others only mentioned one as a possible reason why an account could be closed. When you bought your house did you get a new router from an internet provider?
If you did then the ISP address is not the same as the one the previous owner had if they used ebay. So ebay would not be coming after you.
FYI, ever since ebay started using managed payments you wouldn't owe them anything, since your selling fees are automatically deducted. Prior to that when fees had to be paid Monthly, if you didn't pay a selling fee for 90 days, they would close an account.
You had to have done something wrong in order for ebay to have suspended an account. What it was none of us can say. Maybe you filed too many disputes, threatened too many sellers with negative feedback, left buyers negative comments, retracted too many bids, Filed charge backs with a card provider instead of going through ebay too many times.... What ever the reason because you used a gift card on an account, that was linked to a suspended one, that is why they will not let you use the card. Obviously, this account and one other are still active, but you just cannot use that card with them. You could try giving it to someone else not in your household to see if they can use it.
What I do not understand is why you are using gift cards in the first place? As a member since `05 didn't you sign up to use PayPal?
nihat_psu
OP2 years agoThe debt is the only thing that makes sense. I actually was thinking it was a debt of the former owners before that person said anything. The fact that the ebay community upvoted that comment just confirms it.
nihat_psu
OP2 years ago"You had to have done something wrong in order for ebay to have suspended an account. "
That's what you are telling yourself so you can keep using ebay. I did nothing wrong. Until it happens to you, you will keep thinking ebay only steals from people who aren't you and those people must have done something that you didn't do.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoMy other two accounts are in good standing even though ebay told me that the suspension applies to all of my ebay accounts.
@nihat_psu
It does not mean that the "suspended account" is one of yours. The suspended account can be that of another person. PayPal used to do this years ago as a "debt collection" scheme. (eBay does it, too, but reports here have been rare of late.) Somebody, somewhere owed money so they went on a witch hunt so to speak. Initially they would tell you nothing. Each time you called back you got a "new clue" .
Sometimes it would be a family member that logged on during a family Thanksgiving dinner at your house two years ago. Other times it would be someone totally unrelated to you in another state that had a similar yet unusual last name. One time they shut down a whole college dormitory worth of eBay accounts because someone on the fourth floor owed eBay money.
Sometimes the money owed by the supposed linked account would vary from $1.50 to many hundreds of dollars. Some people of means, simply paid up in frustration simply to make the problem go away even it they truly didn't know who the linked account was related to. It did not get their accounts reinstated, but rather got a message along the lines of HA! We knew it was you! Your account is permanently suspended anyway!
Truly I don't know where you can turn at this point. The eBay callback/chat reps have no authority, and if eBay on F.Book threw you under the bus, your situation looks pretty dismal at this point.
nihat_psu
OP2 years agoI bought my house at a tax auction. The people who lost the house were still living in it. I seem to remember them mentioning something about I would have trouble if I use ebay. They might me stealing from me to pay for the people who lived here before. I had to pay their water bill and tax bill also. But ebay can't put a lien on my house so they can't make me pay for someone else.
nihat_psu
OP2 years agoAnd at what point is the debt paid? They got $25 from me so far but I assume the debt was more than that. I lived in this house for 4 years so the debt doesn't expire in 4 years. If I buy another gift card, will they steal that one too? How much more do I owe on the debt? When will it be repaid? This is why I won't let the $25 gift card go. How many more time will they steal from me over the rest of my live until the debt is paid?
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·2 years agoIf you have ever logge din to your eBay account from another computer at lets say a library, cafe, friends house...etc and a suspended account has ever used that ip to log in then that is why
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@nihat_psu,
Back in Sept. 23, did you let a roommate, family member or friend login to ebay, or did you try logging in from a different ISP address? ebay does not go by street addresses or other info when they suspend accounts, and that has resulted in people who have let others use their computers/phones etc. who did something wrong having their accounts suspended along with others connected with that ISP address, because of suspicious activity.
People have been suspended for checking their auctions from another of their accounts, flagging it as a possible shill bidding attempt. Some have let a friend use their device who then violated a Community or other ebay policy get suspended. If you had a selling account that you also bought on get suspended that could be why the card cannot be used.
nihat_psu
OP2 years agoNo but I used a vpn that is shared with other users. It's possible they thought I was a shill but I wasn't bidding on an auction, I did buy it now.
kathiec
·2 years agoIt's the sharing with other users that probably nailed you. Likely one of those other users has been suspended. I've seen this happen multiple times over the years. Usually it's from using a shared network somewhere, like a library, coffee shop, or dorm/apartment. If one account that's used that network is suspended it takes everyone else down as well.
Sadly I've never seen a case where eBay has reinstated an account suspended due to someone else on a network. And I would be careful mentioning your other accounts to eBay. It's against eBay rules to have an account if another account has been suspended. Sorry this happened to you.
klhmdg
·2 years agoWell, you can try FB page eBayfor business and leave a private message in messanger.
No one here will know exactly why you were suspended.
If you do go to FB and leave a message, there is a good chance that your other accounts will be suspended also.
Usually eBay closes all account if there is an issue with one account.
Or they may be able to help.
Im not sure what I would do - push for my $25 back OR potentially lose all accounts....
nihat_psu
OP2 years agoThanks! I tried Facebook for business but they told me they don't deal with account suspensions. I have been going back and forth with Ebay about this for months. I told them the names of my other accounts and asked them why they don't put the community at risk like the other one does and they just keep repeating that they aren't giving my gift card back and I can't appeal it. Eventually they end the conversation.
megafo_8472
·2 years agoContact the California AG and file a complaint against fleabay.
nihat_psu
OP2 years agoI reported the theft of my gift card to BBB, the Michigan AG, the California AG, and the FTC. Only the BBB responded and ebay just kept repeating that I was lying and the account doesn't belong to me. Eventually BBB closed the case on ebay's lying false claim that it wasn't me who filed the report. It's like Ebay is it's own government. They are illegally collecting on a debt I don't owe and won't tell me how much the debt is.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoBBB has no ability to resolve any case that any company does not wish to resolve.
BBB exists to sell memberships to companies.
A waste of time.
Buying gift cards off the rack at a retail store is a high risk transaction. There has been plenty of publicity about gift card fraud. Some one could have used this card before and returned it to the rack in the store.