A gift card purchased and activated on 4/26/206 morning still shows a zero balance on 5/12/2026.
Prior to the reported outage, I purchased two $50 gift cards from Walgreens, and the receipts and a visit with the store manager confirm activation--yet ever since I tried to use the cards on 4/27/26--including this week--the cards still show "zero balance". It would be appreciated by customers if Ebay could come up with a system-wide resolution fix and restore these gift card numbers with their balances. I'm sure customer service is working so very hard with all the requests for help--so, it would be wonderful for all--both customer service agents and customers-- if a system-wide "fix" could be done so all card numbers that didn't work during the outage are restored automatically. In this age of wondrous technology, I would hope it could be done. Thanks
ferncliff-39
·4 months ago@rosie_1931 - if this is still an issue, you can contact the eBay Gift Card team directly and have them look at those card balances. They may or may not be able to restore them depending on what they find on their end.
Open this Help page on GIFT CARDS
-Click on "Contact us" at the bottom or on the blue bubble on the right
-In the Help Chatbox that opens, to bypass the bots, type AGENT then press the Send arrow
-Keep typing "AGENT" to any bot questions.
-In the box [Yes/Something else] click on "Yes"
-You should then see the options to Chat live with an agent, or have them call you, depending on agent availability.
Note: The Call Back option doesn't always work if your carrier blocks spam/telemarketing calls.
With the live Chat option eBay will automatically email you a transcript.
rosie_1931
OP4 months agoThank you ever so much for all the helpful suggestions and your gracious kindness. I'll try. 🙂 Best wishes, stay safe and well.
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoThere is a well known, long running scam involving gift cards bought off the rack at retailers.
They have been compromised and returned to the rack. The numbers on the card are used to drain the card before you use it. They do not show a balance.
This is usually the subject of a local TV news story every Christmas, and appears on the AARP website list of scams.
Your chances of getting any compensation are slim unless the Walgreen's manager agrees to a return.
rosie_1931
OP4 months agoHi, thanks for responding. My Walgreens keeps the gift cards behind the desk and until the outage--all my gift cards purchased were activated and worked perfectly. Unfortunately, stores--since they show the cards were activated--don't refund gift card purchases. Thanks for your suggestions, though. Best wishes.
boosterboy
·4 months agoWere you able to use the gift cards at all? Or did it just show zero balance when you used it on first try?
rosie_1931
OP4 months agoHi, I did not know about the outage when I purchased the gift cards and used them on the Monday of the outage. Both cards say there is a zero balance on the cards--that is what it said the first time I used it, and a few subsequent times I've tried to use them--including just this morning. I did go to the Walgreens where I purchased the cards--and they looked and verified indeed the $50 cards were activated for $50. I tried to go through customer service -- the automated one--and it did not help. I only can hope Ebay can come up with a global solution for its customers--it seems there are many--and even a good customer service staff cannot handle such volumes. Thanks for letting me share my experience. Best wishes.
pf9000
·4 months agoIf you paid for it with a Credit Card than maybe that can be used as proof of purchase and you could ask for a refund.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoNot so sure about that -- "proof of purchase" is just that -- it's not proof that the card has not been used.