Ebay Lied to Me
As a new seller, I ran into an issue with shipping early on and paid quite a bit more than I should have by shipping it myself instead of using an Ebay shipping label. (I've learned since!) I reached out to customer service and was promised that as a one-time courtesy as a new seller I would be given a credit on my account that could be applied to future shipping. Since then Ebay is refusing to apply the credit to my account. If they hadn't promised anything I wouldn't be so frustrated. But why did they promise me a credit and then refuse to apply it to my account? Very shady and pretty aggravating.
27 comments
az93
·2 years agoImagine that.
byrd69er
·2 years agoAn ebay rep once told me to offer free shipping, and then to add the shipping cost I'd incur to the price of my items.
What a great idea.
Free shipping.
Why didn't I think of that? Duh.......
tools*
·2 years agoIs the pope Catholic?
bellacosemusings
·2 years agoOddly enough, I’m in a similar predicament. I have been selling for several years despite hefty fees and I do it for the audience it garners and the assurance that eBay will protect me instead of being completely predatory. To give perspective, my seller account has a $5,000,000 monthly limit, which I only mention to allude to the volume (ie transaction fees) eBay has the ability to capitalize on. I was reviewing my last week’s monies and noticed I had been hit with two fees by eBay on behalf of USPS for a total of $9.05. Not a tremendous amount but when I investigated, it was for a very small package that I specifically remember weighing out at 3.6 oz. I had paid for a 4 oz shipping label. I spoke with my post master who then directed me to call eBay. eBay assured me that they would credit me back the $9.05. I have the call recorded and I had the agent repeat back both the amount that I’d be credited back and the timeline to expect the credit. When that time lapsed, I called back. I rarely call but I don’t like lip service and I expect promises to be kept with those with whom I do business. I was told at that time that the resolution to this case was as to “empower me with knowledge†that they would not be crediting my account and that they’d be better educating their representatives. I’m fully aware that this hill I’m choosing is excessive but it’s very much the principle of the thing.
bonjourami
·2 years agoCsr's are scripted, outsourced, drones that rarely know what they are talking about, they just want to get on to the next call,so they tell you what you want to hear.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@cagoo14
eBay customer service is about productive as a 3 legged horse at The Triple Crown. Most of the info they give out is usually incorrect or outright false. Sorry for your situation.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoEbay Lied to Me
@cagoo14
^^^ I heard that. It's always best to handle your own business without reaching out to eBay at all. A bit older... but wiser, no?
luckythewinner
·2 years agoI can just barely hear the world's tiniest violin.
chapeau-noir
·2 years ago@cagoo14 I won't repeat what 6-7 people have already said, but I am curious about how the item was cheaper to ship yourself (I'm assuming counter rate?) than using the eBay label. Did you by chance use Fed-Ex?
Ebay gets a commercial discount from USPS which it passes along to use, so the label should be cheaper. I understand Fed-Ex charging has caused some problems.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoI think you misread the OP and the underlying issue: "paid quite a bit more than I should have by shipping it myself instead of using an Ebay shipping label."
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoThanks - got it! I read the sentence like three times and for some reason my brain jammed - I shouldn't try to do three things at once. 😒
meme6253
·2 years agoI have never heard of that type of credit before, Whom ever you did talk to may have very well lied to you, But it is not the first time & will not be the last.
One question that hasn't been asked...how did you reach out to customer service?
Did you find the number googling or did you click through Help & Contact?
If you called a number you found googling, chances are you didn't reach customer service, you reached a scammer.
If you reached out going through the clicking in Help & Contact, chances are you reached customer service that is outsourced, who have scripts they read from and will tell you exactly what you want to hear just to get you off the phone to take another call.
No where on eBay's User Agreement does it say they will reimburse you when you pay for postage elsewhere.
Like others have said, we've all made mistakes and learn from them.
cagoo14
OP2 years agoI used their chat feature and have the chat log.
bonjourami
·2 years agoYou wouldnt be the first member that a csr has 'lied' to. Chalk it up to a learning experience, there is nothing you can do about it.
gurlcat
·2 years agoThis I find fascinating for various reasons.
But before I get to that, in fact before I reached this^ reply of yours, the question that popped into my head was what you meant in your OP when you said "a credit". Did the CSR state a specific dollar amount? How was that amount determined? The difference between what the eBay label would be and what you paid at the counter? How did they know how much you paid, and by "know" I mean did they just take your word for it, or did they ask for any kind of proof? Also, how do you know that you didn't receive the credit? Where did you expect to see it? -Even as an experienced seller who was here for the switch from Paypal to Managed Payments (you probably have no idea what I'm talking about) I am still occasionally confused by what I see on the Payments tab. But my only guess would be that an eBay-issued credit would be an increase in your Available Funds, with a positive (+) line item stating it. Sellers have no shipping-specific funding coffer that I'm aware of, so any credit from eBay would basically just be "money we are giving you" -to spend on shipping if you like, or deposit in your bank and spend on whatever else. So I'm wondering if you might have indeed received the credit but weren't aware, as a new seller who might not understand the Payments page well yet.
Now about the chat. -I often recommend it as superior to a phone call (though inferior to messaging via the eBay For Business social media page) because it is always better to have an employee's answer in writing, to prove (if needed) what they said. And you say you HAVE the chat log -how did you save it by the way? And since you did save it, I take that to mean you did so in case you weren't believed about this credit offer. But I don't see you saying (here) that you tried to use the chat log in any way, just that eBay "is refusing" to honor the first CSR's offer. Nor do I see you posting any screenshots of the chat log here. You don't HAVE to prove anything to us of course; we're just fellow sellers. But if you did show us what that CSR said, we might be able to offer better help than you've received so far.
heckofagame
·2 years agoSo, you wanted a refund because you made a decision that you later regretted? I wish it was that easy. I would be rich beyond my wildest dreams.
cagoo14
OP2 years agoNot at all. I reached out to them to see if there was anything they could do. They offered the credit, I didn't ask for it.
fern*wood
·2 years agoIf not being credited with the difference, what type of solution did you hope for?
a_c_green
·2 years agoAs I read this thread, it sounds like the OP did accept the offer (i.e. wasn't looking for anything else instead), and has that in writing in a chat log, only now there has been no promised credit to the OP's account, and that is their complaint.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoYou made an irrational request of Ebay customer service, it is unlikely that anyone you interacted with had the ability to do what you asked.
Sellers get into deep trouble when they ask Ebay customer service reps for things they should know better than ask for.
You made the mistake. You pay the price. Ebay and its shareholders will not and should not pay for your mistakes.
Most sellers who post on this forum have made mistakes, and we have had to pay for our mistakes.
cagoo14
OP2 years agoYou're making a fake assumption. I never stated that I asked eBay for anything, because I didn't. I just asked if there was anything that could be done and they offered the credit. My frustration is them making an offer and then rescinding it later.
fern*wood
·2 years agoIt's difficult enough to get a credit for something ebay caused, but if I made the mistake I wouldn't even think of asking. I'd know the answer to that. Be thankful you learned from your mistake—-many never do.
fbusoni
·2 years agoConsider this relatively benign interaction with eBay a dress rehearsal -- and as such, a warning -- for the sort of treatment you can expect to receive from eBay should you ever do something really ill-advised, and far, far more expensive, like list an iPhone or a computer on eBay only to have eBay refund the thief (I mean "buyer") and allow the latter to keep your device because it was "not as described."
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoAlas, customer support will tell you anything just to get you off the phone. I've never heard of such a refund/rebate, so I suspect that your rep made it up, especially if you suggested it and they just said, "Sure!"
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoI don't know who promised this to you. But just thinking about your situation as a whole and how ebay works, I don't see ebay ever giving a seller a credit over this issue since they weren't the one who caused it.
funfactorychannel
·2 years agoebay customer service has no quality and workflow control for their crm. They can say and promise youthe moon and they are done, and ebay management loves it as it is getting worst and worst.