Paypal Refund Problem/Ebay Coupon

[vintagerama]

I purchased an item using a $25 Ebay coupon.  I didn't like the item and returned it the next day for a refund.  The seller promptly refunded the money.  The email I received said that part of the refund would go back to my credit card and the $25 coupon would go back to my Paypal account. I  saw the credit card refund but the $25 has never appeared anywhere that I can find - it never came back to my Paypal account so that I could transfer it to my bank account.  I never saw it anywhere in any of my accounts.  

Contacting Paypal about this has been ridiculous.  They have some sort of "message" system to contact their Customer Service so I have posted a message using that yesterday but have not heard back from them yet.  Ebay doesn't have any way to contact them that I can find other than opening a dispute with the seller.  But the seller isn't at fault as far as I can see- they refunded the money.  The question is:  where's the $25???  Does Paypal still have it?  Does Ebay have it?  Since it was an Ebay coupon, would Ebay have some way to refund it back into my Ebay account?  I want to use this coupon to buy something else.  I don't want to lose this coupon, as it was a good one. it was rewarded to Ebay members who have been on Ebay for 20 years or more. (that's me! I've been on Ebay since 1999).  Therefore, I feel I shouldn't lose this coupon simply because I bought an item I didn't like and had to send back for a refund.  

Any thoughts on this?  Any advice?  I hope Paypal will respond but somehow I doubt they will, so that's why I'm asking the community here. Thanks! 

[donsdetour]

Well you should read the terms of the coupon.

You may have lost it due to the refund.

[kare-bearb]

The email I received said that part of the refund would go back to my credit card and the $25 coupon would go back to my Paypal account.

That is confusing since eBay issued coupons are almost always single use only.

When a payment is refunded, the coupon money is sent back to eBay.

[vintagerama]

The invoice/email I received when this refund was processed indicated that the $25 would go back to my Paypal account.  It did not indicate that it would go back to Ebay , or that I had lost the coupon.  I realize that a coupon is generally single use only when buying something, but due to the fact that the item I bought was so bad (a vaccum that had no suction power), and I had to return it, Idon't think it would be fair for Ebay to deny me the coupon based on the fact that I was dissatisfied with a poorly made item.   I may have to dispute this with Ebay.  I am still waiting to see if Paypal has any response about this. 

[rebell45]

Others have posted about losing the coupon value due to returned items. I haven't heard of any ever recovering the value. eBay's coupon, eBay's $.

[vintagerama]

Well, I think it's extremely unfair to an ebayer who receives shoddy merchandise, returns it and then loses their coupon. And the statement/invoice that I received from Paypal indicated that the $25 would be returned to my Paypal account.  It didn't say it would go back to Ebay.  So where should I start to find out what's up with this?  

[vintagerama]

I'd like to update on my postings about this.  Today I contacted via phone an Ebay Customer Service rep who listened to my issues about this coupon refund and offered me a $10 "courtesy coupon".  I declined this coupon and told them I would be writing a letter to Ebay about this because I feel strongly that , in this particular situation, the $25 coupon should be re-issued to my account based on the various elements involved  in this case.  The moral of this story is: don't give up when you think you have a valid problem that should be addressed.  It isn't always so cut and dried.  I understand that in general, coupons are "single use".  But when you get a product that is substandard as in my case, and need to return it, Ebay should make some type of provision for that scenario. Anyway, I'll let the community know what happens.  Thanks for your various input on this. 

[donsdetour]

I am hoping this turns out well for you.

[vintagerama]

I want to update everyone on this, with good news.  After sending my written letter via regular postal service to Ebay's main  mailing address, I waited for about 4 weeks or so.  I hadn't heard anything back from them so was becoming disappointed that they would ignore me.  However, a few days ago, I got an email saying I had a $25 coupon, good for 30 days, put onto my account.  At first I couldn't believe it lol...but it was legit and I used it yesterday on ebay to purchase something that I wanted.  Yay!  The email never made it clear that it was in response to my letter, nor was there any other explanation, apology or anything else about it.  So, I'm assuming it was in response to my letter.  

The bottom line on this is that if you experience something like I did, with using a special coupon, and having to return an item due to it being defective and then losing out on the coupon, don't just sit there and assume you have to tolerate an unfairness like that.   I'm not guaranteeing that you would have the same outcome that I did, but if you feel it was unfair to you, and you're a seller in good standing as I am and have been a loyal Ebayer for 20+ years as I have been, don't hesitate to contact Ebay.  I had  the coupon restored to me .  I don't know why Ebay doesn't have the same type of policy as Amazon with coupons. Whenever I've used a special coupon or code and returned something with them, the coupon or points are also restored to my account.  It doesn't just disappear due to having to return a defective  item.  Stand up for yourself and speak out.  I did, and I won!  Maybe Ebay is counting on most people being lazy or not interested enough to speak up, but I am not one of those people!