Watch your money- eBay managed payments stole ours!!!

[srs-webstore]

Everyone- watch your money very carefully.

We had a hold placed on our available funds when a buyer opened a return request.

More than a month after opening the request, we received an empty package in the mail.

Uploaded pictures, tried to contact the buyer, received no response.

Went to eBay for help. They closed the return request in our favor, and in our financial summary, it shows that the funds that were on hold were released- however, those funds were *never* included in a payout.

I've been on the phone with eBay 4 times so far on this issue. Once in a while, I get connected to people who speak and understand english. They have a quick look, and agree that we didn't receive these funds in a payout.

    I've been promised that they would return the funds to us "tomorrow"- FOUR TIMES NOW.

    As of this morning's payout, the released funds still have not been included.

    I am on the phone again, right now, speaking with someone in an offshore call center. She doesn't speak english very well, certainly doesn't understand it very well, and has less knowledge of the eBay system than  I ever thought possible.

    Even though I have explained the issue very clearly- several times- she just doesn't get it.

    The offshore call centers have to go. The people there know less about ebay than we do, and do not care if our issues are not resolved correctly. On top of this, they are now dealing directly with our money, due to eBay managed payments- which also has to go.

    A mistake such as this would never been allowed to go unresolved this long by PayPal.

    eBay has our money, claims to have released it, but never included it in a payout.  I have spoken with many people at eBay on this, and they agree that the issue exists, but I get nothing but promises- no money...

    ...Watch your funds carefully, especially if you sell in categories that tend to generate returns from time to time. Keep track of every penny, or you will wonder why you're short at the end of the year...

[valueaddedresource]

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@srs-webstore wrote:

All it shows is that the hold was placed on 7/1/21, and in my account, it shows as "released" on 8/3, the date that eBay closed the case in our favor and told us the money would be released back to us.

   There have been 2 payouts since then. When you open the payouts, it shows the transactions that contributed to the payouts. All of them were for recent sales only, and total out correctly for those recent sales.

   The "released" money that was being held has not been included in any payout since it was "released".

   On the phone withe eBay payments team currently- on hold again, naturally- while I chase this up the escalation tree to a supervisor, for the 6th time...

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@srs-webstore  Does it show anything on that payout in the upper right under summary for Released Funds?

They may have changed how that page looks since last September, so what you're seeing may not look exactly like this but here's what it looked like for me back then.

In my experience, they don't list the "hold release" as a line item like they do for the sales and refunds.

The released "holds" are shown in the summary at the upper right - that number will reflect any holds released on that payout, but will not break them out individually.

In this example, we actually had two returns that we refunded, so the funds released represents the total of the holds that were released. 

The first transactions in this screenshot were the actual refunds to the buyers.

If you were to add up the Net (far right column) for all 132 transactions in that payout, it would equal the top line Received Funds in the Payout Summary ($3,922.57). There were $0.00 funds on hold from this payout and then $45.28 Funds released (original holds for the two return requests $24.29+$20.99).   $3,922.57 + $45.28 = $3,967.85 which was the amount deposited to our bank account from that Payout.

[srs-webstore]

Yeah, we did the math. We keep close track of the money. The only thing missing is the amount of the money they put on hold back on July 1st.

On the phone with an american currently, who also agrees that the money was never returned to us. They are trying to figure out why and fix it right now...we'll see...not the first time I've heard this...we're on our 6th phone call, and have talked to well over a dozen people over those calls...

[valueaddedresource]

@srs-webstore  I just checked a more recent one of mine that had a hold release and here's what it looks like for me today.

It won't show it separately under "related transactions" but it should be showing a "released funds" amount in the summary in the upper right.

If none of your payouts from around that time are showing it in that "released funds" section, that's what you need to point out to customer service so they can dig into it further.

[srs-webstore]

Yeah, not there. I found the payout where it reflects the hold, but none of the subesquent payouts include any released funds.

The guy I just got off of the phone with completely agreed with my position. Had me on hold for a long time, examining the account, and he couldn't find it, either. He is requesting a manual return of the funds, which he says will show up in- get this- tomorrow's payout.

    ...I've heard that song and dance several times before- but I'm going to give it 24 hours...

Bottom line- Just as the title of this thread stated- watch your money. Mistakes happen, and if you're not on top of it, you will be giving your hard-earned money away...

[valueaddedresource]

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@srs-webstore wrote:

Yeah, we did the math. We keep close track of the money. The only thing missing is the amount of the money they put on hold back on July 1st.

On the phone with an american currently, who also agrees that the money was never returned to us. They are trying to figure out why and fix it right now...we'll see...not the first time I've heard this...we're on our 6th phone call, and have talked to well over a dozen people over those calls...

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@srs-webstore sorry you are going through this frustration but glad you were finally able to get someone on the phone who seems to understand the issue at least.   Hopefully they can get it resolved for you soon.

[fab_finds4u]

I hope you know reps are famous for telling you anything to get you off the phone.

You said you received a package back from the buyer so in that case I believe what happened was the buyer saw the case was initially closed in your favor  and the buyer appealed to eBay and showed them the tracking number  and eBay reversed it and the buyer got their money back.

eBay doesn't take your word the package was empty.  Your word isn't proof. 

However, sometimes eBay will give you a refund as a courtesy from eBay's pocket but the buyer still gets their payment back.

I think they're bouncing you around like a ball until you go away. Or they might give you a courtesy refund to make you go away.

[srs-webstore]

The issue has been resolved.

[wrong66]

Would you mind telling us how it was resolved? I just don't understand how you could expect to get the item back along with the buyer's money, too.

[srs-webstore]

We didn't get the item back. Return was escalated to a case and found in our favor.

[popblox]

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@srs-webstore wrote:

The issue has been resolved.

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Awesome! You're welcome!

[mycheaperstuff]

It is a good warning and an informative series of post.  

Unfortunately the whole process is still as clear as mud. Difficult to see the application to my own situation, where specifics are different.  For one of my accounts, the hold for a buyer remorse refund was taken from available funds then immediately taken from my checking account.  There was no corresponding decrease in funds on hold or increase in available funds. For another account, a refund request for the same amount of money resulted in a hold, but no subtract from available funds, payouts, or my checking.

The process remains unexplained. Help pages contain links back to the same page.

I'm glad I don't work for eBay. This type of lack of customer care is criminal, or should be.