There was a problem issuing this refund

[timzbiz]

Trying to refund a buyer and keep receiving this message. Anyone else experiencing this?

[cooperstock]

I know others have responded correctly, but here is my experience.

Buyer returned part. 

I accepted return and tried to issue refund within 20 minutes. 

I received the same error message as mentioned above. 

I logged into Paypal to refund the money, as I had been told that was the way to do it. That didn't work because I do not keep much money in that account. I understand for those who keep sufficient money in Paypal this isn't an issue. 

Only option: Transfer money into the account (3-5 Business days)

I contacted Ebay via Chat, they didn't really know what the error message was and suggested going through Paypal to complete the transaction... Yes, go outside of Ebay to perform the transaction.

Either being uninformed or deceptive, the representative told me just to transfer money into Paypal and complete the refund. 

I informed them that 3-5 days is the transfer window and unless I started that on the day the item was received I risked not being able to refund in time. 

John Harry9:57 AM
but that would be the best thing to refund the buyer
cooperstock9:57 AM
What would be?
cooperstock9:57 AM
Ebay lifting the paypal-lock and allowing me to pay the seller?
cooperstock9:57 AM
I agree, please left the locked account and I can pay him right now
John Harry9:58 AM
just add money in your paypal balance
John Harry9:58 AM
to refund the buyerr
cooperstock9:58 AM
I can't for 5 days
cooperstock9:59 AM
you could lift the lock now and I could refund him now

After a little more discussion, he agreed to extend the refund time. While I doubt this will actually happen and he was just saying it to get me off the chat, it seemed like a reasonable solution. Opposed to the obvious answer of just let me refund the money right now.

cooperstock10:00 AM
If you are accepting the 5 day delay, then I will feel better about that
John Harry10:01 AM
yes you can let the buyer know your situation
John Harry10:01 AM
and we will extend your refund time

So summary is: If you are expecting a return, make sure you have the money transferred to your Paypal in preparation for the refund. I am sure this is in some small print somewhere. 

[shoecitychampions]

Yes...  PayPal recently sneakily changed the way they operate whereby you must have the actual funds in your PP account to process a refund on eBay.  Before this if your PP balance was inadequate they would pull it automatically from your backup funding source and the refund would go through immediately even though the cash was being transferred to your PP account from your backup source.  Alas, no more!  This is part of the ongoing battle between PP and eBay.  PP isn't happy with being phased out.  Another sneaky dirty little trick they added recently is...  PP keeps their fee even when a seller refunds a buyer completely!  In other words...  If buyer pays with PP and returns item, you will not recover the PP fee associated with the sale!  Don't be fooled either...  eBay's new 'managed payments' will also keep a processing fee (though not as much as PP) when a seller refunds a buyer.  #crooks

[ptechtoley77]

What I just did, to cover the cost of the return, since I didn't want to upgrade my paypal account, was to have my son sell me something on ebay that was the same amount of $$ for the return I had to refund. But that option, although instantaneous, it quite expensive (ebay and paypal now charge taxes ugh).

[4todisnow]

I can confirm this is still an issue.  I even talked with eBay about it.  Ugh!

[carllyyyyy]

How do I do this if I have a hold on my PP account ? I’m trying to refund an item and it won’t let me add money to my PayPal. 

[daltoreeve-8]

I hate ebay and paypal so much. Once this issue is done with these last 2 buys Im out of here. Not worth the hassle or the time for the slim margins. I feel for those of you that have to deal with this as a main source of income. I hope ebay and paypal go belly up, such garbage unhelpful companies.

[gcelectro]

Thanks! Saved me a lot of hold time with eBay/PP.

Good thing I have two PP accounts so I was able to transfer from one to the other.

[elly3773]

Yes and it won’t go through 

[d.tucci305]

how did you add money from your bank. When i click add money it takes me to my wallet page and theres nothing that says transfer money or anything.

[rudolphg76]

**bleep**. I have same issue. Tried refunding multiple times via ebay. Keep getting error message. Can't refund. I got to paypal. Paypal froze my account because of the refund request and gave me negative 14.00 balance (the amount of the refund needed). Paypal site says I need to add money from my bank account to resolve issue. So I try adding the money to paypal. I can't. Paypal site says I can't add any money to paypal until because there is a refund request from ebay. Once the issue is resolved I'll be able to add money to paypal balance.

So basically ebay won't let me issue refund because paypal gave me negative balance. Paypal is telling me to resolve this I need to add money to my balance. But at the same time paypal won't let me add money to my balace until it is resolved. But also it tells me to resolve it, I need to add money to my balance. But It also says I can't add money to my balance until it resolves.  So it is a never ending loop.  Meanwhile, customer is wondering why I can't refund him for the item he sent back.

I can't call because the customer service number tells me that they are not longer taking calls and I should just use the website for FAQ help which is useless. Website says I can contact their customer service number. But when you call, the number just has an automated message that says, they no longer talk to people and you should check the website FAQ.

SCREW EBAY AND PAYPAL. They are both garbage.

[hend-barr]

How do you call eBay?

[mr_lincoln]

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@hend-barr wrote:

How do you call eBay?

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@hend-barr   Basically .... you don't.  You can thank the Pandemic for that ... here's the link to Contact eBay from the Help Pages ...

https://www.ebay.com/help/account/contact-ebay/contact-ebay?id=4379&st=12&pos=1&query=Contact%20eBay...

[fun_stick]

We can thank the pandemic for removing the one job on eBay they can do from home? Answering their phones? What? This all wreaks of corruption and fair trade violations on eBay's part...

[mr_lincoln]

@fun_stick   Thanks for that reply ... I have to chuckle (not at you) but my post is from July of last year ... for myself I've used the Request a call back a couple of times and the Live Chat once ... I got calls in less then a minute (maybe I hit the system at the right time) and the Live Chat was convenient and went quickly.

Granted I miss being able to pick up the phone and have someone answer right away but things change and eBay was not the only company affected ...

Regards,

Mr. L

[fun_stick]

I don't use PayPal. I did about a decade ago and got hacked and stolen from and will not use it anymore since. But I still buy and sell a lot on eBay just fine without it. How am I supposed to issue a refund without PayPal? And while eBay is ACTIVELY fighting against letting me issue said refund? Does it go against me if I wait until eBay issues it then charges me or is that simply the logical and only course of action for me? And why did I not have this issue refunding my first customer ever? It simply let me do the refund with no problems. I really can't understand what's going on here at all.