Help with giftcard refunds??

[truebles10]

Someone advertised selling a car thru ebay was instructed to purchase gift cards but the store only let me purchase $150 instead of a $1000 but I need my money back and I don't use ebay can someone please point me in the right direction

[myescape]

First the car was a scam if you did not find the car listed on the ebay site.

Contact the retailer or issuing company(there should be a 800 number on the back of the card listed on the card about getting a refund.EBay does not manage those cards

[nkmipgolf]

Well for 1 it is a scam if they want gift cards to pay for a car with free shipping. You will have to talk to eBay CS as they do not offer refunds.

[nkmipgolf]

Seller/scammer is usually a sad fragile female handicapped Marine combat surgeon (think MASH) suddenly assigned to Bumphuk Afghanistan, and the car belonged to her son who died in horrific wreck or her husband who had a fatal heart attack, and the car brings bad memories, gotta go quick. "God Bless You!". 

[eburtonlab]

Gift cards are not returnable.

Beware scammers who advertise on other sites and tell you that the transaction will be handled through eBay.

That is not how eBay works. eBay does not rely on users finding ads on Facebook or other sites and sending contact information to a seller. Likely the seller will send a phony "invoice" that appears to be from eBay but is not, asking you to pay with gift cards to have the vehicle shipped to you for a free evaluation period.

eBay has no warehouse and does not ship vehicles. eBay does not handle such transactions or provide "vehicle protection orders". Scammers often promise those things, though. Any phone number you may receive on such an "invoice" does not connect to eBay, but to the scammer.

Anyone that asks you to purchase gift cards or to send card codes to them to complete a transaction is trying to take advantage of you. Anyone asking for a gift card is looking for a gift at your expense. Once anyone else knows the code, your money will be gone and you will have no recourse.

See here for some info about avoiding such scams (US links):

https://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/security/index.html

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes/online-vehicle-sale-fraud

The only way to purchase a vehicle on eBay is to sign in to eBay, find the vehicle on eBay and complete the checkout process on eBay, so that the item appears in your Purchase History. Then you typically meet the seller to inspect the vehicle, pay the seller, and collect the keys, title and vehicle.

If you encountered an ad on another site, contact that site to have the ad removed. eBay is not involved with any ads listed on sites other than eBay itself.

[mrdutch1001]

When in your lifetime did you learn that it was an acceptable practice to pay for a vehicle with gift cards?

Were you not the least bit skeptical or suspicious?

Why? Why? why? Why would you even consider doing that?

Your money is gone,  so re-group and familiarize yourself with common scams so that you do not repeat this mistake.

[fab_finds4u]

That store just protected you from losing your money. Not all stores have a gift card limit.

Now you can use your card here after you take the time to learn about eBay gift card terms, something  you should have researched before buying one. 

[kensgiftshop]

@truebles10 

Sorry, gift cards are nonrefundable.

You can either use them here or give them as gifts.

[evry1nositswindy]

Do NOT buy more gift cards...this is a very common SCAM!  There is no way to get your money back.

[simba6]

Your lucky the store stopped you.  That was a scammer , liar and thief you were buying from.  Had you given them those gift card numbers your money would have been stolen with no way to ever recover it.

There is no good way to get the cash back. There are companies that will do that but give you less than face value for the card.  And, can they be trusted ?    I would just spend it on household items you need and spend it on eBay.

Could be stores too are getting wise to it and like the money wiring services will take steps to warn people.

[soh.maryl]

If you gave the scammer the card numbers, your money is gone and untraceable.

If you did not do that, the only thing you can do is use the card to make purchases ON eBay of things actually listed for sale on eBay.  There are NO refunds.