20 Year Member Unable to Verify Phone Number, Unable to Sell. Getting Nowhere with eBay Support.

[canyonheathmom]

I'm based in the US and have had an eBay account, as a buyer and seller, for 20 years. My account has an excellent reputation with a feedback score of almost 500. I've never had ANY disputes or problems, no funds ever held, nothing wrong. Basically a stellar account.

I've been a buyer in the last few years but haven't sold anything with eBay in several years, so I'm not part of the new Managed Payments system yet. I reviewed my account info and saw that eBay had an old address and phone number. I updated the information on my Account page. Then I created a new listing, and eBay wanted to verify my info. Okay, no problem.

When asked to verify my phone number (with a call or text), I got the error message: "Something went wrong. Check everything is right below." Well, everything IS correct!!! Country is US. It doesn't matter whether I ask for a call or a text, it gives the error. I tried changing the number from my cell to my analog landline. I tried changing the format of my input to include or exclude dashes or parenthesis. It didn't matter what I did, I still got the same error. These are legitimate regular phone numbers, not Google voice or anything weird or virtual.

I used several different browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox), clearing my browser cache, incognito mode, using the eBay app on my phone, even using a different computer. It didn't matter what I did, I got the same exact error no matter what phone number I tried to verify.

I reached out to eBay several time by phone and via Facebook message. I am getting nowhere. On FB, the eBay rep I messaged told me to call the Payments people. I called them and they told me to do all the things I have already done which don't work. The error is clearly on eBay's side. The reps keep telling me that they will escalate the problem to their tech team. And days go by. And weeks go by. And nothing happens. So I'm stuck. I can't sell anything because I can't get past the first step of verifying my phone number. And BTW, my phone number IS ALREADY SHOWING AS HAVING BEEN VERIFIED ON MY ACCOUNT PAGE, so this shouldn't be a problem!!!

Their only suggestion is for me to try creating a new account. Well, I don't want to do that. I have an excellent feedback score and longtime reputation, and I'll totally lose it if I create a new account. The reps told me that they could not transfer my feedback score to a newly created account. Who would buy from me (or sell to me) with a new account and a feedback score of zero????

I understand that eBay switched to Managed Payments a few years ago and have to re-verify everything. I don't have a problem with that. But I can't get past the "verify your phone number" part! I'm totally stuck at that step.

Has anyone else been experiencing this stupid run-around? I'm about ready to give up and just sell my stuff someplace else. Obviously eBay doesn't care about its longtime members. Good thing I'm not relying on eBay for my livelihood!

[chapeau-noir]

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@canyonheathmom wrote:

Is there another place to sell used or collectible stuff online that is like eBay? I know of Poshmark and Etsy, but the stuff I want to sell wouldn't really fit those websites.  I agree that giving up might be the best solution.  Ebay doesn't seem to be interested in solving these problems. I truly don't understand why they needed to disengage with PayPal. Obviously they broke something and aren't interested in fixing it.

I wonder if the media would be interested in this story? How many long-time members can't sell  because something is broken in eBay's code? Enquiring minds want to know! Maybe I should see if a reporter I know at the Wall Street Journal (or another one I know at the NY Times) is interested in investigating? 

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OMG - please PLEASE investigate yourself the breakup between eBay and Paypal - it's very old news about how and why it happened, but it was inevitable IMHO in any case - the two sites were never synergistic and Paypal is glad to be rid of eBay's shackles.  I hope you get a solution to this, the transition for some people have been bumpy and I do agree that eBay could be doing a better job of communicating with people for onboarding.

[velvet@ebay]

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@canyonheathmom wrote:

velvet@ebay  @popblox ,

Nope. As of today, the exact same problems remain and I can't verify my phone number or sell anything. I'm still totally blocked from doing anything.

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I'm sorry it didn't work but glad we were able to get you added to that ticket @canyonheathmom. It sounds like @craigstevensstudio is running into something similar so I've added them to the ticket as well. 

[johnson_junk_company]

Doubt that! eBay was the main source of income for PayPal. They won’t be around much longer, especially since they’re trying to push crypto now. Sad. 

[eburtonlab]

Doubt that! eBay was the main source of income for PayPal.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2020/07/27/paypal-ebay-managed-payments.html

[canyonheathmom]

Yes, I have already done all that and spoke to all those eBay teams weeks ago.

[canyonheathmom]

Another week has gone by and still the problem remains. This is ridiculous. Are they actually working on fixing this? This is no way to treat a longtime member.

[tinkrbell8700two]

I am having EXACT SAME ISSUE.  Shame on Ebay for not acknowledging this and wasting all of our time.  PLEASE email me if there is a solution or update because I rarely check this forum.  Thanks in advance!

[canyonheathmom]

I still don't have access to my seller account. Nothing has changed. Telling me that engineering is "working" on this is ridiculous. It's obvious that eBay doesn't give a crap about reinstating my seller account.

I'm going to the media with this. Maybe one of the consumer reporters can help me and embarrass eBay into actually FIXING this problem! You know what they say about the squeaky wheel getting the grease. I feel that I've been patient enough, dealing with this since AUGUST. This situation incredibly insulting to someone who has been an eBay member in excellent standing for 20 years.

If anyone else is experiencing this issue and wants to be added to a list of eBay members getting a run-around, please email me.

[canyonheathmom]

I'm going to the media with this. Maybe one of the consumer reporters can help me and embarrass eBay into actually FIXING this problem! 

If anyone else is experiencing this issue and wants to be added to a list of eBay members getting a run-around, please email me.

[canyonheathmom]

Velvet@ebay,

See my last post. Still getting nowhere and going to take this to the media after Thanksgiving.

[downunder-61]

@canyonheathmom 

Hope you are still checking the boards, a poster from the UK posted this, may be worth a try: 

Sharing as this worked for me (UK seller)... 

From the 'Verify' page: 

Click "Edit phone number" 

Leave Country set as "+44 United Kingdom" 

Edit phone number - add "44" at the start, and delete the first "0" (so mobile number will start 447... and landlines will start 441...)

Then try 'Verify'  again. Just worked for me 

Borrowed this from a UK seller who posted: Thank you Simon

[beautnetic]

YOU have to call to customer support and get help from them. They will resolve your problem.

[velvet@ebay]

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@canyonheathmom wrote:

Velvet@ebay,

See my last post. Still getting nowhere and going to take this to the media after Thanksgiving.

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I'm sorry to hear this is still an issue. I reached back out to our tech team and they said that they see your phone number is showing as verified. Since it sounds like it hasn't, or your running into this for some other reason, they're asking me for additional info. They would like screen shots of the issue and steps you're taking to replicate the issue. If you can follow-up with something like:

Step 1: describe what you do 

screen shot

Step 2: describe what you do 

screen shot

Then I'll take that back to them and hopefully we can get this resolved once and for all. 

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Edit: I was coming back to see if you'd followed up and noticed that I'd forgotten to tag you, I'm so sorry @canyonheathmom. 

[pizza442]

I want to add myself to this list, EXACT same problem to a T.  Been a member since 1998.  Stopped selling when forced almost a year, finally set up a new checking account just for Ebay but now getting stuck in this Verification process when trying to update my Managed Payments.  Definitely on Ebay's end not ours.  Tired of the endless phone calls to Ebay.

 velvet@ebay 

[velvet@ebay]

Hello @canyonheathmom and @pizza442 and anyone else running into this issue. They've come back to let us know that should the existing number not pass verification, then a new one will need to be added to the account and used in order to proceed.

If you tried to verify your number several times in a day, then you have probably hit a limit and will need to wait 24-hours for that to refresh. If you still can't verify the number, then you will have to use a different one.  

I know this is not ideal, but given changes to the site with us processing payments now, it's going to be the only way to proceed.