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!
