Unable to Respond to eBay Message Re Funds on Hold

[blackshoefilms]

After making a large sale, eBay placed a restriction on my Seller account and placed a hold on my funds. I received a message from eBay asking me to upload tracking information, which I did immediately. The message from eBay also says I need to “respond to this email” in order to resolve the dispute, but when I replied to the email, I received an automated response saying it’s a “no-reply” email address, and there’s no “reply” button available under the message within eBay’s messaging system. I’ve called eBay Customer Service 24 times about this matter, but my funds are still on hold after three weeks even though the buyer received the item 2 days after it was shipped and left positive feedback. If anyone has any idea what can be done about this, please let me know as I need the funds released due to a family emergency.

[monica-sells]

Just glancing at your Sold...you appear to be in the "infrequent/new seller category. If you uploaded the tracking information and it shows as delivered (your response to the message), you are probably still being affected by the 30-day hold rule for infrequent sellers (especially with a big ticket item in relation to your other sales)

All I can say is it has not been 30 days yet, but there might be other factors involved....

[dbfolks166mt]

     I am always amazed at these types of posts and eBay's requests if the seller had uploaded the tracking information to the order at the time they shipped it. EBay has the ability to access the tracking information just as easily as the seller does if the seller used one of the integrated carriers. 

     It gives me pause that you used the word "dispute" in your post. I generally associated those with buyer chargebacks.

     Customer support is pretty useless these days unless you go through one of the social media avenues. The regular customer support has been known to tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone even if that means lying to you. 

     It may simply be that eBay is going to hold your funds for the full 30 days in accordance with their policy. I am going to assume this is for the Apple MacBook which you sold on 23 October so there are several more days before you hit the 30 day hold period. 

[blackshoefilms]

Thank you for your reply. I used the word "dispute" only because I didn't have a better word. I don't know why eBay Customer Service didn't tell me about the 30-day hold. Instead, they gave me a different non-answer each time I called. I may try the social media route next. If you have any idea which social media platform they'd be most likely to respond to, or how to best phrase the post, please let me know.

[bonjourami]

"Instead, they gave me a different non-answer each time I called"

Thats so typical of those  outsourced drones, I had great success talking to an American, Ebay rep on Facebook. 

[12345jamesstamps]

Did you go into 'resolutions'....an open claim in eBay...not an email but in open claims?

'dispute'....can it be a dispute with buyer's credit card bank?

'positive feedback'...I did see that..'thanks'....doesn't mean anything with buyer's feedback anymore these days.

[dbfolks166mt]

Thank you for your reply. I used the word "dispute" only because I didn't have a better word. I don't know why eBay Customer Service didn't tell me about the 30-day hold. Instead, they gave me a different non-answer each time I called. I may try the social media route next. If you have any idea which social media platform they'd be most likely to respond to, or how to best phrase the post, please let me know.

   Just use the word issue instead of dispute. Try one of the following to contact eBay. 

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ 

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

[tobaccocardyahoo]

You get non-answers because they are not trained in this area because it is not their job.

All will probably be well when 30 days or a bit more have passed. That assumes you have not missed another issue.

As a relatively new seller, there is an excellent chance you will be back here to deal with a post-sale problem on that Mac sale.

[blackshoefilms]

I want to thank everyone who replied with helpful information on this topic. I'm also providing follow-up info for anyone else who may be having a similar issue. After using Facebook Messenger to connect with eBay, I was able to explain that eBay made it impossible for me to reply to the original email and message sent by their Trust & Safety team because it was a "no-reply" email address, and there was no reply field within the eBay message itself, even though eBay's telephone Customer Service agents kept telling me I absolutely had to reply to either that email or eBay message. After convincing them of my inability to reply by sending screenshots, they provided a link for me to upload proof of identity as well as proof of ownership of the item I sold. Several hours after doing so, I received a new eBay message letting me know the restriction on my account had been lifted. Unfortunately, the next morning my funds were still on hold, so I used the Trust & Safety team link once again to upload a screenshot showing the funds still on hold. Several hours later, I received another eBay message apologizing for that, and assuring me my funds would be released. Several days later, I finally received a payout. However, had I simply waited and done nothing, I believe I'd still be in the same boat. The moral of this story is that contacting eBay Customer Service via social media is a far better solution than trying to get a resolution over the telephone.