Today’s post comes from PDX Deals Guy who has previously written about using the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts program in Las Vegas, Ticket Reselling, how to earn up to 2.625% with the Bank Americard Travel Visa, his experience with Silvercar and Hyatt Zilara Cancun. You can follow him on Twitter and look for the latest deals on his website.
eBay Bucks Taken Away With No Notice
Any regular reader of Miles to Memories will know that eBay can be a great place to find good deals, and that their eBay Bucks rewards program can be a key factor in many of these deals. This is especially true during the periodic (and sometimes targeted) eBay Bucks promos, when eBay boosts their usual 2% Bucks rewards program into a 3x (6%), 4x (8%), or 5x (10%) payout.
Just as Shawn has highlighted his recent foray into reselling, my wife (Mrs. PDXDealsGuy) has also begun to do the same. For many resellers, the most convenient way of sourcing items to resell is via online retailers, such as eBay. (Although there are other sourcing avenues, as highlighted in this recent post.)
While I can’t speak for retailers, there are clearly pros and cons of resellers buying their most attractively priced deals. eBay, for example, has language in its terms to warn against “Creating additional eBay accounts to avoid selling restrictions”. Any person buying on eBay (whether in large quantities for personal use or resale) should be aware of this and not buy the same items on multiple accounts (and eBay appears to be most sensitive about items listed in their “daily deals” section). The PDXDealsGuy household is very aware of these guidelines and have become very careful to not run afoul of them.
It is also worth noting that we shop often at eBay for both personal and potential resale items.
First Signs of Trouble
In early February, Mrs. PDXDealsGuy bought five units (the maximum allowed) of a deal-priced item on eBay. Later in the day, she noticed the same item for sale at BestBuy.com and purchased some units there as well. Within hours of both orders, she received emails confirming that the units had been shipped by both eBay and BestBuy.com. It was at that time that she realized that the eBay units were actually being sold by Best Buy, via eBay. Within the day, she received the following message from eBay:
While there was no specifics on which transaction triggered this message, nor any specific details of what violation had occurred, it was a reinforcement of the fact that eBay is not fond of purchases made for resale purposes. Or so they said in this message. This flies in the face of their constant email marketing messages inviting buyers to participate in their daily deals, and those deals all have very clear limits (often one, three, or five units – and who really ever needs five units of a consumer electronics item?). I won’t rehash the entire terms listed on the “site interference” policy they linked to in that letter, but there is not any language stating that a buyer cannot buy an item and resell it later, or that they must limit their purchasing of daily deals to some threshold below the stated limits on any particular deal.
The letter concludes with a warning that “additional violations of this policy may result in your purchases being cancelled and a restriction or suspension of your buying and selling capabilities.” Of course, not knowing specifically what was done wrong makes avoiding it in the future difficult. But she knew it was likely the unintentional “double purchase” from Best Buy, so she has been more careful since that time not to repeat that mistake. There was NO warning about the impact of this mistake on the eBay Bucks rewards program. And she took the letter at face value that it was a warning, and NOT a notice of punishment.
Flash Forward to the End of the March Quarter
Over the course of the quarter, Mrs. PDXDealsGuy continued to purchase items at eBay and earn eBay Bucks. In fact, she was such a good consumer (!!!) that she maxed out eBay’s quarterly limitation on earning eBay Bucks at $500. (Note that since many of these purchases were made on 8% and 10% promotions, this was about $5000+ of merchandise.) During this time, every purchase displayed exactly how much was being earned in Bucks, and her Bucks “balance” continued to grow until it reached the $500 maximum.
On March 31st, her Bucks balance sat at $500 and, as with all eBay users, her account page promised that she would be receiving a Bucks certificate within a few days. After a week or so passed by, she noticed that the certificate had not been delivered. While in hindsight she should have reached out to the eBay Twitter team right away, she started out by trying to reach eBay support via email (a completely fruitless to impossible exercise) and by phone.
Over the course of a couple weeks, she placed multiple phone calls. This was a multi-hour waste of time. Eventually she did reach a person who told her that the Bucks had been withheld due to “abuse of Daily Deals” and that there was no appeal process. Interestingly this person (and other reps) did specifically highlight that she is definitely “eligible to earn Bucks during the second quarter.” So whatever she did wrong was grounds to have $500 in earned eBay Bucks withheld (with no notice), but not bad enough to remove her from the program.
eBay Twitter Team to the “Rescue”
At this point, Mrs. PDXDealsGuy had the great idea to reach out to eBay’s Twitter team, since many social media teams are given more latitude to be helpful. In a reply via Twitter Direct Message, eBay’s Twitter team invited her to contact them via email (since they couldn’t access account information via DM).
She then sent the Twitter team an email describing much of the situation described above. She stressed that she wanted to talk to a person on the eBay Bucks team. Preferably someone who actually had decision making authority and could explain the situation, and either issue the hard-earned Bucks or at least explain what she had done wrong (and how to avoid the situation in the future).
Here is the reply she received from the Twitter team (spelling and grammar not corrected):
With this, Mrs. PDXDealsGuy replied back to the Twitter team rep seeking some clarification and sternly requesting (again) to be able to correspond with a decision maker in the eBay Bucks department. The main point being that, at the very least, she deserved to know exactly what she had done wrong and what specific eBay Terms or rules allowed them to withhold Bucks that had been earned (recall that her Bucks balance continued to grow after the early-February message from eBay, and there was NO warning that eBay Bucks might be withheld).
Here is the second reply from the same member of the Twitter team:
Mrs. PDXDealsGuy replied yet again. Seeking not only clarification on her situation and requesting to speak with a real decision-maker, but also asking generic questions regarding the eBay Bucks program and how one would know if they had violated a undisclosed rule that might lead to a disqualification from Bucks earning.
This led to the eBay Twitter team’s most recent reply (below). Note that no attempt was made to address any questions, even those of a generic nature about the eBay Bucks program and any unwritten rules (not specifically related to the issue of the $500 in withheld Bucks).
So Where Does this Leave Us?
That’s the question. At some point (probably long ago) this stopped being worth $500 of our time. But this appears to be a case, in my humble opinion, of a big corporation behaving badly. They know that they have infinitely more resources than a consumer, and don’t care enough to even explain their actions. And their only excuse for that is that giving an explanation would somehow “increase risk” or “negatively impact the broader community”.
I would love to hear readers’ opinions on potential next moves, in the comments below. As I see it, the options are to either: a) simply drop the subject, b) “make some noise” via a consumer advocacy channel, or c) consider other alternatives.
Clearly all eBay buyers, especially those generating any significant amount of eBay Bucks, need to be aware of this situation. You may think you are earning eBay Bucks, because they are showing up in your shopping cart and eBay account. You may even be buying from eBay, instead of another retailer, because you have the expectation that you are earning Bucks as shown in your shopping cart and account. But that doesn’t mean your certificate is coming next quarter, as expected.
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Just found this and wanted to chime in even though it’s an old post in case anyone else monitors this. I just got one of these warnings and believe it was because my wife purchased the same gift cards as I did on the same day. Weird that others are able to use this – but for whatever reason, we got dinged.
In any event, after this warning, is it still possible to max out on one account? i.e. if I just purchased “max 3”, is that OK? We mainly bought from PPDG whenever we had Home Improvement or Sporting Store stuff (i.e. Lowe’s or Cabela’s).. and some itunes here and there.. helped a ton.
Moving forward, want to be sure to stay under the radar, so happy to stick to 1 account. Is this OK? Or is maxing out (i.e. 3 per “household” or whatever) still not good somehow?
TIA!
Generally over the past few years, you’ve been fine buying the max on one account. But not buying the max on two accounts that are tied together in any way (same address, credit cards, etc.). Buying on more than one account is what usually triggers these emails. Just recently, however, a number of people have reported receiving these messages without buying on multiple accounts. So it is difficult to say if something has changed. Hopefully not. But we won’t know until eBay has some more good gift card sales, and they haven’t had many recently.
I understand that losing 500.00 in Ebay bucks is devastating because it’s the same as cash basically for Ebay, But it’s a lesson learned I hope, When they offer a deal on something and only allow a limited quantity purchased, don’t be greedy thinking you can buy as many as possible to make money off of others, It gets irritating watching and hearing about people buying everything up at a deal and then they are out and the other buyers want to resell at a higher price so the only person getting the deal, is the greedy buyer that bought it all up to take away that deal from others, even buying through ebay and then going to the source to buy more, truth be known, they probably already knew that, got caught up in it, and decided to blast Ebay out of revenge, Maybe, Maybe not, But I have been using Ebay and PayPal for around 9 or 10 years, I made 143.00 in Ebay bucks this quarter, over 100 last quarter, Never a problem, Never an issue, I use pay after delivery, Almost every purchase, Never a problem and never an issue, and Ebay has always backed me on deals gone bad because I have done everything correctly, I provide pictures or what ever I need if I receive something broken or not as described, as a seller, Ebay has always backed me, because I do everything correctly, even the buyers that swear they never received anything or received it broken, I recorded everything sent, pics and all, with tracking numbers, as long as it makes it to it’s destination, Ebay covers me, somebody steals it out of their mailbox or they have it delivered somewhere else? that’s their problem, not the sellers, I have been through everything and one thing I have learned, if you do it right and abide by the rules, You’re perfectly fine and Ebay will stand behind you. Sorry about your issues with them, but greed always catches up with you, Next time leave some for the other buyers. It’s common sense, if something says quantity limited to 3 or 5, then limit it to 3 or 5, Don’t get greedy.
Best Regards: Casper
Hi Casper. As I mentioned in the post, there has only been one time where my wife accidentally went over a quantity limit. I understand that being an issue. As for being greedy and buying “hot items” before other potential buyers can get them, that’s simply not a common occurrence (if at all). The more common model of a reseller is to look for good deals (via various Ninja Tricks methods) that anyone else could replicate, and then sell those items via Amazon or eBay (or Craigslist or wherever) to folks who don’t want to bother waiting for a sale or put the effort into shopping for the best price.
Casper sounds like a shill – same response process as ebay: first, sympathetic understanding followed by the customer is wrong and lastly, ebay is a great organization…
Yep, shill.
I bet if amazon had a earning system they would never go back on there word, that why they are awesome they care a lot for their customers.
Want to bet this has pissed off lots of customers to leave ebay and then they went to amazon.
Update: After I filed a small claim against eBay, they settled. They are giving me a $500 eBay certificate. My court date was set for January 5th.
Thanks for the update, Jay. Glad that worked for you.
I was going to say, you could call your credit card company to open an investigation.
Just got an e-mail from them today saying they are slashing eBay Bucks from 2% to 1% – IN HALF! They suck.
[…] Ah eBay. Truly one of the most difficult companies to like. I mean they do provide opportunity for good deals from time to time, but they often make life hard for buyers and even sellers. Let’s not even mention when they do crazy things like zero out your eBay Bucks balance for no reason. […]
Read the user agreement regarding the arbitration provision. I had a problem with ebay as a seller. I sold a computer that was brand new. The buyer opened it, decided he/she didn’t like it, and wanted to return it. My return policy clearly stated that I only accepted returns of unopened items. Nonetheless, ebay sided with the buyer and forced my to accept the return. They deducted the $650ish for the computer from my paypal account once the buyer sent the computer back to me. I tried in vain arguing on the phone. The customer service supervisor said they had “unwritten regulations” regarding returns that she had to follow. She basically said it was a cost of doing business I had to eat, and she would not budge on their decision. So I sent a letter demanding arbitration to the address in the user agreement (Utah I think). Within a couple of weeks, I had an e-mail from ebay’s lawyer saying they would deposit the amount of the computer into my paypal account. It was a major victory. First, I felt vindicated because I knew I should not have been forced to take the return. More importantly, I got to keep the returned computer and I got the purchase price refunded, so I came out double ahead. So, I highly recommend demanding arbitration. The cost of arbitration, which they have to pay for, is probably more than $500. Note: I am an attorney, so I was ready to go head-to-head with ebay at arbitration.
$500 is a lot of money to lose and you surely would not have made many of those purchases if not for the expectation that the bucks would be paid as “promised”. In addition to the suggestions above regarding small claims court and the BBB, consider filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office in your state and/or eBay’s home state. The fact that eBay continued to show your bucks balance increasing and continued to target you for bonuses will go a long way in supporting your case with any reasonable 3rd party. No company should be able to get away with such arbitrary and arrogant mistreatment of their customers.
I agree with the previous posters …. small claims. Easy, cheap to file. Most likely they’re going to settle with you rather than waste their time defensing such a small case.
BBB has worked well for me in the past. CFPB probably isn’t the right venue, but throw a complaint to them and let them make that determination IMO.
I hate companies that promise stuff like this and then try to weasel out of it. Hold them to the agreement. Heck, I would have never thought that purchasing through Ebay and then purchasing through a different site would trigger something! That’s not transparent! How are you supposed to know? It’s one thing trying to game the system (and I’d have less sympathy) but here this is ridiculous.
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Please feel free to keep them coming, and/or sharing your own experiences. Clearly we’re not alone in our issues or frustrations. We haven’t decided for sure what we’re going to do yet, but $500 is a lot to have promised and then taken away.
I had a similar warning email. My wife and I both have accounts (legitimately) and I did buy gift cards and have her by them as well when they were good deals. I found out via the warning email that this was a violation (only for “daily deals” type items) and so I made sure we stopped that. Seemed reasonable enough. I never had my ebay bucks withheld.
However … I have never gotten another 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. offer for ebay bucks since then 🙁 So I am fairly sure they blacklisted me from the bonus offers and I am capped at 2%.
eBay seems to love stealing these Bucks away from people. In the Oct-Dec quarter I mixed out my Bucks and also should have received $500 in Bucks. January came and by the end of the month they never came. I started out with the Twitter team but they ended up being just as useless as they were in this persons situation. They told me the reason my Bucks were being forfeited was because i had an issue with my PayPal account that caused it to not be in good standing during that time period.
What happened to cause it to not be in good standing? I purchased something at the end of December, told it to take the money from my bank account since it wouldn’t let me select my credit card. It told my my credit card would be used as a back up funding source if I didn’t have sufficient funds. I knew I didn’t have sufficient funds because I was in the process of closing that bank account. PayPal however saw it didn’t have sufficient funds and instead of trying to use my credit card as the back up funding just kept trying to withdraw the funds from a bank account with no money in it. After the third attemp they just put my PayPal account balance at -$560. Even though I had this issue resolved within a day and my PayPal balance back to $0 this was enough for eBay/PayPal to say my account was no in good standing and deny me the $500 in eBay bucks I was owed. I fought with them for weeks but it was like talking to a brick wall and just gave up and cut my losses.
Wow, this is a really shady business practice by eBay.
Ebay and Paypal are the same garbage. There will come a time that a Class action law suit will arise
Sue them in small claims. That is the only way to get their attention.
I’ve sued Citi and Incomm in small claims and they both settled up before the care went before a judge. Judges hate forfeitures …. Especially when there is no basis at all for the forfeiture. Ebay’s lawyers know this and will settle. Stealing stuff just because it says you can do it in the fine print will not work in front of a judge
All the emails, tweets and letters are a waste of time. After you settle, post your experience in your blog. If enough people sue, they will change their policy. Otherwise, business as usual.
Ebay along with PayPal are the scammiest companies out there. Complain to whoever you can. $500 is NOT a small amount.
you need to close that account and just make a new one and start using that instead to be safe. When yu have done that I would contact the FTC BBB and file suit with your small claims. Ebay isn’t as big on hunting future accounts down as paypal is so you should be ok. Just be sure to use a different phone number and email address and switch your paypal to a new email address before linking or logging in for the first time via ebay checkout. If you need a new number I suggest setting one up at http://www.google.com/voice and getting the hangouts ap. I actually use hangouts for everything and love it. If I drop my phone in a pool, all i do is log into hangouts from another android phone and boom, everything is there again ready to go.
I actually have gotten the MC999 warning once before, but they didn’t do anything bad to me, just a warning. I feel like you guys should have known better than to hit 500$ in rewards having had that happen to you since my understanding is all the bloggers read each others blogs to stay up to date. Ebay has been doing alot of stuff like this lately… 500$ is kind of a giant red flag to them in all honesty… I always try to keep mine below 400$ and spread my earnings out onto family member’s accounts…
I haven’t gotten any ebay buck promotions for over 6 months and I am not aware of anything I did wrong. I’m a super small-time buyer just purchasing for myself and one to two family members. Ebay’s promotions are real mysteries.
Like with banks, I’d contact someone at corporate. Call the CEO’s office or something similar.
Interesting.. I have two eBay accounts tied to the same PayPal and have been maxing out pretty much every gift card (gas card) promo since they lifted the 5k GC limit. No problems reported except one account stopped being targeted for offers (the other is still every week)
Never had my bucks taken but did get the warning. My wife has her own seperate eBay account, PayPal account, and registered Credit Cards. She bought discounted gift cards in the same amount on the same day that I did. Ebay told us the limit was per household. Not sure that’s correct but have not done it again. Not worth it.
Glad to see your answer, @John. I’m in that situation this quarter. I thought it was a per customer limit, not a per household, and with a $2000 floor project at Lowes, my mom (who lives on the other side of my house) and I both got a bunch of those gift card daily deals. I called when I got that warning and they did actually inform me that it was the Lowe’s GC daily deals transactions. Oddly, it’s not the only time we’ve done that, but it is the last. It all happened in April, so my fingers are crossed and I haven’t been pursuing the $500 max this quarter because of that. But I would not be happy to lose my the $180 I have on the go…
I’m having the same exact situation happen to me. I filed a complaint with the BBB and have received the same BS response as you. I’ve been thinking about going through the small claims process but would love to discuss further. You can reach me at the email I provided to discuss further.
I am an electronics reseller with brick and mortar locations and we use both IT wholesaling companies and eBay to procure inventory. In the 12 years we have dealt with eBay on some sort of fraud, on every single occation they ruled in favor of the seller citing some ridiculous rule. One time the package was delivered to the WRONG CITY and they didn’t refund the money because they said they don’t protect purchases made for resale. Another time the seller send an EMPTY BOX instead of a $2,200 macbook. I filed a claim saying item not received. They denied the claim and said I needed to say “wrong item received”. But unfortunately, it was too late to file a claim now as 30 days had passed (this is because i waited 3 days to make a claim, at which point the seller had 15 days to refund, and then i escalated the claim, which wasnt denied until after 30 days had passed).
Saying all that, there are 2 takeaways to buying on eBay
1. Always use a credit card for big items, never their gift cards as you can always make a claim with the credit card (which in all cases listed above they took my side on)
2. Shop at Amazon whenever possible.
FWIW, I’d let it go as long as they’re continuing to let your wife participate and earn ebay bucks (in theory). Why? Let’s say you made a stink and recovered the $500.00… they could easily change their mind and shut off any future ebay bucks promos to your wife (and/or) yourself. Probably best not to draw any more attention in this case.
But I agree, it is a case of a large corporation acting badly. Confiscating the entire $500 seems like an overkill if the only infraction was the one you mentioned.
You can file a suit in a small claims court. They have to respond or they will get a default judgement. I doubt they will waster their lawyer’s time for $500. You can easily win by default.
One more quick question, is your wife banished from the ebay bucks program going forward? if not, was she still targeted for the May multiplier offers? Is this a one time “punishment” or permanent/temporary banishment!
As I mentioned in the original post, she has been told by eBay phone reps that she is still eligible to earn eBay Bucks this quarter. Unfortunately, just because she is earning doesn’t mean …
And. yes, she has been targeted for Bucks offers this quarter.
Sorry to hear it happened to you, too. Calling eBay support is a waste of time. Between being transferred, disconnected, and then even supervisors are not empowered with the ability to be helpful.
pdxdealsguy, first, thanks very much for taking the time to post your horrid, yet all too common report about the shenanigans at ebay…. I hear you — and kudos to Shawn for publishing it here. (even as I’ve taken him to task many a time for being far too friendly to the scams and malarky lurking in the ebay/paypal interface)
Your quip about calling ebay customer support perfectly echoes my own experiences this year….. time and again, I’d get polite, sympathetic ears at customers service — yet in the end, utterly powerless to do anything to help. It was even worse with “senior account specialists.” They’d hear me out, then put me on hold, then come back with, “I wish I could help, but paypal prevents me from seeing what their issue is….”
(translated, Meg Whitman won’t hear of such complaints from mere serfs…. who are so drunken on the corporate soma from faux news that they presume what the Lord (ebay) giveth, then it’s his/her’s to take away as they see fit)
I, for one, would very much like to see a serious, major class-action lawsuit filed over this outrageous corporate arrogance. If I hear you right, your energy expended to make such a superb detailed post here suggests you are game to press onward….. on principal.
Happened to me a few months ago… got the site warning then they closed by account and kept my ebay bucks. Spent a day on the phone, which was a waste of time. They would not budge, explain, or reconsider.
PDX,
did this impact your own ebay bucks?
No. At least not in the first quarter.
So it sounds like the main issue with ebay is that they don’t like you to exceeed the quantity limits. IF uo rack up 500 Ebay bucks buying items A/B/C without exceeding quantity limits and your spouse buys D/E/F without exceeding quantity limits you should be okay? I’ve been maxing out my ebay bucks and if my wife got some ebay bucks that’d be nice, but it sounds risky!
This is why I stopped giving eBay my business many years ago. There are several situations where they take this tuff noogies attitude, it is not just over eBay Bucks. If you try to resell an item from brands that don’t want their brands sold on eBay, like Sony, Sodastream, Gucci etc. they will bully you and threaten you with every nonsensical rationale they can muster. They will claim your picture isn’t your own, or that someone complained about the authenticity even if you have never sold one before. There is clearly an overarching culture of corporate smugness that comes with their only game in town status. My only advice is to vote with your feet and never do business with them again, as millions of us already have.
Yikes, I got an MC999 email 6 weeks ago or so, and now i’m really worried. I have $300+ ebay bucks so far. I don’t even know why i got that notice, i don’t use multiple accounts on ebay to purchase, and typically only do GCs for easy resale. Now wondering if i should go after any other deals in June.
Obviously can’t tell you what to do. But I know this has happened to other folks too. We just wanted to get out the word of warning, so that people can take this into account when making decisions.
Totally, thank you. Do you have any data points of people who got the MC999 notice and still received their ebay bucks? Or are you saying that it’s (more or less, i know you can’t know 100%) a lost cause if you got this notice?
I am worried too. Just like Matt, i buy only gc but they are never deals items. But i do pay shipping fees. I wonder if the victims were paying or not shipping fees. Maybe we can detect the warning signs that triggers this
If it wasn’t from buying items across ebay accounts then maybe your IP address/ log in is being linked with other accounts that have done this? Do you have room mates? Log in while traveling? I’ve intentionally avoided ebay deals while on hotel internet for this reason.
I received this notice last year and have since avoided buying discounted items on more than one account (was my reason for getting it). I still buy a lot on all of my ebay accounts (including the wife’s) and haven’t had any problems.
After i received my MC999 notice, i did alot of research and found that other people who received it got it after using a shared computer/internet connection (ie: they purchased daily deals from their office computer). I realized that I also got the notice a few days after i had bought some GCs on daily deal while at my office. That could be it…lots of people using the same internet connection, maybe someone else bought the deal too and thought it was me using multiple accounts.
I’ve read a story almost exactly like yours so I’m confident that you found the reason. The good news is you have a strong suspicion what caused it. The bad news is you’re on their S-list. At least you know what not to do now though.
I even read a story of a power seller on ebay getting shut down for an employee at his office using ebay and having it linked to his account through shared IP.
I received the same warning notice a couple of months ago. It happened when I made two separate purchases of the same item on the same day, in their deals section.
Prior to that, for the last six months, I made numerous purchases in multiple quantities from their deals section. Just not two purchases of the same item on the same day. That is, until then.
It seems purchasing the same item in two transactions, especially in multiple quantities, will trigger a warning. Anyway, since then, I’ve curtailed my deals purchasing to about once a week (instead of almost everyday), and so far, the coast has been clear.
File CFPB and BBB claims.
If the items were originally purchased on a credit card, dispute those purchases.
Echo the suggestion to dispute the charges with your credit card company. Although eBay has complete control over the eBay Bucks program, the sale was predicated on that program, especially if you were targeted for a promotion within that program.
I second that. You can claim that your relied, to your detriment, on the promises (implicit or explicit) made by eBay regarding bucks rewards and that their bonus offer induced you to complete a purchase that without the bucks program, you would not have consummated the transaction. They can claim that you agreed to these terms via your activity (aka purchase) on the site and by click here and there, that is as equal in enforcement as a signature, but with consumer-friendly courts and administrative agencies really taking action against entities attempting to save money through the broad term of “discretion”, if this $500 is really important to you (it would for me), you don’t have to take this treatment.
Furthermore, this policy of not allowing a consumer to appeal retroactive financial penalties through an evidence-based process really screams of a court or admin agency ruling/deciding that the contract terms are unconscionable or no reasonable person would agree to such BS.
Happened to me and a few other people I know. Completely impossible to rectify and they know you have no choice but to use ebay/paypal for most online purchases
Whether we like it or not, Ebay is correct. The rebate program is fully under their discretion.
You didn’t say whether any portals were used, I wonder if that may come into account as well. Computer programming being what it is, I suspect that there are more loopholes and a certain amount of gaming that Ebay can’t control as they would like. Much as the banks have begun using Big Data to weed out unprofitable consumers, Ebay may be exercising its attrophied muscles.
I haven’t experienced a loss of Ebay Bucks, but no longer receive any offers for increased Bucks. Been on Ebay since 2000 and have always gotten offers. Of course no one can give me an answer. My issue as well as yours may be like asking for the Buy Box formula!
I take it in stride, Ebay is frequently my go to resource for OA and the deals are too good, even without the gravy.
You should get a class action lawyer involved and make this right. I shopped around for one and hired one and actually ended up settling a case with a big financial institution. Let me know if you want the lawyer contact.
Sounds like a great idea, certainly a lot better than mine, I was thinking of taking them to the Small Claims Courts.
I haven’t read the EBay terms of service but I bet it includes an arbitration provision which would preclude a class action lawsuit.
Ah yes, those fox rental car style attempts to say we can’t file a class action lawsuit against egregious corporate behavior — becuz we “agreed” in the fine print of the rental contract to not file a collective action.
Pretty sure those arbitration provisions in themselves won’t hold up in court. (unless of course, you’re dealing with a Trump friendly state like Florida — where they protect the abusers and leave the little guys harmed)
I have not tried earning eBay bucks since 2015. But I agree that with multiple communications to them by your wife they should have at least explained why
To me, it’s quite astonishing that, in 2016, anyone in their right mind would have any faith in eBay/PayPal to do what’s good for the consumer. Especially not $500 worth, a foolish amount to amass considering the risk. Anyone who is stupid enough to stretch the limits of eBay’s ridiculous policies given all the recent warnings deserves to lose $500.
been thinking about your logic here SDO….. Perhaps you meant the obverse, but going instead with what you wrote, it appears you’re suggesting that the state of on-line business ethics is so low, that anyone who trusts the system is a “fool.” Or is this Trump/faux style logic that only “losers” are dumb enough to believe that businesses ought to be held to account, that they ought to honor their deals…. Yes, astonishing indeed that our national business culture has sunk so low. Astonishing that some of us are old enough to remember a different era, a different time…. well, we’re such “losers” and we “deserve” any mistreatment the mega billionaires who profit from these rackets feel empowered to dish out.
Don’t get me wrong, I in no way wish to imply that we should just accept these shady business practices employed by eBay/PayPal. What I was trying to say is that given the many recent months of warnings and data points posted on multiple blog sites of eBay shutting down accounts for what like the most trivial of infractions, it is simply imprudent to push the limits of ANY offer from eBay.
Not good, Ebay should provide more information.
sub
As much as I like many deals from ebay, paypal and ebay are the two evil companies I would not touch unless I have to, the customer service does not exist, basically, you can’t win.