I’m so lucky that eBay loves me and sends me free money!
I’ve had an eBay account for a long time. In the beginning it was just eBay, an auction site where people sell items to buyers who try to outbid others.
Eventually it branched out to eBay Canada and other countries too. These days sellers don’t have to go through the auction. They can slap a price tag on their item for immediate sale and hope buyers come to them.
In 2020 eBay celebrated 25 years in business by sending out $25 gift certificates to long-standing customers.
I GOT CUSTODY OF EBAY
The eBay account was shared between me and my ex-husband. You could say I got the eBay account during the divorce. Actually, I was just faster to log in and change the password and account settings to my name only! Ha ha! The account has a good rating as a buyer and a seller. No sense starting over to earn a good reputation.
For me, eBay has been mainly used to make purchases, but around 2005 and 2006 we sold a few items on the site. eBay charges sellers a listing fee and sellers can buy credits in advance and use them as needed.
Apparently the deadbeat bought more credits than we had items for sale.
EBAY CREDIT
Every month I’d get an email from eBay with a statement listing the credit amount. It was around $20.
I’m a procrastinator and kind of slow on the draw.
After a couple of years I contacted eBay and asked if there was a possibility of getting a refund, having those credits paid out, because I had no plans to list anything for sale.
And eBay was great. They said absolutely, we can do that for you.
Amazing! At least that should put a stop to the monthly statements hitting my Inbox.
REFUND… TIMES TWO!!!
Even though I don’t recall the exact amount of the refund, I know it was around $20.
eBay definitely sent me a check and I cashed it.
In fact, eBay loves me so much they sent me a second check in the same amount.
So, oops, somebody in eBay’s accounting department screwed up and issued a duplicate refund check.
A short discussion followed. There was no point in me being out any money to buy a stamp to return the check. There was no point in eBay spending $20 to put a stop payment on the check. I told eBay I wouldn’t cash the second check.
That’s the honest thing to do. eBay made a mistake. If I cashed the check and eBay did their year end balancing, they’d be within their rights to ask me to send their money back.
I don’t even remember what year it happened, but it was a few years back.
It was dealt with in the easiest manner – just don’t cash the second check – and everyone moves on.
Gone and forgotten.
HAVE SOME FREE MONEY ON US
Last week (early August, 2021) I received an envelope in the mail that’s kind of weird. There’s no return sender name or address. All I know is it came from Los Angeles.
I open it and it’s a check and payment description from eBay.
Well, now that’s curious. Why would eBay send me money?
The description shows an invoice date of March, 2016 and the check is for $23.16.
So, it’s starting to come back to me. This has got something to do with that second refund check that I didn’t cash because of eBay’s error in issuing it twice.
I tried to reach eBay by phone three times, getting hung up on before being connected with a live person.
Nice, eBay. Did your call center hire a bunch of former CIBC staff who are infamous for disconnecting callers because they’re a bunch of lazy asses?
Then I send an email to eBay using the address on the check stub: suppliersupport@ebay.com.
I asked why they sent me a check and quoted the invoice and document numbers on the check stub. Then I went back in time and said many years eBay goofed and sent me a double refund. I cashed one check, didn’t cash the duplicate check, and we all moved on.
Forgotten until yet another check shows up.
GENIUS RESPONSE FROM EBAY
Here’s the response I got from eBay with some identifying numbers *’d out:
Dear Cheryl,
Thank you for contacting ebay Accounts Payable, my name is Parvathi. I’m happy to assist you. We could see that invoice#USD4*** amounts to 23.16 USD of 2016 was paid on 15th July, 2021 through check#79***.
Best Regards,
Parvathi
What the hell, eBay? Thanks for pointing out the blatantly obvious!
Did you hire some of the village idiots that used to work at Walmart?
OK, I get it. No one on staff wants to deal with a $20 issue from 2016. They’re busy and got bigger issues to deal with than figuring out they sent a third refund check.
DONE
I try to be a good, honest person and always do the right thing.
But, you know, I’m done.
Done.
From my accounting background, it’s my guess that eBay is closing out 2016 and tying up loose ends. That duplicate check was never cashed and gosh darn it, eBay ain’t having none of it!
Take the free money!
If I don’t cash the damn check, eBay is going to send me another one in five years.
Sometimes it’s just not worth the battle to do the right thing.
It’s taking too much time. And time is money. And eBay wants me to have some free money on them.
So now I bow and say “Thank you, eBay.”
I will deposit eBay’s free money into my US dollar bank account and use it to buy a meal the next time I’m in Oregon. Thank you, eBay for a free lunch!
Has something like this ever happened to you? Has a company ever tried to refund you more money than you were owed? Share your story in the comments!
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on August 10, 2021
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