eBay won't refund forced eBay plus charge despite cancelling

OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:14

Hi

So I signed up for a free 30 eBay plus trial and cancelled 2 weeks before the trial ended. I got a confirmation on screen and thought nothing of it. I check my PayPal and I was charged $48.99 for a annual eBay plus subscription without my knowledge even though I remember cancelling.

Short story cut short; I just wasted almost TWO damn hours on eBay live chat for the chat agent to decline my refund. Best part is they admitted it was a "system glitch" multiple times (I took screenshots for my claim with PayPal, just opened it there) but then after I called them out for it-saying it's a technical issue and not my fault, etc-they backpedal HARD and shift the blame onto me, stating that they "assume there was no system glitch from eBay". I don't own nor have access to any kind of 'system' so how am I at fault if it was a system glitch? It doesn't make any sense.

I was in disbelief at first so I googled in search of what to do and found a TON of people who had had the same issue: got charged when they cancelled. I've used eBay for over 7.5 years, only have 1 account and have spent thousands and thousands there. This is ridiculous! It's the last time I'll spend any money there.

I have submitted an unauthorised charged dispute/claim via PayPal but have read a few people had their claims denied which is concerning. Last resort is a chargeback which I've never done before and don't really have any hope there either (because CBA). Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm lost on what to do.

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Comments

  • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:15
    +5

    My bad, I mean long story cut short

    • sujiferro on 12/11/2019 - 10:33
      +1

      Happened to me also. Call PayPal, writing in isn’t enough. It’ll be resolved within 5 minutes. Worked for me.

    • sujiferro on 12/11/2019 - 10:36
      +10

      If you have the time, put in a written complaint to the ACCC. eBay has done this way too often and alarms should be raised.

      • OzBoganYeah on 13/11/2019 - 00:13
        +1

        I will consider this, because I've exhausted all other options I can think of: eBay, PayPal, bank and fair trading. Thanks for the suggestion.

        • Seedy seed on 13/11/2019 - 08:33

          This happened to me, it cost ne $29 at the time, rep gave me a $20 voucher at 9th month because i told her your membership js shit, ive used amazon sooo many times and your service 0 times since i was charged.

          Then 2 days before it ran out my mate wanted a winch, he got a extra 5% off and free postage because of the membership 😂 winning.

  • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:25

    I just clicked on a discount coupon somewhere like groupon and then I was not allowed a free trial at all, just for clicking on it. So I took the 39 annual sub, but phone calls did nothing to get my free month which I never had. They would not budge

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:28
      +6

      What?

      • Andard on 19/11/2019 - 14:21
        -1

        I just clicked on a discount coupon somewhere like groupon and then I was not allowed a free trial at all, just for clicking on it. So I took the 39 annual sub, but phone calls did nothing to get my free month which I never had. They would not budge

        • Zazer on 20/11/2019 - 10:46
          -1

          This isn't Reddit.

    • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:31

      They kept cookies that I had clicked on a discount coupon and then would not allow me a free 30 day trial at all, I had to buy the discounted price of $39

      • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:33

        Really? That sucks.

      • brendanm on 10/11/2019 - 14:18
        +5

        Damn Pam that's no good, you aren't having a good trot

    • Seraphin7 on 11/11/2019 - 09:38
      +7

      Any update on your unattended training course? Have you filed with the Supreme Court yet?

      • screensaver on 11/11/2019 - 13:35

        He offered me Day 2, but I only have a manual he gave me for Day 1 So its not ideal. He did find my notebook

        • Seedy seed on 13/11/2019 - 08:35

          Did you have to sue him?

  • profar on 10/11/2019 - 13:26
    +6

    I'd recommend if Paypal and CC chargeback fails spend 1,000 's on hiring a legal team .

    They would appreciate it :)

    BTW shouldn't be concerned till PP fails as normally buyer friendly .

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:30

      PP are usually buyer friendly which is good but I'm still anxious. Have read some people's claims were rejected.

      • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:41

        go to your account ebay plus and see if the cancellation was recorded

        • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:44

          I remember getting a cancellation confirmation on screen when I cancelled. But when I go check it on eBay plus it shows it wasn't recorded.

          • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:46

            @OzBoganYeah: did you cancel thru that button there?

            • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:57

              @screensaver: Yes, I did. It's the edit membership thing

              • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:59

                @OzBoganYeah: pity they didnt send an email confirmation. like everything else

              • kolorijo on 11/11/2019 - 10:34
                +3

                @OzBoganYeah: I received email cancellation from them when I cancelled.

                Hi xxx,
                We’re sorry that you no longer want to use eBay Plus. Your eBay Plus membership will end on 10/10/2020.

  • Yummy on 10/11/2019 - 13:27
    +24

    I luv my Amazon Prime. <3 <3

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:31
      +5

      I'll be sticking to Amazon, that's for sure.

      • Nugs on 10/11/2019 - 19:24
        +5

        I'd like to use them more, but they simply don't have the range.
        I've bought half a dozen 'things' in the last month and amazon either didn't have them or had them at twice the price
        .

        • pinkybrain on 11/11/2019 - 08:08
          +1

          yeap ebay just has so much more items than amazon and usually are cheaper..

          the downside is ebay plus is pretty crap for the majority of purchases
          except for the ebay plus sellers that are charging a ridiculous shipping cost (e.g. sending a some microsd card for $10)

          amazon prime has more better value for money
          but then I don't see as many items as ebay
          or the prices are alot more expensive than ebay

          • smartazz104 on 11/11/2019 - 09:39
            +6

            @pinkybrain: eBay Plus exists solely to allow sellers to tack on a postage charge that eBay plus removes so people can think "wow, great value".

          • UltimateAI on 12/11/2019 - 12:36

            @pinkybrain: They have some great discounts of PS4 titles, and often free delivery from the US.
            So little items like labels, shoelaces and be cost effective to order from the US.
            sometimes next day \ expedited shipping is covered by Prime.
            Shipping is quick, returns are easy.
            I have actually started watching Prime, and they have some decent titles in 4k.

            On my to-do list to trial, as they are included in prime;
            - Limited Music Streaming
            - Books
            - Unlimited Photo Storage in original format

            Biggest plus, is it isn't eBay and the reviews can be somewhat trusted.
            eBay is full of fakes and suspect sellers.

      • DvApps on 11/11/2019 - 23:08
        +5

        I once forgot to cancel my prime trial and it charged me and Amazon still refunded me after a few days.

        • Seedy seed on 13/11/2019 - 08:38

          Amazon cs is awesome.

  • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:43

    I just had a look at mine, there is a cancellation button and a date started and expiry date

  • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 13:50

    I always make a complaint on facebook

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 13:58

      Does that work though?

      • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 14:00
        +2

        Sometimes, I do it anyway. Put 2, 1 as a comment on their post and one as your own post, and also send a message

        • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 14:03

          I may try that.

        • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 13/11/2019 - 08:29
          +1

          If Facebook doesn't work then you go to small claims court I'm assuming?

  • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 14:07
    +1

    Update: I spoke to another eBay plus representative and they were still absolutely 100% adamant that "THERE WAS NO SYSTEM GLITCH ON EBAY'S SIDE" (his quote, including all the caps). He did say he would request a refund for me. Still concerned that it will just get declined.

    I should say that I only purchased 1 large order on the day I signed up. Nothing else has been bought since.

  • brendanm on 10/11/2019 - 14:19
    +1

    Just do a cc charge back, surely you have confirmation from when you cancelled?

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:11

      Yeah, that's the thing: I never got an email cancellation confirmation. Ignorant me just thought it was done and had nothing to worry about (silly me for assuming). Chargeback will be last resort, though I've never done a chargeback before so o don't know how it works.

      • kolorijo on 11/11/2019 - 10:35

        Check your spam folder, maybe it went there.

        • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 18:50

          I checked and couldn't find anything:(

  • FAIL on 10/11/2019 - 14:41
    +2

    I had the same issue happen to me when I cancelled. It took 6 weeks but they eventually refunded me the money.

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:12

      How did you get a refund? Who did you escalate it with: eBay, PayPal, bank, etc?

  • Edeena on 10/11/2019 - 14:47
    +8

    With eBay Plus, never assume it's cancelled just because it's shown on the screen. You should always receive a confirmation email about the cancellation, and after that email, you check back on the eBay Plus page for current status, if it's really cancelled then you will know for sure from the status as it will show membership expiry date. Also if you use Paypal, cancel the direct debit arrangement from Paypal side as well then you're 100% safe.

    • singingwolf on 10/11/2019 - 20:19
      +3

      this. You need to cancel the PayPal authorisation otherwise they go at it anyway. This has happened so many times over the last year and a bit.

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:07
      +2

      Lesson learnt. I won't buy anything from eBay anymore.

      • SnoozeAndLose on 10/11/2019 - 23:16

        So how are you planning to spend the $50 gift card?

        • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:55

          What gift card??

          • Edeena on 11/11/2019 - 17:08

            @OzBoganYeah: There's an offer at the moment when you sign up to eBay Plus $49 annual, you get $50 eBay giftcard a few days after signing up. Maybe try get eBay to give you this $50 giftcard?

            • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 18:51

              @Edeena: Oh, I didn't know about that. Honestly, I'd prefer the refund. I will ask about that though.

              • Zachary on 11/11/2019 - 23:08

                @OzBoganYeah: Nice, you would get a free $50 gift card if you manage to get your refund done.

    • ar7ist on 11/11/2019 - 10:11

      How do you cancel the direct debit arrangement from Paypal side?

        • 4rcane on 14/11/2019 - 15:33

          where Do I find this link on paypal itself? I can't find it

      • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 18:53

        Only after I was charged, I didn't even know there was automatic payment from PayPal side in regards to eBay. I didn't check because I cancelled and saw on screen confirmation and thought nothing of it. Ignorant me.

  • subywagon on 10/11/2019 - 16:39
    +3

    I forgot to cancel mine and they took the $49. I had a chat on eBay help and the chick was a b@9ch about it and pretty much said bad luck I'm not getting my money back. I asked her to escalate it and she referred it to the refund team. I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks and just accepted my fate until suddenly I got an email out of the blue saying I've been refunded the full amount. I still have eBay plus active for a year too.

    So if I can get a refund when it's clearly my fault for not cancelling, you should be able to.

    • [Deactivated] on 10/11/2019 - 17:45

      Have you tried to use it since?

      • subywagon on 10/11/2019 - 21:59

        I haven't bought an eBay plus item yet, but it still says I have eBay plus until late next year.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/11/2019 - 22:05
          +1

          Mine says the same thing but once you try, it'll ask you to sign up to ebayplus again.

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:15

      I think we may have had the same eBay agent: the lady I spoke to was exactly the same way and blaming me. Bad luck and all that but "you can still keep your benefits if you cancel". Arghhh, so frustrating.

      I will definitely ask to get referred to the refund team.

      • markathome on 12/11/2019 - 00:44

        I also had a bad agent. I am underwhelmed by the benefits too. The problem for eBay though is this irate customers can return a lot of things.

        • Seedy seed on 13/11/2019 - 08:44

          Lol i had one the same, thats what they are like if you want to get money back.

    • bargain-lover007 on 11/11/2019 - 17:25

      Concur with you. Samething happened with me. Ebay did refund the fees and can confirm that Ebay plus remained active and I was able to use it just like a regular ebay plus member.

    • TimApple on 11/11/2019 - 23:19

      I forgot to cancel mine and I did 2 live chats and 1 phone call and they wouldn’t budge. What should I do?

      • oscinator1988 on 12/11/2019 - 11:19

        Open a Paypal Case. I did the same and got my full refund without eBay every replying.

        • TimApple on 12/11/2019 - 12:22

          Alright. Done. Hopefully I get it back.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/11/2019 - 17:43
    +4

    Happened to me. It was so frustrating dealing with ebay. In the end, I had to lodge a dispute via paypal and I won.

    • subywagon on 10/11/2019 - 22:00
      +1

      I lodged a complaint through PayPal after I had the chat and they turned me down.

      • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:16
        +1

        This is what I'm afraid of, that they side with eBay. Were you still able to get your money back via bank/chargeback?

      • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:57

        Checked my email and my PP claim got declined as well. This is ridiculous.

  • dins on 10/11/2019 - 18:09

    Did you recall getting a cancellation email confirming the cancellation? Go through your emails and try to find that. With that don't see how they can deny you.

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:18

      I didn't receive an email, I only had a confirmation on screen when I cancelled the trial. It showed the end date after 30 daysand I though it was fine. Silly me to assume it was cancelled since it's eBay.

  • Miss B on 10/11/2019 - 19:45
    +7

    To avoid this issue for anyone who it isn't already too late, the best way to do it is sign up using PayPal, then immediately cancel the Automatic Payment in PayPal. Maybe cancel directly with eBay too, but I've done it with all different subscriptions and it always works.

  • whooah1979 on 10/11/2019 - 19:49
    -1

    I've used eBay for over 7.5 years, only have 1 account and have spent thousands and thousands there.

    How is this relevant to the current dispute?

    • Cheapskate Paul on 10/11/2019 - 21:37
      +4

      I think that the OP feels that it is silly for a business to pi$$ off a customer with a reasonable spending history for the sake of $50. I could be wrong though.

      • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:18

        This is exactly why I mentioned it.

    • screensaver on 10/11/2019 - 21:41
      +2

      because she is a customer expecting customer aervice when things go wrong

    • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:21

      It's relevant because I've been buying and spent a lot of money on their website for years. And the fact that they won't even give me the benefit of the doubt is frustrating. They have lost a customer in me and I won't ever buy anything from eBay again.

      • gimme on 11/11/2019 - 08:45

        Good moral stance but this will hurt you a lot more than them

        • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 09:17

          True and it's hurting and annoying me now.

          • gimme on 11/11/2019 - 09:39
            +1

            @OzBoganYeah: Trust me you'll get over it in a couple of weeks and back to buying junk from China in no time lol

            • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 18:55
              +1

              @gimme: Ehh, I doubt that. Sure it's roughly $50 but I need that money to pay bills and my mortgage.

            • Seedy seed on 13/11/2019 - 08:47

              @gimme: Lol i never did i buy the occasional thing on ebay but i mostly use amazon ect.

  • OzBoganYeah on 10/11/2019 - 23:59
    +1

    Update 2: my PayPal claim/dispute was declined. No reason given besides that the charge was "not unauthorised". Their email response was very vague. What total BS. Last resort is chargeback via CBA. I've never done one so who knows how it will go.

    • kolorijo on 11/11/2019 - 10:39
      +1

      Definitely do a charge back from your credit card and see how it goes.

      • Zachary on 11/11/2019 - 23:11

        or debit card.

  • screensaver on 11/11/2019 - 02:42
    +2

    I would complain on the Paypal facebook page too. People need to know that Consumer law is being broken here. See if Fair Trading has a page too, and the ACC

    • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 06:22

      I'll look into that. The thing is the eBay reps say that in their T & Cs it explicitly states "no refunds" without exception. Nothing. According to them it's their policy that they cannot issue refunds for eBay plus. That sounds unlawful, no?

      • screensaver on 11/11/2019 - 13:28

        Yes, if you were coerced into a free trial that you cancelled. Just wondering if the confirmation page had a confirm button?

        • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 18:59

          Yeah, it had a confirm button. Basically it's edit membership >cancel subscription >reason for cancelling (pick 1 option)> confirm cancellation >'we're sorry to see you go. You can still use eBay plus benefits until xx/xx/xxxx (end date of trial)'.

  • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 06:55
    +2

    I'm re-reading the PayPal claim email where they declined my claim and it's SO obvious they didn't read my entire claim discription. The email text is so generic.

    I wrote 4 or 5 paragraphs in the claim because they asked for a detailed description. There's a slim chance they actually read it, the email is so vague and bare bones. I'm so annoyed.

    • gimme on 11/11/2019 - 08:48
      +2

      Paypal doesn't read anything… process mostly automated.. you can talk abt your genitals and still get a refund if within their rules

      • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 09:17

        Not in my case, my claim was declined:( don't really know why either.

        • gimme on 11/11/2019 - 11:35

          doesn't mean anybody read anything. Your claim would have been declined because it didn't meet a particular predefined criteria. They may only read it if you 'challenge' or 'call' etc. By default nothing gets read. Imagine if they actually did that. Need an army of people to 'investigate' and I can safely say vast majority of Paypal CS people are morons!

          • OzBoganYeah on 11/11/2019 - 18:30

            @gimme: I called but they said the same thing and couldn't (more like wouldn't) help me.

          • Zachary on 11/11/2019 - 23:14

            @gimme: AH, so the initial claim is automated and so you can say whatever irrelevent bullsmack and they wouldn't know until you get decline and reply a second time to that same ticket in which case someone WILL check the message history and read up what you said, including that bullsmack you wrote earlier for the initial claim……

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