Ebay

PaulL2

Anybody else had problems with Ebay as a creditor? I included a measly Ebay debt in my bankruptcy (long story.. a dispute with a buyer where Ebay had come down on the buyer's side because apparently it's fine to smash stuff up and return it if you don't like it).

I've received invoices from Ebay every month throughout my bankruptcy demanding I pay them. Now I'm discharged this is annoying so I contacted them to say STOP and even sent them my certificate of discharge, and I've only a received generic response:

]Hello Mr. XXXXXX,

Because your eBay account was suspended prior to the date you filed for
bankruptcy [IT WASN'T], eBay isn't required to reinstate the account [I DIDN'T WANT THEM TO - I ASKED THEM TO CLOSE IT]. The debt is
not forgiven when you are discharged [OH, REALLY?]. As a whole, eBay has made the
business decision that in these situations the account will remain
indefinitely suspended. I am sorry that we won't be able to reinstate
your account.

If you have specific questions or concerns regarding the bankruptcy law,
its protections and your responsibilities, we recommend that you confer
with your bankruptcy attorney. Our team is unable to provide further
assistance on this matter.

Please note that this also means you are excluded from opening new
accounts on eBay. This is our final decision. Further email regarding
this topic will read, but may not be responded to.

Thank you,

eBay, Global Collections

National_Debtline

Hi PaulL2,


The Ebay debt should be a provable debt in bankruptcy, the only exception would be if this is considered to be a fraudulent debt. You should check the details of the complaint resolution, if fraud has not be mentioned, then I would suggest a complaint to Ebay stating this debt was accrued prior to the date of bankruptcy (as they acknowledge) and is therefore a provable debt. If they continue to chase you for this, or add adverse information to your credit file, you will escalate the matter. You should ask them for a copy of their complaint procedure to check who to escalate this to.

Alternatively, a quicker solution may be to talk to your Official Receiver who may be able to contact them on your behalf. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

PaulL2

I've forwarded the information onto the OR. I don't recall fraud being mentioned, although it was over a year ago. In short, I received some money from a buyer, withdrew it from my Paypal account, and then the buyer decided they didn't want the item because it was 'too noisy' so they smashed it up and returned it (!).

Ebay then set my account balance to £minus not very much and I refused to top it up to zero, knowing bankruptcy was a matter of days away.

I hope this isn't fraud! Simply a disagreement between me and Ebay's non-existent seller protection policies. The OR never mentioned anything about it, and I specifically included it in my BR.

PaulL2

I've just had a comical online conversation with an Ebay customer service rep. He acknowledges receipt of my discharge certificate but insists the meagre amount is still due...!?!

He also said that the last invoice I should have received was sent the month before I filed for BR... It wasn't. I've continued to receive them every month since.

He won't close the account and is escalating my complaint. Frightening.

Carrot007

PaulL2 wrote: »

He won't close the account and is escalating my complaint. Frightening.

I'm sure it's not! This is ebay.


When using them you have no other option but to accept their descisions. They do not want the average person using it anymore just businesses that can afford to take such hits.


I assume this is under £100? Not that it matters. If they send a debt collector onto you (likely) you will get a few letter to ignore. If they go to court you are covered. (They won't unless it is a large sum).


Unfortunatly ebay do not care about the law, just their rules.


Note, you will never be allowed to use ebay or paypal again. If you try to open an account and it is spotted they will colse it immidieately and keep any money. This probably applies to anyone in your hosehold to as they will suspect it is you. There is nothing you can do about this, it is legal as they do not have to do business with you.

PaulL2

Carrot007 wrote: »

I'm sure it's not! This is ebay.


When using them you have no other option but to accept their descisions. They do not want the average person using it anymore just businesses that can afford to take such hits.


I assume this is under £100? Not that it matters. If they send a debt collector onto you (likely) you will get a few letter to ignore. If they go to court you are covered. (They won't unless it is a large sum).


Unfortunatly ebay do not care about the law, just their rules.


Note, you will never be allowed to use ebay or paypal again. If you try to open an account and it is spotted they will colse it immidieately and keep any money. This probably applies to anyone in your hosehold to as they will suspect it is you. There is nothing you can do about this, it is legal as they do not have to do business with you.

I've realised this!

They can send a debt collector all they want. It's been well over a year now and they don't have my current address (I've moved since discharge too)

I'll be delighted to never use them again :beer: Every minute I waste on this matter is another person who I'll recommend does the same.

National_Debtline

Hello again,


Another possible solution to resolve this would be to talk to your Official Receiver (OR) and ask them if there is any reason they are aware of that would exclude Ebay from your bankruptcy (which seems unlikely from what you have described). If the OR confirms this debt was included in the bankruptcy application, then Ebay have no right to continue any enforcement action - by debt collectors or county court - as the debt no longer exists.


You could ask your OR to send a letter to Ebay outlining this (it may carry more weight) and ask all contact to stop. You could also try and speak to the Citizen's Advice Consumer Service regarding this - 0345 404 05 06. Best of luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

PaulL2

I got in contact with the OR and have a copy of the letter the OR sent to eBay when I first went bankrupt. So I assume this means the debt was included in my bankruptcy.

I passed this to eBay and had another long conversation with them yesterday. Unfortunately the long and the short of it is.. they won't remove the debt from my account. Even though I explained the debt is not legally mine they said it will stay there in my name. I will still be sent automatic invoices requesting the money as they can't stop these, however they said because of the bankruptcy I don't need to pay. They cannot/will not delete any of my personal information or tell me what they hold despite repeated requests. A suspended account can never be unsuspended or deleted until the balance is zero...

So I stand by my statement that it's frightening. Frightening that a big company is above the law.

National_Debtline

Hello again,

PaulL2 wrote: »

I will still be sent automatic invoices requesting the money as they can't stop these, however they said because of the bankruptcy I don't need to pay.

This is a victory as previously they were saying the debt was still due and they were not accepting the bankruptcy. As long as this is not showing a balance on your credit file, it would seem sufficient to let sleeping dogs lie. I would suggest that you keep all of this paperwork for at least the next 6 years, just in case this finds its way to a debt collector, and then you can raise a dispute and show it is no longer legally owed.


Don't forget, you can also try and the Citizen's Advice Consumer Service for further advice.


Laura
@natdebtline

PaulL2

Thanks for your help.

I haven't looked, but I don't think they've ever logged the debt on my credit file. It just shows on my Ebay account as a minus figure. For such a paltry sum, I don't think they've ever take legal action to chase it. I've paid everything I owed to them. They invented this debt because of their ridiculous anti-seller policies.

PaulL2

Small update: Ebay continue to think they are above the law. I received another email today (not sure why) saying if I send them confirmation that my bankruptcy has ended (already done) and pay the balance (NOT happening), they will reinstate my account (I don't want it!) and then consider my repeated requests to close it.

So basically, pay up or we will continue to chase you unlawfully for this debt.

I've written to their head data protection officer asking them to delete the account as the debt should be written off, and the phone number and address they hold for me is out-of-date. So surely they shouldn't be kept on file? No response.

Shame the OR was disinterested when I forwarded Ebay's demands to them. I can't complain, they were very lenient on me during my BR so I don't want to rock the boat..