My eBay refund seems to have vanished into thin air!

socksmalone

Looking for some advice if possible please, apologies for the essay but this is fairly complicated apparently!

At the end of October I returned an item purchased on eBay that didn't match its description and received confirmation emails that it had been received and my refund had been processed.

After a few days I noticed it was not showing in my bank account so I looked at my eBay account to see a message saying: "We couldn't complete your refund. One or more payment methods couldn't be refunded. eBay Customer service will get in touch with you to make it right."

I then realised that the refund was initiated the very day that my account switch from NatWest to Nationwide went through. The payment and refund were handled by Google Pay.

No one from eBay contacted me, I have called several times times and have been told on each occasion it was being escalated and they would be back in touch. They never do.

I've spoken to NatWest and Google Pay, who both tell me that in these circumstances the money would have gone back to eBay.

In November the eBay customer service rep I spoke to said it was being escalated to the manual corrections team and they would find the refund and get it to me. I asked for this to be confirmed in an email, which it was.

I heard nothing and my follow up email was ignored. I tried again after Christmas and had messages saying someone would get back to me but they didn't.

I asked for a call back and a very helpful woman said she'd take responsibility for my complaint and looked into it. To her credit, she actually called me back when she said she would. She gave me an ARN and asked me to contact my old bank (NatWest). I called them today (again) and they said there was no refund showing. I also called Google Pay AND the original seller (a business seller with their number in their account info) and both parties checked and the money is not with them.

The latest email I've had from eBay is to ask Google Pay to check again!

This is so frustrating. The item page on eBay clearly states the refund didn't go through. How on earth can I get my money back? It's not a massive amount but I am owed it.

Any advice gratefully received.

Oh, also I tried emailing the UK CEO and that was ignored.