Halifax Cashback Extras - Mysterious eBay Cashback awarded that doesn't relate to any purchase

HillStreetBlues

SiliconChip said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Fingerbobs said:

Yes I am aware of this delay, which is why I've been back over 6 months of transactions. Actually I've now searched my eBay email folder for the exact amount of the purchase (after proving such a search works for some known transactions), and nothing was found, so I'm 100% sure I have never made a purchase on eBay for the amount stated on the cashback log.

However, a bell is now starting to ring - a few days ago, which would correspond with the date of the mysterious cashback transaction, I accidentally added an item to my eBay shopping basket (which I never intentionally use) on the eBay app. I remember s**tting myself for a few seconds because it was an expensive item and I didn't want to accidentally commit to buying it, but I went straight to my basket and removed it, and never went through the checkout process. I've checked and my basket is empty and nothing showing in purchase history. Unfortunately I can't remember what the item was, or what I was searching for at the time, but I now suspect the mere act of adding that item to my basket has somehow triggered a cashback award.

Have you trying add the item again to your shopping basket?

How would that work when @Fingerbobs said in the post that you quoted:

"Unfortunately I can't remember what the item was"?

By checking "Recently viewed" if not cleared

BlueonBlue

You have to first activate the ebay 2% off, offer on the Halifax site then you must access Ebay via a link in your monthly Halifax cashback extras before making a purchase (or perhaps adding to your ebay basket as the op mentions .)

Dont know if using that Ebay link on the Halifax site would make any difference but cashback sites use a similar system.

Aside from the above .

When Halifax cashback extras and Lloyds everyday offers had the supermarket offers showing.... then with abit of work you could generate cashback at little to no cost .
A couple of retailers worked out ok too.
Im not sure those few supermarkets even have cashback options these days .

Fingerbobs

Nasqueron said:

Fingerbobs said:

Nasqueron said:

Fingerbobs said:

badmemory said:

There is something odd about the way they deal with the ebay tranactions on halifax cashback as they are not paid in 30 days like most other transactions.  Mine have been at least 90 days but if you go into your account and look at your cashback tranactions it should tell you.  Mine showed as July payable Aug then moved to Aug payable Sept & finally Sept payable Oct which some were.  If you read the T&Cs it says 90 days but they also don't show for ebay immediately.  They also say paypal transactions via ebay are excluded but all mine were via paypal, which is why I mentioned them.  It is also supposed to exclude the postage payment but mine don't.  I must say it has provided me with some minor amusement to discover that my purchases of 2nd hand wasgijs has saved me almost £1 (I have bought quite a few in the last few weeks)

Yes I am aware of this delay, which is why I've been back over 6 months of transactions. Actually I've now searched my eBay email folder for the exact amount of the purchase (after proving such a search works for some known transactions), and nothing was found, so I'm 100% sure I have never made a purchase on eBay for the amount stated on the cashback log.

However, a bell is now starting to ring - a few days ago, which would correspond with the date of the mysterious cashback transaction, I accidentally added an item to my eBay shopping basket (which I never intentionally use) on the eBay app. I remember s**tting myself for a few seconds because it was an expensive item and I didn't want to accidentally commit to buying it, but I went straight to my basket and removed it, and never went through the checkout process. I've checked and my basket is empty and nothing showing in purchase history. Unfortunately I can't remember what the item was, or what I was searching for at the time, but I now suspect the mere act of adding that item to my basket has somehow triggered a cashback award.

Halifax would not pay you cashback in that scenario as they wouldn't even be aware you were looking, they would only know if you bought the item.

eBay usually tells me indirectly what I was searching for by going back in the app as it'll have a recent searches at the bottom 

I don't think eBay purchases are tracked (entirely) via the card transaction. They seem to work in a similar way to Quidco, with a special link on the Halifax offer page that takes you through to eBay to complete the purchase.

I'm sure at some point prior to the cashback actually being paid a reconciliation process will occur, and the incorrect cashback will be withdrawn.

eBay helpfully reminded me of the item I accidentally basketed, by notifying me that a competing offer had been made on an item (it believed) I was previously interested in. The price excluding shipping matches the erroneous cashback amount.

What I mean is, unless you actually paid for something, there would be no way for Halifax to know you were simply browsing ebay. They would not have paid you cashback based on this action as they never know you added or removed it, else everyone would just sit on ebay "buying" a Rolls Royce every few minutes and get unlimited cash.

Yes I appreciate that, and I have stated that it's unlikely that the cashback will actually be paid. It's just tracked at that amount through the act of adding it to my basket, in the same way Quidco and TopCashBack track purchases. Nothing to do with a card transaction. 

BlueonBlue

Does anyone get Supermarket offers anymore ?

I used to get Waitrose,Morrisons and Sainsburys quite often possibly other supermarkets on rare occasions but in recent years absolutely nothing.
Also Rymans and GoOutdoors but again nothing in years .

pochisoldi

Last time I got cashback was March 2023 when I had a meal in a pub.
The current crop of deals are either for places I don't use, things I don't need, or for locations that I do use, but can get a better cashback rate elsewhere.
The last time I got a supermarket deal was in 2019 - back then you could withdraw cash at the till with your debit card and get cashback on your purchases and the cash. 

Fingerbobs

BlueonBlue said:

Does anyone get Supermarket offers anymore ?

I used to get Waitrose,Morrisons and Sainsburys quite often possibly other supermarkets on rare occasions but in recent years absolutely nothing.
Also Rymans and GoOutdoors but again nothing in years .

They do come up occasionally. I've currently got 8% in Sainsbury's (min spend £80, capped at £30 cashback) and 5% in Waitrose (no min spend, capped at £30 cashback). Had Morrisons last month.

My Virgin card also sometimes has some useful ones and they're often uncapped, which is nice, but I've never had anything decent on Lloyds (possibly because I rarely use my Lloyds card).

Sgabyenom

Fingerbobs said:

Just checked my Halifax Cashback Extras status, and noticed it was higher than I was expecting. 
Turns out I have been awarded £1.50 of cash back for an eBay purchase of just a few pence under £150, which I didn't make. 
I've been back through my eBay purchase history and all my Halifax statements for the last 6 months, and can find no record of this purchase (in any case I'd remember an eBay purchase for that amount - it's a *very* large amount for me to spend on eBay and would have been a considered purchase). 
I wonder if someone else's transaction has been linked to my Cashback account for some reason. 
No point to this post really; I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? 
I will graciously accept the free cashback of course :-)

I had this exact same thing this month. Two lots of cash back for small transactions to eBay but I hadn’t used eBay for ages. Then it happened again a couple of days ago so this time I searched my bank account for the amount and it was Greene King (I searched the two previous amounts too which were the same place) so I think somehow Halifax has the logo and description of eBay for the cash back but it’s actually linked to Greene King instead. Not sure if this helps you OP but maybe just search the amount instead. 

Fingerbobs

Sgabyenom said:

Fingerbobs said:

Just checked my Halifax Cashback Extras status, and noticed it was higher than I was expecting. 
Turns out I have been awarded £1.50 of cash back for an eBay purchase of just a few pence under £150, which I didn't make. 
I've been back through my eBay purchase history and all my Halifax statements for the last 6 months, and can find no record of this purchase (in any case I'd remember an eBay purchase for that amount - it's a *very* large amount for me to spend on eBay and would have been a considered purchase). 
I wonder if someone else's transaction has been linked to my Cashback account for some reason. 
No point to this post really; I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? 
I will graciously accept the free cashback of course :-)

I had this exact same thing this month. Two lots of cash back for small transactions to eBay but I hadn’t used eBay for ages. Then it happened again a couple of days ago so this time I searched my bank account for the amount and it was Greene King (I searched the two previous amounts too which were the same place) so I think somehow Halifax has the logo and description of eBay for the cash back but it’s actually linked to Greene King instead. Not sure if this helps you OP but maybe just search the amount instead. 

Good thought, but that doesn't appear to be what's happened in my case. There are no card transactions on any of my Halifax accounts that match the amount for which the eBay cashback was awarded. There was an outgoing Faster Payment for a similar amount (but a different number of pence) around the right time, but no card transactions.

I would remember spending almost £150, wherever it was, and I certainly wouldn't spend that kind of money on eBay without some very careful thought and researching the seller's feedback history carefully.

The only amount that matches is the item price (not including postage) for an eBay item I accidentally added to my basket and then removed. I've tried this again for a couple of items, but neither has generated any cashback, so it looks like a one-off error.