Dear Ina,
I went onto eBay this morning with no problem. In fact, I have never had a problem with my eBay account. I have had an account with eBay before Meg Whitman was hired and before the company went public.
This afternoon I received an email from eBay stating that my account was frozen because they could not verify my bank account information.
Nothing has changed on my account or my bank's. I still live at the same address, same phone number, same name. My bank info has not changed. The bank is still located across the street from me, my routing number and account number is the same since I opened the account 17 years ago. My debit card is still the same when eBay started their crappy payment service and I supplied it to them, the name on the account is still the same.
Since I had to send in my info and verify it when eBay started their payments system, I was approved and none of it has changed. I have never been late with a payment on my eBay account 20+ years for fees or anything else. I have 100% score for shipping and tracking, .12% for returns and have no returns or disputes pending - I never have.
I just received a payout Tuesday from eBay and have been receiving payouts with no problem since their crappy payment system started - all to the same bank and account number since I opened the account at my bank 17 years ago.
My eBay account has now been suspended. In order to open my account again, I (and all other Sellers & Buyers) will have to do one of following three steps:
1). Log onto your account with eBay (the 3rd. party company they hired) on the log in page with you while you enter your user name and password at your bank so they can verify that is the bank you are logging into.
2). Receive 2 micro deposits in your account and then verify the amounts to eBay.
3). Send eBay a copy of your bank statement. This was sent to eBay, and verified, when all Sellers had to confirm who they were when eBay started their crappy payment system.
My account will be frozen until the company eBay hired to verify your information can verify your personal & bank information, which means eBay has given my personal information that eBay has to their 3rd. party, who was not identified during the process.
I thought this may be a phishing email but on my eBay account it stated my account was suspended until I verified my account info.
So I called eBay to verify. The eBay agent called me and confirmed all the email information and the information about the freezing of my funds from eBay was valid and I should not be worried, my funds would be available to me within 48 business hours when the info is verified.
I asked about the items that I had to send out that had already been sold and told the agent I needed the money for postage. The agent asked if there was a friend or family member I could borrow the money from as it would only be 48 hours until they could verify my info.
He also stated he saw on my account that I sent the required info into eBay and that I was all set. Today is Thursday and I can guarantee they wont be able to verify until next week due to the fact that it takes up to 48 business hours to verify the information.
I asked to speak with a supervisor, he refused, and stated this was all the info he had, that he was trained to handle these calls, and that was that. I asked if I could get someone from payments on the phone to talk too and he stated "Have a nice day and thank you for selling on eBay" then disconnected the call.
So, to all you Sellers, now it starts - the B.S. excuse that eBay has to freeze your account until you verify all your information. The rep also stated this happens periodically, from time to time, and I should expect this action 2 - 3 times a year.
Prior to being disconnected, I asked if there was a problem with my account and he stated "No, I see nothing on your account that is problem. eBay just needs to verify your info from time to time. I then asked if this applies to all Sellers on eBay and he stated "Yes, and Buyers also".
This is absolute nonsense. eBay is back to playing the same games with your money they did when they owned PayPal (Which I never had a problem like this at PayPal, 20+ with that account). I was also told I have to send all the items that Buyers paid for even though my money is frozen.
So, to all Sellers, here it comes - eBay delaying your money so they can earn that extra interest in their account. Funny how this just started to occur after SVB and Signature banks failed - I wonder how much money was tied up in an account for eBay at ether bank. To all you cheerleaders for eBay on this site, I hope you're happy now because you're going to get the same treatment, or maybe not?
Anonymous
PS: I got an additional message from eBay stating the reason they had to identify me was that I changed my banking information. I never changed my banking information, I am still at the same bank and all the information never changed, either on my side or the bank's side.