A guy I know redeemed for some Ebay gift cards a month or so ago and he sold it to a GC aggregator, who a few weeks later told him that one of the cards had no balance. You see, Ebay gift cards, are basically just 16 digits with no pin, so yes any random hacker can make a new Ebay account, run a bunch of random numbers and eventually hit on a working Ebay GC. He called up Ebay and naturally they were of no help even though we all know they know the account that used the GC. They basically told him to pound rocks. Then a few weeks later, he got a 2nd compromised card (he had already redeemed for it before the first incident.)
The other terrible thing about these gift cards is that they are loaded to your account, kinda like Amazon. Well, that’s fine and dandy until Ebay decides to axe your account one day and now the GC balance is basicaly forfeited.
So yeah, I don’t plan on redeeming to Ebay gift cards anymore. No wonder C1 has had it as a redemption for so long now; cuz no one wants to take the risk of getting a card that will be compromised down the road.
I personally had a few drained gift cards. eBay just blamed me. Awful support. Eventually forced them to give me a refund (BBB dispute). Never again.
@Nun I’m not sure it is legal? Amazon, for instance, makes a habit of confiscating GC balances on closed accounts, but if you file a complaint with the Washington State AG, your chances of getting your money back are basically 100%. I think they just assume most people won’t enforce their legal rights.
I’m not sure why companies are legally allowed do this with your gift card balance.
They convert it to their own credits and then keep the funds after unilaterally closing your account. It’s really a loophole to avoid the fact that gift cards cannot expire for 5 years by law, and even more depending on your state. DoorDash is notorious for this behavior, but eBay, Amazon, Uber, and probably others all load to your account. At least Walmart only stores the card number, so you can continue using a physical card both in store or online.
We need legislation to close this loophole. That was not the intent of the law and consumers are getting screwed.
Agree 100%, too easy to hack 16-digit numbers. I always link the eBay card to my account ASAP after receiving.
Thanks for this lesson. I’m starting to tire of GC’s anyways.