eBay Tells Me to Fuck Off

Well, I've finally reached the end of my eBay Cashback drama...eBay has basically said "Fuck Off" to me.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience caused regarding this matter. While we understand you may not be satisfied with this response, we have reviewed your account and the matter thoroughly and we feel that we have taken the appropriate actions or provided ample information to address
your concerns. Please be advised that further contacts regarding this matter will not change the outcome or our response.

Obviously, the bolded sentence is my emphasis, but you get the drift. Here's the full email for your reading pleasure:

From: executiveoffice@paypal.com
Subject: Re: Your Recent Inquiry (XYZ):ppk1
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 11:23 AM

Dear Me,

My name is Jennie and I work for the office of Executive Escalations. I want to personally thank you for contacting PayPal. Your concerns were recently forwarded to our office for review in the hope that we might be able to assist you further.

Please refer to Section 5. Limitations of the eBay Terms for Microsoft Bing Cashback Rewards. In this section it states:

Only certain items selected by eBay from time to time in its sole discretion will be eligible for Cashback Rewards. eBay will notify you on the purchase review page of the Buy-It-Now transaction process if the item you wish to purchase is not eligible. Please review the purchase review page carefully before you commit to buy an item.

Additionally, you mentioned a previous purchase over $200.00 that was eligible or which you received $27.20 USD back from the program. Please allow me to clarify the terms of Section 1. Cashback Program. The maximum amount of Cashback Rewards per qualifying purchase is $200.00 USD. This means you may receive up to $200.00 USD back as a reward, with a $2,500.00USD per person cap.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience caused regarding this matter. While we understand you may not be satisfied with this response, we have reviewed your account and the matter thoroughly and we feel that we have taken the appropriate actions or provided ample information to address your concerns. Please be advised that further contacts regarding this matter will not change the outcome or our response.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again at executiveoffice@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Jennie
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company

Why does eBay/PayPal even bother telling me that I can write back with further questions if they've basically said it won't mean shit?!?!?!

Thanks for nothing eBay. I never saw any notification on the purchase review page when I purchased the iPhone that the purchase was not eligible for Cashback. Obviously, I have no proof, so eBay can say anything it wants.

eBay is willing to screw me over for $48. Well, guess what?!?! My lifetime value is much greater than $48 and eBay can be sure that I won't be making their website my first choice for locating a deal.

Dark Clouds Have Returned

The dark clouds have returned and may be with me for a bit....

I received another scare with my dad this past week. I got a call from mom one evening where she told me that my dad had weakness and numbness in both his arms and legs. Obviously, I rushed over and had him taken to the hospital emergency room.

It wasn't a heart attack, so we feared that it may be a stroke. At the hospital, they performed a CT scan and a neurologist checked him. The neurologist ruled out a stroke (much to our relief). The cardiologist, however, believes the weakness my dad experienced was a result of his weakened heart from the cardiac episode 3 weeks back. With that said, the cardiologist highly recommended that my dad get a defibrillator. He stated that my dad is susceptible to sudden death due to his weak heart and having the defibrillator could prevent that from happening.

My dad was hesitant to get it. He's regained feeling in his limbs and isn't keen on undergoing further surgery. However, the cardiologist explained to him that this procedure isn't open heart surgery. The procedure for the defibrillator is a 1 to 2 hour procedure which can be done on an outpatient basis for most people. Being that my dad is in a weakened condition, the cardiologist said that they would keep him overnight at the hospital just to ensure that everything is okay. He would get to go home the next day.

We're now setting up a time to have the procedure. Between now and then, I'm going to be a bit anxious and hope that we'll be able to weather the dark clouds that are upon us.

eBay Cashback: Part 7

The back and forth continues.

I was surprised to get a response from eBay today. Here's what they had to say:

From: executiveoffice@paypal.com
Subject: Re: Your Recent Inquiry (XYZ) :ppk1
To: "Me"
Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 2:30 AM

Dear Me,

Thank you for contacting PayPal. Please accept my apology for any difficulties you have experienced while using our service. I apologize; however we are unable to open attachments in emails.

As mentioned in a previous email, the item was not eligible for the Microsoft Cash Back offer, as the item exceeded the limit of $250.00 USD.

I again apologize for any inconvenience caused with respect to this matter. If you require clarification on any of the issues raised, please feel free to contact us directly at executiveoffice@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Stephanie
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company

I've had more than a few days to cool off, so this response is okay. Unfortunately, it's just a rehash of an earlier response. I honestly believe that no one at eBay or PayPal knows what their Terms and Conditions are for the Bing Cashback promotion. Again, it should not be this hard to answer my inquiry!

Of course, I write back.

Dear Stephanie,

Where does it say on eBay Terms for Microsoft Bing Cashback Rewards (http://pages.ebay.com/cashbackoffer/terms.html) that an item is ineligible when it exceeds $250? The only reference to a dollar amount in the Terms & Conditions is the following:

"The maximum amount of Cashback Rewards per qualifying purchase is $200.00 USD. In addition, all Cashback Rewards (including Cashback Rewards earned in connection with purchases made on websites other than www.eBay.com) are subject to the annual $2,500.00 per person cap set forth in the Program Terms."

Please note that I previously made a purchase over $250 and I did receive Cashback (see Item number:XYZ - it was a $340 purchase and I received $27.20 in Cashback for it).

Please advise. I do not understand why one purchase is eligible but a subsequent purchase is ineligible.

Regards,
Me

I play the waiting game again...

eBay Cashback: Part 6

Seeing that I'm not getting anywhere with Customer Support, I send off an email to eBay and PayPal management.

Hello,

Is there anyone at eBay Customer Support or PayPal Customer Support who will 1) read my email, 2) understand & comprehend the issue I am writing about, 3) know the terms and conditions of the promotion I am writing about, and 4) have the authority to make something happen?

I have had at least 3 email exchanges with PayPal Customer Support and another 2 email exchanges with eBay Customer Support. None of these email exchanges have been informative or helpful. Of the 5 exchanges, I've received:

• 2 template responses that clearly showed that the customer support representative didn't bother to fully read my email
• 1 response that answered a question I did not even ask
• 1 response that said PayPal "don't have any option on our end if you were eligible for any cashback for your recent transaction for $600.00"
• the email below which is clearly wrong in telling me my $600 eBay purchase exceeded the terms of the promotion when eBay's terms and conditions (at http://pages.ebay.com/cashbackoffer/terms.html) clearly state, "The maximum amount of Cashback Rewards per qualifying purchase is $200.00 USD."
  

Here is a recap of my issue:

• On June 2X, 2009 I made an eBay purchase of $600 (Item number:XYZ) using the 8% Microsoft/Live.com/Bing Cashback promotion.
• The eBay transaction is well over 48 hours and I still do not see Cashback in the amount of $48 for that $600 purchase (UniqueTransaction ID #XYZ).
• I have a Microsoft/Live.com/Bing Cashback account. I have made numerous eBay purchases before AND after the transaction in question using the Cashback promotion. For each of those other purchases, I always received the appropriate Cashback amount.

Every transaction has been fine except for this one. Why is it so difficult to get it rectified? I am part of your eBay Bucks loyalty program and have been using the eBay Bucks and the Cashback that I have received for further eBay purchases. (You're welcome to check my eBay and PayPal history to verify my purchases and activities.)

At this point, all I want is the amount due to me - which is $48 as I came through a 8% Microsoft/Live.com/Bing Cashback promotion for a $600 eBay purchase. Can someone who has the authority at PayPal or eBay make this happen?

Please advise as my patience is wearing thin.

Regards,
Me

Here are the email addresses I used in trying to get to eBay and PayPal senior management:

• John Donohoe - jdonahoe@ebay.com, john.donahoe@ebay.com
• Stephanie Tilenius - stilenius@ebay.com, stephanie.tilenius@ebay.com,
  
• Scott Thompson - sthompson@paypal.com, scott.thompson@paypal.com
• Barry Herstein - bherstein@paypal.com, barry.herstein@paypal.com

It worked, because the next response I received was from the Executive Office of eBay. Unfortunately, I was again denied:

From: executiveoffice@paypal.com
Subject: Your Recent Inquiry ([Deleted]) :ppk1
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Monday, July 13, 2009, 10:29 PM

Dear Me,

My name is Stephanie and I work for the office of Executive Escalations. Your concerns were recently forwarded to our office. Please allow me to explain further. I have reviewed your Account, specifically Transaction Id Number XYZ. As mentioned in previous emails, this eBay auction was not eligible for the Microsoft cash back promotion. I apologize for any confusion caused by this matter. You can contact Microsoft directly for more information:


https://support.search.live.com/default.aspx?productkey=cashbackso&mkt=en-us
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at executiveoffice@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Stephanie
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company

Again, I'm told my purchase isn't eligible; however, there's no explanation as to why. If you're going to deny me my inquiry as least tell me why and point me to the policy that states that specifically. What total BULLSHIT! And, she attempts to punt me off to Microsoft to boot.

You know I wasn't going to let this stand, so I write back:

Dear Stephanie,

Thank you for the reply.

I'm at a lost for why this transaction is not eligible. I did a search for iPhone using Bing.com and the 'sponsored' link appeared on top of the search results page saying 8% Cashback (see attached file).



Clicking on the link brought me to eBay and when I got to the item page, the Cashback 8% icon was still on the top of the page and I proceeded with the purchase. It was clearly there, so I do not know why my purchase is being classified as not eligible.

If eBay is unwilling to provide Cashback at least provide me the reason with the supporting documentation. Merely telling me it's not eligible and pointing me to another company is NOT customer service/support. Please refer me to the specific page on either eBay, PayPal or Microsoft which specifically states that the purchase is not eligible.

Regards,
Me

PS - Why have my 5 email exchanges with eBay and PayPal been so wildly different? I would think that eBay would want more uniform and helpful customer support.

If by now you're thinking I'm a fool for expecting a response back, you'd be right. I didn't get a response. So I write back a few days later with the following:

Stephanie,

I'd like to continue following up on this matter.

You had mentioned that the item in question in not eligible for Microsoft Cashback. However, when I searched through Bing.com and clicked on two iPhone 3GS listings on eBay, the Cashback offer comes up for both items. (See the attached 2 files)



Please explain how the Cashback applies to these two items, but not to my purchase (as I had searched through Bing.com, had the Cashback icon display for the listing and made the purchase). I am very curious.

Please advise.

Regards,
Me

Of course, I'm still waiting.

If there's anyone out there who feel that I am in the right to pursue the $48 Cashback and can help me with eBay, please post in the comments. I know that $48 isn't a huge amount, but it's the principal of the matter now. eBay can't be allowed to treat us like shit and get away with it.

And if it turns out I am wrong and the purchase wasn't eligible, I will apologize for these posts and retract them. All I need to see is proof from eBay why my purchase wasn't eligible. I don't think that's too much to ask.

eBay Cashback: Part 5

Here's my reply to Ric:

Dear Ric,

I appreciate the reply. Unfortunately, the template response you provided does not help for the following reasons:

1) I already have a Microsoft/Live.com/Bing Cashback account. I have made numerous transactions before AND after the transaction in question using the Cashback promotion. For each of those purchases, I always received an email from eBay detailing the Cashback amount. Unfortunately, for this particular eBay transaction (Item number: XYZ), I did not.

2) The eBay transaction was made on June 29, 2009. It has been over 48 hours and I still do not see Cashback for that $600 purchase (Unique Transaction ID #XYZ). I just checked my eBay messages again and there is no Cashback email for this transaction.

At this point, all I want is the amount due to me - which is $48 as I came through a 8% Microsoft/Live.com/Bing Cashback promotion for a $600 item. Can someone who has the authority at PayPal or eBay make this happen?

I have used almost all the Cashback that I have received for further eBay purchases. You can see it through my transaction history. One transaction failed to properly get credited, so why is this so difficult to get rectified?

Please advise.

Regards,
Me

This time, I received a response from eBay:

From: eBay Customer Support
Subject: [Deleted] Thank you for contacting eBay Support. ([Deleted])
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Monday, July 13, 2009, 5:02 PM

Dear Me,

Thank you for writing eBay in regards to your item #[Deleted] purchased without Microsoft cashback rewarded.

My name is Danielle. I understand your concern and I appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

Me, I have reviewed your account and noticed this item is $600, which has exceeded the limit of $250 for the promotion.

You may want to contact Microsoft for more information on this page:

https://support.search.live.com/default.aspx?productkey=cashbackso&mkt=en-us\

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reply to this
email and let us know.

Sincerely

Danielle D.
eBay Customer Support

This email really pissed me off. First off, what Danielle states is completely untrue - just because my purchase was $600, it does not mean that it was ineligible for cashback. Looking at the eBay Cashback offer Terms and Conditions, it clearly states:

The Microsoft Bing Cashback Program provides cashback for up to 20 qualifying purchases per account on www.ebay.com. The amount of cashback will be determined by eBay, specified at the time of checkout on the "purchase review page" and equal to a percentage of the sale price (excluding shipping and handling fees, insurance fees and other such fees) ("Cashback Rewards"). The maximum amount of Cashback Rewards per qualifying purchase is $200.00 USD. In addition, all Cashback Rewards (including Cashback Rewards earned in connection with purchases made on websites other than www.eBay.com) are subject to the annual $2,500.00 per person cap set forth in the Program Terms.

Per the statement quoted, I am limited to getting back a maximum of $200 Cashback. It does not say that purchases over $200 is not eligible. By now, I am fucking pissed for the run around.

Not only did the representative get the terms wrong, they now want to punt me over to Microsoft. Stay tuned for my next post regarding the email I send to eBay management regarding this issue.

eBay Cashback: Part 4

Seeing that PayPal wasn't going to help me in any way, I next tried eBay and wrote the following through their support website:

Form Message: [Deleted]
Subject: [Deleted]

User Feedback: [Deleted]
User State: [Deleted]


Browser info: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1)
Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5

Help Contact Us Next Gen > Other

Message: Hello,

I made a purchase [deleted] for an Apple iPhone (Item number: XYZ) and had the Microsoft Cashback Offer of 8%.

The purchase was for $600, but I do not yet see the $48 cashback in my account. I emailed PayPal yesterday evening, but have yet to hear back from them.

Can you also advise? I made the purchase hoping that I would get the cashback so that we can shop for accessories on eBay. I have made a fair amount of $300+ purchases the last few months because of the cashback offer.

Regards,
Me

Well, I received a reply. Unfortunately, eBay kicked it back to PayPal:

From: eBay Customer Support
Subject: RE: [Deleted]Other [Deleted ] ([Deleted])
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 9:00 PM

Dear Me,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your cashback rewards.

Lisa, I went ahead and forwarded your message directly to a PayPal representative.

For future reference, they can help you even faster if you contact PayPal Customer Service directly with your PayPal questions. You can reach them by logging into your PayPal account and then sending a secure email from this page:

http://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/helpscr?cmd=_help&t=escalateTab

You can also contact PayPal by phone at 1-888-221-1161.

PayPal customer support agents are available to help you by phone during the following times:

4:00 AM to 10:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday

6:00 AM to 8:00 PM Pacific Time, Saturday and Sunday

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reply to this email and let us know.

Sincerely,
Victor Ba.

eBay Customer Support

Sigh...does anyone read anymore? I specifically said that I had contacted PayPal already. Yet they punt my inquiry back to PayPal.

Well, guess what kind of response I received from PayPal? I received the template response yet again:

From: ebay@paypal.com
Subject: Re: [Deleted] Other [Deleted ] ([Deleted]) :ppk1
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 5:41 PM

Dear Me,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

Hello my name is Ric, I am sorry to hear about the situation regarding your Bing Cashback, and understand your frustration and concern over this issue. I am happy to assist you with your questions.

Once you make a Bing cashback-eligible purchase, an email is sent to your "My Messages" in your eBay account with instructions on how to claim your cashback.

1. Go to your My Messages in your eBay account and find the email with "cashback" in the subject line.
2. Click the "get cashback" button in that email to set up a Bing cashback account, or log in to your account if you already have one. Note: You must set up a cashback account to receive Cashback rewards.Your transaction can take up to 48 hours to post to your cashback account.

* Your cashback purchase will be listed in your Bing cashback account as "pending" for 60 days from the purchase date - in case you decide to return your purchase.

* You can log in to your cashback account to view the status of your pending cashback savings.
When your available cashback balance is more than $5.00, the funds are automatically transferred to the PayPal account that you used to make the original purchase.

If it's been longer than 60 days, and you don't see your cashback in your PayPal History:

* Keep in mind that some or all of the cashback may have been used to fund a recent purchase.
* If you have an available balance in your PayPal account, that amount will be used first to fund a payment.
Please note that you may receive cash back rewards for up to $200.00 per session, with a maximum of 12 online sessions per account.
* If you have exceeded the limit of permitted cash back rewards, eBay will notify you on the purchase review page of the Buy-It-Now transaction process.
Visit http://pages.ebay.com/cashbackoffer/terms.html for terms and conditions.

For questions on Bing Cashback, visit
http://www.bing.com/shopping/pages/faq.aspx?scope=cashback

We know situations like this can be difficult, so thanks for working with us. If you have more questions, visit our Help Center by clicking "Help" in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

Sincerely,
Ric
PayPal Consumer Support
PayPal, an eBay Company

By this time, my patience is clearly worn thin and I write again...

eBay Cashback: Part 3

Here's my direct reply to Kim. Unfortunately, since my emails goes into a generic PayPal Customer Support email address, I wasn't sure if I would get Kim again. It was worth a try:

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Dear Kim,

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately, I don't believe you fully understand my question.

1) I already have a Microsoft Cashback account created and have been receiving almost immediate cashback into my PayPal account over the past few months when making eBay purchases through this promotion.

2) After I made the eBay purchase coming through the Microsoft Cashback promo through Bing.com (eBay Payment Sent Unique Transaction ID #XYZ), I never received an eBay message saying "You're eligible for Microsoft Cashback." I have for my other purchases, but not for this one.

My eBay purchase was for $600 and because I was going through the Microsoft 8% Cashback offer, I should be credited for $48. However, I have not yet received it and it
has been over 48 hours.

Please advise as I was going to use the $48 cashback amount for additional eBay purchases.

Regards,
Me

I got a new representative and here is the reply:

From: webform@paypal.com
Subject: Re: PayPalCredit (Routing Code: [Deleted]) ([Deleted]) :ppk1
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Friday, July 3, 2009, 2:49 PM

Dear Me,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

Hello my name is Renato Cymon, I am sorry to hear about the situation regarding Microsoft Cashback, and understand your frustration and concern over this issue. I am happy to assist you with your questions.

Upon checking on your account, I've seen that the transaction that you pertaining about is an eBay purchase to Seller last Jun. 2x, 2009 for $600.00 and I'm not showing that you were credited for any cashback from Bing.com. I understand that you never got an email on your "eBay Messages" that you are eligible for instructions on how to claim your cash back. On this situation, We don't have any option on our end if you were eligible for any cashback for your recent transaction for $600.00. However, I do strongly suggest for us to check this one further and to clarify your concern. You may contact PayPal's Customer Service at 1-888-221-1161.

We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter, and wish you continued success on PayPal.

Sincerely,
Renato Cymon
PayPal Consumer Support
PayPal, an eBay Company

While this rep did appear to do the research, I was surprised to read "On this situation, We don't have any option on our end if you were eligible for any cashback for your recent transaction for $600.00." Is eBay fucking kidding me? eBay is working with Microsoft on a joint campaign to offer cashback through their sponsored listings and they don't have a fucking way to see if I was eligible!

This is a joke right? Did they actually believe that there would be no issues...that their systems were infallible? I guess so, because they still couldn't help me. The best they could do is ask me to call them to help clarify the situation? So, of course, I wrote back again:

Dear Renato,

I appreciate the reply.

Per your email, you've basically said that you have "no option" to help me. I take this to mean that PayPal is not willing to provide me the Microsoft Cashback in the amount of $48 for my $600 eBay purchase. Is this correct?

Before this purchase, I had always received the cashback with all my other eBay purchases when made with the Microsoft Cashback promotion. Why is it that for this purchase (eBay Payment Sent Unique Transaction ID #XYZ) I did not get the Microsoft Cashback? Why is PayPal offering a promotion where it cannot assist customers when there are issues?

Please provide me the name, email address and phone number of someone who has the authority to rectify this situation. I will not call PayPal's Customer Service number if I am not assured that I can get someone who can remedy this by offering me the $48 cashback or some other form of PayPal credit.

Regards,
Me

No response...

eBay Cashback: Part 2

Here's my second message to PayPal since the first reply didn't address my concern:

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Form Message
customer subject: Why does Microsoft Cashback not show up?
customer message: Additional Information:

Dear PayPal,

This is my second email on this issue as I should have been more
specific with my first inquiry to you.

I made a single eBay purchase for $600 for an iPhone on June ##, #### (eBay Payment Sent Unique Transaction ID #XYZ) and had used the 8% Microsoft Cashback promo.

I notice that I have not yet been credited $48 for the cashback. This has happened before, so I wanted to write and inquire about it as I was hoping to use the cashback for further eBay purchases. (Note: It's because of the Microsoft Cashback promo that I have made more than a few $###+ eBay purchases within the past few months.)

Please advise as to when I can expect to be credited for the $48.

Regards,
Me

Here's their reply:

From: webform@paypal.com
Subject: Re: PayPalCredit (Routing Code: [Deleted]) ([Deleted]:ppk1
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009, 4:46 AM

Dear Me,

Hello Me, my name is Kim, and I will be happy to assist you with your question regarding the Microsoft rebate.

Once you make a cash back-eligible purchase, an email is sent to your "My Messages" in your eBay account with instructions on how to claim your cash back.

Go to your My Messages in your eBay account and find the email with "cash back" in the subject line.

Click the "get cash back" button in that email to set up a Microsoft Live Search cash back account, or log in to your account if you already have one. Note: You must set up cash back account to receive Cash back rewards.

Your transaction can take up to 48 hours to post to your cash back account.

Your cash back purchase will be listed in your Live Search cash back account as "pending" for 60 days from the purchase date - in case you decide to return your purchase.

You can log in to your cash back account to view the status of your pending cash back savings.

When your available cash back balance is more than $5.00, the funds are automatically transferred to the PayPal account that you used to make the original purchase.

If it's been longer than 60 days, and you don't see your cash back in your PayPal History:

Keep in mind that some or all of the cash back may have been used to fund a recent purchase.

If you have an available balance in your PayPal account, that amount will be used first to fund a payment.

Please note that you may receive cash back rewards for up to $200.00 per session, with a maximum of 12 online sessions per account.

If you have exceeded the limit of permitted cash back rewards, eBay will notify you on the purchase review page of the Buy-It-Now transaction process.

Visit http://pages.ebay.com/cashbackoffer/terms.html for terms and conditions.

Have a great holiday weekend.

I appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We are committed to making your experiences at PayPal pleasant and rewarding.

Sincerely,
Kim
PayPal Customer Solutions
PayPal, an eBay Company

As you can see, all I got for writing a detailed inquiry was a template response from the customer support representative. Makes you wonder if she even read my email. I'm sure all she did was read the first few sentences and decided that the template response would cut it.

Well, it didn't cut it and I replied to her email rather than go through the PayPal support pages again. Unfortunately, I got another support representative and will share that email in the next installment of eBay Cashback.

eBay Won't Give Me My Cashback

eBay owes me $48 in Cashback and they won't pay up. Here 's what is happening and it's related to the iPhone 3GS I bought recently.

eBay currently is running a promotion with Bing.com (formerly Live.com) where if you use the Bing.com search, you can get up to 8% back on an eBay "Buy It Now" item when you pay via PayPal. Well, my wife and I have been shopping/buying on eBay with this promotion and it's turned out well until this iPhone purchase. For whatever reason, we did not get the cashback for the iPhone and contacting eBay for any type of resolution has been a joke. Their current stance on the dispute is that our iPhone purchase isn't eligible but will not provide a full reason to support their position.

I'm going to post the email exchanges we've had with eBay to share our experience with you as we attempt to get our $48 Cashback. I won't post all the emails in one post, but will post them over the span of a week or so. Just to be clear, some emails are from eBay Customer Support and some are from PayPal Customer Support, but I lump it all as eBay.

At this point, I'm resigned to the fact that we probably won't get the Cashback for the purchase, but it's not for a lack of trying. I would love to get your opinions on whether I've been reasonable and patient with our exchanges or if your feel my dispute with eBay is even valid.

Before I post the first email, here's a recap of my situation. Keep this in mind as you read through the email exchanges I'll be posting.

• On June 2X, 2009 I did a search for iPhone 3GS on Bing.com

• A sponsored site link for eBay appears at the top with a 8% Cashback offer appears and I click on it.

• I click through to a listing and the 8% Cashback icon appears at the top of the listing.

• I make the purchase via "Buy It Now" and pay with PayPal.

• Unfortunately, I do not receive a Cashback email from eBay. (Bear in mind that I already have a Cashback account. I have made previous "Buy It Now" purchases and paid with PayPal. I received Cashback for all my previous purchased and all my subsequent purchases, except for this particular purchase.)

• I attempt to resolve by going through support and sending messages & emailing.

Here's exchange #1 with PayPal (where I had to submit my message by going through a fairly long process through PayPal's support pages):

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Form Message
customer subject: Why does Microsoft Cashback not show up?

customer message: Additional Information:

Hello,

I made a transaction tonight (eBay Payment Sent Unique Transaction ID #XYZ) using the Microsoft Cashback promotion.

When I check my account balance on PayPal, I don't see the 8% cash back.

Can you advise?

Regards,
Me

Here's the reply:

From: webform@paypal.com
Subject: Re: PayPalCredit (Routing Code: [Deleted]) ([Deleted]) :ppk1
To: "Me" <me@me.com>
Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 5:13 PM

Dear Me,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

Hello, my name is Krizzy and I am happy to assist you today regarding the cash back that is now showing in your account.

Upon reviewing your account [deleted], I do see cash back from Microsoft for $1.52.It is now posted in your account balance.

We know situations like this can be difficult, so thanks for working with us. If you have more questions, visit our Help Center by clicking "Help" in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

Sincerely,
Krizzy
Consumer Support
PayPal, an eBay Company

At first glance, this email seemed okay. Unfortunately, the Cashback she referenced wasn't the transaction I had inquired about. What's the point of including the transaction number in my original message when the customer support representative didn't even research it?

So, I go back through the support pages and submit a more detailed message which I will detail in my next post.


Update (July 16, 2009): Part 2 of my series.

Update (July 17, 2009): Part 3 of my series.

Update (July 18, 2009): Part 4 of my series.

Update (July 19, 2009): Part 5 of my series.

Update (July 20, 2009): Part 6 of my series.

Update (July 21, 2009): Part 7

Update (July 30, 2009): The End - eBay tells me to fuck off

Update (August 5, 2009): Not quite the end

Update (August 8, 2009): Yes...eBay pays me my cashback!

Silicon Case for iPhone 3GS

After purchasing the iPhone 3GS, one of the first items I started looking for was a good silicon case to protect it. Don't laugh, as silicon cases do work - I had one on my Sony Ericsson M600i and it protected the phone on the few occasions that I accidentally dropped my phone. Each time, the silicon case served to protect the phone with not a single scratch on it.

Doing a few Google searches led me to the following YouTube review for the SwitchEasy line of silicon cases called Colors.



I also stumbled upon a website called iLounge.com that has done a ton of reviews on iPod and iPhone accessories. They gave SwitchEasy Colors an "A rating" and called it "Highly Recommended". So, I decided to order the Colors silicon case from SwitchEasy to give it a try.

Well, the case arrived yesterday and here are a few pics of the packaging (notice the iLounge rating on the top left corner of the front pic):



Once I opened it, I pulled out the silicon case, 2 screen protectors, a microfiber cloth, a squeegee card to use in applying the screen protector, a power jack connector protector, and a headphone jack protector.



Applying the screen protector was quite easy. I typically have a hard time with the less expensive screen protectors as I can never get the air bubbles out after applying; but with the screen protector from SwitchEasy, the few air bubbles I had were easily removed. Good stuff!

As for the silicon case itself, it's first rate! It's the nicest feeling silicon case ever. The texture is nice and smooth (no need to worry about it picking up lint and dust when you put it in your pocket), it's thick silicon to offer a good deal of protection, and the case fit perfectly around the iPhone (it lined up perfectly with all the iPhone buttons and openings).



I can see why the SwitchEasy Colors silicon case got such great reviews. A terrific initial impression by SwitchEasy! Now to see if the case lives up to its initial impression in terms of the silicon keeping its shape, the amount of protection the case provides, and if the silicon truly avoids the lint and dust that have plagued my previous silicon cases. More to come...


P.S. - My wife decided to surprise me with an accessory as well - a cute little Japanese phone holder for my desk. Obviously, since the wife gave it to me, I'll be using it. Check it out!

Time for a New Smartphone

I've been sporting a Sony Ericsson M600i for the past 3+ years. My wife purchased it for me when we were in Hong Kong for vacation. If you ever saw the James Bond movie, Casino Royale, the M600 is the white colored phone that Vesper used frequently. And 'no' I did not get the M600 in white, I got the 'black' one (see pic below).

The M600 has treated me well over the years...and it should have as my wife paid full retail price for it ($400+). I used it for Internet browsing, MP3 player, personal email, work email (via Exchange ActiveSync), phone calls, Chinese dictionary, etc. Unfortunately, it's seen better days. The phone hardware is painfully slow (206Mhz) and it no longer has enough RAM to run the latest mobile browser from Opera (although Opera Mini does just fine) and other UIQ software.

Another sore point with the phone is the utter lack of firmware updates from Sony Ericsson. SE basically stopped updating the firmware within a year of the M600i's release. Quite pathetic, if you ask me when Nokia supports their phones for well over 3 years after release and Apple just made its latest 3.0 firmware available to the original iPhone that was released 2 years ago. (Feel free to do a search on the Sony Ericsson Developers website to read the outcry from SE users when SE stopped supporting the M600i.)

As I pondered what my next cell phone should be, I looked at the G1, the Palm Pre and the Apple iPhone. While I loved the various smartphones from Samsung, HTC, Nokia, etc., I do not like Windows Mobile or Symbian and did not consider them.

After much deliberation, I decided on......(drumroll please).....



The Apple iPhone 3GS

I liked the Palm Pre and am impressed by its OS, but I tend to stay away from 1st generation items (e.g., the initial release of any item). I like that the G1 has a physical keyboard, but did not like the feel and looks of the G1.

Although the iPhone lacks a physical keyboard, the iPhone OS is simply amazing. I cannot believe how smooth and slick it is. Whereas I had to dig and dig to find the settings menu on the M600i, all the iPhone settings are just a mere few flicks of the finger away from the main screen. The iPhone build quality is top notch (it better be for how much Apple charges you for one sans contract) and it fits wonderfully in the hand. I just have to get used to typing on the virtual keyboard.

Like anything Apple-related, they maintain a tight lock on the iPhone, the OS and its eco-system. I enjoyed hacking the M600i and hope to do the same with the iPhone. The tools are out there and I can't wait to get started. I also can't wait to get started on developing some applications for the iPhone. I have a few ideas I'd love to explore and maybe make some money off those ideas.

Stay tuned!

Wonder How Much Pitt Was Paid?

Check this out:



I wonder how much Softbank paid Brad Pitt for this commercial? He didn't even have to utter a single word that is heard by us!