Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against eBay Commerce UK Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H sold an item on eBay's marketplace and cancelled the order after the buyer claimed they received the wrong item, resulting in an automatic refund to the buyer. The buyer did not return the item and raised a chargeback. Mr H complained that Commerce refunded the buyer without his authorization and left him with no item and no money. The ombudsman found that the refund was administered by the unregulated marketplace from Mr H's marketplace balance, not by Commerce, and that Commerce held no regulated control over the marketplace balance. Therefore, the complaint was not upheld as Commerce made no errors.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that the complaint was almost entirely about actions of the marketplace, not Commerce. The marketplace balance was not held by Commerce in a regulated capacity and did not constitute an electronic money account or payment account. Commerce's role was limited to moving money from the marketplace balance to Mr H's bank account. Since Commerce did not cancel the order, make the refund, administer it, or take money from the marketplace balance, it made no errors and bore no responsibility for Mr H's loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website