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Help best place to top up?

I did undertake to do this as a test knowing that he had only two feedback, so it's my fault if anything. But no worries. :) I think you might be right that he / she is not doing this intentionally.

I don't think this seller ran out of $40 top-ups though, because for the $80 deal, they wrote that they're selling a $60 balance with a $20 bonus, but using two $40 top-ups:

Virgin Mobile $80 Prepaid Top Up Refill Reload Phone Card $60 + $20 extra
$40 + $40 Top-Up Card = Total $80
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I've been contacting the seller directly through eBay messages, but thanks for the suggestion; I will try that address too. The description says:

Just feel free to contact me via this paypal email if you have any problems.
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But they didn't list an email, and I hadn't checked my paypal statement looking specifically for that email.

Hopefully they will resolve this, because if they do I would try to buy from them again.
 
Droidula said:
I did undertake to do this as a test knowing that he had only two feedback, so it's my fault if anything. But no worries. :) I think you might be right that he / she is not doing this intentionally.

I don't think this seller ran out of $40 top-ups though, because for the $80 deal, they wrote that they're selling a $60 balance with a $20 bonus, but using two $40 top-ups:



I've been contacting the seller directly through eBay messages, but thanks for the suggestion; I will try that address too. The description says:



But they didn't list an email, and I hadn't checked my paypal statement looking specifically for that email.

Hopefully they will resolve this, because if they do I would try to buy from them again.
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Does that email I listed match with the email on your PayPal statement?
 
I still have not received my refund from them. I got a message from Paypal stating that the money would be going back on my card but still have not gotten it.
 
I would advise anyone purchasing through eBay to be careful.

As an update to my own case, I contacted the seller multiple times, through multiple channels, and they never responded. (I had purchased a $60 balance, and they deposited less.) Since you're not covered by eBay when you purchase through the classifieds, I filed a Paypal dispute, and the case resolved the other day with me as the losing party. I called, and they told me that I didn't win because Paypal won't cover you for intangible goods.

So I moved on to filing a dispute through my cc, which was also a Paypal cc. They wanted me to fax/mail a copy of the eBay listing, my Paypal statement to prove what I paid, and a copy of my transaction history with VM, to show that I was credited with a different amount than what I paid for.

Unfortunately, what you purchase through eBay classifieds does not go into your purchase history under "My eBay," so I couldn't find a link to the exact page. However, in my Paypal transaction history, the name of the item I purchased was the title of the posting description on eBay, which specified the amount I was supposed to receive, so I think it would have worked anyway.

But yet another obstacle arose when I couldn't access my VM transaction history through their website, dating back to 2 weeks ago. A phone call to VM enlightened me to the fact that since they are updating or moving their system over, I won't have access to any of my earlier transactions. I might have access to my earlier account history after the process is completed in 2 more days, but they're not sure.

I'd told cs they would be making me lose a refund of $40 since I couldn't access any proof for my cc company, and was very surprised when they credited my account for that amount. :eek: I still want the seller to be held accountable though, so if my transaction history does become available in a few days, I'm going to continue with my claim against him through my cc company.

Basically, if you continue to buy through these guys on eBay, I would make sure to:

1) Use a cc so you're protected.
2) Save a link to the item page, and screenshot / print it out in case the link won't be up long.
3) Make sure you have access to your cc/Paypal transaction history to use as proof of payment.
4) Go on the VM website and check your transaction or top-up history, so that if they don't deposit the money, or they add the wrong amount, you can print out the page / screenshot it to use as further proof.

Edited to add: I would still consider purchasing top-ups through eBay, but only with sellers who have higher feedback count with positive reviews. There is still a risk element since it's classifieds, not eBay direct, but if they are a more high-volume seller, chances are that they are not sketchy. I just tried to purchase from a buyer with several hundred positive feedback, and he deposited a balance into my account within a few hours.
 
I buy mine from ebay and I set up a deal with a seller who sells me $40 for $30 and a %10 discount if i stay for 4 months...
 
I gave the eBay thing a try. I went with lixia li, who has 197 for feedback. I purchased $80 of top-up cards, but only received $40. It's been 2.5 days so I opened a PayPal dispute. Next onto my cc. :(

I doubt I will be trying eBay again for Top-up cards.
 
Damn...these eBay top ups are starting to piss me off. I got lucky, and stocked up, but I can't go through the whole year on my stock ups. I'm going to need more top ups in August or September. I hope all this is sorted out soon.
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you guys. That sucks.

It's just odd to me that if they were going to screw you over, why even add a partial top up?
 
Weird that so many people are having problems. I bought from this guy 4 times and everything went smooth each time. I still feel comfortable enough to continue buying from him.
 
Well it turns out that I am an idiot. :o
I actually did get both $40 Top-ups, VM just instantly applied one to next month's payment. After apologizing profusely to the seller, I am now considering buying another $80 worth.
 
Ranhead said:
Well it turns out that I am an idiot. :o
I actually did get both $40 Top-ups, VM just instantly applied one to next month's payment. After apologizing profusely to the seller, I am now considering buying another $80 worth.
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That makes me feel much better. I may stock up again...since we can actually buy hardware with our top up balances :)

I was mistaken, my balance is $160 right now with my May 8th payment already taken care of...so I sorta have $205 total if I needed to buy a phone before the May payment was taken out.
 
Ranhead said:
Well it turns out that I am an idiot. :o
I actually did get both $40 Top-ups, VM just instantly applied one to next month's payment. After apologizing profusely to the seller, I am now considering buying another $80 worth.
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Can you put up a link to the seller? Thanks.
 
I've used the seller "shaun.freeman" with success in the past, paid $42 for a $60 top up. He was very responsive, added the balance to my account the same day I made the purchase. YMMV
 
I'm thinking about buying a top up card(s) from ebay but I'm just wondering if any of you who have previously done this have any concerns or problems with sending the seller your phone number for them to apply the funds to your account rather than a pin being emailed to you. I've bought tracfone airtime cards in the past and have always received the pin and applied the funds to the account myself, so sending my number to an unknown seller is foreign to me.

I really can't believe the discount on the cards though...seems almost too good to be true, but then again, a number of people have left positive feedback so it doesn't seem like it would be a scam or anything.
 
skippy126 said:
I'm thinking about buying a top up card(s) from ebay but I'm just wondering if any of you who have previously done this have any concerns or problems with sending the seller your phone number for them to apply the funds to your account rather than a pin being emailed to you. I've bought tracfone airtime cards in the past and have always received the pin and applied the funds to the account myself, so sending my number to an unknown seller is foreign to me.

I really can't believe the discount on the cards though...seems almost too good to be true, but then again, a number of people have left positive feedback so it doesn't seem like it would be a scam or anything.
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I haven't ever had any problems with giving the seller my phone number. The only problem this may cause is if the seller then sells your number to a spammer, in which case I'm willing to be spammed to save 30% of my phone bill. Like I said this hasn't been an issue for me, but I could certainly see it happening.
 
The reason why they need your number is because they enter it in the point of sale terminal, that's how they can offer such a discount over the physical top ups. :p
OB
 
I just bought a VM120 top up ($60 + $60). I'll let you guys know when it hits. this should bring my balance up to $280 after May is paid for. I can't add more than one more of the VM120 top ups before I reach the max balance...unless my June payment gets allocated.
 
Palmetto Fellow said:
I just bought a VM120 top up ($60 + $60). I'll let you guys know when it hits. this should bring my balance up to $280 after May is paid for. I can't add more than one more of the VM120 top ups before I reach the max balance...unless my June payment gets allocated.
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Not sure if your asking whether on not you can go up and down with the plans, but I have went from $35 to $45, then back to $35.
 
technutt1994 said:
Not sure if your asking whether on not you can go up and down with the plans, but I have went from $35 to $45, then back to $35.
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I had asked if there was a way to check your historical usage that, but realized it was off topic, so I deleted that stuff. I can probably go down to the 400 minute plan, but I wanted to check my past few months of usage first. VM customer service can't even check this...WTF?!?!

When I was with Sprint, I had 1 year of historical usage at my fingertips. VM needs to revamp a few things. :rolleyes:
 
OverByter said:
Actually it's a 300 minutes plan, I just use the magic jack app when I'm on wifi for voip.
OB
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Damn, 300 is cutting it close. I would have to be mindful of my usage ...so to avoid all that drama, I'll stick with the extra $10. By topping up on eBay, is not a true $10 anyway .

Edit: I got my two $60 top ups at 4:30 this morning.
 
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