Xbox gift card, were do I stand

[notimetoexplain]

Bought a Xbox gift card from a 100% seller, £25. As soon as it arrived I redeemed the code, it hadn't been scratched off so appeared new, gave the message code already redeemed. Contacted Microsoft who checked & said the code had been redeemed already & there wasn't an issue with it being activated on purchase at the store he bought it at.

Contacted the seller who took 2 days to reply , sent him pics of my account , Microsoft chat, etc & he gave a potential tall tale saying he's not surprised it didn't work (why) & then a story of how he bought his nephew the card from Smyth's but he'd sold his Xbox & got a ps5 so he'd bought him a ps5 one & decided to sell this (why not return or exchange). He then asked how we could resolve this, to which I said I want my money back or he can buy me a new card online.Not a word since

After a little digging it seems the redeem code is printed on the receipt upon purchase.

I'm going to have to ask eBay to step in, how will they resolve this. It's not much but I feel duped 

Cheers for any advice 👍 

[tressygirl · Accepted solution]

Listen to no more pleas and excuses from the seller, and proceed this way.  I'm presuming here the gift card was a tangible item,  and not a digital one.

You have received an item not as described,  so you are guaranteed a full refund under eBay's 30 day MBG,  Money Back Guarantee policy,  if you claim within 30 days of the item's last estimated date for delivery.

You then go right of the item in your Purchase History,  and from More Actions select Return this item,  selecting the reason...  Item Does not Match Description or Photos,  or select Faulty / Defective.

The seller has 3 days to accept the case,  if they don't ,  you need to  escalate on day 4,  or within 30 days,  and eBay will step in and force the refund.

If the seller wants the item back first,  they need to pay for a fully tracked return postage.  On receipt of their item they have 48 hours to refund you.  Again,  if they don't,  you escalate the case.

Do not close the case early for any excuse or promise the seller may give,  and do not forget to escalate.

@notimetoexplain 

[serpent.mistress]

Whilst i don't doubt for a second that this was a scam and somebody, probably the seller but potentially anyone who has had access to the receipt, has used the printed code before buyer could scratch off to reveal the hidden code, could the fact buyer has "damaged" the item by scratching off the code panel, go against the potential refund as they can't return the item in the condition it was received? Even if buyer gets refund i wouldn't put it past seller to appeal the decision and claim a damaged/useless item changed by buyer has been returned, and argue they should be reimbursed, either by ebay or have refund clawed back from buyer, as its seller vs buyers word if the code was already used, or if buyer has scratched off and used code and returned to get item and money back.

[twin--turbo]

I don't belive the code being printed on the recipt.

That would open up all sorts of abuse, nobody in their right mind would think its a good idea. The barcode should be generic and not have any code, if it did someone probably would have exposed the decoding and you would have kids walking round asda with a app to steal xbox codes. 

[papso22]

The  buyer will win.  Even if the seller complains, buyers are allowed to 'alter' items to check they work, which is the situation here.

[notimetoexplain]

>From Google:

Yes, Xbox codes are printed on receipts for purchases made at retailers.
The code is usually located near the bottom of the receipt, under the
credit card information.

[twin--turbo]

well if it's true, it's so open to abuse that's unreal.