Purchase from old linked bank account and bank rejects refund

[mwoxo]

I purchased an item on Ebay on 29th March. On 31st March I closed the bank account from which the funds for the purchase originated and I updated my Ebay linked account to a new bank account. There was a problem with the purchase (it didn't arrive) so I opened a case. Ebay refunded the money for the purchase to my old bank account that no longer exists. I contacted the old bank and they said there's nothing they can do and the funds will be returned to Ebay. How can I get Ebay to send the funds to my new bank account? I am surprised they did not send the funds to the existing bank account that I registered with them in settings on 31st March.

[**peaseblossom**]

You can contact about it ebay using callback on here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

[mwoxo]

I had previously tried that link and it is a loop that when clicking on the item, does not result in any solution. It just tells me that the refund to the old bank account is in process.  Would it be the case that Ebay will contact me when they find they cannot credit my bank account? 

[**peaseblossom**]

I think you have to be proactive rather than wait of ebay to do anything.    You should be getting a big blue tab with "Have us call you"  on that link.    If you're not seeing that try a different browser.

[61stephenuk]

If your old bank declined the funds and they are returned to eBay it can take up to 30 days for this to happen,eBay should then resend to your new bank

[sml192 · Accepted solution]

Refunds will always go back to the original payment source.  This is so that all parties involved in the transaction are aware of the refund, thus ensuring that the same refund can't be claimed from more than one of the parties involved.

As you have closed the bank account you used to fund the purchase the bank will return the refund to eBay and inform them that the bank account is no longer operational (as stated that can take up to 30 days but hopefully shouldn't be that long).  Ebay will then  be able to issue the refund by an alternative method such as sending it to your new bank account (you will need to speak to them to authorise this).

It is, unfortunately, a bit of a lengthy process but has to be done this way for security reasons. 

[mwoxo]

Thank you all. I did manage to contact Ebay on that link. It remains to be seen whether the bank holds the payment (as Ebay seem to think) or whether the payment bounces back to Ebay (which the bank said would happen and I suspect will happen). Most likely I'll be following up with another phone call to Ebay in a few days time. At least I have a reference number for the remittance.

[mwoxo]

The result was that the funds bounced back to Ebay and on the second attempt Ebay paid them into my new account. This probably would have happened automatically even if I had not communicated with both twice with my old bank and once with Ebay.