A recent promotion where eBay sent $10 coupons via e-mail to selected users was very successful. It was so successful that the money allocated to the promotion apparently ran out, and users who tried to apply the coupon only got an error message telling them that the coupon had “no remaining funding.” As promised, eBay has issued a new coupon that reportedly works.

Here’s the message that customers received, as provided to EcommerceBytes. As far as we know, the replacement coupon went out to everyone who received the original one. Users report that this one actually works.

Dear (name),
It’s come to our attention that you may have experienced difficulty redeeming an eBay Coupon in past few days. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.

With our apologies, we’d like to offer you a replacement coupon to be applied toward your next purchase. Please see below for details including the value, redemption code, and expiration date.

As always, your satisfaction is important to us. We value your membership in the eBay Community—and we thank you for shopping eBay.

Sincerely,
The eBay Team

The problem when coupons for an entire e-commerce platform go wrong is that it’s not always clear to customers who provided the coupon and who is refusing it. One eBay seller reports being berated by an upset customer who misunderstood where the coupon came from and why it didn’t work. “We got a very angry e-mail berating us for not “accepting” his eBay coupon,” she posted in a comment on Ecommercebytes. “This buyer wanted to cancel his order and said he would never purchase from us again because ‘we’ tried to trick him.”

eBay Apologizes for Coupon Snafu [EcommerceBytes]

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