As Yogi Berra once said: it’s deja vu all over again.
Giftcardmall on eBay is again coming through as a cash advance and triggering credit card cash advance fees. We had this problem exactly one year ago, and it was fixed about a week later.
Reader Raju reports getting hit with a $10 cash advance fee on a Bank of America card, and friend M. got the same on their Barclaycard.
Last time around, the issue was that Giftcardmall switched their category to ‘Financial & Other’ which unintentionally was triggering cash advance fees. We made a list, then, of which cards were affected. Basically, Amex cards were fine, including FIA Amex, but most other cards were getting cash advances. Chase was YMMV.
I’d guess that the current problem is the same and Amex cards are okay. To be safe make sure only to use a credit card that has no cash advance limit. Or use eBay gift cards instead. There aren’t any limits on eBay gift card usage anymore, and there are lots of ways to purchase eBay gift cards at a discount.
As far as we know, this issue affects Giftcardmall exclusively, not SVM or Paypal Digital Gifts. Last time around, only Giftcardmall was affected.
Be sure to leave Giftcardmall bad feedback so that they fix the issue. Note that you can’t leave negative feedback until seven days after the purchase.
What to do if you got hit with a cash advance fee? Deal with eBay customer service….Personally, I’d consider swallowing the $10 fee so as to save the hassle of trying to deal with it. Otherwise, there are three addresses to speak to: Giftcardmall, eBay, and your credit card (people sometimes have success getting a one-time waiver with their card issuer). Maybe wait a couple of weeks to see if it corrects itself first.
