eBay helped man sell his truck, but only gave him half his money. Here's how he got his $11,000.
A Cape Cod man sold his pickup truck on eBay in what seemed like a simple transaction.
But after Keith Mackenzie-Betty handed over the truck and title, he said the company held onto half his money - more than $11,000.
Mackenzie-Betty put his 2014 Toyota Tundra up for sale on eBay because he liked the service.
"I've used it for cars, for boats, for parts," he told WBZ-TV. It didn't take long for Mackenzie-Betty to find a buyer. "And I got a good price for it," he said.
The truck sold for $23,750 and eBay's payment services company collected a $500 deposit. The buyer then sent $11,625, which was half of the remaining sales price.
As he got that money, Mackenzie-Betty said eBay told him he could let the truck go.
"I said, 'Hang on, I've only had half my money,'" he told WBZ. "Who parts with something when they've not been paid in full?"
At first, Mackenzie-Betty was uncomfortable giving away the truck without being paid in full. Then eBay confirmed the buyer paid the remaining balance.
"I was more relaxed about that. I said he's in Massachusetts; I'm in Massachusetts. Can I just hand the title over to him? Will I still get paid and not go through your system?," Mackenzie-Betty recalled.
"They said, 'Yeah sure you can do that.' And we got a confirmation email saying 'Yeah, you can do that, just hand it over. You'll still get paid.'"
eBay told Mackenzie-Betty if he took a photo with the buyer and the title, and sent it to them, he would be paid. But, days later, he got another email, this one apologized for the misinformation, telling him they needed the title to release the funds.
"That's when I needed to contact you, because they said, 'No, you're not getting paid your other half of the money.'" Mackenzie-Betty said.
After he reached out to the I-Team's Call for Action, we got in touch with eBay.
"Upon further review, we can confirm our customer service team has worked directly with the individual to resolve the matter and has issued a full payout," an eBay spokesperson said in a statement.
"Thankfully a CBS email with your name on it seemed to have done the trick. They got me my money," said Mackenzie-Betty.
In this case, he did everything right. A good rule of thumb when using online marketplace platforms, be sure to check the company policies for buying and selling and always get any questions and instructions for payments in writing.
If you have a consumer issue, reach out to the I-Team's Call for Action at 617-787-7070 or email wbzcallforaction@cbs.com.