Microsoft unveils 'instant' cashback; working on fix for Black Friday mess

Microsoft this morning detailed a new feature promising "instant" refunds to some people who use its Live Search Cashback service to make purchases on eBay. The feature lets eligible customers avoid the standard 60-day waiting period.

Separately, I'm hearing that the company and Hewlett-Packard have been working on some possible recourse for HP's online customers who were affected by the Black Friday glitches in the Cashback service.

As reported here yesterday, problems with the service kept many people from taking advantage of a 40 percent cashback offer on HP's online store. And some of those who did get through received 3 percent cashback instead. I've been getting more e-mails from people who experienced problems, and I'll post an update as soon as I receive any official word from the company.

It's curious that Microsoft went ahead and unveiled the new instant cashback feature before publicly addressing the Black Friday problems. At any rate, the Live Search blog post explains that the feature will work through PayPal and will be available to some eBay users, but not all. Eligibility is determined by eBay based on factors not yet disclosed publicly.

Update, Monday afternoon: Microsoft promises full 40% refund to HP customers hit by Cashback glitch.