Seller not responding, options?

[lindseybp]

11 days ago I was going to submit an offer for an item and contacted the seller prior to the best offer to see if I was anywhere in the ballpark.  He responded that yes he would accept it but his next shipment was due in on Thursday and he would ship it out that day or the next.  Sounded good to me so I submitted the offer, he accepted and I paid with paypal.  This was on a Saturday, June 10th.  So the following Friday rolls around and I have not heard from the seller.  So Friday evening I drop him a note just to check in and make sure we are all good, etc.  No response.  I wait 4 more days and send a second follow up email on Tuesday, June 20th.  Again just asking what's up with things as it's been 10 days and I have heard nothing from him.  My two emails have been very professional as I understand things happen.  So now it's almost two days since the last email and I have heard nothing.  I just saw there was a tracking number on the transaction which had an estimated delivery date of last Friday, June 16th.  The USPS tracking number does not work, USPS says it's not valid, etc.  The guy has 100% feedback with 13 buys/sells.  He does have one neutral feedback essentially saying the guy did get the item but communication and shipping were not great.  So at this point I'm not sure what to do.  The guy has had $250 of my money for 11 days now and has not communicated at all.  Ideally I want the item as it was a great price but I don't want to wait two more weeks for it.  The guy has continued to sell on ebay and has sold at least two other items in the last 24 hours exactly like the one I bought.  I have always worked with sellers to avoid negative feedback.  But I have never run into a situation like this where it's been 10+ days and not one single email or communication from the seller.  If it was a small, low priced item it wouldn't be such a big deal, but it's a $250 item and he has had my money for awhile now.  Also, there is no contact information for this seller other than through ebay messages.  When I look on all the ebay transaction data and on paypal all it shows is the guys user ID.  No address, phone or other contact info.  So I have no other way to contact him other than through ebay messages, which he has not been answering.  The last thing I want to do is file a dispute and leave the guy negative feedback.  What other options are out there besides that considering I don't have any contact info for him other than ebay messages?  Any other thoughts would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[mudshark61369]

@lindseybp,

You wrote;

"I just saw there was a tracking number on the transaction which had an estimated delivery date of last Friday, June 16th.  The USPS tracking number does not work, USPS says it's not valid, etc.".

USPS tracking numbers do not give estimated delivery times.  That info if checked on ebay is ebays estimate. The info will show Out for delivery and Delivered / Undeliverable or other info. On the day it leaves the local P.O. if you check the USPS site. 

Since the USPS site says the number is invalid, chances are it is an old (over 60 days old) tracking number, uploaded to try and fool you.

"The guy has 100% feedback with 13 buys/sells.  He does have one neutral feedback essentially saying the guy did get the item but communication and shipping were not great".

Check the profile again, are all  previous sales from over a year ago?  If so the person probably ran into a 21 day hold placed on your payment by Paypal.  On your end it will show the payment as Completed, however on their page it will be listed as Pending. The hold is put in place on new sellers and those who have not sold anything in over a year. It can also be applied if the seller hasn't sold anything that expensive before, or is an item like a phone, or other personal electronic device, which are considered high risk items. Because the payment is marked as Pending, the seller may think you are trying to scam them, into shipping before they have received payment. That is why they may not be responding.

If you really want the item, message the seller again, and tell them if they haven't shipped, because the payment is still pending, that they should go to their paypal account, scroll to the very bottom of the page, and click on Help & Contact.  On the page that opens, they should type "Payment Holds" into the topic search box, then read the info, on how to proceed with the transaction and get the funds released, within 3 days of a tracking number showing the item has been delivered. 

If you would rather just get a refund, file an Item Not Received (INR) dispute from the More actions, drop down menu on your purchase history page to the right of the listing title.  The seller will have 3 working days to reply to the dispute, or prove with valid tracking that the item has shipped. If neither happens, ask ebay to step in and you will get a refund.

"When I look on all the ebay transaction data and on paypal all it shows is the guys user ID.  No address, phone or other contact info.  So I have no other way to contact him other than through ebay messages, which he has not been answering".

You can get the seller's contact information, by doing an advanced search, Click on the Advanced button next o the blue box Searc button at the top of most ebay pages. On the page that opens,  look in the left hand column for MEMBERS and under that Find Contact Information.  Click on that and follow the prompts, then you will get all the info you need. If none of it is valid, then file a dispute.

[lindseybp]

All of the guys feedback is six months or less old.  He has both seller and buyer feedback in the last month.  So I'm guessing nothing would be on hold on my payment.

Thanks for the contact info information.  I had no idea that was available.  I went ahead and went through the process to request his info.  Much appreciated.

I'm going to email him again today.  Hopefully this can all work out as I really want to have negative feedback as only a last resort.

[pingpong517]

was there , "I opened a case" in all that... or a "i called paypal to see what they could tell me"

did you open a case? get you're money back and be done with that guy....feedback who cares, tracking number invaild...red flag...soon as you can/could open a case..get your money back.

[thatsallfolks]

---

@mudshark61369 wrote:

USPS tracking numbers do not give estimated delivery times..

---

USPS.com does give delivery estimates.

[lindseybp]

I haven't opened a case yet.  I'm going to email the guy now to give him one last chance.  If he hasn't responded to today's email in 48hrs or so I'm going to file a case and leave negative feedback.

[michael_atw]

Just open a case.   If he follows through and you get the item, there.  If he doesn't, you get your money back.  The resolution center is supposed to simplify those issues so you don't have to send 15 messages.  I send one and if I don't get a response, I wait a while and then open the case.  Always nice to send one message though.  

[plumbingspecials]

Sure must have taken some time to write all this. Why you did not just open an Item Not Received case?

[mudshark61369]

@lindseybp,

"All of the guys feedback is six months or less old.  He has both seller and buyer feedback in the last month.  So I'm guessing nothing would be on hold on my payment".

It is entirely possible the hold is still in place.  Previous payments made by a buyer do not count when they start to sell. That gets a lot of new selles into trouble, since they think their account is verified.  PayPal will even institute the hold on a regular seller if one of their items sells for much more than their previous sales, and/or if the item is considered a high risk item. They may also extend the number of transactions and sale amounts needed to remove the hold, if the seller keeps a zero balance in their account.

Read the info in the link below.

https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/why-is-my-payment-from-a-sale-on-ebay-on-hold-faq1377?app...

[freeshipusa1]

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure-he is selling what he does not have,or he has run out ,but he keeps the listing up on Ebay,figures he can always order more.

Depends on the item,you said you paid $250,due to price or size or distance and freight cost,he may want to order multiple quantity to save some freight cost or volume discount or both.

so he will make you wait until more ebay orders roll in and he will place one order,OR he is having problem with his vendor,if it is cheap and good,you figure he is not the only one stocking up and selling them,vendor may have to wait for another vendor to ship him before he can service your seller.

Common problem among Ebay sellers.

[freeshipusa1]

but have no fear ,you can always file INR with ebay,then paypal then credit card issuer.

[nowthatsjustducky]

This may be a long shot; but have you considered running a Web search on his name, city, and state to see if an obituary or police report comes up?

Perhaps he became suddenly and unexpectedly living impaired; or he got himself incarcerated for something.  That could explain the total silence.  If it is the former, he would be totally beyond caring about anything eBay related...or caring about anything at all.