@11strigiform11,
"I would say about 90% of my orders are either incorrect (completely different than the description/images, or wrong item or never arrive)"
Ultra high volume sellers have always had issues with shipping the wrong items, due to sales volumes, and the chinese especially will substitute one item for another if they run out of stock, of the listed item. Sometimes items aren't shipped at all, if out of stock, or an order falls between the cracks.
"I have noticed many sellers have extended the delivery estimate out months after the purchase date to prevent you from filing claims with them (does ebay even have a limit on that?)".
eBay's Money Back Guarantee (MBG) starts the day after the last estimated delivery date, and is good up to 30 days from that date. The only thing you can't do is leave feedback if an item's last estimated delivery date is over 60 days from the purchase date, and you do not get the item or the wrong one is sent. It is your responsibility as a buyer to be aware of the MBG terms, and to file the appropriate disputes, and or leave appropriate feedback before time runs out. Better yet limit your buying from china.
"I have had sellers offer to resend "lost" items that they never resend, then it is too late to file a claim or leave negative feedback... I want to believe most of these people are just doing their best and things are getting lost here and there but more sellers I've dealt with overseas have been shady than not at this point.".
Chinese sellers started using the "resend" ploy the day after they were first allowed to sell on the site. They are very polite in the way they go about doing that, but the politeness is how they scam people out of their money. They know they can stall most people until the 30 day limit has passed to open a dispute, then they cease communicating. Since you keep having the same problems repeatedly, why keep making the same mistake and buying from chinese sellers, especially those with less than a 99% feedback rating. Look at their feedback profiles. Some of the sellers you have bought from have hundreds of negatives, and since you know they scam people into losing the ability to leave feedback or file disputes, you should figure they would have probably twice as many as are displayed.
"I have started filing claims and leaving negatives all the time as soon as something is wrong which I hate doing. I usually like to give people the benefit of the doubt or a positive if they fix my issue".
As others have said, if you use the MBG too many times, ebay may limit your ability to use it at all. being trusting is nice, but when doing that becomes a problem, it is time to stop trusting those who do not deserve your trust. Look at feedback profiles before buying from any seller, and use the back button when a foriegn shooting star seller has less than 99% rating. Most of the items sold by the chinese are sold by many sellers, so pick the ones that are reliable.
FYI, the new batch of sellers from India, aren't any better.
"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)
*lady*madonna*
