How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

[qualityforlessells]

I have been selling phones through craigslist for a few years and decided to become more active on Ebay. I am beginning to think I should end selling on ebay because the seller protection sucks against lying buyers.

How long does a buyer have to file a dispute for a phone after receiving it? Is it really 45 days from what i have been reading???!!!!! Anything could go wrong with technology after a few days of being purchased. "knock on wood" Now I am scared to list anything here again. Ebay has been making $800 a month in fees from me, it might not seem much to some but I have had returns that absolutely had no issues and buyers just wanted a refund.

Please tell me 45 days is wrong. More like 7 days to file a claim would be perfect this is ridiculous.

Another question that I have is, How can you file a claim for a phone that goes missing from the postal office. I always ship everything with insurance and signature confirmation but what do they require the seller to confirm the price of the phone? Everything that I buy is straight off good ol craigslist and i do not get any receipts for anything obviously.

[abbysframables2013]

I've started making a quick video of the item working and of the way I pack it. Sometimes I place another piece under the clear tape and sign my name to prove it was opened

[cibb29]

Hey guys,
I came across this forum and thought id share a similar story. Although it wasn't a cell phone, I was recently screwed big time by ebay and the buyer. I sold a very expensive piece of surveying equipment to an ebay buyer. This buyer prior to purchasing this item emailed me several times asking questions and stated many times he had no experience with this type of equipment. I answered all emails fully and honestly. He purchased the item. About 10 grand plus 100 bucks in shipping. Imediatly he began asking me tons of technical questions and saying he was unsure about the item. I gave him in depth instructions an tech support on the unit to help him out. He then kept the unit for over 2 month's When I got an email from paypal with a 10,000 dollar negative balance. I had already invested the money in something else. He had filed item not as described. I tried to fight the case, forwarded all emails to paypal and explained everything in detail. 2 days later they closed the case and sides with the buyer. He returned the item a week later. When it arrived it was imediatley apperant the unit was well used. It had been in the field and used on a job. So long story short is the buyer only needed such an accurate instrumnet for a single job, scammed me and returned it costing me close to a grand in fees and lost shipping costs. And now im in the hole 10 grand to paypal until i resale the instrument which also required and additional 600 bucks in cleaning and calibration. Ebays system is ridiculous. It screws over sellers. I lost a ton of money on this deal. Ebay is a scam now days

[xxxflower10]

I thought there was a no refund agreement that you fill in before selling certain items.and if a case escalates it is cancelled after 20 full working days.i m having problems with a buyer who said my watch was a fake,she has another one and i am thinking she might have switched them over ot have some more,she said she is going to customs ect before she asked for a refund,she has been messing with the dials and so forth so i didn't think a refund should be issued,plus it was bought from a well known store which means the store will have to have answers as thats where it origanally came from,she is very insinuative and if i had a rubber she would disapear,howevver Ebay have been great and the service they give has been the best on any site so far.so i will have to wait to see what happens i will keep you posted.

[xxxflower10]

I thought there was a no refund agreement that you fill in before selling certain items.and if a case escalates it is cancelled after 20 full working days.i m having problems with a buyer who said my watch was a fake,she has another one and i am thinking she might have switched them over ot have some more,she said she is going to customs ect before she asked for a refund,she has been messing with the dials and so forth so i didn't think a refund should be issued,plus it was bought from a well known store which means the store will have to have answers as thats where it origanally came from,she is very insinuative and if i had a rubber she would disapear,howevver Ebay have been great and the service they give has been the best on any site so far.so i will have to wait to see what happens i will keep you posted.

[hideoutguy]

It's not even a matter of length of time, the fact that you can offer a no-questions-asked return guarantee on a sale here and the buyer can STILL open a dispute a week or two after that and STILL win a case because he did not clearly read the listing and admittedly didn't have time to check the product for more than 2 weeks after receiving it, when the 14 day window had ended. I sold a $450 item for a local non-profit I was consulting for turned the money over to them after the 2 week window ran out, and despite my professional and responsive communication to the buyer he still won his case.

Guess what, eBay... I have been a eBay and PayPal member since 1999 and I'm done. I've removed all banking information from PayPal so my accounts don't get unpredictably or unfairly hit. I'm done.

[iandenning]

Hi

I have one case raised on 90 days, ebay will just take the money and refund, even though the buyer is at fault

thats just the way it is, sellers have no protection, from ebay or from couriers

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@hideoutguy wrote:
It's not even a matter of length of time, the fact that you can offer a no-questions-asked return guarantee on a sale here and the buyer can STILL open a dispute a week or two after that and STILL win a case because he did not clearly read the listing and admittedly didn't have time to check the product for more than 2 weeks after receiving it, when the 14 day window had ended. I sold a $450 item for a local non-profit I was consulting for turned the money over to them after the 2 week window ran out, and despite my professional and responsive communication to the buyer he still won his case.

Guess what, eBay... I have been a eBay and PayPal member since 1999 and I'm done. I've removed all banking information from PayPal so my accounts don't get unpredictably or unfairly hit. I'm done.

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[poisonbulb]

If we just think about it, looking from their bird's eye view, it's not really the sellers or buyers that eBay is worried about.  They are actually more worried about their market position against competitor Amazon and the up coming world giant Alibaba.  Their business model is drawn from way way up the ladder.

I sell on both Amazon and eBay and find both companies to liberally favor the buyers all the time.  Everybody knows when there's demand, there's business to be made.  Obviously buyers' confidence is what make the demand strong and both Amazon and eBay need that demand to stay there and growing.  They need the DEMAND more than any individual seller or even small group of sellers.  Basic survival instinct.

Both companies are focused on staying in the market position so, we, as smaller sellers, hoping for real change is like hoping for fish pond in the middle of the desert.  Mirages ahead fool us of waters ahead but that's all they are, mirages.

I also see both companies do care about their mega sellers who have a set aside budget to absorb fraud loses. Amazon and eBay are in the win win situation with these kind of sellers because they help keep the DEMAND strong while keeping their revenues strong.  To them these are the true businesses who have a set budget for "shop lifters".

Smaller sellers like us, who have small budgets, who cannot absorb fraud losses, who try to fight "shop lifters" and could potentially create confidence liability, are the ones Amazon and eBay don't care about.

So, point being is.  Generalizing they don't care about all sellers are not true.  Those that help their CAUSE are the ones they care about and those that potentially liability sellers are the once they don't care about.  Basic market survival instinct.

Let's not be naive.

[furney2lisa]

I am having a similar problem. I sold a phone just over a month ago which was working and I only sold it as I have an upgrade. The buyer is now stating that it is not as described and the wifi is not working, therefore wants a refund, however it was working when I sold the phone. Where do I stand with this?
Thanks

[furney2lisa]

Is there anyone I can speak to via eBay about this first as I am quite new to this and not happy about issuing a refund however feel I have no choice.

[gus2401]

i sold a mobile phone on Amazon. First phones sold fine but lately it has got tougher. One raised a dispute and said it was faulty. I appealed as knew for sure item wasn't when I used it and hand delivered item. I waited for dispute then Ebay automatically favoured buyer. I appealed but Ebay closed appeal sayign they couldnt see pictures. So I then received phone only this phone seemed different. Plus signal not working so couldn't make calls. Turns out the phone that returned is a foreign import. Went to Ebay and they said take it up with buyer or police. Case closed. So in a final attemp to make some money I sold it as a broken faulty phone. Buyer bought it wanting it only for an mp3 player. Now he wants a refund days later for some technical reason I could never anticipate. I need a lawyer to sell on ebay.

[ketronenterprisesinc]

Just had a buyer open a non-received case 97 days after it was purchased!!! can this actually happen? I received no emails or calls from the buyer and now he wants a refund. has anyone had a case opened AFTER 90 days? im about sure ebay will give the buy his money back. All you have to do is cry wolf and they give you your money back. I might as well go buy a new big screen TV and after it's delivered say I didn't receive it. Doesn't matter if it shows delivered, I'll probably get my money refunded!! is this seriously how it works these days? this type of policy encourages fraud!! So does anyone know if my buyer has a foot to stand on being 97 days after his payment came through and 96 days since it was shipped??

[backpacksbymelissa]

Just got off the phone with ebay. For an interantional package, a buyer has 30 AFTER the estimated delivery date to open a not received item case.

So the estimated delivery date for a package to Brazil is 60 days. So if I mail a package to Brazil on April 1, the buyer has until approximately June 2, for the delivery.

Now they have 30 MORE days, until July 2, to open a case.

So basically that is 90 DAYS.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/protection-programs.html

[backpacksbymelissa]

There is NO such thing as a no refund OR to return policy with ebay. If they want to return, they CAN and WILL return. Just try to make sure they return the item before they get their money back.

[volcanick]

If you offer returns you can select 14 day returns and nothing ebay can do about it after that. I'm already moving things off ebay because the problem with buyer complaints are just ridiculous. If you describe everything correctly and in detail you can call ebay and challenge and win every case.

[gallery57sales]

I have been using ebay since 1999. Im so sick of dealing with ebay. They don't care about the seller. Time to move on..