My return case was put on hold due to the seller opening a case - What does this mean?

[thore-3511]

The full context is that I ordered an item that never arrived, and when I contacted USPS to report an issue with the package on the suspicion it was stolen by a porch pirate, they revealed to me that I had likely fallen for a tracking number scam. USPS believes this because when I gave them the item's USPS tracking number, they found that it was an exact match for another package shipping from the American South (my item was supposed to be shipping from Kazakhstan) to a grocery store in my zip code at roughly the same time. Upon learning this, I opened a return case where the item didn't match description or photos (because it likely never existed if USPS is right about what happened) and attached a screenshot of the item's tracking information as well as a screenshot of the letter USPS sent to me via email to inform me of the duplicate tracking number use. The case was closed that night because the seller "opened a case". This is the message I get verbatim when I view the details of the case:

Your case is on hold

eBay Customer Support has placed the case on hold until Sep 14, 2023 to allow time to provide additional documentation. eBay Customer Support has placed the case on hold until Sep 14, 2023 to allow time to provide additional documentation.

We have placed the case on hold to allow additional time for us to review the entire case. No additional action is needed from you at this time. We have placed the case on hold to allow additional time for us to review the entire case. No additional action is needed from you at this time.

If your issue is resolved, you can close this case without waiting for a response from Customer Support. If your issue is resolved, you can close this case without waiting for a response from Customer Support.

Does this mean I'm likely to get my refund? Could it mean that USPS is wrong and this was actually just a misunderstanding where the seller somehow managed to type in the tracking number in the exact wrong way for it to match the tracking number of another package headed to my zip code by coincidence? The details of the listing for this item do lead me to believe that there's a small chance that this could be just a misunderstanding as putting the images through reverse image search on Google, Yandex, Bing, and TinEye yielded no results. The listing clearly showed the serial number of the item which makes it possible to find previous listings of this exact item as these things are rare enough for one to go up on eBay to be newsworthy, but searching for its serial number also gave no results. This means that if it was a scam, they would actually need one of these extremely rare items on hand or the ability to borrow it from a friend to photograph it themselves.

What do people here make of this situation?

[thore-3511]

I should add that I've heard nothing from the seller at all through all of this despite offering to drop the return case if they give me proof of former ownership of the item and the real tracking number, and they took a weirdly long time to "ship" the item due to a "business trip".

[qeqo_0]

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@thore-3511 wrote:

I attached a screenshot of the item's tracking information as well as a screenshot of the letter USPS sent to me via email to inform me of the duplicate tracking number use. The case was closed that night because the seller "opened a case". This is the message I get verbatim when I view the details of the case:

Your case is on hold

eBay Customer Support has placed the case on hold until Sep 14, 20ve23 to allow time to provide additional documentation. eBay Customer Support has placed the case on hold until Sep 14, 2023 to allow time to provide additional documentation. 

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That just means eBay reviewed your attachments, and now is requiring the seller to prove that your address is on their shipping label. It's a verification which eBay has used for years, just like PayPal here: 

"What should you do?"

We suggest you retain a copy of the shipping label to verify the address of the recipient. If needed, we may ask you to provide this document later.

The item has to be sent to the following shipping address:

But you do have to wait until Sep 14, 2023 passes for the seller to respond, and then wait for a second Sep 14, 2023 to arrive before you hear back from eBay on their decision about your refund.

[mudshark61369]

@thore-3511,

"...when I gave them the item's USPS tracking number, they found that it was an exact match for another package shipping from the American South (my item was supposed to be shipping from Kazakhstan) to a grocery store in my zip code at roughly the same time".

Did you check the seller's feedback profile page to see if they had any feedback for items shipping from, Amazon or other retail sites?  On the listing page did it give an item location in Kazakhstan?  Over the past few years there have been sellers from Israel, Morocco and other countries who use Amazon, but give an item location in their country.  

Since you left the seller a negative I was able to check their feedback profile page. All of their feedback was for buying before you made the purchase. Clicking on the item number returned the "We looked everywhere" notice that means either ebay removed the listing, or it was not posted on (ebay.com) the U.S. site.

" I opened a return case where the item didn't match description or photos (because it likely never existed if USPS is right about what happened) and attached a screenshot of the item's tracking information as well as a screenshot of the letter USPS sent to me via email to inform me of the duplicate tracking number use. The case was closed that night because the seller "opened a case".

Why would you open an item not as described dispute, w/ "proof" of delivery to another location. If you did not receive anything?  That makes no sense, and because you can only file one dispute per transaction, filing the wrong one can cost you your ebay Money Back Guarantee (MBG)  protections. The dispute may be being looked at because of the type of dispute you filed.  

If you were the victim of a fake tracking scam, ebay will not accept a screen shot of a USPS email as proof of an item not being delivered to your address, if you had filed an Item Not Received (INR) dispute. The automated INR system would at first deny the claim, because the only info it can access is the tracking information which would have a Delivered scan. There would be an appeal button in the message telling you the dispute had been closed in favor of the seller. Because the seller has filed a claim you will have to await ebay's decision, which you may lose because of the type of dispute you filed.

If that happens your only recourse will be to contact ebay through their Facebook or Twitter social media pages. There are links to them below.  Before doing that you will have to go to your P.O..  You need to bring a copy of your order details page which shows your address and the tracking number with you. If you bought using a phone or tablet, you can bring that to show the clerk the order details.

  You want to ask the clerk to check the label address against yours, and also to check the Package type/size weight info to see if was is appropriate for what you should have received.  If the info does not match up, you ask the clerk to write a note on USPS stationary saying in general that the shipping label's address was not yours, and if applicable that the package type/size/weight was not right for what you should have received. You may want to ask the clerk if they will add that the label was purchased in the U.S. not from abroad. Do not ask for specific address or package info, they cannot give it out.  Have the clerk sign and date the note.

Once you have the note, you can contact ebay through their Facebook or Twitter social media pages. You can write out what happened telling them that you opened an item not as described dispute that was closed, (if the seller wins their dispute you'll need to mention that as well.  Then mention that the listing can no longer be found on ebay.  You will need to have the seller's username and the ebay item number. (12digits w/o hyphens.  You can add a CLEAR photo or a scan of the note to the message.  Then sign the message giving them your real and ebay username. 

The social media reps are ebay employees and know about the tracking number scams and they can overturn previous decisions, to issue you a refund.

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness

https://twitter.com/askebay

In the future I strongly suggest that you check the feedback profile pages of each seller you intend to buy from, before bidding on or buying their items.  On the profile page if the seller has received neutral or negative feedback, click on the numbers of them to read only those comments. Never go by a feedback percentage alone. Some people who have been scammed but did not file a dispute may have left feedback saying they never received their items.

  If a seller has no feedback for selling, until you have more experience using the site, and have read the terms and time frames for using ebay's money back guarantee, I suggest you do not buy from them.

[thore-3511]

**bleep**, I wish I had this kind of information when I first had this issue. I only opened an item not as described case because that successfully got me my refund after a package of mine was stolen about a year ago, but the more you know, I guess.

The email I screenshotted is exactly the kind of note you suggested I get from USPS, but I guess I'll have to wait and see if that proves to be enough. That same USPS clerk also sent me scans of the original package with the tracking number on it proving the duplication as well as the package's dimensions and weight which are both far too small to be the item I wanted, but only after I had opened the case (so after too late), go figure.

[s_ellingbee]

Hi, did you get your refund. I am now on a similar situation with a seller, and after asking eBay to step in, got a similar response that it was put on hold.

[carlmarxx]

All my years on eBay ,I never bought from or sold anything  to Kazakhstan .    Just to risky .   Request a call back from eBay  and ask for a supervisor.