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Seller refuses to refund after misdirecting my package to another address.
Tracking number says package was delivered. USPS investigated the missing package and found the Seller's shipping label was addressed to another location across town. Seller received copy of USPS official response and still refused to refund my money. Ebay is not providing any help. This would be a perfect scam since Seller could intentionally misdirect a package to a cohort, keeping the funds and merchandise by simply claiming "the tracking number says it was delivered" as is this case. Buyers watch out for this one! USPS does investigate so at least you'll know who the scammers are, but you will lose your money and merchandise.
5 comments
zod2017
OP8 months agoRe suggestion to check Seller's Feedback before purchasing:
Please Google, "eBay Automated Feedback". Sellers are thrilled, Buyers are duped.
This experience is repeated in so many posts on other online forums; package not delivered to Buyer's address, USPS verifying actual recipient address and still no refund or serious help from eBay.
Jan. 15, 2026
This saga has ended with eBay siding with Seller, "tracking number says delivered." No refund, case closed.
With options exhausted, the last resort is to report it to my bank as fraud.
Thanks for taking the time to offer solutions, but the eBay game is rigged against Buyers. Sad thing to learn the hard way.
zod2017
OP9 months agoThanks. First issue I forgot to mention was that Seller, after receiving payment posted in "My Purchases", the notice "NO TRACKING". I thought that was odd for someone who listed UPS, FedEx in their shipping. No option but to wait it out. I was alerted via email by USPS of the alleged delivery and reported it undelivered. The info from USPS was that it had been labeled by Seller to a large apartment complex, and I live in a house on a quiet street nowhere near it. Obviously, it wasn't stolen from my porch or any of the other reasons packages go missing. I was scammed, period.
All the blah, blah about ebay guarantees requires the Buyer the go to great lengths to prove they 'deserve' a refund, while the Seller just shrugs and probably laughs.
I've made plenty of purchases on ebay and all of the Sellers have been great, except this time.
I'll purchase on another platform or actual business site without having to play detective, gathering "exceptable" evidence and researching every Seller before I hit pay, because a lot of info available to Buyer disappears once the purchase is marked "delivered".
You gave good advice, but you're describing "Buyer Beware" on ebay . I've been lucky so far, but this ended it. No more trust.
Thanks again.
eburtonlab
Mentor9 months agoYou gave good advice, but you're describing "Buyer Beware" on ebay . I've been lucky so far, but this ended it. No more trust.
What kind of feedback did this particular seller have for selling?
Rather than counting on always being lucky every time or lumping all eBay sellers into the same category, it might be worth picking and choosing which individual sellers you deal with.
Good luck either way.
zod2017
OP9 months agoI'm not lumping all Sellers into the same category. Some Sellers have actual businesses that could be contacted, and in my experience have always been great at customer service. As I said, this is the first time I've had an issue with a Seller whether they were a small seller or business seller.
You offered many solutions however, they generally also had a negative result attached, which negates that solution. This is not criticism of your tutorial, it's a flaw in how ebay handles legitimate complaints erring on the side of Seller without investigating. That creates a trust issue.
Only ebay can explain how the delivery address was altered from my ebay account address, which I assumed was automated order processing linked to my account. Do Sellers have to enter a shipping address manually? How could a tracking number be a Seller mistake, one final USPS suggestion. Also manual processing? Obviously, payment processing worked just fine because Seller was paid quickly.
If USPS knows the actual delivery address (included in their response) then surely, Seller also knows where they directed the shipment either by mistake or intent. I sent them the USPS response and they ignored it. Ebay says I can contact them on the 15th. We'll see what happens.
Thanks again and good luck to you as well.
eburtonlab
Mentor9 months ago@zod2017
If the buyer actually receives something, the buyer can file a "not as described" return within thirty days for a full refund. In fact, any buyer on eBay can file a "not as described" return, provided the buyer is willing and able to return exactly what was received.
If tracking shows delivery but nothing arrives and the buyer can obtain some hard copy documentation (email is not good enough) that says that the package was not delivered to the buyer's address or documentation that shows the weight or size of the package cannot possibly correspond to the ordered item, or the shipping date precedes the order, then the buyer may be able to contact eBay via social media direct message, provide that documentation to eBay and get help with "false tracking".
https://x.com/askebay
https://www.facebook.com/ebay
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
With "false tracking" if you go through a standard automated "item not received" case, on the other hand, you will lose the case because the seller can provide tracking that appears to show delivery. If you then appeal, you may have some additional options at that point. It appears that eBay has added a new appeal option regarding "delivery to another address", but I do not know how effective that is compared to contacting eBay via social media with documentation and explicitly mentioning "false tracking", which seems to work provided you can obtain the necessary documentation.
If you are unable to get help through eBay, you may have recourse through your payment method, though you should probably exhaust all your eBay options first since once you go through your payment method, eBay will no longer help with that transaction.
In general, you can avoid a lot of headaches by choosing to purchase only from established sellers that have recent and past positive feedback as a seller for selling items in the same category that you intend to buy. If someone is selling a dozen apple watches, but has no feedback, or only has feedback as a buyer, or only has feedback for selling dress patterns or fishing lures (actual examples I have seen), perhaps wait until they have a track record of positive feedback for selling electronics before you buy from them.