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Suspended / Terminated Seller
The seller of an item I purchased has not yet sent the item and has now been suspended / terminated. Ebay says that my purchase is not subject to their Money Back Guarantee because I filed a payment dispute. I tried to work through Paypal and my credit card provider to have the charge reversed but the Seller provided falsified information to them showing the item was delivered prior to their deactivation. What recourse do I have? Can I take eBay to small claims court in my jurisdiction?
3 comments
monroe67
Mentor3 weeks ago · Edited"Can I take eBay to small claims court in my jurisdiction?"
The User Agreement for eBay's USA site, ebay.com, says that you may file a Small Claims Court action against eBay. Assuming your purchase was through ebay.com (and not, for example, ebay.ca, the Canadian site), that is the User Agreement that applies to your transaction. I added boldface and underlining to the pertinent portions of the second paragraph below.
"B. Agreement to Arbitrate
You and eBay each agree that any and all disputes or claims between you and eBay (or any related third parties) that arise out of or relate in any way to this or previous versions of the User Agreement, your use of or access to our Services, the actions of eBay or its agents, or any products or services sold, offered, or purchased through our Services, including the scope or applicability of this Agreement to Arbitrate (each, a "Dispute") shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court.
The exceptions to this Agreement to Arbitrate are: (1) you or eBay may seek relief in small claims court if such claims qualify and remain in small claims court; and (2) you or eBay may seek equitable relief in court for infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights (such as trademarks, trade dress, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights, and patents)."
For a claim to "qualify" for Small Claims Court, the dollar amount in question is limited by the laws of your own state and/or county.
Ithinkyou could file your Small Claims Court action in your own local jurisdiction, but I am not positive. You may be able to check with a local attorney or law school clinic.Edited to add:
I think I found -- in the current User Agreement -- additional information that might specify where your Small Claims Court action is to be filed. I added boldface and underlining to the pertinent portions of the following:
"C. Judicial Forum for Legal Disputes
If the Agreement to Arbitrate above is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim, request for relief, or Dispute, either as a result of your decision to opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate or as a result of a decision by the arbitrator or a court order, you agree that any claim or dispute between you and eBay will be resolved exclusively by a state or federal court located in Salt Lake County, Utah. You and eBay agree to submit exclusively to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Salt Lake County, Utah for the purpose of litigating all such claims, disputes, or matters."
But I'm not a lawyer. Please consider seeking professional counsel.
disneyshopper
Mentor3 weeks agoEbay says that my purchase is not subject to their Money Back Guarantee because I filed a payment dispute.
Once you file with your credit card, ebay is out of the picture.
You can probably sue the seller in his/her jurisdiction, but that might be expensive.
wooden_flower
Mentor3 weeks ago@pjf684
You forfeit your money back guarantee when you go to your payment processor rather than letting eBay help.
The best thing to do would be to get the carrier to give you documentation that the tracking provided is not for a delivery to your address. Then present this to your card issuer and they should be willing to open the dispute. They won’t tell you where the tracking was for, but they can tell you that it was not to you. You can try to do this with an online chat which you can then print, but ask your card issuer what proof they require, just to be sure.
The user agree defines legal action you may take. You agree to binding arbitration, so you need to follow the steps described.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/user-agreement?id=5414#section18
(If you could file, small claims are filed in the defendent’s jurisdiction, not the complaintant’s. )