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URGENT: Possible scam — seller changed story after payment, refused cancellation, stopped responding and marked item shipped with NO tracking
Summary: treasurehunter79 reported a potential scam involving a seller who changed the item description after payment, refused cancellation, and marked the order as shipped without providing tracking. They sought eBay's intervention but faced issues accessing customer service due to being in Colombia. eburtonlab and mr_lincoln explained this is a user forum and suggested filing a claim under eBay's Money Back Guarantee if no item is received or it arrives not as described.
URGENT: Possible scam — seller changed story after payment, refused cancellation, stopped responding and marked item shipped with NO tracking
I am asking eBay to take this situation seriously and have an actual Customer Service representative investigate this transaction. At this point, based on everything that has happened, I genuinely believe I may be dealing with a scam or fraudulent transaction.
Order: 11-15174-47862
Item: ROG Xbox Ally
Item #: 358008115687
Cancellation ID: 5453866639
Amount paid: $457.60
I want to make something very clear before explaining what happened: I am not a new or inexperienced eBay buyer.
I have been an eBay member for more than 10 years. During that time, I have made thousands of dollars in purchases, built an established buying history and received positive feedback. I do not have a history of creating unnecessary claims or abusing eBay’s Buyer Protection system.
I know how eBay transactions normally work, and that is precisely why the behavior in this transaction concerns me so much. What this seller is doing is not normal.
I purchased this ROG Xbox Ally because the seller advertised it as NEW/SEALED. I completed my payment in good faith.
Only AFTER receiving my payment, the seller’s story changed.
The seller then told me that he had opened the supposedly sealed product, discovered a problem, and could no longer provide the item under the conditions in which it had originally been advertised.
That immediately raised a serious red flag. If I purchased and paid for a product advertised as new and sealed, I should receive exactly that. A seller should not change the condition or circumstances of the merchandise only after receiving the buyer’s money.
Because of this, I contacted eBay Customer Service BEFORE taking further action.
I explained the situation and an eBay Customer Service representative specifically instructed me to submit a cancellation request using the reason “Won’t arrive on time.”
I was concerned about selecting a reason that did not fully describe what had actually happened, so I specifically asked the eBay representative to confirm that I should use that option because eBay was instructing me to do so, and that doing so would not negatively affect my buyer account because the real circumstances had already been documented in the support conversation.
The eBay representative explicitly answered:
“Yes, correct.”
I therefore followed eBay Customer Service’s instructions exactly and submitted the cancellation.
The seller DECLINED it.
And what happened afterward made this situation even more suspicious.
The seller stopped properly responding to my messages. Then, after refusing my cancellation request, the order was suddenly marked as SHIPPED.
However, NO TRACKING NUMBER WAS PROVIDED.
I have tried to obtain information. I have tried communicating with the seller. I have checked the order. There is still no valid tracking information showing where this supposed shipment is, which carrier supposedly has it, or even evidence through tracking that a package is actually moving toward me.
So these are the facts:
• I paid $457.60 in good faith.
• The item was advertised as new/sealed.
• The seller changed the story only after receiving my payment.
• The seller said he opened the supposedly sealed item.
• He then claimed there was a problem with it.
• I contacted eBay Customer Service for guidance.
• eBay specifically instructed me how to submit the cancellation.
• I followed those instructions exactly.
• The seller declined the cancellation.
• The seller then stopped properly responding to my messages.
• The order was subsequently marked “shipped.”
• Despite supposedly being shipped, there is NO tracking number.
At what point does this become serious enough for eBay to actually investigate?
I cannot prove what is happening behind the seller’s account, and I am asking eBay to determine that. But as an experienced buyer, this pattern looks extremely suspicious to me and raises serious concerns about a possible scam.
I am particularly concerned that marking the order as “shipped” without providing tracking after declining my cancellation could be an attempt to delay the dispute/refund process and keep my $457.60 tied up for as long as possible. I want eBay to investigate whether that is what is happening.
This is also the second time I have experienced a very similar situation on eBay after making payment, involving sellers with little or no established reputation. That makes me even more concerned that there may be a pattern that deserves eBay’s attention.
And there is another part of this situation that I find completely unacceptable:
I cannot get meaningful access to a real eBay Customer Service representative.
I have spent considerable time going through eBay’s Help system and automated assistant. I have specifically requested a HUMAN AGENT and LIVE CHAT multiple times.
Eventually the system tells me:
“Sure, I can help connect you with an agent.”
But then the ONLY option it provides is:
“Have us call you.”
I am located in Colombia, and Colombia (+57) is not available in eBay’s callback country list. Therefore, the only human-contact option eBay is offering me is an option that I literally cannot use.
There is no Live Chat being offered to me despite repeatedly requesting it.
This is unacceptable.
I have been an eBay customer for more than a decade. I have spent thousands of dollars purchasing through this platform. I have an established account, feedback history, and no pattern of abusing claims or opening unnecessary disputes.
I am not asking eBay for a favor.
I am asking eBay to protect a legitimate long-standing buyer who paid for merchandise in good faith and followed eBay Customer Service’s own instructions.
I have evidence of everything: the listing and order information, the seller’s communications, the cancellation request, the seller declining it, the lack of tracking, and most importantly, the previous eBay Customer Service conversation documenting exactly what eBay instructed me to do.
Yet I am still being sent around automated menus without a real solution while $457.60 of my money remains tied up.
That is the part I find most frustrating. After more than 10 years as an eBay customer and thousands of dollars in purchases, I expect a serious, clear and concrete response from eBay when something this suspicious happens.
I am formally requesting:
1. An immediate review of this transaction and the seller’s conduct.
2. A review of the seller’s messages and the fact that the circumstances changed only after payment.
3. Verification of whether this item was actually shipped and why no tracking information exists.
4. A review of my previous eBay Customer Service conversation and the instructions I was explicitly given.
5. Investigation of the seller account for possible fraudulent activity or abuse of the transaction process.
6. Cancellation of this transaction and a FULL REFUND of my $457.60.
7. Escalation of this case to an actual eBay Customer Service representative who can provide a real response instead of sending me back to an automated assistant or an unusable callback option.
I have done everything correctly as a buyer. I paid, communicated with the seller, contacted eBay before acting, followed eBay’s instructions exactly, and documented everything.
Now I need eBay to do its part.
Please escalate this case and give me a real, definitive solution. I want my $457.60 refunded and this seller’s conduct properly investigated.
comics-scifi-collectibles
Mentor2 weeks ago@treasurehunter79 I understand that this is frustrating however eBay customer service doesn't always know the site rules.
A buyer can only REQUEST to cancel the sale, the seller can accept or decline. It's unfortunate that the seller chose the decline option since they admitted that they were not going to ship.
An agent can not change the way the site functions.
This is the way the system works> Tracking, while nice to have, is for the sellers protection to prove delivery and not required by eBay.
You will need to file a not received refund request when it is ONE day past the last estimated delivery date. There is no way to "expedite" the case.
Select your item on this page to start a refund request:
https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-refunds/get-help-item-hasnt-arrived?id=4042&st=
4 business days after you file the refund request ask eBay to step in and help if the seller has not refunded you.
mr_lincoln
Mentor2 weeks agoHi @treasurehunter79
-First, I am sorry this happened and it sounds like you ran into a dishonest Seller.
-Unfortunately, nobody here can escalate this situation to eBay, we are volunteer Buyers and Sellers with no account access and no direct means to forward a post (like yours) for review
-Your story is not new, this is not the first time this type of thing has happened nor will it be the last. And some other cases were for more money than your transaction.
-Since you are experienced then you know you are protected by the eBay Money Back Guarantee for 30 days from either receipt or the latest estimated delivery date.
If the Seller never ships you can file a claim that you did not receive your package one day past the original estimated delivery date.
eburtonlab
Mentor2 weeks ago · Edited@treasurehunter79
eBay is not here. This is a user forum. No one here can investigate or escalate anything.
What you need to do depends on what tracking shows (if the seller later provides tracking) and what does or does not get delivered.
If there is no tracking (or tracking does not show delivery) and nothing is delivered by the last estimated delivery date shown in your Purchase History, file an "item not received" case the next day and then ask eBay to step in at the earliest opportunity.
If tracking shows delivery and something is delivered that is not as described, file a "not as described" return. If the seller provides for return shipping return the item. If the seller does not provide for return shipping or does not refund once tracking shows the return has been delivered, ask eBay to step in at the earliest opportunity.
If tracking shows delivery but nothing is delivered, contact the shipping service to determine if tracking corresponds to a package with your name and address on it. If not, get documentation to support that. You do not need to know the name or address the package was delivered to, you just need something that says it was not addressed to you. Then follow up here for further instructions of how to proceed.
If tracking shows delivery and the item is as described, then: congratulations.
treasurehunter79
OP2 weeks ago???????????