eBay International Shipping disservice and the feedback hoax
The item was a rare Heathkit amplifier from 1957.
It was in pristine condition as per the sellers photos.
Iafe the purchase and the item fell into the hands of the eBay International Shipping team.
After several weeks and traveling the globe it arrived.
Box in tatters.
When I took the item out of the trashed carton it was in pieces.
The nameplate broken off, one control knob broken in half
The worst thing was the 1 twist in the metal chassis.
This took some substantial force to do.
As upsetting as it was to see what was and had been a beautiful amplifier for almost seventy years was a twist wreck.
I started to look at it and saw that it would have to be completely disassembled to repair it.
It took me six hours to get it back to reasonable squareness but still not as perfect as it was.
The return "policy" states that the item had to be sent back in order to reclaim my money.
Not exactly what I wanted but I filled out the paperwork and submitted it.
What I wanted back was the money for the shipping fees.
I didn't think that I should have to pay for it getting thrashed and you don't find these every day.
After submitting the return of shipping fees I called customer service and explained and they said they would submit the request and was told I would get a reply from the eBay International Shipping team in 24-72 hours.
After six called to customer service over a two month period since the purchase the eBay International Shipping team still had not contacted me.
This was getting very tiring so I requested as to where I could submit my feedback for this horrible service that the seller has absolutely nothing to do with.
They had no response, it took the agent completely off guard.
Truth, there is only one place to complain about that service and it is on the helpless sellers profile.
I didn't want to, he had a perfect rating but I did, and I clearly stated it was not his fault it was the eBay International Shipping team.
Within 24 hrs of leaving that negative feedback I received a flood of emails from eBay.
We are so sorry blah blah blah.
Then came the statement from eBay International Shipping team staying that because I "altered" the item there would be no refund of the shipping cost.
So , because I fixed it 🤔......... right.
The negative feedback I left for the undeserving seller was also pulled off.
eBay got away without a scratch.
mudshark61369
·11 months ago@Anonymous ,
"I called customer service and explained and they said they would submit the request and was told I would get a reply from the eBay International Shipping team in 24-72 hours.
After six called to customer service over a two month period since the purchase the eBay International Shipping team still had not contacted me".
There is no direct number you can call to speak to an ebay rep. You have to request a call back to speak to one. Unfortunately, the U.S. based reps can only call phone numbers in the U.S.. Had you tried contacting ebay from its Canada based site, you may have heard back from them sooner.
When did you receive the message from ebay? If it took them 2 months to send that message it was probably because you had passed the 30 days from the date the Amp was delivered time frame for filing a dispute, and the seller's return time frame was 14 days from date of delivery. If you told a rep in a message that you had tried to repair it, that would have voided the Money Back Guarantee protections. The Amp was also listed as For parts or not working which may have confused a rep into thinking you were filing a dispute because it did not work.
44012
·11 months agoThe damage was most likely done by customs - outbound and inbound.
I am really sorry this happened to you.
I get anxious selling a bracelet overseas as things tend to get handled a bit harsh.
stainlessenginecovers
·11 months agoI am very glad that the feedback was removed. Not the sellers fault and all EIS orders are between the Buyer and EIS. Sellers are protected from neg feedback, returns etc.
Very glad the system worked as it was designed/stated (from a seller standpoint).
an-57470
OP11 months agoThe experiment was to see if eBay would intervene.
They chose to cover up the fact their shipping system trashed this parcel.
I also learned through this mess is that they don't necessarily give you all your money back. They make an assessment, then a decision and you have to suck it up.
All of this is a win win for eBay and the crappy shipping services they use and make you pay top dollar for.
Are you a seller by chance?
bonjourami
·11 months ago"All of this is a win win for eBay and the crappy shipping services they use and make you pay top dollar for.
Are you a seller by chance?"
Sellers are buyers too, had you just not 'repaired' the system you could have filed an item not as described case and won.The seller had the fb removed because you lost the case, which is as it should be.
stainlessenginecovers
·11 months ago@Anonymous ebay didn't CHOOSE to cover up anything. The Seller was able to have the negative removed as part of the Seller Protection for EIS orders where a buyer states anything regarding 'shipping' (late/damaged); and they did this to Protect their own reputation.
Ebay does NOT Suffer when a buyer negs a seller, only the seller does.
So again, glad they removed it, as they should have.
Yes, I'm a seller. Yes, I'm a buyer. Been a member here since this place started in the 1990's.
What does that have to do with anything??
bonanza125
·11 months ago"I didn't want to, he had a perfect rating but I did, and I clearly stated it was not his fault it was the eBay International Shipping team.
The negative feedback I left for the undeserving seller was also pulled off.
eBay got away without a scratch."
Well the issue is transit not the seller so the negative would be removed. You openly admitted it's not the sellers fault so why would you expect the seller to get an undeserving negative? Doesn't work that way. Wasn't Ebay's fault either.
"I started to look at it and saw that it would have to be completely disassembled to repair it."
You voided the insurance claim or any guarantees of a refund for disassembling it to repair it. Should have left it alone even though I figure it was very temping for you to try to fix it you did the absolutely worst thing possible if you wanted your money back.