eBay's misreprentation of the "Money Back Guarantee"
In December of last year, I purchased a “bulk†order of 50 cases of thermal shipping labels on eBay (300K labels in total). I paid $1650 for the labels.
The seller then sent me ONE case of labels (again, the auction was for 50 cases), which arrived within about a week. I now assume the seller did this solely to fulfill eBay’s shipping requirements so they could collect ALL the funds associated with the sale, even though only 2% of the order was actually fulfilled.
I reached out to the seller and asked them when they would ship the other 49 cases. The seller assured me they would arrive over the next few weeks in increasing quantities until the 50-case obligation was met. Over the next 3 weeks, I only received a total of 14 cases (including the first case shipped). On two occasions the seller told me all 50 cases had been shipped, but ignored my requests to provide tracking numbers for the missing cases.
I actually alerted eBay about this case in late December as the seller’s behavior seemed fishy – the auction was for a bulk order, yet this seller was piecemealing shipments. It was apparent the seller did NOT have the product on-hand that they sold. eBay originally stated they would get back to me in 3-5 days, but then pushed the resolution date for my case out until January 15th, but assured me I was covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee. After following up on this case with eBay constantly, it was finally escalated (due to the high dollar value) – then abruptly closed with NO explanation as to why they sided with the seller or supporting proof-of-delivery for the 50 cases.
I immediately contested eBay’s decision on-line, requiring eBay to provide proof-of-delivery for all 50 cases before they closed the case again. eBay allegedly “reviewed†the case by the next day and closed it, siding with the seller once again and providing NO explanation or proof-of-delivery. Once this second ruling was made by eBay, I had NO way of contacting eBay about this transaction at all.
When I contested eBay’s initial judgement around mid-January, I noted two other buyers had recently posted negative comments about this seller as they had experiences similar to mine. Despite this, eBay CONTINUED to let this seller scam eBay customers as their auction was still live on the eBay website.
I have filed a police report against the seller. I have also reported this transaction to my credit card company as consumer fraud and requested a 72% refund of the transaction value. However, I still want to know on what grounds eBay abandoned their Money Back Guarantee and can close a case without any explanation or proof-of-delivery.
I am VERY disappointed in eBay’s commitment to protect their purchasers. This is CLEARLY a case where the seller did not even come close to fulfilling their obligation. eBay states “eBay Money Back Guarantee covers most transactions on eBay. It means buyers can get their money back if an item didn't arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn't match the listing.†Whether you look at this situation as the majority of the shipment did not arrive or it doesn’t match the listing (the seller shipped only 14 of the 50 cases promised), this transaction should be protected by eBay. Is there any way to contact eBay directly or sue eBay in small claims court?
ryry-jj
·6 months agoAt this point continuing with your bank for a charge back is the best solution, plus it will hit the seller the hardest. eBay just knows tracking shows the items delivered, they don't know if it is all there or not unless you filed INAD with missing pieces.
I'm sure the seller's delays and telling you to wait was the ploy to get you past the 30 MBG time frame on any type of refund on eBay. Stick to the course of using your bank for help. Assuming you used a CC, hopefully you did. Btw, was there signature confirmation on any part of the deliveries? It would have been required
tobaccocardyahoo
·6 months agoAs you can tell, the previous responders already know from the situation you described and the Ebay decision that you opened an Item Not Received case.
The seller knew too, and took advantage of that situation to run the clock out on opening an Item Not As Described case.
You really did not spend a lot of time reading and understanding the Ebay Money Back Guarantee and its claim procedure.
An expensive lesson.
soh.maryl
·6 months agoExactly which kind of a case did you open -- an item not received case or an item not as described case?
kibble-net
·6 months agoYou need to open an Item Not As Described case within 30 days of receipt, for the MBG to cover you. This one's on you. Sorry for your loss. Live and learn.
nwscubadiver
OP6 months agoIncorrect. A case was opened within two weeks of the auction closing.
campanaelia
·6 months agoDid you open an "Item not received " case, or an "Item not as described" - "missing parts and pieces" case?
If you opened the "Item not received " case ebay will side with the seller because tracking showed delivery.
You could of still opened an "Item not as described" - "missing parts and pieces" case after losing the INR case, but you needed to do that within 30 days of the first delivery.
I bet if you did that ebay would have sided with you!
kensgiftshop
·6 months agoWhat kind of case did you open, an Item Not Received case or a Not As Described case?
If you opened an INR, the seller won because he had tracking showing something was delivered.
soh.maryl
·6 months agoWhen opening a case with eBay, there are TWO different kinds of cases the buyer can open.
There's the item not received case, which a buyer opens if he receives absolutely nothing at all.
There's the item not as described case where the buyer does actually receive something, but it's defective or not the right thing -- ordered a sweater and received a can opener, for example.
It's very important for a buyer to open exactly the correct case.
So can you tell us-- what kind of case did you open?
nwscubadiver
OP6 months agoAlso, the eBAY rep repeatedly stated that this transaction was covered by eBay's MBG (in writing).