How to expedite eBay looking into purchase? seller is already in violation of eBay's listing policy
Purchased an item from a seller that shows as being in the United States on their profile ID, and the listing shows item location as being shipped from Denver, Colorado (USA) as well, and with a delivery estimate "Delivery by Dec. 19, 2022" (at the latest.) Seller finally gave tracking number late today and this is being sent via China Post!
Seller claims the item has been shipped and refuses to refund; I did NOT agree to purchase an item that was located in another country -- obviously wanting the item by Christmas. I've reported the listing to eBay, but there is no information available to start a case now; eBay is forcing me to wait until at least Dec. 20, 2022 before I can open a case!
PayPal was used with a credit card to pay, and PayPal offers no means to dispute the transaction/charge and just directs me to eBay. If absolutely must wait until the estimated (delivery by) latest date when I ordered, then I guess that's what I'll have to do, but curious if there's a contact or number to expedite this (no use in waiting); or if I should save time and simply start the process of initiating a chargeback with the credit card I'd used to pay for the item via PayPal.
Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
timgreer
OP3 years agoI understand what everyone is saying about waiting and then open a "didn't receive" case instead of a return. Makes sense. The problem was that eBay did not make this clear and it seemed quite unreasonable to have to wait ten days before proving it didn't arrive in time (when it was impossible for it to, having even started to ship from China Post), to then open a case, wait a few days, and then wait for a refund to start being processed. This puts me over two weeks of not being able to do anything, but if that's the only way it works (which I do not find at all reasonable), then so be it. Still, it seems PayPal will refund, which a refund is all I care about. Again, the fact this allows seller's with fraudulent or misrepresented listings to tie up people's money for two weeks at a time, is pretty lousy to allow (regarding the time frame to open a case and eBay to action.) I saw this same seller left feedback for everyone that bought their misrepresented item, which is many dozens of people on the same couple of days. This is several thousand dollars this seller is able to tie up for people -- of course, I can't speak to their frustrations or not; they may even be fine waiting.
papa486516
·3 years agoIf you had started a "didn't receive" case on eBay today, the date after the estimated delivery date yesterday:
1. First, you have the 3 business days, Wednesday-Thursday-Friday to wait.
2. Then you'd ask eBay to step in on the following business day, Tuesday, Dec 27.
3. China Post is in transit, so eBay adds 7 days for domestic, or 10 days for international.
Where is that in the timeline, for the first 3 words in your topic title -- that was your question, correct?
Your plan was probably to start a return request right after eBay recorded the China Post tracking,
-- to expedite eBay looking* into the purchase against their own policy, which says
-- a buyer may not be required to ship the item back to the seller
-- if the seller had misrepresented the item's location.
*you would contact eBay on Facebook
timgreer
OP3 years agoSeems odd to have to go to some alternative web site (social networking site -- Facebook) to get in touch w/ eBay to resolve. Either way, both of the sellers trying to pull this, both shipping from China by misrepresenting the item location -- both are refusing to refund and just say "too bad, it's already been shipped" and that I'll have to wait to receive it, return it, wait for them to "inspect" the return and then (and only then) would they refund me. EBay should immediately block people making fraudulent listings. That said, true, the best outcome indeed would be probably late Dec. 2022 or into the new year before I saw the money back in my account. That's pretty shameful, considering how blatant the violation is and that the seller's lied about the location. I suppose it's worth their efforts, since by then they'll have the money in their accounts (potentially anyway) and they've done this to dozens of buyers -- some already also complaining and seemingly no recourse. I've been buying and selling on eBay for nearly 22 years (half of them being high priced items) and I've never had to deal with this issue previously, and the best steps to resolve were completely unclear.
Again, the fact eBay doesn't promptly deal with this sort of clear violation is extremely concerning -- these could have been multi-thousand dollar items and the process and outcome would be exactly the same. Why eBay forces one to wait for an impossible delivery date when the seller grossly misrepresents the item location is unfathomable to me. It makes no sense. I do not know their backend code, API, nor service, but I do know that it would be pretty easy to provide such a service to buyers in these situations. No matter how one cuts this, I'm perturbed with eBay for allowing this to happen -- and the listings remain up with the inaccurate location -- and I know I'm not the only person that reported the listings in question.
In fact, one was a listing that eBay removed themselves, and still, in spite of this, they make me wait to open a case, and I'll have to wait for longer. That's a pretty lousy system, and they don't seem very keen to enforce their policy nor to satisfy their own buyer protection. I didn't agree to loan out the funds to some strangers or for eBay to hang on to. It's not okay to force users to wait for resolution, especially when eBay is aware of the situation -- I spoke to a support person on the phone today and they agreed, said there's no problem, but still I have to wait and still the other listing remains up (whilst the sellers continue to have negative feedback left to confirm many others are affected.) Whatever, I'm typing too much, but this is absolutely avoidable on eBay's part.
Anyway, didn't mean to ramble on, you're not wrong about the order of steps to take, or the process in which to take. I indeed, simply started a case as soon as possible, believing it was better to not wait to report the issue. So, in the meantime, people are still being (for all intents and purposes) scammmed, as eBay allows the sellers to continue to sell w/ fraudulent listings. These **bleep** sellers seem to believe this is okay to do, because the buyer will *eventually* get their items (some day, months later) and eBay allows this to go on. I do accept responsibility for not being aware of my options to open a case and that I shouldn't have opened a return request -- I know that now. As noted in this thread, nearly 22 years of eBay and I'm shutting down my account once this mess is over. Nothing more to say, so I'll shut up and stop complaining.
papa486516
·3 years agoAs an example, you can't cancel an order on the Wyze website, but a Facebook message gets it done in minutes.
In your case, right after starting your return request, you would have gone on Facebook to get in touch w/ eBay to resolve.
That social team is empowered to review the evidence, enforce eBay policy, and force refunds.
timgreer
OP3 years agoI believe you (using Facebook). Good to be aware of that option (thanks for noting it.) I actually haven't had an active Facebook profile for years. I suppose, if I were to continue to use eBay and needed to report some issue, that I could reactivate to contact them. Seems strange, but indeed people do seem to use such things over a major site's own contact forms, etc. Anyway, I don't think I'll need to consider this; pretty sure I'll just shut down my profile here after this is done. Appreciate the help/insight regardless. Thanks again.
wsteelenyc
·3 years agoWhat was your ultimate resolution? The same thing just happenned to me. It's unbelievable that this has been going on for 5 years and ebay has done diddly squat about it.