Lost package, seller refused refund request.
Summary: chris330r expressed frustration over a delayed DVD set order, which has been stuck at a distribution center since 9/10. Despite filing a missing mail request and contacting the seller, who refused a refund, eBay's automated system also denied the refund, requiring a wait until 10/3. kathiec and lacemaker3 explained that eBay's policy necessitates this wait to give the package a chance to be delivered, which chris330r found unsatisfactory, highlighting issues with eBay's accessibility support.
I ordered a DVD set on 9/5. Seller shipped it 9/8. It made it to the Distribution Center in my city on 9/10 and tracking has been stalled there since then with absolutely no movement at all. On 9/17 I finally submitted a Missing Mail request with USPS and a couple of days later tracking showed "Alert" and that USPS was looking for it.
By 9/21, after no updates on it, I reached out to the seller showing him that tracking has been stuck with zero movement since 9/10 and I requested a refund so I can purchase the set somewhere else. He refused.
I then escalated it to Ebay for my refund, and the seller again refused and apparently showed the tracking to Ebay that was still showing 9/10 Distribution Center and "On the Way" so the Ebay auto bot denied the refund and placed everything on hold until 10/3 when I am sure that tracking will still be stuck on 9/10 Distribution Center and saying "on the way".
Am I stuck waiting until 10/3 for my funds to be returned? Surely the seller realizes the package is lost and they are protected by insurance anyway so I just don't understand why they are denying the refund and forcing me to wait until 10/3. It just shows very poor service and I try to contact an Ebay rep via chat and they keep saying "We will call you"...but being Profoundly Deaf I am unable to go that route and when I mention it I hit a wall. So Ebay's accessibility for contacting them is terrible.
Do I have any recourse for my refund? An Ebay email address I may write to, or am I stuck waiting until 10/3?
chris330r
OP2 weeks agoSuch rude responses. Wow. I guess I have no choice but to wait until my funds are released from hostage. Lesson learned.
kathiec
·2 weeks agoAnd by rude you mean "telling me something other than what I wanted to hear". Lesson learned.
lacemaker3
·2 weeks ago · Edited@chris330r , if you have filed an Item Not Received case, and that was the response, then yes. You will have to wait a few days more (less than a week), so that the package has a chance to be delivered. Don't be so impatient.
There are delays with USPS and other couriers all the time. Packages can get misdirected. The seller has no control over that. It would not be fair to force a refund, at the seller's expense, while the package is still being processed by USPS.
Shipping insurance is very unreliable. They will not refund the seller if the item is eventually delivered, and they basically won't refund unless there is evidence that the package was completely destroyed by the carrier. Basically, it would require proof that the package was flattened, with tire tracks across it, before the carrier would accept a "damaged" claim.
If you can't afford to wait a few days to give the USPS a chance to get the package to you, then you probably should not have purchased the item online in the first place.
If the package is not delivered in the end, then you will get a refund.
kathiec
·2 weeks ago@chris330r
Short answer is yes, you have to wait until 10/3. The Money Back Guarantee is very buyer-oriented, but eBay also tries to be fair to sellers as well. If a package shows it's on the way they'll give some extra time for it to shake loose, because they have no mechanism to reverse refunds and a sizable percentage of buyers don't repay sellers if the item arrives.