Seller wants me to cancel an item they've already "shipped"
I have a dilemma and my attempts to contact Ebay have just left me going in circles through their AI chat... I purchased an item a few days ago, and it was marked Shipped (Untracked) by the seller the day after I purchased (the listing said it would be shipped via Ebay International tracked shipping, but they did not).
The seller then contacted me the day after they "shipped" the item, saying that it was out of stock and that I needed to cancel the order to receive my refund.
However, I cannot cancel an order marked as shipped, and there's no option to report the item as missing - or the seller as fraudulent- until the estimated delivery date has passed, which will be weeks in the future.
The seller still has the item I purchased listed in their shop with "more than 10 available", so I feel like I'm being scammed here...
Do I have any recourse at this point, or do I just have to tough it out for the next month until the estimated delivery date passes and I can report my item as not received? All attempts to contact seller have been met with dead air.
simba6
·8 months agoThe problem is the seller can receive a very serious NPS defect for selling an item they don't have. Too many of those and they can be banned from selling for life. So, to avoid that they lie and try to get you to cancel the sale. Just sit tight and let them squirm a bit. Often they will lie and say you requested they cancel when you did not. That is risky for them as eBay can see no such request was made.
Since they marked it shipped, you can't cancel anyway. Yes I say let them squirm. They will soon be getting nag messages about late shipping.
ryry-jj
·8 months agoIf it shows shipped the seller cant cancel either, they can only send a refund. Sit tight and file INR when the time comes. Also report the buyer for trying to force you to cancel. Not sure too much would happen, but if the seller received too many BBE complaints they do add up.
mamacassidy
·8 months agoI don't know if you're being "scammed". It's more likely the seller is really bad at inventory control, or they are a drop-shipper and they didn't realize the item they posted was sold out on the site they are drop-shipping from.
But either way, you are right to be annoyed. If I were you, I'd do as the others suggested and file an INR when the time comes.
And if you are really annoyed, you can report the seller messages asking you to cancel because they are out of stock. I'd only do this, though, if I thought they were drop-shipping. If it's a small-time seller who is still learning the ropes, I might cut them some slack.
casprrr
·8 months agoAs @1786davycrockett mentioned above, DO NOT cancel the order. The seller can cancel the order using "item out of stock" if they need to, but as a buyer, you should not cancel an order because another party requested it. It's up to the seller to ship the item on time, and if you don't receive it in the time estimate provided by eBay, file an item not received case with eBay. You will then receive a refund from eBay and you don't need to deal with the seller at all.
00rainbow9
OP8 months agoSince they've marked the order as shipped I can't cancel the order even if I wanted to (there's no option given for me to cancel it); and I definitely don't want to let the seller off the hook, I'm just frustrated I have to wait so long to get my money back when I've obviously been scammed =(
ed8108
·8 months agoIt's a learning experience.
You now know how things work here before you commit to making a purchase
Not good that you have a long wait for your refund
1786davycrockett
·8 months ago@00rainbow9
Sounds as if the seller wants eBay to believe that the cancelation is YOUR idea, and NOT the seller's.
Don't fall for it -- just wait it out until the final expected date of delivery; then file your INR case.
Makes no sense to let the seller off the hook by lying on their behalf.
00rainbow9
OP8 months agoNooo, I have no desire to let the seller off the hook - and even if I wanted to, there's no option to cancel a shipped order (even if it's shipped in name only, haha)... I'm just frustrated I have to wait so long to have any recourse for an obvious scam! Sadly although the seller had an excellent rating, when I went back through to view their most recent reviews, several other people reported dealing with the same issue.