eBay holding me hostage
Summary: highmindedmotors described an issue where eBay charged an additional $2000 for a shipping adjustment, claiming a package weighed over 350 pounds. Despite multiple calls and assurances of a refund, the issue remains unresolved. Participants suggested that the problem might be related to FedEx’s shipping calculations, particularly in regards to dimensional weight. Several responses provided advice on contacting FedEx directly and involving legal routes, such as filing complaints with the state Attorney General's office. highmindedmotors remains determined to resolve the matter, emphasizing the financial impact.
Hello eBay community.
About a month and a half ago, I received a notice that i had underpaid for shipping and was being charged an adjustment. When looking into the adjustment, I was being charged an additional $2000!! The claim is that the shipped item weighed over 350 pounds. This item, which weighed about 30 pounds, was packed in a cardboard box and I carried it into the ship station with one arm. Either I am super strong, or this is bogus. Needless to say, of the dozen times I have called eBay customer service, every representative has agreed it was bogus and after the second call, they said my claim for a refund was approved. That was well over a month ago. I’ve called another 10 times, and each time they make a promise that my refund is coming and every time their new deadline passes without any refund. I am at a loss of what to do next. This caused me to be late on my bills this month as I worked to scrape extra money together to cover the money stolen from my account. Anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance.
simba6
·Jul 10, 2026 at 10:41 PMNeed to know the size of the box. Over size can trigger that.
I don't suppose you shipped a piano by mistake? Many have reported Fedex has done that to them too.
millies_ferret_treasures
·Jul 10, 2026 at 9:59 PMStart with going to fedex retail and calculate the shipping for a package of the same dims and weight. Make a copy.
Then contact your state Attorney general consumer affairs dept. Every state has one usually run by the State AG.
File compliant - with copies of everything you have include tracking, the rate calculations, any chat logs, etc.. name both Fedex and Ebay as the responsible parties - might have to make two separate claims. You can do it online in most states and at the end they will give you a PDF copy of the claim.
Write out the details of the claim offline so you have a copy since typing it directly into the website could cause you to lose all your work if the website times out or your browser takes a dump.
Most states the AG office will send a "letter of inquiry" to ebay and Fedex - this forces a human to look at it and respond to the AG office. Companies do not like to have open inquires because they are public records and attorneys comb thru them looking for possible class action suits they can start.
And/or
Send by certificated mail to both Ebay and Fedex a "claim letter" A claim letter should include a header with contact information, a clear statement of the issue, a detailed description of the claim, supporting facts, a requested resolution, and a polite closing.
Some states provide a template for that which conforms to their civil proceedings or you can find a template online. It is important you send it certified or some other manner that include proof of receipt.
$2000 is a lot of money so if all else fails, sue in small claims court, which is exempt from arbitration.
You could also contact class action law firms - since ebay and fedex are doing them a lot it could look tasty to class action firm. There are websites that will farm out your case to multiple firms or google class action lawsuit fedex ebay and look for firms that have sued fedex or ebay in the past .
$2000 is out and out fraud - that is a charge for a LTL shipment and there is no way in hades that your package was that big.
Fedex knows that many companies will just eat charges like that especially if they are high volume shippers - their accounting dept just pays the bills and rarely audit them.
USPS has pull that on me, upcharging a 4 oz package to 13 lbs - 3 times this year. With USPS I disputed and won all three.
You will see a lot of responses to this post claiming this is useless but it is $2000, what do you have to lose by at least investing an hour or two?
ryry-jj
·Jul 10, 2026 at 9:07 PMCan you at least provide the box size?
kibble-net
·Jul 10, 2026 at 1:06 PMWhy are you blaming ebay for something that FEDEX is doing?
That's like being mad at Burger King because McDonald's messed up your order...
highmindedmotors
OPJul 10, 2026 at 2:02 PMI am only going to the person that took the money from my account. If you have a way to actually contact fedex, that’s a comment that may actually be helpful 🤷🏼♂️
annadryl
·Jul 10, 2026 at 9:20 PMhttps://www.fedex.com/en-us/customer-support.html
millies_ferret_treasures
·Jul 10, 2026 at 10:06 PMAt this point you should not be chatting or calling customer support at either, you NEED a papertrail. It is prob against ebay policy for me to give you address and fax of Ebay and Fedex legal dept, but for Fedex you can find it at the bottom of a PDF if you google
"Fedex Reporting financial fraud or accounting/auditing matters" on the fedex Ways To Speak Up | Policies | FedEx page.
fm2000
·Jul 12, 2026 at 1:40 AM · EditedThat isn't a completely fair analogy. When we buy FedEx labels, we are basically using eBay's FedEx account, as opposed to one that someone can set up themselves; eBay's account gives us better-than retail rates. If there is an issue, real or completely imaginary, FedEx complains to eBay and takes the money from them and eBay takes it from us. We then have to go to eBay on our behalf to get FedEx to reverse the charge, so eBay is part of this chain. This is why it is extremely difficult to get fake FedEx charges reversed when we buy them on eBay, there is a middleman involved who is, at least somewhat, indifferent.
With your fast food analogy, Burger King and McDonald's have no relationship with each other in any way.
highmindedmotors
OPJul 9, 2026 at 9:02 PMI appreciate the responses. Unfortunately this sounds like a bigger fight than I was hoping for, but I won’t let this go. $2000 is a lot of money to some of us. The net proceeds from sale of the item was -$1900 🤦♂️.
music-treasury
·Jul 9, 2026 at 7:52 PMThey won't refund your money. The same thing happened to me using Ebay postage. I mailed a Rolling Stone Magazine and they said the package (13 X 1 X 13) weighed 41 lbs. I am assuming you used Ebay postage, otherwise this would not have happened. Fed-ex was the one that stated the package was 41 lbs rather than 1 lb. Ebay said it was a Fed-Ex problem, Fed-Ex said it was a Ebay problem. I think Ebay now has robots determining postage somehow, and no one at Ebay knows how to program any type of robot. The robots can not even answer simply return questions. Welcome to the world of AI.
highmindedmotors
OPJul 9, 2026 at 9:03 PMI am sorry you went through this either. Seems like there should be more reproduction though. Theft of over $600 in my state is a felony…
millies_ferret_treasures
·Jul 10, 2026 at 10:09 PMAll big companies have AI or the outsource Seller Support to a 3rd company that then hires contractors to respond. Their job is to sandbag you, and they are "silo'd" and have no ability to escalate and would be penalized if they actually helped you. If you ask for a supervisor they will put you on hold until you give up or transfer you to the guy in the next cubicle who will do the same.
tools*
·Jul 9, 2026 at 7:24 PMWhat were the dimensions of the box?
highmindedmotors
OPJul 9, 2026 at 9:04 PMThey weight is what the adjustment was for. The dimensions were not in question
fm2000
·Jul 10, 2026 at 12:49 AM · EditedThere is a "freight penalty" which kicks in if it is over a certain weight and/or physical size. Since it was 30 pounds and you could carry it with one arm it probably stuck to another box or similar error.
Did you get a receipt with the weight on it when you dropped it off? When I mail a large-ish Fedex package I drive it to the FedEx depot and demand a receipt with the weight on it, and insist the employee measure it in front of me and that our numbers match up (they don't have the dimensions on the receipt though, which might be an issue in your case.)
Regardless, with this kind of false adjustment, I'd fight like hell to get 2 grand back, that is absolutely outrageous, and it is outrageous they can legally unilaterially do that without having to show any proof.
(Fun fact: In the 1990s, Congress made it explicitly legal for private shipping companies to retroactively and unilaterally bill customers like this without requiring any proof.)
tools*
·Jul 10, 2026 at 1:18 AM · EditedIt's almost always about "dimensional weight," not physical weight.
ryry-jj
·Jul 10, 2026 at 1:52 AM · EditedThe actual weight was not used, most likely it is calculated at dimension weight, which often is far greater than the real weight & is based on the volume of the package. This is why the OD is asked for.
A $2000 charge most often means the size of the package then shipped freight
tobaccocardyahoo
·Jul 9, 2026 at 7:09 PMThe shipping carrier you used is the one who is making this claim.
And the shipping carrier is probably unwilling to relinquish their claim. What ever information you are being provided by whoever you are communicating with at Ebay is probably second or third hand, or invented to get rid of you.
I am going to guess that this shipment went via FEDEX Ground.
The only reason to use FEDEX Ground is price, the service is lower than other major carriers, and the same low quality service applies to these outrageous charges.
Auto parts sellers on Ebay appear to be victims of these FEDEX errors quite frequently, and it takes a while to get any relief, and it is not a given that you will have any.
highmindedmotors
OPJul 9, 2026 at 9:05 PMHow would I even go about contacting the shipping company? I bought the label through eBay, and eBay was the one who removed money from my account. Seems like an eBay issue… at least that’s who my lawyer will be contacting.
dbmm-media
·Jul 9, 2026 at 6:53 PMEbay has no cs you can call. if you found the number on the internet they are usually scammers
highmindedmotors
OPJul 9, 2026 at 9:03 PMIf you go through their chat, you can usually get to a point where they give an option to call you. This is how I’ve spoken to them.