Seller playing games with a return.

[neil_2010]

The seller tried to offer me money to keep the item and not return it, it will not fit on my vehicle so I declined, he offered several more times increasing his offer each time. I declined each time and requested he send the return shipping label, their policy states they will pay for all return shipping. I asked e-bay for help and they have not been any use at all, each time I spoke with them they tried to tell me it was up to me to ship it back at my expense, I suggested they read the sellers return policy and they finally agreed and said they would take control of the situation and I do not need to do anything else. The seller had previously claimed they had sent the label, but the attachment they sent was a picture of the instructions, they have tried this ploy several times telling me to open the attachment, all they have ever sent is a picture of the instructions. Out of interest I checked their feedback and they have done this to quite a few customers. I was about to say to hell with it and pay to ship it back but I read that another buyer did this and then received no refund from them. I am thinking about telling e-bay to close the return and then file a claim with Pay Pal at least that way I would be sure of getting a refund when the seller receives it.  I was annoyed to see in the feedback area that e-bay automatically gives the seller 5 stars for several of the things you can leave feedback for, all I can leave negative feedback for is the sellers communication and the condition of the goods. Has anyone on here had a similar problem with a seller and how did you resolve it? Any pointers on how to get this resolved would be great, e-bay has been less than helpful, they started off by telling me what a wonderful gold star seller they are, well maybe that is because e-bay gives them a lot of 5 stars without consulting with their buyers?

[wooden_flower]

Contact customer service and explain that the seller sent a photo of instructions, not a return label.  They should be able to help. I have never heard of a seller trying to cheat by loading some other document instead of a label.

You can ask customer service to check by posting a message on facebook or twitter. The top reps works there and are good at the unusual problems. www.facebook.com/ebay    www.twitter.com/ebay

To speak to customer service, use the link and instructions on this page to work through the automated assistant to get a call back -
 https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851

[neil_2010]

He has done this to other buyers according to his negative feedback, I finally got someone at e-bay customer service to look at the messages he sent me and they admitted they could see all of our correspondence and could see that he sent me a picture of the instruction manual and no shipping label. They told me they would contact him and if he does not send the shipping label within 5 days they would find in my favor. The seller responded by sending me a copy of the instruction manual again and telling me that he had sent it multiple times and that I should contact e-bay to resolve it. I have no idea what his game is but every attachment he has sent has the exact same JPEG attached and it is clearly a copy of the instruction manual. I have even sent a copy back to the seller showing him what he has sent me, his response was to tell me to contact e-bay!  He has until the 23rd to send me the shipping label. He has quite a few negative comments saying exactly the same happened to them and yet e-bay told me he is a gold seller, my response was that he has not been acting like one! Now all I can do until the 23rd is sit and wait for e-bay to make a final decision, but they admitted to me they could see all he had sent me was pictures of the instruction manual. 

[wooden_flower]

I am glad they are taking care of it for you, even if you have to wait a few more days.  This should put the seller on their radar - not enough people complain when sellers pull carp like this, so thank you for taking the time to deal with it through eBay.

[neil_2010]

I guess my telling them that e-bay has given them 5 days to send me the label or they would give me a full refund worked, this morning they sent to my e-mail a shipping label, their e-bay response still shows a copy of the instruction manual. I have no idea why they tried this but there have been quite a few negative reports for them stating they had done the exact thing to other buyers. Thanks for  taking the time to reply on here, it appears to be resolved now as long as they give me the refund when they receive it, that still has to be resolved before I will let e-bay know this has been resolved, all the best, Neil.

[wooden_flower]

Excellent. 

Since they sent you the label outside of the return, be sure to add the tracking # to the return.

If you have difficulty adding the tracking, contact CS right away and ask them to help you - sometimes the system puts up a fight.

As long as the tracking is in the return, after it shows delivery to the seller, eBay will make sure you get your refund after 2 business days.  If there is anything odd about the delivery, like seller refused or something, call CS - they will issue the refund based on the attempted delivery.