eBay Catch 22

[currietp]

I just received a notice from eBay that they had removed the listing for an item that I purchased YESTERDAY.   They removed the listing because they got around to noticing that the seller doesn't actually exist.

But eBay's directions to me (and any other buyers) is: "Since you've already paid for the item, you don't need to do anything else. If your item hasn't arrived yet, it should arrive soon. If it doesn't, then you'll want to open a case in our Resolution Center."

So, eBay knows the seller is fraudulent and has cancelled his eBay account and all listings, but rather than cancelling the transaction and issuing a refund, eBay insists that I wait two weeks for the "estimated delivery" date, then wait another week before I can file an "item not received" complaint. Then when I file the item not received complaint, eBay will insist that I "try to contact the seller" and wait another week to see if the seller (who no longer even has an eBay account) somehow magically replies, before I can ask eBay to do anything.

Disgusting!