On January 17th I found a "too good to be true" deal on an acoustic electric guitar. The seller was new with 0 feedback and a weird-looking username. I figured no biggie if it's a scam, eBay will always have my back, so I went ahead and purchased for ~$700 and crossed my fingers. I now see that I was a bit cocky in that assumption, but I digress.
Yesterday the package was delivered and signed for by someone whose name I didn't recognize. My wife checked our porch and didn't find anything, so I immediately requested a callback from eBay to speak to someone directly. The agent was very helpful - I told him why I thought the seller was scamming me, and he went ahead and set up an INR case on my behalf. Afterward I called my local post office and was able to speak to the postmaster directly. She told me that the package got sent on a different route than it should have been according to the tracking number, and was able to contact the driver. Fortunately the driver remembered the package and was able to go back for it. It had been delivered to a local bank (the same bank that I use, coincidentally) with both the bank's name and address on the label, despite the tracking number giving my actual home address when pulled up. So the postmaster and myself both concluded that someone had altered the label before it was stuck to the package. The postmaster told me that the label purchased was for a legal size flat rate envelope with a weight of 12 pounds, and indeed it was a small bubble mailer with a printed label stuck directly to it with nothing inside. A bank employee had opened it and was confused to find that it was empty.
Last night I went to the post office and picked up the fraudulent package directly from the postmaster. She said she would be happy to write a letter on my behalf if her testimony is required, and she also has a black and white scan of the envelope when it came through the post office.
In addition to the INR case on eBay, I've opened a case with my credit card company and messaged the eBay For Business profile on Facebook. The representative there told me that they have referred the seller to their risk team and provided the order details, and that I would have to wait the full 3 business days before they can do anything else. I also sent them photos of the bubble mailer I received.
Because I do now have the "package" in hand, I'm considered closing the INR and opening a new INAD claim. What do you think, should I wait until Friday and potentially let the seller drag this out as long as possible or try to initiate a return?
