Buyer INR protection deadline

[4la57or]

I've bought some items on oct-23 from a seller in Canada, and I'm located in Israel. The items still haven't arrived and no tracking was provided. Most of the time it takes 2-3 weeks for economy packages from North America to get here and it's uncommon for a package to take 2 months to arrive, but it does happen from time to time. Of course, this is probably not the sellers fault in any way, but I am worried about my MBG protection in the INR case.

The problem is that when I bought it the shipping estimate said nov-2 - nov-5. It's very unlikely for a package to arrive this fast, so this estimate is most likely a mistake in the ebay interface and it's integration with whatever database they pull their shipping estimates from.

The ebay information page on INR related problems says I need to contact the seller and let him know up to a 30 days after the estimated delivery date, which means up to tomorrow. I already contacted the seller informally through (ebay) messages but it's not like he has anything to do with it.

I know that if I open an INR case I'll probably be refunded because there is no tracking. But at this point I do believe there is still a chance that the package arrives sometime this month. I don't mind waiting and I want to be fair with the seller.

Question(s): Will I actually loose my MBG protection if I don't open a case now? Is contacting a seller through ebay messages considered enough for the "Let the seller know your item hasn't arrived" requirement when resolving an INR issue, or do I have to open an INR case? Thanks

[mudshark61369 · Accepted solution]

@4la57or,

"Will I actually loose my MBG protection if I don't open a case now?"

Yes you will. If the seller has not provided tracking it is their problem. If they resolve it properly nothing will happen to them.

  "I already contacted the seller informally through (ebay) messages but it's not like he has anything to do with it....I know that if I open an INR case I'll probably be refunded because there is no tracking. But at this point I do believe there is still a chance that the package arrives sometime this month. I don't mind waiting and I want to be fair with the seller".

  You contacting the seller through ebay messages does not count as opening a dispute, which you have to do within 30 days of the last estimated delivery date.  You did not mention if the seller responded to you message, if they did what did they say?

Once you open an INR dispute, if the seller responds to it in some way,  you do not have to close it, by asking ebay to step in for 21 more days, which unfortunately would be Christmas eve, so you would have to ask ebay to step in on the 23rd. 

If the item were to arrive after you have been refunded, you could always repay the seller, and maybe you should mention that in another message after you open the dispute.