I don't really post on any social media but I think this might be a big warning for us buyers here:
tl;dr version:
eBay will use a fake Fedex tracking to decide a case so if the seller uses a tracking that's sent to your city, eBay will decide the case in the seller's favor regardless of whether you actually received it or not. They have no clue whether that tracking requires signature or has been signed by the right person. Their appeal department is incompetent and you can't reach them via telephone for a transparent communication. Their buy protection program is a joke.
Order a $600 camera. Listed in UK, paid in CAD. The seller provide Fedex tracking on the second day sent from Heather, OH (suspicious enough, right? I couldn't know this before ordering it). The tracking (Fedex: 502573111521) appears to be from eBay seller from a company called SPORTSMANS OUTDOOR SUPERSTORE at HEATH, OH , with no actual shipping address. It is sent to my residential address but with company name of a gun shop (HIGH CALIBER) which I never heard of. I've no idea how this guy faked the tracking with my actual address, trying to get Fedex step in right now.
I opened case against the seller and the exchange before the case decision is like this:
Apr. 29th: Hi, I have not received the item. The package tracking showed to be signed by MSUX which is not me or anyone in the household. I've filed a claim through Fedex. Best, ***
Apr. 29th: We have mistakenly placed the track number We will re-correct Sorry for this mistake
Apr. 29th: Can you cancel the case so that it does not affect my account? Item close to your home I will re-correct the tracking number Of course, you can reopen it if you haven't received your product.
Apr. 29th: Hi, please update the tracking number. eBay will put this case on hold once you've done so so it won't hurt your reviews. It will be only marked as solved one I confirm that the item is received your product.
(Then nothing from the seller anymore)
May 5th (opened the case): Seller said wrong tracking was provided but did not update with a new one. I still have not received the item.
The communication with eBay has been "wonderful," so buckle up...
On May 5th, eBay closes the case with the verdict that:
We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase. However, the seller provided tracking information that shows the item was delivered to your address.
(Which is B**sh*t since the seller made clear in the exchange that the tracking was provided wrong.)
I appealed and called immediately after this and
Michelle P. from eBay Customer support (customerhelp@ebay.com) granted the appeal with SR# 1-321101505673:
I've checked and reviewed the case details further Tracking doesn’t confirm that you received the item.For items of this value, we do require signature confirmation. We don’t see that this was requested by the seller.
As a result, we’ve decided to grant your appeal. We'll issue you a full refund (including original shipping).We’ve notified the seller of our decision. You should see these funds in the next 24 to 48 hours. You don’t need to do anything else.
About an hour later Leonor from eBay Customer support (customerhelp@ebay.com) sent another email with SR# 1-321131633063: I reviewed the details for the transaction and from what I can see the seller indeed informed you that they have provided a wrong tracking number, however they no longer responded with the correct tracking number.
I will go ahead and submit a request to our account specialist to reconsider this for you to be refunded. Please allow 5-7 days for the approval and processing. Once the refund is approved it will go to your PayPal account (email). You will get an email from PayPal once the funds are transferred.
(So they started with conflicting information about the refund time window.)
On the same day, eBay closed the appeal case on
eBay.com retaining the decision in the seller’s favor. eBay now take off the case completely that I won’t even be able to access it.
I called on May 11th and the customer support from the phone told me I would receive a call from appeal department explaining why the refund has not arrived.
Then I received on the same day an email (case 5267241953 SR# 1-322561576245) from
eBayIntlShipping@ebay.com.
Giel B. At Customer Support stated that:
I know that it’s frustrating to pay for an item and not receive it, and we always want our members to have positive shopping experiences on eBay. However, after reviewing the tracking information provided by the seller, we have closed this case because the tracking information shows that the item was delivered to your location.
Upon checking the messages, I see seller mentioned it was incorrect tracking and they have not changed it. Since seller tried to do the voluntary refund but just failed, we humbly ask you to please reply back to seller, let them know nothing still arrived, and you're expecting for a refund. Contact seller option would be through your order details page or on the purchase history.
I called on May 12th pressuring the telephone support to escalate the case and give me a phone number to the appeal department but no success. Karen however provided the notes she put in the case (appeals notes SR# 1-322842081213):
Reference#:1-322842081213
user id: ***
Buyer/Seller:Buyer
Item #:174746700430
Claim ID:5267241953
Issue: The buyer wants to make an appeal.He opened a case for an Item Not Receive. The case was close in seller's favor but up until now he don't have the item.
-He don't want to contact the seller anymore.
-He was requesting if its possible for appeals department to give him a phone call and not an email.
On the same day, Monica from your Customer Service sent another email (case 5267241953 SR# 1-322561576245😞
After a careful review, it shows that we have attempted to send a manual correction since the seller has promised a refund and admitted he gave a different tracking number .But it appears that the system detected there was PayPal Protection claim has been opened for this transaction.As much as we love to, re investigate the case, please be informed that once a Paypal protection claim was opened, eBay can no longer step in.
Also, eBay is a separate online platform and do not work directly with Paypal , therefore, we are not authorized to take any decisions on the Protection claims opened on their end. We kindly ask you to contact PayPa directly to check what is the next step to resolve the issue.
Jubeth from your Customer service sent another email (SR# 1-322842081213😞
I have reviewed all the details and I can see that the tracking information provided by the seller shows that the item was successfully delivered on April 28, 2021 in Kalamazoo, MI US. You can check the tracking information by clicking on the link below: ***
With the information gathered, we decided to retain the original case decision as this is considered as successful delivery. At this point, I strongly recommend you to contact your seller for them to request an investigation with the carrier as you haven’t receive the package. In case seller will not respond then you can try other option outside eBay.
For more information on eBay Money Back Guarantee and how you are protected as a buyer, please take a look at the page below: http://pages.ebay.com/ebay-money-back-guarantee/index.html
(How many times do I have to repeat that the tracking was provided wrong? It is the seller’s statement clearly in the case exchange!)
Then I received a phone call at 10:30PM my time. Of course I couldn’t pick up. And you instructed via the message that I might need to update my phone number.
An now this morning through email Jessica C. asked me again to go through my Paypal account to get my money back, saying this is Plan B. This whole thing is due to eBay appeal department’s incompetence to identify a potential fraud. Some of appeal department staff kept using the wrong tracking number to make judgement about the case. To set things straight eBay simply need to 1) correct the decision on the case and 2) issue full refund. And after a whole weeks’s numerous communications, eBay have not been able to done either but reiterating a clearly wrong appeal decision and asking me to do all sorts of things to in order to get refund. How is this buyer protection program protecting the buyer at all?
