Purchase refunded BUT eBay is not refunding sales tax!

[mozbjork]

I have been waiting over a month to receive my $75 sales tax refund from eBay! I’m infuriated to say the least! I purchased a handbag from a seller that was fake for $750 and when I received the invoice it was broken down as $675 for the handbag and $75 for sales tax. I paid the total invoice price, found out the bag was fake and notified the seller that I wanted a refund. I sent the handbag back and the seller issued the refund however on PayPal I only received a refund for $675. I contacted PayPal and PayPal said that eBay is whom got paid the sales tax so eBay is responsible for issuing the refund. I contacted eBay and they sent me over to the appeals department and the gentleman I spoke to said he was going to manually send in the request for me to receive my refund and that it should only take 5-10 business days to see the refund in PayPal. It’s now been over TWO WEEKS and I still have not received the refund! I called eBay again just now and the customer service rep had me on hold while she spoke to the appeals department and gets back on the line and states that they don’t know why the request was not processed but she is going to send a “follow up” and that I should receive my refund in the next 3-5 business days! I asked to speak to a manager but they were all busy and she said that regardless a manager couldn’t do anything to speed up the process! I’m so angry because this is $75.00 not $5.00 in sales tax that has been owed to me for over a month! What is going on?!?!?

[greg5000]

I have never heard of this happening before, but anything that can happen will probably happen here at eBay.

From what I know about Consumer Protection Laws, when you return something you should be refunded the Original Purchase Price AND any Taxes paid at the time of purchase.  This should be in one refund, not two ... and without the added stress of having to call eBay and wait for a refund that still hasn't come. 

I would escalate this to a Sr. Manager at eBay.

[mudshark61369]

@mozbjork,

  " I purchased a handbag from a seller that was fake for $750 and when I received the invoice it was broken down as $675 for the handbag and $75 for sales tax. I paid the total invoice price, found out the bag was fake and notified the seller that I wanted a refund. I sent the handbag back and the seller issued the refund however on PayPal I only received a refund for $675. I contacted PayPal and PayPal said that eBay is whom got paid the sales tax so eBay is responsible for issuing the refund".

That is true ebay is who would process the tax refund. However, for that to happen you should have filed a formal return request or Not As Described dispute. The seller would have sent a return shipping label, and once tracking showed they had received it back ebay would have processed the tax refund. 

If you did not involve ebay in the return and sent the handbag back yourself they are not aware that a refund needs to be given.  You can try calling ebay's customer service again have them look at messages between you and the seller, and if you returned the bag back at your cost provide the tracking number showing that the return was accomplished.   Unfortunately, ebay has not instructed their overseas reps on how to deal with sales tax refund issues.

[mozbjork]

I asked for a refund through eBay stating “item not as described” and the seller sent a return shipping label. I FINALLY received the refund over ONE MONTH later from eBay which came in as a separate refund from the original purchase. Definitely frustrating to say the least but at least I finally got my refund!

[mudshark61369]

@mozbjork,

Glad to hear you received your refund. I'm pretty sure the delay is because ebay was forced to become a tax facilitator. The process for tax refunds is new and hasn't been fully worked out yet. If the tax had already been remitted to the state, they may have had to wait on them to approve the refund.  Each state having different laws probably hasn't helped much.

[earlyant-77]

If the tax had already been remitted to the state, they may have had to wait on them to approve the refund.

Many reasons why that explanation doesn't fly. Ebay could simply add that as an adjustment to their next filing.

Sellers need to refund before an insurance case is decided by the delivery service ......