Seller has not shipped the merchandise 12 days after I paid for it

[banknotes_1]

Seller has not shipped the merchandise 12 days after I paid for it. The online tracking for both the post office and ebay tracking shows that a tracking number was provided, but the post office did not receive the shipment yet and it's been 12 days since I paid for it. Screenshot is attached to illustrate that.

I tried to find where I can submit a claim and receive a refund while the seller can keep their merchandise that was not dispatched at the post office yet, but ebay only allows to submit a claim after June 20, 2024 which is more than 5 weeks away. So in case if seller never ships the item ebay will keep my money for another 5+ weeks before I can even submit a claim for a refund. I understand that this is done to protect sellers from buyer fraud when buyer pays for and immediately submits "Item Not Received" claim, which makes sense, but in case the tracking shows the item was never dispatched, the buyer should have the right to just request a full refund if the merchandise was not dispatched say after 7 or 10 days.

I must also add that ebay is full of bugs (long story, for another thread) and is very disorganized. For example: I wanted to attach a screenshot in JPG format which is just a couple hundred KB in size. Ebay does not allow it for some reason: "Uploading tmp.jpg resulted in the following error: Error Code: Upload Failed".

Then I tried to contact the seller and it gave me three options: one of the options was to select an item from ebay list. I did select an item with a photo with a radio box, but the CONTINUE button is greyed out (is not blue), so I can't contact the seller. I can't even attach a screenshot to document it...

These, and many more, are reason s why I avoid ebay and this probably the cause of many complaints why ebay sellers do not have any sales.

P.S. I was able to attach the screenshots after I waited for some time. That must have been a temporary glitch.

[ebooksdiva]

You have eBay Money Back Guarantee of you don't receive the item you purchased by the last estimated date of delivery. You have 30 days from that date to open an item not received case.

[mudshark61369]

@banknotes_1,

"ebay only allows to submit a claim after June 20, 2024".

Is that date the last estimated delivery date shown on your Order details page?  If it is, most likely the item is coming from overseas, and the domestic tracking number will not update until the package arrives in Portugal, clears customs and is handed off to the domestic delivery service for final delivery.  

[banknotes_1]

The seller is in Portugal and they replied before I bid that they ship from Portugal. Ebay listing clearly states that the seller is in Portugal. At least that's what they wrote in a private message. I wasn't going to buy from outside of the EU country since import duties make the deal unattractive. Yet I got charged over €4 for using my card beyond the EU and ebay states it's an "Economy International Shipping". Pay attention to the ebay's screenshot where "SHIPPED TO YOU" circle is not marked, which means the seller has provided a tracking number which can be read from any mailing forms but did not deliver the shipment to their local post office. Since the seller stated they ship from within Portugal, it's a written contract and is conditional to the sale. If they ship from another country, they are breaking the contract. Yet the seller just responded that they did deliver the shipment to the post office in their country (Portugal, CTT). Perhaps it was stolen from the post office of origin, since there is no dispatch tracking record to begin with. Portuguese CTT claims they are yet to receive the shipment from the seller. Ebay is giving wrong delivery estimates for Portugal. They are clueless and are a huge mess. Delivery: Estimated between Tue, Jun 4 and Wed, Jul 3.  Yet under ebay tracking it shows a different estimate: Arrives Tue, May 21 - Thu, Jun 20.  Then again: Estimated delivery Thursday Jun 20. I don't think I am going to receive the shipment since the Portuguese CTT (privatized post office service) has not received it or they must have forgot to mark it as received and could be stolen. Now have to wait more than a month just to claim the money back.

I made yet another HUGE MISTAKE by buying on ebay...

[12345jamesstamps]

Go by June 4th - July 3rd if that is what is stated on purchase item.

If it arrives before that then you are lucky.

But the item for sale clearly shows when item will be delivered before buying it.

  I purchase items from Macao all the time...I live in the USA

It usually states only "tracking provided" as well. And I usually receive item in 2 weeks. And tracking usually doesn't show in eBay as well or anywhere.

Item will probably arrive way early....

[banknotes_1]

Reference on ebay's "shipping" system from another member.

[stevescho]

Banknotes_1:  You and everyone else who buys on eBay need to ignore those tracking updates. I regularly receive items before the updates mark them as shipped, no less delivered. Most recently, I got an item and left positive feedback, 2 days later it updated as shipped, and 3 days later it updated as delivered. I already had it. Only pay attention to the estimated delivery date. If it doesn't arrive by then, open an INR case.  That is all.

[yuzuha]

If the estimated delivery date is May 21st at the EARLIEST, you are seriously jumping the gun. International tracking is not always reliable; back before Christmas I ordered a Secret Santa gift from a seller in NZ and its tracking never updated beyond showing that the local post office had it. It showed up on my doorstep, so it had very obviously been moving through both the NZ and US postal systems with zero tracking updates.

[soh.maryl]

When you made your purchase, you saw an estimated delivery date in the listing before purchasing.

This date was evidently satisfactory for you at the time, or you would not have made the purchase, right?

Per eBay's Money Back Guarantee, which you need to read BTW, you have 30 days after that date to open an item not received case.  There is no point in opening a case before that date.

So, go back to your Purchase History and find the listing for this item.  Exactly what is the estimated delivery date shown there?   I'm asking because you've mentioned several dates in your posts.  They can't all be right.  

[bayareafan702]

I am dealing with the same issue right now. I purchased an item almost 2 weeks ago April 30th. The item is a pair of sneakers, And the seller right away that day printed out the label, which means eBay automatically thinks that it was shipped out. Although It appears to be shipped out, there is no tracking and there has been no update or response from the seller for almost 2 weeks. I assume the seller does not want to ship out the sneakers because the Winning bid amount wasn’t what they thought it would be once that auction ended. I won the auction and paid immediately as any regular buyer would. It’s only right that eBay should have the seller should ship out the item, or that the seller should be penalized by eBay after making the consumer wait more than two weeks all while ignoring messages sent to them. eBay needs to fix this. Not right at all…

[kathiec]

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@bayareafan702 wrote:

I am dealing with the same issue right now. I purchased an item almost 2 weeks ago April 30th. The item is a pair of sneakers, And the seller right away that day printed out the label, which means eBay automatically thinks that it was shipped out. Although It appears to be shipped out, there is no tracking and there has been no update or response from the seller for almost 2 weeks. I assume the seller does not want to ship out the sneakers because the Winning bid amount wasn’t what they thought it would be once that auction ended. I won the auction and paid immediately as any regular buyer would. It’s only right that eBay should have the seller should ship out the item, or that the seller should be penalized by eBay after making the consumer wait more than two weeks all while ignoring messages sent to them. eBay needs to fix this. Not right at all…

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@bayareafan702 

There is nothing to fix. Ebay has a very buyer-centric Money Back Guarantee. All you have to do is go to your purchase history and find the last estimated delivery date. On the day after that date you open a case and get a refund. Until that date neither you nor eBay has any idea if the package has actually shipped. As mentioned by several posters it's not unusual for USPS to miss scans. So unless you expect eBay to hire enough people to follow every seller around, making note of when they drop the package in the mail I'm not sure what you think eBay can do.

[bayareafan702]

Thanks for your input. In my personal opinion as a loyal ebay customer for over 20 years, simply just getting a refund isn’t enough. I’m pretty sure the seller is on the phone or computer like the rest of us, and is just laughing about how they are planning to not ship out an item that they sold and was instantly paid for without any disciplinary action coming their way. Don’t forget the ignoring messages from your buyer part. A simple refund is supposed to satisfy the customer and send them on their way? That is a waste of time, and the next person’s waste of time after the seller continues to do it time and time again.

[kathiec]

I'm assuming you have another ID? Because this one has been a member for just over 8 years, not 20. 

I'm curious what you think eBay can do beyond giving you a refund, particularly since neither you nor eBay knows what's actually going on with the seller beyond your hyperbolic musings? 

[mudshark61369]

@bayareafan702,

Your issue may not be the same as the one posted.  That transaction involves international shipping, but even if they were the same issue, it is not appropriate to piggy back your problem on another persons post.

Whether you are a 20 year ebay member or an 8 year one, you should know by now to check the feedback profile of any seller you intend to buy from.  You wrote two things that have me thinking you may have bought from a new seller. One was that the bidding price was low, possibly because the starting price was very low, which is often a new seller mistake.  The other is that the seller created a shipping label, but hasn't shipped.  That may be happening if the seller is new or has not sold anything in a long time, because they ran into the 21-30 day hold placed on the first few payments of new/returning sellers.  They may have a fair number of feedback and even a 100% rating, but all for buying, not selling at least in the last 12 months.

  Many new or returning sellers do not know about the hold, and when they see a payment status on their account marked as Pending, they do not ship thinking the funds haven't cleared.  They may also take your messages about shipping as an attempt to scam them somehow, because of the Pending status.

  Check your seller's feedback profile page, and if you find that they are a new or returning seller, and you still want the shoes, try messaging them again, and tell them if they haven't shipped because your payment is marked Pending, to do a Google search for "Payments on hold, ebay".  If they do that they will get the information needed to ship the shoes and get the funds released.

  If they do not respond to the message and the last estimated delivery date passes, then file the item not received dispute to get a refund.

    If you have to do that not only will the seller not receive the funds, but they will be charged the final value fees ebay charges, and they will get a defect on their account, which will extend the period before the payment hold will be lifted if they continue to sell.

[banknotes_1]

The seller has provided with the mailing receipt and that means the issue is resolved. Thus I don't need a refund. The items were indeed mailed out on time. The culprit is the CTT the Portuguese company that runs postal service for Portugal. They often do not provide enough tracking information and this time they did not even enter the acceptance record either, which made me think that shipment was not even delivered to the post office of origin. It's all postal service's fault in this case. CTT has been privatized in 2014 and they wait for weeks to collect enough mail, so they can deliver it to remote areas especially, instead of delivering it immediately to the customers. That way CTT makes sure they make maximum profit and delay mail delivery by weeks or even by months instead of running a Public Service for the country with the utmost importance serving the public. I hope the company that runs CTT will not get public vote next time they vote who should run CTT for the next cadence. That's why privatizing public postal service is a very bad idea.