Seller's manipulation / scammer

[crnigorac]

Good day,

I guess I'm not allowed to mentioned the scammer on eBay and therefore I won't solve anything but I felt like sharing so I'll just drop the story here and try to keep it short.

In January I ordered 3 items from a seller on eBay. The seller was not sending the items and postponing it for weeks and after a month I started asking him for a refund but he was assuring me that he will send the items "very soon" because there are problems due to COVID-19.

I made a mistake of trusting him and finally, after 2 months he sent the items. However, he sent 2 items and not 3 saying that he cannot ship all 3 in the same parcel but he will send 2 in the first parcel and the 3rd one in the second parcel. That sounded fine and I accepted it.

However, the second parcel with the 3rd item was not sent. When I asked him about it he said that it was because of additional restriction due to COVID-19 in India. He said that he will refund the money for the third item that was not sent. Again, I accepted the fair proposal.

Time was passing and the refund was not coming. The seller started "emotional manipulation" saying that he is in the hospital due to coronavirus and asked me to have a bit of patience. I fell for it and by the time he was back, the 'protection time' run out. I was no longer able to ask for a refund.

He told me not to worry about it, that he will send the refund anyways. That never happened. eBay refused all my attempts of asking for a refund so I tried opening a case on PayPal but the result was the same - claim denied.

I acknowledge that I made a mistake. A mistake of trusting someone and having compassion for the problems in shipping and personal problems (when he said that he is in the hospital) but obviously the seller was just making up false stories to scam me.

While I accept I was at fault here, I still do not understand how eBay and PayPal don't intervene and protect the scammed buyers but instead protect the scammer. The seller had no way of proving that the third item arrived because it never did. The seller has acknowledged this multiple times but eBay/PayPal is refusing to see that because I don't have "seller's consent" to disclose such messages. What?

I have to say I'm highly disappointed in the overall case handling by eBay and PayPal refusing to see the obvious and protecting the scammer who is probably doing the same to others. I couldn't even give him a negative feedback and I guess I'm not the only one.

- Daniel

[zoin3580_cdcqgfel]

Sorry to hear that!

Do you have tracking numbers for the items? If there are two trcking numbers the seller sent two packages but if there is only one the three items should be in one package.

Is this why you can't get a refund through paypal? Did you explain that you want parcial refund for one item?

[crnigorac]

I have one tracking number for all 3 items even though one of the 3 was never sent.

I asked for a partial refund, not a full refund explaining exactly what happened and how.

I don't intend to make wonders with this topic but to point out what could happen to almost anyone and as a reminder never to trust a seller and focus on the 'protection' dates instead as the only relevant information when it comes to refunds/returns.

[1tuna]

you have  a great story going here about how you alowed an ebayer to get over on you.

thats too bad that you were so trusting.....ebay wants buyers that know what they are doing

  ebay also want buyers that know how to choose a seller

choosing a seller is not your strong suit.....you seem to know all about lousy sellers

[crnigorac]

I didn't say it's a great story, I'm just sharing an experience.

You're saying that choosing a seller is not my strong suit based on one bad experience out of hundreds of sellers I've bought from before?

Thanks for nothing pal.

[souc_ha_rh5ttog]

You aren't alone. I've run into similar sketchiness from sellers out of India, in one case a longstanding seller with great feedback, and the excuse has been the same. I don't understand how "covid shipping issues" prevent somebody mailing an item out full-stop for weeks. If anything I'd tolerate a delay once shipped for "quarantine," as annoying and pointless as that is for something that would be sitting in a cargo container for a month anyway. India seems to be shooting themselves in the foot economically and I don't even understand the HOW, much less the why, on the recent shipping headaches.

Can't even guess how India would force a shipper to sit on items for a month or longer before even accepting a package for shipping and it feels a little like the now-traditional "excusing poor business practices with 'lol covid'" rather than any legitimate issue.

[crnigorac]

I hear you.

Seems like it's a legit problem. Was and apparently still is. The seller was sending me the official documents from the Indian government or their Ministry of Transport or what not stating which countries they can ship to and which countries they cannot. Including the time when it was not possible at all, no matter country.

Again, I'm not from India nor I have someone there to confirm such claims but they did seem legit.

I agree that they are shooting themselves in the foot but seems like it's not hurting that much. For now.

[varebelrose]

" I still do not understand how eBay and PayPal don't intervene and protect the scammed buyers "

They do protect the buyers; but it is the buyers responsibility to protect themselves by using the tools that eBay provides (namely, the eBay Money Back Guarantee). You allowed the time to file an "Item Not Received" case to lapse, not eBay.

[7606dennis]

I must admit that based on some of the recent feedback you have left for sellers, it would appear that you should perhaps vet your sellers a bit more carefully.  After all, if you want buyer protection you must also do your part in guarding yourself against scams.

[ittybitnot]

You allowed the time to file an "Item Not Received" case to lapse, not eBay.

@varebelrose 

It seems the proper ebay case to file would be "not as described/items missing in shipment".   Yes, there is a 30 day limit with this as well.  eBay would then generally require the seller to provide a return shipping label OR front the money to return the product with the appropriate tracking. 

The buyer has 180 days after delivery to file a "items missing in shipment" claim with PayPal.  I am not certain at this point under what circumstances that PayPal will require the seller to send the remaining merchandise back on their dime, or the seller now has to fund the return there as well. 

If the buyer funded their payment via PayPal with a credit card, they can still file "items missing in shipment/Snad".  Return of the merchandise will likely not be necessary at all in a similar fashion Managed Payment PAYMENT DISPUTES for not as described issues.