What do I do now? I need experienced help!

[dark_chocolate_rasberry_cupcake]

Please help me. I won an auction for an inexpensive item and paid for it immediately. I then received 7 unsolicited messages from the seller, the item was on it's way, she would let me know when it shipped, she would send me pics of package, she would include something as a gift, none of which ever happened. There was excuse after excuse as to why it hadn't been shipped yet. She was sick, she had the flu, she broke her rib, she has lupus, she had a seizure....

The item was won the same day 2 other items she was selling ended, and she has received and left feedback for them already. The item is a 15 year old piece of cardboard for promotional purpose, so very light, and could easily be sent in a manila envelope or worst case, a flat rate envelope. I told her I was not in a rush, and it showed the last delivery date as Jan 27th, item was paid for on Jan 16th and I was the only bidder, so I asked her if she could get it to me by the last delivery date and she assured me she could. Item was marked shipped Jan 22 but no tracking.

Jan 27th came and went, and I was really over the seller's excuses, so I opened an I didn't receive it claim with Ebay. Within seconds, I had positive feedback, and the item was relisted immediately with shipping this time, essentially doubling the price. I sent her a message asking, "you still have this? And you aren't planning on shipping it to me? And then you relist it w/shipping charge doubling the price?" From her previous multiple messages, she obviously has notifications on her phone, and every message she sent that I replied to was answered within a minute, not kidding. NOW, she has nothing to say.  Just crickets. So I figure, wait out the case, escalate and get my refund.

Today, I get a message from her that she sent the refund already (she has not), her new excuse is her father just died, and I need to close the case. She stated that she sent this to me with a free gift (again, I don't want a free gift, I want the item), and paid $14 to ship (highly unlikely), and she sent it to Tennessee by accident and it was returned to her. I live 4 states away from TN, so no idea where that came from, and because it was returned to her she relisted it (but this time with a shipping charge). I think she just wanted more money for it.

She then entered a garbled message sort of saying the same thing that her dad died into the item not received  case, and she shouldn't be marked down by Ebay because she has a good history. When I go into the case, it used to say I could escalate on Feb 1, but now it only has, send the seller a message, OR close the case. I really don't want to do either. I just want my refund.

Does the fact she entered some text into the case, even if it's not understandable due to garbled sentences make the case drag out even longer? Would it be better to just close the case and then request my money from Paypal? Please help, I don't want to deal with this seller anymore, I don't believe anything she says, every message looks like she wrote it after drinking all day or something, and I'm getting very frustrated. Even if all of what she says is true and she's having the worst luck of her life, I just want my money back so I can be done with her.  I have never had a problem on Ebay like this before.

[bigoljim47]

DO NOT CLOSE THE CASE. If you close it you will never get your money back. Wait it out and get your money back.

[chinohighcowboys1963]

Don’t waste anymore of your time with this seller. Tomorrow, the 1st, go back into the case you opened and escalate it. EBay will see to it that you are refunded.

[corvettestainless]

The above post- or simply call ebay; scroll down, at the bottom you will see 'help & contact'; answer the questions and after a couple questions are answered, the phone number with a code is on the left. I will assume you are not seeing an 'escalation' button on the return? 

[dark_chocolate_rasberry_cupcake]

No, there is no longer an escalate option. Before today, it said, hold on and wait for seller to respond, you can escalate after 1/31. So that's what I planned on doing, but she put text into the response from seller area, and now the "you can escalate on..." message is gone.

I talked to my brother about this who does way more Ebaying than me, and he told me I should close the case and open a charge back with my credit card so that she's fined? I'm not looking to screw with her, but I certainly feel screwed with by her.

[corvettestainless]

I would simply call first- and I WOULD NOT close the case. If you do a CC chargeback, it will take much longer than an ebay refund. 

[dark_chocolate_rasberry_cupcake]

The icing on the cake for me is she herself left negative feedback for a seller from one of her own personal purchases that her item was "never shipped". I'm amazed what people can accomplish buying and selling on Ebay while dealing with the grief of having the flu, lupus, a broken rib, seizures, and a recently deceased parent. Good grief

[dark_chocolate_rasberry_cupcake]

It's a refund under $10, so I'm not really that worried how long it takes to get my money, I just want to know it's on the way and the seller is not helping me at all. Claiming she already sent it when she clearly has not.

Will the escalate option reopen tomorrow when it was showing that date previously?

[ed8108]

Escalate for eBay to step in on Feb 1

[flyinhawaiiangirl]

Will the seller receive any repercussions from this transaction if I can successfully escalate this tomorrow? 

[corvettestainless]

Yes, if they have not shipped. If it's 'still in transit', doubtful. 

[7606dennis]

Actually, I have probably been guilty of initial over-communication since I would send an auction winner a congratulatory message and then an invoice.  Then I would thank them when they paid and tell them that I would send them the tracking number after I had actually turned the shipment over to the carrier and it was on its way.

Of course, eBay sends many messages to customers as well, but frankly, who knows what nonsense eBay is telling them.  After all, they were sending notices that the item had shipped when all the seller did was buy the label.

With regard to shipping as a flat, I would never do that.

If the item has not arrived by the last day of the estimated delivery period, file an INR dispute the following day.  There is no need for back & forth communications with the seller.

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @dark_chocolate_rasberry_cupcake - I agree with others here: please do not close the not-received request. 

You will be able to ask us to step in and help as of tomorrow. If you need help with that please consider giving us a call or contacting CS on social media (Facebook or Twitter). We'll be able to help you get things sorted. 

If your concern is making sure that the seller is held accountable, the Not Received Request is the best way to do that from an eBay perspective. Members who sell have a level of performance to meet monthly and failure to meet minimum standards results in consequences. 

Thanks!

[dark_chocolate_rasberry_cupcake]

Thank you everyone for your help. The escalate option opened up today and I just got notified I will be refunded. I appreciate everyone's guidance and help.