When the Buyer and Seller can't cancel a transaction

[zzwill51]

I was interested in purchasing an item from a new seller.  Their sale terms were paying by credit card, either in person when picking up the item or by calling the seller and conducting the credit card transaction over the phone.

I sent the seller a message, asking them why they were not using Paypal or some other form of secure transaction method, as I refuse to do a transaction other than by using a secure method of transaction payment.

The seller replied and said they were new...and if I was interested in the item, to go ahead and purchase it and they would do the transaction through Paypal.

I purchased the item and then waited for the seller to do the transaction through Paypal.  After a few days, along with me contacting the seller for an update, the seller told me that they were having difficulty tying their account to Paypal.

I told the seller that I only agreed to do the transaction using Paypal.  The seller asked me to then call them and supplied their telephone number.   I told the seller no reason to call them...either they can do the transaction or not.  I then told the seller that if they couldn't do the transaction through Paypal as promised, then to please cancel the transaction.

The seller apologized and agreed to cancel the transaction.  The transaction was never cancelled, and I am now facing an "unpaid item" case against me.

So, I contacted ebay and was told that the seller could not cancel the transaction, as too much time elapsed.  Where is this written in the ebay guidelines?  I am stuck on this part.

Is this true?  I understand I can only request a cancellation within the first hour after purchasing an item.  The seller then has a few days to decide.  But, when the seller agrees to cancel a transaction, but then can't, why is that?  Ebay told me that I would have to wait the 4 days, then file an appeal, stating why I didn't pay for the item (for security reasons).  Is this the only solution for a situation like this?  I was not aware that sellers must cancel a transaction within a certain time frame.  In fact, while this item is still in limbo until the 4 days go by, the seller has already relisted it.

[ed8108]

I would confirm with a supervisor that the information you were given is in fact correct.

[zzwill51]

Will do that first thing tomorrow.  That just seems crazy a seller can't cancel a transaction when they agree with the buyer to do so. 

[jrinam]

do you have a paypal credit/debit card?  i have mine just for online purchases.

[zzwill51]

No, I do not have a Paypal debit or credit card.  I don't want to add any credit or debit cards to what I already have.  But, I get your point.

What raises red flags for me is when a seller promises to do something, then they don't do it. 

This seller wanted me to call them instead of using the ebay messaging system.  Another red flag.  Once I told the seller I wasn't going to call them, they then wanted my address to ship the item out to me, even though I hadn't paid for it yet and was waiting for the seller to link their account to Paypal.  When they told me they were having trouble linking their account to Paypal, I repoted the item, feeling very suspicious at that point.

I understand completely ebay wanting to give the seller the benefit of the doubt at this point.  However, when the seller messaged me, apologized and then told me they were going to cancel the transaction, I thought all issues would be ended.  The seller didn't cancel the transaction.  Instead, they relisted the item.  I then called ebay and spoke with one of their representatives who told me that neither I nor the seller could cancel the transaction.  I would simply have to wait to file an appeal , stating that I didn't want to do the transaction outside of Paypal for security reasons (ebay already opened a "unpaid item" case against me and was giving me 4 days to respond).  This whole thing seems just stupid to me.

The only thing I can figure is that the seller never did what they told me in writing they would do.  I'll be sure to mention that also in my appeal.

In the meantime, I will be calling ebay back and asking to speak with a supervisor.  It will be interesting to see if I get the same answer response from them as I did from the first customer service rep.

[tdumonde2014]

Your seller is confused or worse, however once an Unpaid Item case has been opened the transaction cannot be cancelled. Once you receive your strike call ebay, share the message sent to and received from the seller, and ask that the strike be removed.

[zzwill51]

Something just dawned on me that I will be asking the supervisor.  Say the seller is going to cancel the transaction, but several days pass.  Does ebay automatically open up a "unpaid case" against the buyer which then prevents the seller from cancelling the transaction?  So, even though the seller never opens a "unpaid item" case, is this still done automatically by ebay?  So, if ebay initiates a "unpaid case", does this take the seller out of the loop altogether?  I wonder if that was why the ebay rep told me I would have to wait to file an appeal. 

I'm grasping at straws here, as I always immediately pay for an item unless there are multiple auction items I am interested in from the same seller and they agree ahead of time to allow me to contact them when I am done with the auctions, thus sending me an invoice with a combined shipping adjustment.  But, I always contact a seller ahead of time for approval to do a multiple item auction purchase.

[zzwill51]

Your response may have answered my questions.  I don't think the seller filed a unpaid item case against me, as they were supposed to cancel the transaction.  That is what I am now wondering...if ebay opened up a case automatically before the seller tried to file a cancellation.  Hmmmm.  Will find out more answers when I speak with a ebay supervisor in the morning.

[missjen831]

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@zzwill51 wrote:

Your response may have answered my questions.  I don't think the seller filed a unpaid item case against me, as they were supposed to cancel the transaction.  That is what I am now wondering...if ebay opened up a case automatically before the seller tried to file a cancellation.  Hmmmm.  Will find out more answers when I speak with a ebay supervisor in the morning.

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I’ll save you a phone call—eBay doesn’t open cases automatically. The seller has to do it—either manually or by using the unpaid item assistant. So either way the seller is responsible for the unpaid item case and you can simply apply the strike once the dispute is closed against you. In fact you might not even have to appeal, eBay is known to forgive the first strike. The reason the seller can cancel is because of the unpaid item case, they can either file the unpaid item case OR cancel the transaction. It’s one or the other, not both. I would not call customer service over this, without intending to you and the seller nearly participated in an off eBay transaction, you see if PayPal wasn’t an option ON the listing then you would have to take the sale OFF eBay, skip ebay checkout, and pay directly through eBay and seeing as how eBay is really cracking down on off eBay transactions, I wouldn’t call

& get myself on their radar. Of course if you want to call, go ahead. 

[missjen831]

And most importantly you can get faster, accurate advise here on the boards. Customer service is outsourced overseas, they tell you what you want to hear, they make things up. It’s best to ask for help here if you want accurate information 🙂

[zzwill51]

I understand what you are saying.  I first messaged the seller and asked them why they weren't using Paypal.  Their response was that if I was serious about purchasing the item, they would do the transaction through Paypal...for me to go ahead and purchase the item and wait for them to provide a link to Paypal.

So, I purchased the item.  After a couple of days went by, I asked the seller for an update, as there was still no Paypal to complete the purchase.  That is when the seller asked me to call them.  I refused and reminded the seller to use ebay's messaging system.  The seller asked me for my address and said they would ship it out.  I told them no (that was a very strange request, since the item hadn't been paid for).  I wanted  to either do the transaction through Paypal or no transaction would take place.  The seller then gave me the excuse they were having trouble linking their account to Paypal.  I then reported the item to ebay.  I told the seller that if they are not going to be able to do the transaction through Paypal, then to please cancel the transaction.  The seller apologized and said they would cancel the transaction.  Shortly after that, I got a ebay email telling me that a "unpaid item" case was opened against me and that I had 4 days to pay.  That is when I called ebay customer service and was told to wait to file an appeal. 

There is nothing preventing me from calling ebay, as I have done everything I could to keep the conversation within ebay, along with any transaction.  It has been the seller who has repeatedly tried to encourage me to do things outside of ebay.  I know better regarding that.  Ebay can monitor me all they want.  What they need to do is indefinitely remove the seller's selling priveliges if the seller pulls this **bleep** on future buyers.  Just my opinion.