Why does it take so long to get a refund for an item not received on ebay?

[susaninpgh]

I'm a seller on eBay, and a buyer. My recent purchase has illustrated why customers get frustrated with eBay and shop elsewhere. 
It's a small $24 makeup purchase I made on 9/18. When I purchased I didn't notice that the delivery time was 2 weeks. No problem. A minor irritation. I've been on the road and busy. 10/2 is ridiculous, but time flies by and I'm patient.
On 9/27 however I get an email from the seller saying the item is damaged and may she cancel and refund me? The item was a multiple quantity listing so I take a quick look at sellers store and it's there, but the price is now $56!
So I email the seller and mention my surprise that the item is still available but at more than double the price? 
No reply from seller so I email back - yeah go ahead and refund me if you need to.
I'm patient so I wait until 10/2, the expected delivery date. Still no product or refund. So I email seller. Then I call eBay and ask for help. Ebay opens a case and tells me they can't do anything until tomorrow. I say the mail has already come today. Doesn't matter, they say they started a case but tell me to log on tomorrow and file the item not received claim.
10/3- seller emails that she will send a refund. I wait until end of business day and no refund arrives. I go online to eBay and click on the choice for "I haven't received my item", as instructed. Then I see that now, the seller has 7 MORE DAYS, before they have to refund me and before eBay buyer protection will step in to help me out. so this evening I call eBay and am told that nope- you filed an item not received claim so now you have to wait another 7 days! **bleep** - I ask for a supervisor who talks to me like a baby. I'm not unprofessional. However I feel that this system is VERY unprofessional. Where else in retail would you have to wait so long for a refund for an item not received? 
I've been on eBay for over 10 years. Not a troublemaker. 
What the hell did I do wrong here?

[lex-talon]

You do not have to wait another seven days. If you don't get a refund by tomorrow, call ebay again. Try to talk to a US ebay CS to help you.

[missjen831]

@susaninpgh @lex-talon yes you do have to wait. The seller has 3 full business days to respond to the case & either prove delivery or issue a refund. You can’t ask eBay to step in until after the 3rd business day. The process cannot be sped up, it is what it is. The seller has to be be given the 3 full business days to respond because that is the policy.

[susaninpgh]

UPDATE! 

Seller has just refunded me!

thx for all the advice.

glad I didn’t have to wait the additional 7 days.

[papermoneyforme]

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@susaninpgh wrote:

UPDATE! 

Seller has just refunded me!

thx for all the advice.

glad I didn’t have to wait the additional 7 days.

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That seller desrves a negative feedback to warn other buyers

[turquoisetulips]

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@susaninpgh wrote:

UPDATE! 

Seller has just refunded me!

thx for all the advice.

glad I didn’t have to wait the additional 7 days.

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I've received two refunds almost back to back  in the last two days . I wanted to purchase a army green long sleeve tee shirt . I found two sellers who had the exact same one . The first one contacted me to say they were out of stock on that color and issued a pretty quick refund . So I used the refund to order from the other seller ,, same thing happened ,, out of stock and refunded . The thing that has me puzzled is that both sellers are still advertising  the shirt I ordered in exact size and color . Weird -  😞   Tulips

[castlemagicmemories]

Some sellers may not ship with tracking, or mark the item shipped if they don't.

The item could be in transit, so time is allowed so a refund is not given prematurely, giving the buyer both the item and the money back.  Not everyone will re pay for the item under those circumstances, sadly.  It all boils down to integrity.

[7606dennis]

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@papermoneyforme wrote:

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@susaninpgh wrote:

UPDATE! 

Seller has just refunded me!

thx for all the advice.

glad I didn’t have to wait the additional 7 days.

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That seller desrves a negative feedback to warn other buyers

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I'm sorry but I don't understand your reasoning.  Are you saying that because eBay's refund system isn't instantaneous a seller deserves a negative because of it?

If the item hasn't arrived by the last day of the estimated delivery window a buyer can file an INR dispute.  The dispute process naturally takes some time to complete.  That does not necessarily mean that the seller, following the procedure is doing anything that warrants a negative.  In fact, just because the item didn't arrive or didn't arrive during the estimated delivery period doesn't mean that the seller automatically should receive a neg.