thank-you card with tracking number but no product

[urimvetumim]

I ordered a gas hose from a seller in China.  A couple of days later I got a notice that the item was shipped and I got a tracking number.  When the tracking said it had been delivered to my house, I looked on the porch, but no product.  Just a thin envelope with a thank you card.  At first I thought- well I got the thank you card, but not the product.  The package must have been stolen from my porch.  Then I checked online and found others who got a thank you card but no product.  I checked the envelope the card came in, and sure enough, it has the tracking number on it.  The seller never shipped the product I ordered.  The seller only sent the card with a tracking number.  It's a scam.  If I ask ebay for a refund, claiming my order was lost/stolen, ebay will refund me the money, because it looks like the product was shipped and arrived at my house but was lost/stolen.  Ebay pays the refund and the seller gets to keep the money I sent him without sending the item I ordered.  I have found others in ebay who got the same thing.  Got a card with a tracking number but no product.  Is ebay even aware this is going on?

[urimvetumim]

It looks like I can reply to myself-  Just a followup.  I reported the seller to ebay and gave the seller negative feedback, demanding they cancel my order and refund my money.  Just as I suspected, the seller replied and said "I'm so sorry!  We sent your order but it must have been lost or stolen!  Please change your negative feedback to positive and we will refund you."   Nonsense.  They sent the thank you envelope with a tracking number, not the product I ordered.  If I were the only one this happened to, I might think it was a mistake on their part.  But I'm not the only one to get a thank you card with tracking number, but no product, so it looks like the seller sent me the product.   I hope ebay pays attention to my complaint and does something, instead of believing the seller made a mistake or my order got lost.   Ebay's gettin scammed!

[soh.maryl]

You DID receive something and there's tracking to prove it.  What you need to do is open an ITEM NOT AS DESCRIBED CASE.  If there are others who had this happen also from that seller, hope they know the right thing to do.  

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@urimvetumim wrote: ....  If I ask ebay for a refund, claiming my order was lost/stolen, ebay will refund me the money, because it looks like the product was shipped and arrived at my house but was lost/stolen.  Ebay pays the refund and the seller gets to keep the money I sent him without sending the item I ordered. ...

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That's not how claims on eBay work. You received an item, but it was a thank-you card not a hose.  So as noted in the other post you should file a claim for "item not as described."  The seller will have the choice to either refund you or to issue a return label so they can receive their alleged item back before refunding you. Your refund money comes out of the seller's pocket, not eBay's, but you must follow eBay's procedure for the claim.  Here's a link to eBay's buyer protection  policy, which they call the "Money Back Guarantee":

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

If you file a claim for "Item not received" then you will lose your claim because the scamming seller can show that something was indeed delivered. If you tell eBay that your item was stolen from your porch after delivery, then you will lose your claim because you admit that the item was delivered.

And finally, when you need a basic item like your gas hose, be sure to check a seller's feedback history before you buy, and avoid low-feedback sellers who are shipping from China.

https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/toy-xiaoxia?user_context=BUYER

[simba6]

Cute trick.   File an item not as described case since that card is not what you purchased.  The item was not lost or stolen. Your seller just sent the card to get the tracking to say delivered.  It's a scam.   If they want it back, you return the card.

[tinsoldierunderground]

This is a common scam, particularly among sellers in China.  Follow the advice you've been given here, and you'll be refunded.

[frankenhobbit · Accepted solution]

Just go ahead and file the 'Item Not As Described' claim. Seller is a scammer. The only other feedback they have (a positive) is clearly fake. A 0 feedback buyer 'purchased' something and left feedback. The item was $1 with free shipping. 

Remember to NOT close the case, whatever the seller says/promises, and to ask ebay to step in after 4 days.