Seller Protection my A.
Well this just happened to me and the beauty of it is, I have done all I can to resolve the issue legally. I sent the buyer the IPhone with everything in the box packaged up in another box and after a month(it went to Sri Lanka), he claims he got the package, but all that was in it was the phone box, headphones and AC Adapter and no phone or charging cable.
I called USPS to notify them but since you cannot get insurance on First Class International (my first clue, wish I would have read this first), all they can do is start a theft investigation which they did. I called the last depot it was at (in my case, if you track the package it says it went from Jamaica, NY, to Miami, FL, to Jamaica, NY, which doesn't help me at all because she stated that the package went through customs) Problem is, after seeing what you all have gone through, this guy clearly knew what he was doing. So I called ebay, spoke to 3 different customer service reps (none of who speak clear English) and got different answers every time all stating that if you let "eBay" step in to resolve the case, you're probably going to lose. Meanwhile, Paypal has a "hold" on the money in my account and when I went to call them to find out why, they transferred me to eBay, not taking any responsibility.
After an hour harassing customer service, who were as not helpful at all, I asked to speak to someone with the power to bend the "rules" and got transferred to someone in the appeals department, who then proceeded to tell me that if ebay steps in to resolve this issue, the Buyer "has to" provide documentation (Police Report claiming package was stolen) before they will do anything. But from the sounds of everyone here, that did not happen for you and I'm screwed. You live and learn. I will never ever ship another package internationally again, and from the sounds of things, I have to put insurance on everything I send from now on because they can scam you with a US Address. I think I just need to find somewhere else that gives a **bleep** about people who make their site what it is. I've been buying and selling things through ebay since it's inception, so I guess customer loyalty doesn't mean a thing.
What really irks me is my buyer is calling me a liar in the case resolution. The audacity of this man. His ebay name is slexport and he "claims" to buy iPhones through ebay to "resell" to people in Sri Lanka, and in this case taking an advance from his buyer (which is why he needs his money), and if anyone ever does business with this person, steer clear. Man I feel so stupid, Ebay sure likes to tell you how "easy" it is to trade in old tech for cash, more like sell it and get screwed. Never again.
