eBay

angelasellsitall · ‎09-25-2019

I wanted to let sellers know that eBay representatives are encouraging buyers to leave negative feedback when things go awry. I won an auction on Sept 6, paid right away, seller printed label and eBay informed me that item should arrive by Sept 19. I needed the items for an event so I allowed plenty of time to get them.

As the day came closer, I checked on the status and saw that the label was printed and that there was a shipping exception. New delivery date is October 22 through November 9. I contacted the seller who did nothing. I filed a report with the USPS who informed me that the postage was printed but that the item has never been received by them. I contacted the seller again who simply said that the item was mailed and didn't respond to my request for further assistance with the USPS or either facilitate a refund since the USPS said it has not been mailed. Since the seller chose not to respond and since there is an "expected delivery date" I can't open a case until after November 2. So I called eBay and the rep advised me that I should try to work with the seller and if there's no response, leave negative feedback and file a claim through paypal so they will place a hold on the money and I can get the refund.

It's unbelievable to me that this is their solution!!

Any feedback on the situation would be appreciated.

Angela

angelasellsitall · ‎10-02-2019

You're probably right. The seller finally got back to me and said that the post office sent the package to the wrong place and I should just continue to wait. I told the seller that eBay has already refunded the payment and I have not heard anything back again.

thehonorabletrader · ‎10-02-2019

I see this is solved, I just want to provide some follow up.

You have 30 days from the latest estimated delivery date to file a case with eBay. You will not see the option on eBay until 1 day after the estimated delivery date. This is why nobody was able to open a case for you early.

However, the advice is terrible. If you read the eBay User Agreement you'll see that as a buyer, you can void the eBay Money Back Guarantee if you try to resolve a dispute or issue outside of eBay. So doing a payment dispute in Paypal would have voided any eBay protection.

The eBay user agreement does not allow eBay to step in and get involved before a case has been opened and before the "Seller Make It Right" period has passed. For this reason, when you are contacting eBay upset that the seller won't respond, they can't take any actions and they can't get involved or they would be violating the user agreement. All they can do is tell you how to get the sellers attention if they are not being a responsible communicative seller.

As a buyer and a seller, I wholeheartedly agree with the advice to leave negative feedback. Feedback can be revised for 30 days after it's left. Sellers do only have a limited number of revisions requests, but these are designed to be used in emergency cases, not used to mask poor customer service.