The item delivered to the buyer after I refunded him.

[ezgsere_0]

Hello,

I am here to share my one and only experience on eBay and to ask for strategic and emotional advice. Because of this experience.,I paid close $100 for shipping and services, lost hours on the phone and writing e-mails, and finallylost my SurfacePro 4 for which I saved money for months.  Here is what happened:

I put out my SurfacePro 4 for sale. A buyer with good feedback rate has purchased the item. He paid via PayPal, I shipped the item. But the USPS took more than two weeks to deliver the item. I went to the local USPS office and learned that the item is coming back. I contacted the buyer and asked if he wanted me to send the package via different carrier services. He wanted to be refunded. I told him to wait until the package arrives. He filed a refund request via eBay and I received an e-mail from eBay asking me to refund him with again an emphasis on how important it is to answer requests for positive feedback. eBay loves to include these "recommendations" that freaks new people like me. So, I refunded the buyer.

I have spent days trying to reach the people at USPS or learn where my computer is. Finally, last week I learned that the buyer received the item a week ago. I contacted the buyer and asked him to make a payment. The buyer did not respond. I sent him a second e-mail. Still waiting for the response.

When I tried to ask for support from eBay they told me that since the case closed they cannot do anything and that I should contact the buyer. The only leverage I got was giving a negative feedback as eBay is mentioning in all e-mails they sent as a scare tactic. I also learned from the help center that the negative reviews are not being shown. That leaves me with nothing.

I trusted eBay mainly because of the feedback this buyer has -- 106 stars %100 positive feedback rate.  If I knew that the negative comments are not shown I would have acted differently. Another issue with eBay's protection policy is how they consider a case is closed or an unpaid item. eBay refuses to reopen the case based on that I refunded the buyer voluntarily. However, eBay pressured me by sending an automatic e-mail to do the payment without mentioning I am not obligated to do so. If eBay has not intervened on the buyer's behalf, I would still have the money. Or if they did not close the case immediately after the refund I would have a better chance of getting paid. Also, I would have a better  chance of learning about the buyer, if they kept the negative feedback besides the positive feedback, which can be easily fabricated.

I am a student, not a businessman. I acted in good faith, here is what happened to me: Lost money, lost my computer, lost time and energy, lost my trust in doing e-business. I would appreciate any advice.

Thank you in advance,

[cynthealee2]

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@heawi-57 wrote:

This reply is so condesending. You could've found a way to say this without completely crapping on this person who's obviously dealing with a terrible situation 

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@heawi-57 

The thread is 2 years old... why pull it back up to scold a boardie who isn't going to read it?

[crafter_at_heart]

I don't know if this will help, but I would contact Paypal to see if there is anything they can do.

I had a seller not send me my item.  I filed a claim and then he said if I cancel my claim he'd send it to me.  Well, stupid me, cancelled it.  Of course, he had no intention of sending it to me.  I contacted paypal and they were able to see that the item had never been sent to me and they were able to get me my refund.

What have you got to lose at this point.

Good luck.

[hydrogrowdirect]

How about eBay rightfully enacting payment to the sellers? This whole scenario is a scam on eBay's part... And I just got bit by it. Nowhere does it state there is a time extension for adding stale tracking data to the case. Case closes. USPS finds package, delivers package, seller loses, eBay claims no fault. At this point it is entirely theirs, eBay's fault. We as sellers who have delivered on our end without eBays intervention are at a loss.

[casey0670]

I am dealing with the same thing. I shipped a purchase to a seller here in the USA on July 29th it disappeared in the dumpster fire that is the USPS. Ten days after it was ship she (buyer) filed for a refund. I contacted the USPS about the shipment with the tracking information and they had no idea what happened to the package and I quote "it's in our system but we don't know what happened to it after the pick up scan." I refunded the buyer and apologized to her. Then, I filed a claim with the USPS and received an email stating that I would be contacted about my claim within 7 days. I got no response at all. After about 10 days, I received and email that stated my claim was closed. Shortly there after, I got the obligatory "How did we do with your claim" survey. Well, I'm sure you can guess how prolifically I answered that survey. 

Over a month later, the purchase was delivered to the buyer. I've contacted the buyer to request payment but she has never responded. Nice, huh? I am selling on eBay as means to teach my 16 year old son how to be entrepreneurial. Buyers this only reinforce the negative aspects of people in the business world today.

[gotechweb]

I am dealing with this regularly as well. In my opinion the ebay delivery estimates are way too optimistic, and that is the root of the problem because it allows buyers to file a claim too soon. This leaves me (the seller) between a rock and a hard place, giving me only a few days to decide between giving a refund for something that will soon be delivered or risking my seller status. Ebay needs to give the buyer more realistic delivery estimates and give the seller more time after a claim is filed. This is insanely frustrating!!! 

I guess you should only sell items on ebay that you are willing to give away at your expense. 😡

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.