Seller shipped WAY late and after INR refund claim was submitted

[mapleleaf39]

Bought an item on September 7th, listed with free expedited shipped (Priority Mail, per the listing) with estimated delivery between September 13-16. The item sat as "not shipped" for a for a few days through the weekend until I contacted the seller, asking for an update, who responded saying he had been busy with school and would ship by Friday September 15th. Seemed pretty late to put it in the mail, but whatever.

I received the shipping notification on September 14th, and noticed that the shipping method listed was Media Mail instead of Priority. Again, shipping was free, so I figured I'd just deal with it.

I wait through another weekend, and the tracking status never updates past "Pre-shipment", indicating that the seller never shipped the item. I send him a message asking him to ship immediately, reminding him that it's been nearly two weeks since the listing ended and he hasn't shipped yet. No response. I file an INR requesting a refund the next day.

As of this morning (Sep 26), I have still not received any additional communication from the buyer, so I escalated the INR claim to eBay. However, I checked the shipping status and found that he had shipped the item late yesterday, despite my INR claim requesting a refund.

Since I'll be receiving the item, albeit extremely late and shipped with the wrong shipping method, would this behavior warrant a neg and docked stars? 2-1/2 weeks to ship an item seems completely unreasonable to me.

[tarpedge]

This is an exploit.

Because the seller waited until an item not received refund request was started to ship the item, and because tracking shows in transit before the request was escalated:

1. The seller will not get a defect, and

2. The buyer cannot leave any feedback.

This is an exploit.

[green-night]

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@tarpedge wrote:

This is an exploit.

Because the seller waited until an item not received refund request was started to ship the item, and because tracking shows in transit before the request was escalated:

1. The seller will not get a defect, and

2. The buyer cannot leave any feedback.

This is an exploit.

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What is the OP closes the INR themselves?   Are they still unable to leave feedback after it arrives?  Or is feedback only not able to be left if eBay decides the case in the sellers favor? 

[tarpedge · Accepted solution]

Brilliant!

@mapleleaf39, right now eBay is delaying a decision on your escalation because the tracking number appears to be moving. When it delivers, eBay will decide in favor of the seller and block/remove your feedback*.

Instead, you can click "If you change your mind, you can close this case" at the very bottom right-hand corner of your case Details page now to regain your right to leave feedback.

Then, if the item ultimately does not arrive, you can still open an item not received case at PayPal.

*this block persists even if you progress to a significantly not as described return request at eBay, after the item arrives

[mapleleaf39]

Thank you @tarpedge. I've gone ahead and cancelled the INR claim to retain my ability to leave less-than-awesome feedback for this guy.