I purchased an item on eBay for about $500 ($260 for the item, $230 for shipping). The item arrived on 12/2 when I was stuck in the U.K. because of COVID lockdowns. I arrived back in the U.S. just before New Years and I immediately opened the box and noticed that the item was severely damaged. I contacted a certified repair shop who confirmed that the item (a microwave) was unrepairable. I contacted the Seller (as eBay recommends) on 12/29 through his personal email (as eBay does not recommend) and told him what had happened. He informed me that the item was insured via UPS and I should make a claim through them. Since this was close to eBay's 30 day return policy, I called eBay on 12/29 to let them know that the item was insured and that I had contacted the Seller and we had agreed that I would make a claim to UPS; there was no legitimate way to make identical claims to both UPS and eBay simultaneously (without committing fraud), so the eBay rep and I agreed that, since I had contacted the Seller before the 30 days was up, I would not be restricted from later claiming a refund via eBay, even if more than 30 days had passed, if UPS denied the claim. The Seller had also suggested that I send the same message that I had sent to him on 12/29 through eBay's "Message" function, along with photos of the damaged item, so that there would be a record on eBay -- which I did several days later on 1/3. I then started the claims process with UPS. To make a long, long story short, UPS inspected the item and the packaging and I submitted dozens of photos but, in the end, they decided that the Seller had done such a poor job packaging the item, the claim would be denied (he put a 100lb item in a box that was only 2" larger in every dimension than the item, which was not enough space for adequate protection; he also put no padding whatsoever on the bottom corners of the item, one of which is where the item was crushed -- the only thing between the corner of the item and the outside world was cardboard and air). During the entire UPS claims process, I kept the Seller and the UPS Store he used apprised of what was going on. After UPS denied the claim, I followed the UPS appeals process, but it was, not surprisingly, again denied due to the Seller's poor packaging (I couldn't really argue with their decision -- the packaging was entirely inadequate). So, I went back to the Seller, as eBay recommends, and requested a full refund. He didn't refuse -- he simply never replied. I waited several weeks to see if he would reply, but he did not. So, I tried to make a refund claim online on eBay, but I was unable to because the system said it was beyond the 30-day window. I figured this was just a technical problem since I had already gone through this with eBay, so I called eBay at the same number I called on 12/29; I caught them up on what had happened, UPS's decision and the Seller's refusal to engage with the problem he caused, expecting some semblance of customer service and assistance in getting my claim started via phone. Unfortunately, I got the opposite of good customer service. eBay made it clear that they intended to do absolutely nothing. They "couldn't find" the record of my call on 12/29 and just stopped at the "you're outside the 30-day window" argument (since my second email to the Seller wasn't made until Jan. 3 -- ONE single day "too late" in their errouneous understanding of the timeline). Now, the professional thing to do here was extremely easy -- I have been a long-time eBay customer and there is a lengthy record in eBay's system of my good faith efforts to get this issue resolved (with virtually no help from the Seller or the UPS Store he used to ship the item) -- any decent business would have apologized, refunded my money (since 31 days isn't a big deal and the equities were in my favor) and gone after their Seller-Agent to recover the funds they had expended on my refund from him. Or, if eBay didn't have the customer service culture to do that, they could have, at the very least, said "look, our records seem to indicate that you're 1 day beyond the return date..." (even though their records don't actually show that's the case) "...so we can't promise anything. But we do not tolerate Sellers who 'ghost' Buyers and we will contact this Seller and see if we can get you some satisfaction since you spent nearly $500 and have nothing to show for it. We can understand how terrible this must be and we stand behind our customers." That response would have obligated them to do NOTHING, but it would at least have shown a sliver of good faith. But no. eBay wouldn't lift a finger and hid behind their own rule. The rep kept saying that there was "nothing they could do" because their hands were tied by the 30-day rule. It's their own rule -- their hands aren't tied at all. They can ignore their rule at will. They could have at least pretended that they would try to get full or partial resolution for the money that was taken from me. But no. They affirmatively chose to do nothing. And they even blocked me from leaving any negative feedback for the Seller who ghosted me because, again, 30 days. So, beware anyone who gets their item shipped via UPS Insured and receives a damaged item and then tries, in good faith, to make a claim via UPS. eBay will not allow you the time needed for UPS to go through its claims process -- they will use that time to run out the clock and declare "victory" (?) over you, the customer.
