Refund Question

[bingmon88]

About 2-3 weeks I asked a quick question regarding returning a damaged high value item.

Anyways the seller refused to refund me after receiving back the damaged goods. I waited until it was past the deadline that eBay says I should receive my refund by and open up a request. Miraculously the seller messaged me the next day that he had to "transfer money from his bank account to PayPal and that will take some days" something along those lines. Fast forward a few days later the seller messaged me that "PayPal cleared... refund has been made."

Problem is I did not receive any notifications a refund has been made. It's been 5 days since that message. Nor has money been returned back to my account. Usually eBay emails or notify you if a refund has been made. 

The eBay request still says they are reviewing and will contact me shortly. Its been way past the 48 hours. I've called up eBay and they keep telling me to wait.

Should I just call my bank and have them do a chargeback? This item is almost $3000 and I'm really starting to panic.

[martin2001]

When you talk about a chargeback, do you mean to say that you used your CC (via Paypal) to pay? If so, you have 180 days to file a dispute with the credit card. When ebay says you need to wait, what do they mean? Wait for what? Also call Paypal to find out or ask advice.

I had a similar situation but for a smaller amount $200. Generally, you can't file disputes with everybody at the same time. One at a time. In that case (it was not en ebay purchase but paid with my CC via PP) I filed a dispute with my CC Company as I did not receive my order in two months. I sent them the documentation using their PO Box address. When the tracking showed that the documents were delivered, I called to find out what's the next step. The sales person told me that there is no record of them receiving the documents or they have not been scanned into the system. That sales rep  advised my to file with Paypal, because I paid using their site. So I filed with paypal, filled out the info. PP confirmed the receipt of the dispute and asked me to wait a few days to give the seller time to respond.

After about 5 days I get an email from paypal saying that my CC Co. informed them that I filed a dispute with them, so they can't do anything and that I need to pursue the dispute with the CC Co. I called my CC Co. What happened was that the the following days they confirmed the receipt of the documents and informed Paypal.

So I call CC to find out what's the story. I file a dispute with them, then they ask me to file with paypal, then they inform Paypal about the dispute, PP turns me down because I filed with CC. They said that it is a standard practice, that I can only file with one entity at a time. They issued a credit right away, after they received the documents (and before I called them)

SO what I think should happen is that you need to first finish what you have started with ebay. That is to get a resolution in your case, refund or no refund. Only after that I would file a dispute with your bank. Otherwise, they will play ping-pong with with claiming that the other side should pursue the dispute.

Also keep all your messages esp. the ones where the seller agreed to accept the return of damaged goods and issue a refund. Also do not call or exchange anymore messages with the seller. Only if ebay asks you to do so in their resolution center.

[bingmon88]

Thanks. When the seller messaged me that he refunded me and when my bank account did not show this (not to mention there was not any notification that seller refunded me), I called eBay. The rep said he will forward it to high value item customer service to get back to me. Problem is they never did. I called again after a few days after that and they just told me to wait.

I'm thinking to file a charge back with my bank by end of the week if I still eBay does not refund me my money. I used my debit card to pay for the item on the eBay website.

I don't know what the delay is. I've delivered back the item and the seller got it back. So I should get my money back right?

[lacemaker3 · Accepted solution]

Yes, you should get your money back. As long as you don't miss any deadlines and you have the tracking number that shows the item was delivered to the seller's return address, you should be fine.

DId you pay with your debit card through your PayPal account, or as a guest (not going through PayPal)?

If you went through PayPal, you  can find out if the refund has been started by loggin in to your PayPal account. This is one reason why it's always good to use your PayPal account. It usually takes a few days for the money to show up in your bank account or credit card account, depending on how quickly your bank processes the refund. In my experience, about 2-3 days.

However, if you paid as a guest, then it can take longer. Usually, it will be less than a week, but in rare cases, up to 30 days. You can contact PayPal to find out if the refund has been processed by contacting their customer service. You will need to provide the email address that you used when you paid, to identify the transaction. I don't know if the order number from the order details page in your purchase history is enough to identify, but it would be best to have that available too.

[bingmon88]

I think next time I should use PayPal to pay. Just kindof frustrating how a simple refund is taking so long! 

When I checkout on eBay they let me choose to use my cards or PayPal. I usually choose my cards.

Yup I got the tracking number saying the seller signed and received it!