Hello! Sorry if this is in the wrong section or anything; this is my first time posting in the community, so I'm not quite sure how everything works, but I really needed some advice, so.. here I am.
I think a seller is trying to scam me; I ordered a dvd from them on March 15th, and even though they sent it out on the 19th, the thing didn't arrive until thirteen days later, on April 1st. I thought it was a bit strange that it took almost two weeks to get here, considering I've ordered plenty of items from that state and none of them have taken that long to arrive, but.. whatever. I don't actually mind waiting, I just thought to mention it because it comes into play later.
Anyway, I got the package from the mail the day it arrived, and was very disappointed with what I found; the seller had crammed the dvd into a package that was way too small for it, and as a result, every corner of the dvd and dust jacket had considerable damage done to it. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the dvd also appeared to have suffered some form of water damage [whether through fault of the seller or happened in transit I don't know] and the entire case was just.. no. That is not what a Brand New dvd is supposed to look like.
I'm a dvd collector and I waited FOREVER to be able to afford that one - it's a bit expensive, even on Ebay - and I just couldn't bring myself to live with having paid so much for such a sub-par item, so I politely explained the situation to the seller and asked if I could please return the item, and apologized for the trouble.
And this is where I started sensing some red flags; I had the good sense not to open the plastic wrapping on the item, considering I knew I was going to return it just by looking at the damaged casing, so I didn't have a problem when the seller responded with, "If you haven't opened it, please return it." My issue was that, even though they said that, they did not approve the return so I could get a shipping label. I had to ask them to approve it so I could, and Idk why, but that just made me uncomfortable.
But I got a bubble mailer - the RIGHT size for that dvd, btw - and carefully packaged the whole thing so that the dvd would not be damaged further on its way back through the mail system, and.. that's pretty much where I'm stuck. I asked for the return on April 1st, sent it out on April 4th, and it has been in the destination city since the 6th, and.. nothing's happened. The last update on the tracking just says 'forwarded,' and that was five days ago.
I wanted to believe that the seller just hadn't made it to the post office or whatnot, but it's heading towards a week since the dvd arrived in his city, and I'm really starting to think that he's trying to cheat me out of my return by letting the package sit there, so it's not technically 'delivered' and he doesn't have to issue the return, until it hits April 15th and it's been officially 30 days since the purchase date, and he'll get to keep the dvd AND my money.
Since the case is open and waiting for him to receive the return, Ebay won't let me ask them to step in and help, and I haven't heard anything back from the seller, that's why I'm here. I really, really don't want to get cheated out of my money, but I'm not really sure what else I can do. I'm starting to get really nervous since it's now the 12th and the 15th is only three days away.. Any and all help/advice would be very much appreciated, please!
