Seller sent faulty item, won't respond to inbox messages or return request - how to get refund back?

[topbargainseller]

So basically, i recently bought a GPU from a seller. The seller stated it was in working condition, but when i received it, it wouldn't work no matter what i tried (different psus, motherboards , ram etc), it would not get a video signal. After 2 days of trying and reading on forums and trying things to no avail, i gave up and i inboxed the seller regarding the problem (including links to youtube videos showing my problem, and aalso images) and also i opened a return request at the same time. The seller was initially responsive and responded quickly to my first message (15 minutes after i sent the message), in which he basically replied for me to try out other things and some things he'd recommended. I decided i would try out some more things and search the forums for more ideas cause i really didn't want to go through the hassle of returning the item if i could get it to work. So 3 days after initially messaging him about the problem and requesting the return request, after hours spent trying to resolve the problem to no avail, i messaged him again that the card still don't work and i want him to complete the return process to get my refund. Funny enough, the seller never replies to this message or any messages in the return request to complete the return. I waited several days and he still didn't respond so i escalated it to ebay customer service. Ebay customer service came back with an immediate response, providing me with a return label and saying that i would get a refund once i use the return label to ship the gpu back and the shipment has been received. However, I was very uneasy about doing the return because this seller never responded to any messages after the first initial message and never acknowledged my return request, so it seemed like he didn't want me to return it. I was afraid if i returned the gpu, the seller would claim he never received it or that i sent him a fake item, in which case i would lose out on the refund and he'd get his item back . So i ended up saying to myself "whatever, i don't want to deal with this" and i just closed the return request. Only thing i did was leave negative feedback for him.

However, now i'm regretting it because i'm sitting here with this useless brick of a gpu, just scrap metal basically and i lost money on it. Is there anyway i can get a refund after i closed the refund request? Also, were my worries about the return correct? or should i have just returned it after i escalated it to ebay, even though the seller never responded or acknowledge my return request? would i have been guaranteed a refund in that case?

[mam98031]

You had a simple choice.  If you want your money back, you must ship the item back within 5 days of the return label being issued to you.  Once the tracking shows that the item was delivered to your seller, the clock starts again.  They have a couple days to refund you.  If they don't, Ebay will force the refund.  The on line tracking will show if the item is delivered.

You let your fear get the best of you on this one.  You just need to get more familiar with the rules.  And since you sell as well, it is extremely important that you know and understand the rules of selling.  If you did this, you would have known that your fears were not based on how ebay allows sellers to handle returns.  And that you would have been refunded had you of returned the item and not closed the claim.

Hopefully this wasn't an expensive lesson for you.  We all makes mistakes, I just hope this one wasn't an expensive one.

[orangehound]

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@topbargainseller wrote:

However, now i'm regretting it because i'm sitting here with this useless brick of a gpu, just scrap metal basically and i lost money on it. Is there anyway i can get a refund after i closed the refund request? Also, were my worries about the return correct? or should i have just returned it after i escalated it to ebay, even though the seller never responded or acknowledge my return request? would i have been guaranteed a refund in that case?

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Yes, your worries about the return were completely incorrect.  You've made over a hundred sales on eBay, and you don't know how returns and the Money Back Guarantee work?  For a defective item, eBay takes control of a return when opened, via the Money Back Guarantee, and forces the seller to both pay for the return shipping and return your money.

And then ... you left negative feedback because YOU didn't return the item?   From everything you wrote, the seller was trying to be helpful, and it is possible that the card could have been damaged in shipping or that a single static electricity zap (if the card is mishandled) can cause a working card to stop working.  To write that the seller didn't respond to the return request IS FALSE ... you got a label ... it is YOUR fault for not returning it.

I almost don't want to tell you this, because (a) I disagree with the feedback that you left (and think that you should remove it); (b) I can't fathom how a seller of dozens of items could mishandle a return; and, (c) I suspect the card was working when the seller shipped it ... but ... regardless ...

... another path to returning a defective item is to go over to PayPal and open up a return request.

[topbargainseller]

Ok i understand 

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@orangehound wrote:

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@topbargainseller wrote:

However, now i'm regretting it because i'm sitting here with this useless brick of a gpu, just scrap metal basically and i lost money on it. Is there anyway i can get a refund after i closed the refund request? Also, were my worries about the return correct? or should i have just returned it after i escalated it to ebay, even though the seller never responded or acknowledge my return request? would i have been guaranteed a refund in that case?

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Yes, your worries about the return were completely incorrect.  You've made over a hundred sales on eBay, and you don't know how returns and the Money Back Guarantee work?  For a defective item, eBay takes control of a return when opened, via the Money Back Guarantee, and forces the seller to both pay for the return shipping and return your money.

And then ... you left negative feedback because YOU didn't return the item?   From everything you wrote, the seller was trying to be helpful, and it is possible that the card could have been damaged in shipping or that a single static electricity zap (if the card is mishandled) can cause a working card to stop working.  To write that the seller didn't respond to the return request IS FALSE ... you got a label ... it is YOUR fault for not returning it.

I almost don't want to tell you this, because (a) I disagree with the feedback that you left (and think that you should remove it); (b) I can't fathom how a seller of dozens of items could mishandle a return; and, (c) I suspect the card was working when the seller shipped it ... but ... regardless ...

... another path to returning a defective item is to go over to PayPal and open up a return request.

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I understand that i messed up here but what you said about "From everything you wrote, the seller was trying to be helpful", that's completely false.  Please read my thread again.   The seller only responded to me ONCE, and that's only initially when i sent the first inbox message saying about the problems with the GPU and expressed that i wanted a return request. He only replied to me saying to check if i'm using the correct PSU with enough power and to try again and to get back to him, it seems like he didn't want to deal with the return. After trying many times again and wasting my own time researching on forums and trying other things, i got back to him and sent him a second message telling him that he gpu was still not working and to process the return request, He never replied to or acknowledged the second message or processed the return request  . The seller never responded to me in the inbox, nor in the return request, after i had sent the second message affirming that i really wanted to return the gpu, even after waiting several days for a response, which is why i escalated the situation.Also the label return wasn't processed by the seller. It was only released to me when i had escalated the return process to EBay and ebay gave me the return label. 

Luckily, this wasn't such a hugely expensive lesson for me to learn. So in the future, even if the seller ignores my messages and return return, if i escalate  the situation to ebay and ebay sends me a return label, also long as it return it and status shows as shipped, ebay will force return to me right? Thanks in advance.  

[fua959]

You should have used the return shipping label provided eBay. You ship it back and when it is delivered - usually just a few hours later - you get your full refund. I know because ive done returns and it works. You just stumped yourself by closing the case. Once you escalate to eBay they make the desicion if the seller doesnt respond.

[fallinglea66]

@topbargainseller

File a return with PayPal

[topbargainseller]

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@fallinglea66 wrote:

@topbargainseller

File a return with PayPal

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Never done that before, i'll check that out.  The paypal return is different form ebay return right?  Anyway, if anything, i'll just take this on the chin and consider lesson learned

[fallinglea66]

You have to pay return shipping on PayPal unless you've signed up for their free returns