What am I supposed to do??!?

[blkhole1]

Sold an item on 6/21 to a person in Germany, thought all was well, on 8/1 buyer initiates a refund request (which throws my PayPal account into a negative balance), but in the notes he simply is asking for tech support on the product, I reply and give a few options on how to enable the feature he is looking to use; a few days pass and I reply to him asking if his situatuation is resolved, and if so to please close the case, no replies...  On 8/17 I report the user to eBay and request them to take a look at make a decision (all through the German site since that is where his request originated from), the automated request in email and on the site state that they will make a decision within 48 hours...  So, on 8/29, since NOTHING has happened I make a call to eBay and begin beating down doors to get this handled, after about ~45 minutes of speaking to various folk and reiterating the story OVER AND OVER AGAIN they eventually tell me that there is nothing that they can do locally and the issue needs to be handled with eBay Germany, but sinply xfering me over to them would likely prove fruitless as they'll only speak German, so they put notes in the account to have someone (who speaks English) call me within 48 hours to resolve the issue...  I am roughly ~12 hours past the 48 hour mark, and if I do not receive a call from eBay Germany tomorrow (yeah, it's Labor Day, which shouldn't mean squat in Germany) then I'm really at a loss...  Has anyone been in a similar situation, and if so how did you get it resolved?  

I figure I'll just have to take a half day at my real job to basically go rebel ape on the phone with them and see how high up the ladder I can get to try and get this resolved; find the management bridge point where it transcends the whole US vs. DE gap...

I cannot believe how inept and ineffective eBay is at resolving issues; I've been a buyer/seller for over 14 years, and it's been smooth sailing until the past few months when it's as if a floodgate of cruddy eBay users have suddenly come in with poor integrity and bad wares, then couple that with eBay simply not stepping up to the plate to handle business...  At this point I'm looking for alternative sites to begin working with, but I need to get this resolved as (simply on principal) I'm not putting ~$1k into my PayPal account to get it out of negative when the money was taken out do to a dubious buyer shenanigan to begin with...  I really hope eBay monitors these forums, this is insane...

[jeeperson4wd]

Did you use the global ship program ? If not you opened a door of getting a free item from your bidder , item with no tracking and no non confirmed address ? Did bidder pay more then your item is worth? If so you was setup from the start by bidder , EBay likes pushing buyer protection at the sellers cost , bet when you call support you get oversea tech support that will tell you they cannot help , just keep calling you could have to call 40 time or more before they will hear you and this could take 2 day or 3 .

[huntingrgb53]

You should also contact PayPal with this Screw-up! And yes continue to call ebay complaining about how this was handled and you are getting screwed over! I would let both ebay and PayPal have it until something was done! Check the persons feedback to see if this has happened before. Anything you can find negative on the buyer is fuel for you! I've had my run ins with ebay in the 12 years I've been buying and selling which has me now flushing my relationship with ebay down the drain! They've gotten too expensive to sell anything and make a descent profit. They offer free listing, encourage free shipping only to charge you a flat 10% final value fee and a percentage of the shipping charge, which I don't see how they can do that legally!

[jeeperson4wd]

I had the same thing happen to me in a laptop sell the bidder had 5 feedback and that scared me , she used the buyitnow and paid using Paypal she was confirmed and I shipped the item she had the laptop in 2 days, she left me pos feed back and in 4 day wanting a refund because it wouldn't play a downloaded game call crazy birds which wasn't acer approved and was a 2nd party app, she locked my Paypal account asking for a refund and complained about the screen locking , I think she dropped the acer and asked her to upload a photo of the screen, she never replied same as your bidder . I uploaded information and told EBay that I wasn't responsible for non acer 2 nd party apps which could had damaged my laptop screen . I had ask her 20 times what I wanted her to do no reply which is good for me because it made her look like she was a cheat . My very last post was very easy to under stand to the point easy to under read because they will only look at the last post. And before she had time to respond I ask eBay to make a decision and because she made no reply she ruled in my favor . But a few things that will help you is keep selling small items they eBay will see that , I even shipped a item out with my Paypal locked . You will have to work hard keep calling be nice if they start going bad hang up and call again get a other eBay tech after 40 to 50 calls I got a USA tech Shen closed the case . The bidder was thinking she had it on me because of the seller protection program which stinks for the seller. Also beware of bidders who will return item with part removed , you have to seal item with a tag that will tear it CSS is open and post the tag in eBay auction so eBay will see. When I ship over sea it's global program only , it's better to sell cheaper items you can add ford to lose then one costly item you can lose. PayPal will turn your account over to a collection dept. and you credit score will drop if that 1000 is not paid back in 30 days , eBay fees are too high they charge a fee foe shipping charges too , I think I made 120.00 after fees on. A I 160. Auction. Also beware of this bidder scam I got took once , I had a buyitnow with best offer bidder made a offer of 150.00 my shipping was 16.00 I took it , but didn't read a note the bidder left at the bottom he said ..I will take this with free shipping only...I was like what???? Didn't want neg feed back so I sent the item, bidder told me that is how he get free shipping . But eBay calls this illegal and feedback high jacking saying the will leave neg , and again them little note are for telling seller to pack in bubble and other and not to change the auction terms after the auction , I didn't know this until I shipped the item, but please let me know how it go I would like to hear about it , please keep in mind be nice if it gets nasty say u cannot hear you I will call back you will get someone else , maybe someone that don't like there job and wants to stick it to eBay too.

[femmefan1946]

Please try to use paragraphs when you are typing long posts.

I can't see if you actually contacted your buyer. You have his email address; it's on his Paypal payment.

Write out an explanation of your problem in a text document, and check it for spelling and grammar (probably not a problem for the current posters, but others will read these posts).

Now go to Google Translate and turn your English response into German.

Send both the English and the German requests to the buyer.

In the same way, you could try going to the German site and making the same explanation. Always include both your original English as well as the translated German text.

Just because someone speaks a second (or third or fourth) language fluently in one context, does not mean that in another they will be able to follow a conversation. I am fluently bilingual in French, as long as you stick to Canadian goverment policy, but don't ask me about Quebecois vedettes.

[jeeperson4wd]

Don't worry about me grammar queen , take care of yourself as for grammar get a life I done this on a iPhone with text so small it was A eye strain , help people don't be a monitor for me.

[ricketts62]

eBay DOES sometimes monitor these forums but I forget what I had said and a moderator popped up.  Furthermore, it wasn't THIS forum.  This is more of a "chat" area.  You have a "question".

Please take this up to "Buying & Selling" and put it down as a "Selling" problem and you should get Sellers helping you out.  I'd try but I don't do International.

[blkhole1]

Ok, I did eventually get this resolved, but it many more calls and days of wait; long story short, don't give up and just stay on them (calling repeatedly as required) as they're like any other monster corporation and the squeakiest wheel gets the grease...

They just tried to auto enroll me in their permenant global shipping program too, that made me laugh and I immediately opted out; I can't believe that they're pushing this even though they clearly have no grasp on how to handle international issues when they go awry...  No way, no thanks, never again... 

[reallynicestamps]

Keep in mind with the Global Shipping Program that it is NOT meant for items valued under $50 according to eBay.

If you ask Canadians that minimum value should be $100, because of quirks in the handling of dutiable and taxable imports by the Canadian Border Services Agency.

Our maximum for duty free is $20 Cdn, btw, which is currently about $18 US.

The same may be true for many other countries.j

If you sell items for less than $50-$100 don't use the Global Shipping Program.

You can, I understand, ship with USPS using First Class International service, and get the Confirmation of Delivery that most US sellers want for theri shipments. THis will cost your buyer much much less and still keep you safe.