09-01-2014 02:01 AM
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...
09-01-2014 02:51 AM
09-01-2014 04:54 AM
09-01-2014 05:40 AM
09-01-2014 06:27 AM
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.
09-01-2014 06:32 AM
09-01-2014 09:05 PM
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.
09-28-2014 06:34 PM
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...
09-28-2014 08:24 PM
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.