Who should I contact first for a refund Ebay or PayPal. Seller says account hacked .

[ampfreakindan]

I Received an email today from seller (it was in my ebay message folder) telling me that their account was hacked and that they are not selling item that was listed.They also stated that Ebay had been informed.I bought 4 of the item of which 980 were sold and which turned out to be a total scam.Should I go straight to PayPal  or wait until the shipping or delivery date has passed then go to EBAY. The item shows as shipped but this is not true as their is no item and no tracking. I have already reported the listing as I am sure many others have.And is there no one you can talk to on Ebay about a scam like this. All those drop down lists and choices are very impersonal and offered no solution to this situation . And if Ebay has been informed why havent they contacted me about this and why do I have to wait until the delivery date has passed when the item hasnt been shipped and wont be shipped. Almost a 1000 people have been affected by this in a short period of time.you would think Ebay would be a little more involved but I guess their true colors are begining to show.They will have to refund 980 people and my guess is that they may try to wiggle out of it.Its really strange that all of this went through without a hitch and that the paypal payments went to a well known hacker and scammer thats been doing this since 2011. Yet paypal nor ebay acted upon this .I thought these were trusted and secure sites but this is obviously a joke. Anyway who should I ask first Ebay or PayPAL thanks.

[momcqueen]

Paypal will refund you faster* but it is worth placing a call to ebay about it to speak to a Customer Service Rep.

Help & Contact and Resolve a Buying problem. Pick whatever might seem closest to your case until you get to a Cintact Us button at the bottom of the page. This is where you will find the phone number.

Discussion Board policy prevents me from giving it to you directly.

Good luck. Come back if you need more detailed advice. Or if something seems flaky with the refund process. 

*Allow you to open an Item Not Received claim sooner. 

[femmefan1946]

The item shows as shipped but this is not true as their is no item and no tracking.

Just to be Devil's Advocate, many sellers don't use expensive tracking. And tracking is a Seller Protection offering nothing to the buyer but warm fuzzies.

I agree that you are best to go directly to Paypal and to open an Item Not Received dispute.

The PP Resolution Centre is under Tools at the top of your PP account page.

If the seller has not been selling for a while (more than a year) or only sold occasionally, the scammer did not receive any money as it has be Held for up to 21 days against his performance. This is a Buyer Protection put in place by eBay and Paypal.

You could also bring this problem to the attention of raphael on Wednesday morning in the Weekly Chat. He may be able to alert his colleagues or give you an insider update.