eBay REFUSED refund

[corruptedmooch]

Warning to buyers/Feedback for eBay: I recently purchased a sewing machine from a seller here. After a month, my lovely package arrived and it was a bead. A single black bead instead of a sewing machine. Obviously a scam, especially after I opened a case and the seller never responded to give me a refund. After asking eBay to step in they sent me an email informing me I needed a police report. Everyone I mentioned this to said that was odd to ask for a police report, even the officer who took the report said that was strange. But the officer filed the report and gave me the information eBay asked for over the phone. eBay gave me 10 days to get this report. I sent the information and they informed me they needed the FULL document. Well, in Canada you can't just go and get this report, you need to request it under the Freedom of Information act. I traveled to my local police department and paid a $5 deposit (that's right, eBay is making me PAY to get a refund) and they informed me it would be 30-60 DAYS for them to get this report for me. I emailed eBay back immediately informing them of this and sent them an image of my receipt the police department gave me. A few days later I received an email saying my case had been closed with no explanation. Hoping this was a mistake, I appealed the decision. They emailed me again, saying they came to the same conclusion, and would not reopen the case. Finally they gave me an explanation after I emailed them AGAIN, saying that I failed to give them the proper documents. So I gave them a call. Though the woman I spoke to was nice, she informed me the case would not be reopened, and I now had to go through PayPal to get my refund from this scam. 

So after following ALL of eBay's instructions, they closed this case in favour of the SCAMMER due to conditions outside of my control. So eBay, you've turned me off from buying things not only from your site but anywhere online for the next while. Until you fix this convoluted system you have just for someone to get a refund, I will not be buying from you, and warning anyone I can before they think about purchasing something. Fix your refund system to ask less of people who have OBVIOUSLY been scammed, and screen your sellers a little better. 

Good news: after being sent to PayPal's resolution centre, within 5 MINUTES they gave me a refund. This was not worth the amount of stress and hoops I've had to jump through. Please be careful when purchasing in the future! And don't rely on a ridiculous refund system to get your money back. 

[femmefan1946]

Okay.

Forget eBay.

Go to your Paypal account.

Open an Item Not As Described dispute. (I hope this is what you did with eBay too, but nevermind, past is past).

You have 180 days FROM PAYMENT for this.

The first step is to contact the seller, but this is a suggestion not a command.

Just go on to the next step. Ask PP to step in and escalate to a Claim.

Now. Here's the problem.

In your eBay claim, the seller should have been told to send you return postage.

However, PP insists that the buyer pay for the return, with confirmation of delivery.

If your seller is in China, and I suspect he is, this will cost you at least $40.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

You can get a small discount by getting a Small Business Solutions card from Canada Post. You don't have to be a business for this.

Send the bead back to the seller with Confirmation of Delivery.

When you give that tracking number to PP, they may make you wait a bit for the parcel to be delivered, or they may refund you immediately.

But you do have to prove delivery to both eBay and PP.

If that doesn't work, go to the credit card you back your PP account with and ask the clerk about a chargeback. Unlike eBay and PP she has no information about the transaction, so have the dates, payments, currencies, and all numbers handy to help her with your refund.

BTW- that is the best order for disputes- eBay has a short dispute period, but the seller pays for the return shipping. PP has a longer period, but buyer pays for shipping. Credit cards vary.

[wortal7314]

Post the name of the scam seller. Glad you got some refund.

[marnotom!]

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@wortal7314 wrote:

Post the name of the scam seller. 

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It will be taken down.

[corruptedmooch]

Please read my post again carefully.

[reallynicestamps]

White space and paragraphs are your friends.

Posts are often read by other members with similar problems.

I find it helpful to show that there is an alternative / appeal process should the first Dispute fail.

[corruptedmooch]

Duly noted.

The alternative is at the bottom of the post: when eBay fails with its flawed system, go to PayPal. 

However this whole ordeal has put me off eBay for a long time, and I think they'll find other people in my situation will not be using their service when purchasing online UNTIL they realize that when they ask for a police report, they should be willing to WAIT for the results instead of immediately closing the refund just because they don't feel like dealing with it. 

Their customer service and money back guarantee have failed and they have failed me as a customer who was robbed of my money. 

Is that enough white space and paragraphs for you?

[jefphipp-2]

eBay does absolutely everything in its power to make it appear that Sellers are all above board and no scammers exist.  Buyers know this to be anything but remotely true.  eBay will simply remove negative reviews at the Seller's request, refuse refunds, and all kinds of crazy stuff "at their sole discretion" to insulate them.  This is where they generate all their fees from, so Sellers are like gold to them.   When explaining a problem I was having to a CSR, they claimed to not be able to see any of the messages back and forth and said I must have been using my email program!  I had them in front of me on my computer.  

[jefphipp-2]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@wortal7314 wrote:

Post the name of the scam seller. 

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It will be taken down.

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And here's the difference between a real forum in a community and Ebay.  On any other good forums (like a watch forum for example), they encourage people to post the name of scammer (provided you have proof if they ask), while eBay does everything in its power to hide scammers and sweep it under the rug.  Like just moving a priest to another parish in a different province!

[pjcdn2005]

I understand what you are saying but who is going to check the 'proof' to make sure it is accurate?.  It works the same way if you are a buyer or a seller. I see posts from sellers who think that a buyer is a scammer yet there is a chance that the 'proof' and the story they are telling is one sided and that in reality the buyer has done nothing wrong.  Unless both buyer and seller post on the boards, it's impossible to know the real truth and even then we don't know for sure who is being honest.

[jefphipp-2]

I'll tell you how I could prove it.  All of the communication was through eBay messaging, not emails.  They saw everything I wrote and all the unkept promises the Seller wrote.  They know she advised she had the merchandise back and then cut off all communication.  I wouldn't expect anyone to just take my word for it!

[reallynicestamps]

ZOMBIE POST FROM 2017

The problem with zombie posts is that the informaion in them may be out of date and inaccurate. 

(Although that is not true in this case.)

@happy_pigeon

[momcqueen]

I wouldn't tempt the Libel gods by naming and shaming anyone, anywhere. It only invites more trouble.

[retroman_studios]

Problem, these old archived posts are searchable by Google and folks find a thread relating to what they need and don't look at date.

[kh-leslie]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies.  Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!