Thread: ebay problem..

im having a problem with an ebay transaction and im wondering what i should do about it. im sure others have had similar problems so i'd asking for suggestions / courses of action to take.


- i bought 2 razors from the same ebay seller on aug 20th.

- directly after bidding ended (same night) i sent the seller a note asking for a total shipping price becuase he stated in the auction he would combine shipping

- on aug. 22nd i got a paypal invoice from the seller for the total amount including shipping of 24$. which was great as the seller only asked for 2$ total shipping.

- on aug 29th i sent the seller a message asking if he had the opportunity to mail out the razors yet as i hadn't recived them.

- on aug 30th the seller replied saying he had mailed them out on aug 23 or 24.

- on sept 7th i sent the seller another message saying i hadn't recieved the items and asked if if he had a tracking number and by what carrier he used to ship.

- on sept 8th the seller wrote back that he used USPS and mailed them on 23/24 of aug. there was no tracking number and that he didn't have the reciept from the post office.

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SO, its now sept. 16th which is 26days after the auction, i do not have the razors. they never arrived in the mail. this ebay seller has a feedback of 99.8% on a total of 2300+ replies. so i figure he uses ebay enough and maybe he did send it and maybe it got lost in the mail. OR he didn't like how cheap i got the items and he didn't want to send me shit. who knows... all i know is i paid him via Paypal in reply to his invoice and i don't have the items. twice he stated he sent the items out aug 23/24 which means no matter what carrier he used they should be here by now, or mailed back to him if the address was wrong or there was problems but he never mentioned any problems just that he sent them.

so what do it do? do i file a paypal claim about the situation. they will have my invoice and payment on file since it was thru paypal and the guy has no tracking number for the package as he stated in his reply's to me. i read paypals grievance proceedures it says i have 45days to make it into a claim but i have to file a problem report first which they send to the other party and if no agreement can be reached then i escalate it into a claim which has to be done before 45days. should i file this grievance on sept. 20th as 1 month has pasted..give the seller a week to reply then escalate it to a claim on sept 27th?

i think i will try to call/write the seller again on monday sept 18th saying i still didn't get the items and would like him to refund my payment i will have to file a greivance as its been a month.


thoughts on what i should do?

~J

My personal take on this situation having sold a few things is that until the buyer receives the item its my responsibility unless he refuses insurance or decides on a cheaper less reliable means of delivery. If you were given no choice and you never got the item I would at this point demand a full refund for the items you purchased. If he's a good seller he will give you the refund or do something to make it right. If not depending on how you paid for it do a chargeback on a credit card and contact Ebay and file a complaint or if you paid via paypal contact them saying you never received the item. They will investigate and freeze his account while they do.

Sorry you are having problems on eBay. More likely lost items than a bad seller. I had a few things go astray lately for a variety of reasons. I had a fellow enter the wrong address on Paypal and the box went there instead, I had one simply get lost in mid July which was returned to me just this week, Sept. 13th. I had one where the buyer was not home and missed the pink slip so after 2 weeks the package was returned. Yours will likely turn up in a month or so.

Anyway, back to the case at hand. I always require and build in insurance on stuff I sell. On a $24 sale like yours it would have cost $1.30 and everybody would be happy. I insure, your box gets lost, I refund immediately to you and the PO refunds to me in a month or so. We all win. Insurance does not cover a box being stolen after being scanned for delivery. If it is marked as delivered neither the PO or Paypal will refund. Using Paypal for shipping as I do automatically gives Delivery Confirmation so there is some assurance as to where the box winds up. It does not track movement though until delivery nor does it show if the seller actually mailed it as the PO is not required to scan online postage until delivery.

As a buyer on eBay I always take insurance on items to protect myself. When not offered or if I pass I took the risk and it is my problem not the sellers IF he can show me he mailed it.

Tony

Once I shiiped a razor to a guy and guess what? He never received it. I talked with my local Post Office and they suggested that he go to his local Post Office and see if they had a package waiting for him. He checked and there it was!
So... your going to check with your local Post Office tomorrow, right?

Once a guy shipped me 5 very nice razors to be honed, in the middle of winter! I waited 2 weeks to receive them. No show! Where were they? Well, the UPS guy had delivered them, not to the front door, not to the back door, but to the side door of my house! They were covered in snow!
So... how many doors do you have?

Just trying to help,

thanks for the advice.

i live in a large apt. building where there woudln't be any chance of it being left at the wrong door, the door man signs for all packages so its prolly not back at the post office due to no signiture or someone taking it. i did check with the door man about a package and have recieved packages since then and still no razors.

i understand there are multiplace places it could be. guess i just feel like i paid and i don't have what i paid for.

sigh,
~J

If he can't prove that the item was shipped, like a tracking number, paypal will automatically refund your money, no matter what.

I shipped a brush which was delayed in customs. The buyer contacted me and I explained that it had been shipped. Before contacting me again, the buyer filed an item not received claim. I provided the tracking number to paypal and they cancelled the claim. If I had lost the tracking info, they would have automatically taken the money from my account to refund the buyer.

hope this helps,

Actually with Paypal you only have to prove the item was not delivered. You can ship and if it gets lost enroute Paypal still refunds the buyer if you cannot prove delivery. Delivery confirmation is the only way to go. This is my only fault with the system. The seller can do what is expected, pack and ship in good faith but if the post office loses your box the seller is forced to fork over the payment, not the post office. This is why insurance is a must.

True the buyer didn't get his item, but is it really the sellers fault if he did his part? Insurance levels the playing field <g>. Everybody is covered.

Tony

I had a recent transaction where I paid by check for a razor. The seller cashed my check and says he mailed the razor (I believe him) but it never arrived. He kept asking me for feedback on the deal and I finally told him that the best I could do was provide neutral feedback since the transaction was never completed. He asked me please not to do that so I didn't. He did provide me with a receipt showing that he mailed a package to my zip code, so I think he is an honest guy and that something happened (perhaps an incorrectly written address) that kept it from arriving.

I've decided to limit my e-bay purchases to Pay-pal in the future, as that gives me an option for recovering in a case like this where I got my money to the seller, but the seller didn't get the item to me.

I usually buy insurance in high $ deals, but in deals where the item cost is low insurance is not worth it to me. PayPal or credit cards give me the option of recovering if an item never arrives.

I hope I did not offend you. At times my lack of skill with the writen word gets me in trouble. I was trying to relate what had happened to me and maybe it would benefit you.

Is there a possibility that it was shipped in your name but the address got botched? Would the Post office have it on hold for awhile?