I think I've had my first bad experiance on ebay. On Aug 14th I sent a paypal pymt to a hippie mama for some threads. Her feedback was like 98%.....a couple of negatives but most pple have that. Anyway, it's now Sept 1st and still no item! She has NEVER contacted me and I have emailed her twice asking whether or not my item has shipped and she never replied. Now I'm getting pissed. What do I do about this? Can all you do is give negative feedback? Is there a way to get my money back?
I've only done this through the seller's side with non-paying bidders, but there might be an official complaint you can lodge with eBay. With NPBs what I would do is, instead of just leaving a negative, if they didn't contact me and arrange payment within the posted time, I would take the first step in an official complaint. This would send an email to them saying, basically, "contact these guys or you're in big trouble". Usually we'd hear from them right away, and wouldn't have to follow through on the complaint. This sort of thing is exactly why I don't deal with ebay anymore. It's just not the right crowd, and the attitude from everyone (buyer's AND sellers) is so "bargain basement". Good place for garage sale junk and occasional electronics, but not my art anymore!
I hate the fact that there are such idiots on ebay, because it ruins it for folks like me who authentically try to run a legit ebay business. a) like hummblebee said, I would first contact ebay staff to see if you could get them to either encourage your seller to send you your item or get a refund. It will get dealt with. Based on that experience, leave feedback, but be honest. If negative feedback is necessary, I would absolutely leave it. b) as a better precaution, be a bit of an ebay snob and don't deal with people who have better rep. (Even though I'm only at 17 rep at the moment, it's at 100% w/o even a neutral.) I absolutely obsess over perfect detail, which hopefully will keep my rep perfect, and I only deal with fellow ebayers who, in turn, have perfect rep as well. I always look into the person's rep before bidding... If I see that the person has 2 or 3 negative rep in the last month, that raises a bit of concern for me. If it's 5 or more neg's in the last 6 months, I certainly won't deal with them, no matter how badly I like the item. Go through their comments, read what their negative rep is about, even if it's only 1 or 2. It helps give you a better idea of what type of person the seller is.
file a complaint through both Ebay and PayPal. You only have 30 days to file complaint through paypal, but the rule is that you must receive your item within 2 weeks if you paid through them. Don't leave feedback until she leaves yours first. Too many sellers are holding feedback hostage these days, in case they get a negative. edited to add: for PayPal, login to your account, and click up top where it says "resolution center" and follow the instructions there. I've had to do this twice, and both times the seller gave me a full refund without a fuss. If you bought a book, and it was sent media mail, it might take two or three months to get to you. That's just how the USPS works. For ebay, go to "my ebay" and then at the bottom of the left hand column is "dispute console" and report the seller.
http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/faq/itemnotreceivedprocess.html#7 Buyers 7. Under what circumstances should I initiate the Item Not Received process? This process is for two scenarios: • You paid for an item but didn't receive it, or • You paid for and received an item, but it was significantly different from the item description Before initiating this process, you should: • Check the item listing. Review the seller's item description and shipping and payment terms. Have you allowed enough time for the seller to receive and confirm payment? Have you read the seller's shipping terms? • Email your seller. If you are still concerned, email the seller with your questions. If you don't have the seller's email address, you can request it from eBay or use Ask Seller a Question. • Check your email spam filters for messages from the seller. It's possible that spam filters on your email system are blocking emails from your seller. • Check your own contact information. It's possible that your contact information is incorrect, preventing your seller from contacting you. Go to My Account in My eBay and click on Personal Information. Make sure your email address is correct. • Call your seller. Request your seller's contact information and give him or her a phone call. Many issues are just simple misunderstandings that can be resolved with a single phone call. If you have taken all of these steps and still have not resolved your problem, you may initiate the Item Not Received process anytime between 10-60 days after the listing ends. Learn more details about all the steps you should take before initiating this process. 8. How do I initiate the Item Not Received process? You can initiate the Item Not Received process from three places: • In My eBay, go to the Item's I've Won section, find the transaction in question; then click the Report an Item Not Received link under the action menu. • From the eBay Security & Resolution Center, under the problem section, click on the Item Not Received button. • Search Help by typing "Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described process" in the Help search box. Alternatively, you may click on the A-Z Index link in the left navigation bar and click on Item Not Received process under the letter I. Once you have found the page, click on the 'Open an Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described dispute' link. 9. Do I have to initiate the Item Not Received process within a certain time period? Yes. The window for buyers to open a dispute is between 10 and 60 days after the listing closes
I would also make sure if you do attempt to email the seller to keep copies of what you send to her and what you get back. It can be a big help when you go through paypal to get money back to have some record of trying to contact her. I
The same happened to us last year. After months of emailing ebay & paypal we were told to report it as theft to our local police station! My husband lost it then and basically told them where to shove it. They seemed to take the sellers side over this and we lost money we couldn't afford.
Ugh. I'm sorry! That really sucks, that's why Ebay kinda freaks me out. It's all pretty much trust, and unfortunately there are some shitty people in the world. Makes a lot harder for the mamas and papas who actually try to run a legit Ebay business.
Ok i got an email back from this woman. She said she just moved....blah blah and hasn't had internet access hence the reason for taking so long getting back to me. She said "i shipped it" but gave no date or tracking # and then said "i will try to locate it and get back to you this weekend". I just got the email this morning because I can't log onto it from home. Now I don't want to make an issue out of nothing but do I go ahead and report this anyway? Wait a few more days? Whatta ya think?
you only have 30 days in which to file a complaint and get your money back through PayPal.hmmm.... she said she'd get back to you this weekend? Sounds like she's stalling. She should be getting back to you much faster than that. She knew she was moving, and she sold things on Ebay anyway? Nah, that don't fly. Go ahead and file the complaint(s). She can try to explain why you don't have the item to Ebay and PayPal instead.
I got the same excuse once (and it is an excuse). The person told me they were in the hospital and sent me 3 seperate emails saying the item was shipped But months went by and it never came. I hate to be a B&*%$ but people on ebay can be crappy at times. I have been on ebay since 1997. In over 800 transactions, only 3 have ever been bad. So the occasional bad seller is to be expected. Go through paypal now and act like you never got her email. It will be your best bet.
well the fact that she said "i shipped it" but gave no tracking number or ship date is pretty telling. I filed a dispute yesterday so now the seller has 26 days to resolve this with me and i have 26 days to escalate it into a formal paypal complaint and then paypal decides. So i'm going to give it a week and when i get back from vacation if i haven't been refunded or gotten the shirt i payed for then i hopefully paypal will rule in my favor. thanks again for all your help!
I hope it works out for you! Better luck with your future ebay dealings... My word of advice to you, when dealing with anyone, is to really do research on their reputation on ebay, that's why it's there and easy access. Look at their negatives, the quantities of negatives should be telling, and also look into what those negatives are. Keeping that in mind, proceed with more caution when dealing with those people.
