galeteia
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- May 9, 2006
- Messages
- 1,794
Considering the popularity of ebay, and the number of people who are making ebay transactions only to have the situation devolve into drama with sellers, ebay, and paypal, I thought it would be helpful to have a thread where people can share their stories and things they learned the hard way - so that others can learn from their mistakes!
Currently, I am going through a refund drama myself with an international seller. I've learned a lot by blowing up ebay and paypal's customer service line:
- Everything through ebay messages is key. Your seller has 1-2 business days to respond to your message. If they don't, involve ebay immediately. Ebay will always review the messages in their system for confirmation of anyone's story.
- I had 13 (not business) days to indicate if there was a problem, so you've got to move fast if you want to return it.
- You have to get permission from the seller to ship back an item. Once the seller has agreed to the return and the refund (via ebay messages) you may then ship the item back. If the seller doesn't agree to the return/refund- contact ebay asap.
-If the seller requests you return it to a different address than it was shipped from, no problem- as long as they said it in ebay messages. If they make strange demands of you re: insurance or declared value, DON'T listen to them. It may invalidate your case with ebay.
- If you return it, GET A TRACKING NUMBER. Delivery/signature confirmation is key. Ebay will need that number to protect you.
- Once the item is shown as returned via tracking number, the seller has 48 hours max to either refund you or contact you with refund details. Business days are not a factor. If they do not refund/contact you in the 48 hours, contact ebay immediately. They will want you to open a case.
-If you open a case, the seller has 7 days (not business days) to get their act together and refund the money. If after the 7 days, you have no $$, Ebay's buyer protection will complete their own investigation and refund you the money in 3 days.
-DO NOT go through paypal for a payment dispute instead of ebay's buyer protection. It will take FOREVER, whereas Ebay will be 10 days max. (see above)
-Ebay can look at the seller's paypal account/payment history if the seller starts giving excuses about any delay! (Paypal is owned by Ebay) This was key for me because the seller, once I opened the case, claimed that he had refunded someone else TWICE by accident and was trying to get the money back from him to refund to me. Ebay was able to confirm this was a lie, because they checked his history themselves.
- If the seller marks the refund as returned, but the money is not in your paypal, check with paypal to see what method of payment it was. If it was e-check, you are not out of the woods yet- it takes 5-7 days to process and they can still cancel/stop payment the check, or it can bounce. If that's the case, contact ebay for them to flag your case because then they will be notified if the seller flakes on the money. This means you will still be covered by buyer protection. Paypal told me that they will only take action after the check bounces 3 times!
Please chime in with other stories and tips from your returns experiences!
Currently, I am going through a refund drama myself with an international seller. I've learned a lot by blowing up ebay and paypal's customer service line:
- Everything through ebay messages is key. Your seller has 1-2 business days to respond to your message. If they don't, involve ebay immediately. Ebay will always review the messages in their system for confirmation of anyone's story.
- I had 13 (not business) days to indicate if there was a problem, so you've got to move fast if you want to return it.
- You have to get permission from the seller to ship back an item. Once the seller has agreed to the return and the refund (via ebay messages) you may then ship the item back. If the seller doesn't agree to the return/refund- contact ebay asap.
-If the seller requests you return it to a different address than it was shipped from, no problem- as long as they said it in ebay messages. If they make strange demands of you re: insurance or declared value, DON'T listen to them. It may invalidate your case with ebay.
- If you return it, GET A TRACKING NUMBER. Delivery/signature confirmation is key. Ebay will need that number to protect you.
- Once the item is shown as returned via tracking number, the seller has 48 hours max to either refund you or contact you with refund details. Business days are not a factor. If they do not refund/contact you in the 48 hours, contact ebay immediately. They will want you to open a case.
-If you open a case, the seller has 7 days (not business days) to get their act together and refund the money. If after the 7 days, you have no $$, Ebay's buyer protection will complete their own investigation and refund you the money in 3 days.
-DO NOT go through paypal for a payment dispute instead of ebay's buyer protection. It will take FOREVER, whereas Ebay will be 10 days max. (see above)
-Ebay can look at the seller's paypal account/payment history if the seller starts giving excuses about any delay! (Paypal is owned by Ebay) This was key for me because the seller, once I opened the case, claimed that he had refunded someone else TWICE by accident and was trying to get the money back from him to refund to me. Ebay was able to confirm this was a lie, because they checked his history themselves.
- If the seller marks the refund as returned, but the money is not in your paypal, check with paypal to see what method of payment it was. If it was e-check, you are not out of the woods yet- it takes 5-7 days to process and they can still cancel/stop payment the check, or it can bounce. If that's the case, contact ebay for them to flag your case because then they will be notified if the seller flakes on the money. This means you will still be covered by buyer protection. Paypal told me that they will only take action after the check bounces 3 times!
Please chime in with other stories and tips from your returns experiences!