eBay Advice Needed

[Azathoth]

+1 get money back, when you have money -ve feedback them

[max.power]

Well, I told them to refund my money.

I get an email today asking if it's "O.K." if they refund me $4 (half of shipping), and I wait for their new stock to come in.

So, I replied "No. I expect a FULL refund by Monday, or I will be contacting both PayPal and eBay."

Good?

[MillerBRo]

Yeah dont wait- they obviously lied once dont give em a chance to do it again. Sounds pretty shady to provide a tracking number on something they never sent anyway. Also keep all those emails so if push comes to shove you can show ebay/Paypal that they are not on the up and up. I hate sellers like that!

[quaestor]

Originally Posted by max.power

Well, I told them to refund my money.

I get an email today asking if it's "O.K." if they refund me $4 (half of shipping), and I wait for their new stock to come in.

So, I replied "No. I expect a FULL refund by Monday, or I will be contacting both PayPal and eBay."

Good?

This is the right approach; expect a full refund. If you don't get a resolution past your deadline, use Paypal and raise something called an ODR (online dispute resolution) flag. That will start the claim process but will not make a claim. Do this ASAP as the window to take action is brief.

If the seller still does not refund your $, it will be escalated to a claim and you may be covered under Paypal's purchase protection program.

Further, it helps the community if you have a bad experience and leave negative feedback. Although many buyers are worried about retaliatory feedback from vendors, eBay will be rolling out a change in May: "Sellers will no longer be able to leave negative or neutral Feedback for buyers. This change will occur in May, 2008."

With its recent change in upper management and a re-shuffling of priorities, eBay is rolling out major changes to make the buying experience more reliable, enjoyable, and secure. It's up to buyers who are stiffed to use those tools to get rid of poor quality sellers.

[max.power]

Funny thing is. They already left me positive feedback..suckers!

Sorry for misunderstanding, but do I start the ODR now, or wait until they don't pay me on Monday?

[quaestor]

Originally Posted by max.power

Funny thing is. They already left me positive feedback..suckers!

Sorry for misunderstanding, but do I start the ODR now, or wait until they don't pay me on Monday?

Start the process to file a claim now. There's enough evidence for you to be worried. Good luck.

[tycho]

+1 to starting now

if nothing else, it will motivate them to refund you. If that still doesn't work you'll be that much further in the Pay Pal dispute process.

[NovaKaynE]

Ebay is a huge market. Not one man has the only item of one thing. When the seller asks you if you want your money back, you say yes and buy the item from somebody else. If the seller refuses, eBay has the proper tools to help you out of a hole. Sure...you may have to wait a few extra days by taking this path, but you don't lose your money.

I started out by buying small things on eBay. 5 dollar purchases here and there so if I were to get ripped off, no big loss. It was only 10 bucks. After a few purchases you can get a feel for the seller and work with that seller. I have about 6 sellers that I buy from on a regular basis. 2 out of those 6 sellers I have formed a 'relationship' with and send random messages back and forth about products. I also save all e-mails from each deal for 30 days after I receive the product.

Basically, take the money and part ways. Buy it somewhere else. Just be smart. Don't worry about offending the seller because they fucked up when you accept a refund. It's your money.

[quaestor]

eBay is undertaking some new initiatives that focus on improving the buyer experience including changes to its seller fee structure and feedback. These strategies are public information. For example:

"In addition to pricing changes, we’re making the minimum standards for selling on eBay more stringent, primarily to discourage bad seller behaviour on our site.

Starting in March, we will decrease listings exposure in search for the relatively small number of sellers who have a high buyer dissatisfaction rate and low Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) over the last 30 days, especially for charging excessive shipping and handling.

Second, we will be requiring sellers with high buyer dissatisfaction rates to offer a safe payment option. This gives buyers a higher degree of protection.

We’re also going to raise the bar on what it means to be a PowerSeller. We're setting a higher bar for sellers using their DSRs. Starting this July, sellers will need to have a minimum 4.5 score in all four DSR criteria over a 12-month period to be designated as a PowerSeller."

Source: Bill Cobb - President eBay North America
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801290858572.html

Take advantage of the changes and the protection Paypal offers you. This way we get the selection and prices only eBay can offer with the reliability and trust we expect from all vendors we transact with. These changes will help keep sellers honest.

Basically, if you don't call your hits - you're out!