Item not received, zero communication from seller, eBay no help

[oracian]

I bought an item on 4 August. Curiously, PayPal was not a payment option at checkout so I sent a message to the seller asking that either PayPal be made available or for bank deposit details to be provided. There was no response. As it turned out I was able to pay for the item by clicking on the pay now button; the bank deposit details appeared on the next screen. The money was deducted from my account. I have not received the item or any indication from the seller that the item was posted. The seller has not responded to any messages. I have opened a case with eBay but - presumably because I had to pay by bank deposit - they claim the item is not covered by their money back guarantee and I have no option to get them to "step in". I'm reduced to sending messages to a seller who has offered no response whatsoever to any communication. It's not a huge amount of money in most people's eyes but if I pay for an item I expect to receive it and if that doesn't happen I expect a refund. What are my options at this point, given eBay's system isn't offering any help?

[lyndal1838]

None......items paid by bank transfer have no protection from ebay.

Alarm bells should have rung when there was no option to pay with paypal.

[oracian]

Alarm bells most certainly did sound, but by then I'd bought the item. Of course I ought to have requested that the transaction be cancelled, but anyone can be wise after an event. It's pathetic that there are no options in this situation. Unsurprising, but pathetic. Thanks for the reply.

[collect247]

Did you have a brain malfunction? nearly 1500 feedback I'd have thought you're one of the experienced buyers.

Maybe in the long run the seller will have a guilty conscience and send your item?

I even hesitate paying by bank transfer with the sellers I buy from on a regular basis not that I don't trust them but I don't trust who delivers the items!

[springyzone]

I feel for you as I know that after you have bought something, you can feel anxious to pay asap and there was an occasion in the past when i did as you did and paid by bank deposit because the person's paypal was not working.

I too failed to get the goods.

I guess your first alarm bell should have rung when you had absolutely no response to your query.

But what is done, is done. My policy now would be if they don't have paypal, or a working paypal account, then I won't pay till they do. Nor would I ask for a cancellation.

I just won't do bank deposit as a general rule (though I broke my own rule once with a seller I had done business with before, but it was only for an extra $2.45 of ribbon. All went well).

I think (if there is ever a next time) you should do the same, just refuse point blank to pay till the paypal option or something similar is there. Don't worry about unpaid item claims being opened against you. I doubt the seller would try but if they did, a quick phone call to ebay & I think they would be on your side, especially if you could show your messages.

Even if the worst came to the worst and you got one strike, so what, who cares, if it is only one?

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a thing you can do. You have probably lost your money this time but there never has to be a next time, that's the good news.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@oracian wrote:
I bought an item on 4 August. Curiously, PayPal was not a payment option at checkout so I sent a message to the seller asking that either PayPal be made available or for bank deposit details to be provided. There was no response. As it turned out I was able to pay for the item by clicking on the pay now button; the bank deposit details appeared on the next screen. The money was deducted from my account. I have not received the item or any indication from the seller that the item was posted. The seller has not responded to any messages. I have opened a case with eBay but - presumably because I had to pay by bank deposit - they claim the item is not covered by their money back guarantee and I have no option to get them to "step in". I'm reduced to sending messages to a seller who has offered no response whatsoever to any communication. It's not a huge amount of money in most people's eyes but if I pay for an item I expect to receive it and if that doesn't happen I expect a refund. What are my options at this point, given eBay's system isn't offering any help?

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I think you will find that paypal is not required, as the seller offers  credit card facility.  If you used the CC  facility instead of Direct Deposit, then you could use charge back.

Seller is new to ebay (No Excuse) but may not be regularly on line.  Sellers hands dont indicate to me that they spend much time online.

Hopefully the item will be sent, or the seller makes contact, too much money to waste.

All the best

[countessalmirena]

The seller is obliged to offer a safe payment method. I see that he/she accepts credit card payments, so must at some point have provided evidence to eBay of having a credit card payment facilitiy in good standing.

If you didn't contact the seller by phone (which you should have been able to do after the sale) in order to make your payment by credit card over the phone, you'd have been left with either bank transfer, cheque, or cash on pickup.

Can you ask for the seller's phone number now?

It's possible the seller's been ill (or worse), so you may want to try communicating again.

Otherwise, report the seller to ACORN.