Scammed and Stalled - Any Options?

[piggiezz]

Hi everyone, first time ever posting on these forums, so hopefully I've put this in the right place.

I know I'm getting around to this very late (life's been crazy for a while), but I bought an item from a seller late last year, and when it arrived, part of the item was missing. The item can't be used without the missing bit, and I paid quite a lot for the item ($200-odd) so I would definitely expect it to be complete! Anyway, I messaged the seller and let them know, and they told me they would send the part out...I waited for a while, nothing, and then I messaged them again, and they assured me they would send it "once everything settles down" (this was around the new year); it's obvious to me now that these were huge red flags, but I'm usually patient and don't want to cause a fuss...so I was dumb enough to let myself be stalled until I couldn't leave feedback or open a case with ebay. I tried messaging them again in May, and received no response. This seller has 100% positive feedback, so I was kind of expecting some reliability and responsibility. I realise I was stupid here in trusting them to do the right thing after the first time, so please try not to give me too much of a hard time 😅 lesson definitely learnt.

I'm just wondering, is there anything at all I can do about it at this point, or are my hands tied? I still want the missing part (or otherwise, at least a partial refund if I have to buy the missing part myself) so that the item can actually be used, and I don't want anyone else being scammed by this seller and fooled by their 100% positive feedback.

Thanks for reading and TIA for any advice. 🙂

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

You answered it yourself in that you were foolish to let it go so long.

eBay gives you 30 days after the last estimated delivery date to open a case for a refund.

If you used PayPal, they give 180 days to open a case for INAD.

The last option is your bank if you used a credit card (direct or via PP) but they also have a time limit.

Looks like you might be sourcing that part yourself.

Chalk it up to lesson learned.