Dishonest seller

[lcry3723]

I purchased an item .  The incorrect item was delivered.  I contacted the seller who advised to write Return to Sender on the envelope and post it back.  I did this on 22/2/24.  It has taken 10 weeks to convince ebay that I returned it and have not received a refund.  They constantly requested I return the item, despite my advising each and every time that I had, according to the seller's instructions.   This message was in my ebay inbox which I suggested they read, but obviously didn't bother.  I can only assume the parcel was received by the seller as my address, as well as the seller's was on the envelope and it hasn't been returned to me.    An investigation by ebay was opened and closed within minutes on 15/4/24 in the seller's favour.  After disputing this, I have been advised ebay will refund as the seller won't.  The seller has tarnished their reputation for $8.  

[domino-710]

Then - what actually is your question - or - problem. ??

[sandypebbles]

You need to follow the correct process and not just do your own thing regardless of 'what the seller said'

If you did not get what you bought, you open and follow through with an item not as described dispute

End of story

eBay is all about the buyer

BUT if you choose not to use the tools you are given, you are not covered by the MBG

And a high volume seller with 97.8% feedback ought to have made you hit the back button as fast as possible. They have more than enough negs to tell you they are 'dishonest' 

[etb321]

What you received is what the seller intended you to receive. It is better for a seller to have an 'item not as described' situation rather than get an 'out of stock' defect.  As you chose to follow the  sellers instructions rather than ebays the seller gets to keep your $8 easy money. Tarnished repuation?  A red dot to a seller who has thousands of sales is meaningless.

[springyzone]

You've been extremely lucky because ebay did issue you with a refund, out of their own coffers.

They definitely don't like doing that and they have a few policies in place to ensure that if there is a mistake-a wrong item sent or no item received-that it is the seller who will pay for it. Plus they have a strict 30 day window for buyers to lodge a claim after the estimated arrival date of the item.

So you have been lucky on all fronts. I suspect ebay did believe you, I suspect they may have looked at the seller's message and have refunded on that basis.

If something goes wrong with a purchase in future, you need to follow ebay procedure. That means opening a claim via ebay. That way, ebay knows exactly what the problem is and with tracking they have proof of delivery back to the seller so they can force a refund.

In your case, they had no proof at all that the seller ever received it.

And if it is a big business, the person opening it at the other end  may have been some employee who had no idea why it was being sent to the company. Did you include some sort of note?

I get an impression that as it was in an envelope, there was probably no tracking anyway so the seller could never have provided proof it was even delivered. 

Had you opened a claim with ebay, I am reasonably sure you would have received a full refund, which is what they were hoping to avoid.

Don't believe that all sellers care about a tarnished reputation or feedback. Some do, but feedback doesn't affect their selling account so they'd rather have the money any day.

[sandypebbles]

The seller's feedback was/is shocking

I doubt they give a single iota about red dots ,if their large collection of them is anything to go by

[springyzone]

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@sandypebbles wrote:

BUT if you choose not to use the tools you are given, you are not covered by the MBG

And a high volume seller with 97.8% feedback ought to have made you hit the back button as fast as possible. They have more than enough negs to tell you they are 'dishonest' 

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Yes, it is always frustrating when you read about some buyer who gets conned into not following correct procedure through ebay.

I blame ebay to some extent as they advise buyers to try to sort it out with sellers before making a claim. I know that can sometimes work, but basically, I think ebay would be better just asking all buyers to make claims via their system. Cut the confusion.

The seller's feedback rating is now at 99.1%, and they have the ubiquitous label of "one of ebay's most reputable sellers, consistently delivering outstanding service' etc that seems to go to all higher volume sellers. No wonder some newish buyers get lulled into a false sense of security.