Emerging seller issue.

[_krusty_]

There appears to have emerged a new scam perpetrated by some sellers. As a seasoned (14 year) eBayer I thought I was basically protected from scammers but this emerging one caught me twice.

How it works: You buy a buy now item from a Hong Kong seller & are advised the item may take up to 28 days to arrive. You patiently wait & the item does not arrive so you contact the seller. He responds in Chinglish “I sory in warhouse with post ofice”. You wait further * contact seller again who says he will post another item.

Now the 45 day PayPal claim has expired so you cannot claim a refund. You wait further after assurances by the seller if you just wait a bit longer it will arrive. 60 days have now passed & you decide you have been scammed so you decide to wear the loss (you have no other option) & decide to leave negative feedback for the seller to warn others but no, after 60 days you are not allowed to post feedback.

Like I said I was caught twice by two different member names – same seller. One of the accounts was terminated for a short time by eBay (for obvious reasons) but is again back in use. I attempted to post a reply to an existing thread but it was moderated (removed)! Hoping this one survives to alert others.

[*new2vintage]

You know what the time limitations are and you are very experienced so although I am sympathetic I wonder how the seller has fooled you. He isn't the first seller to drag things out so a buyer misses out on opening a dispute.

[shypansy]

If ever I received an excuse like, sorry item out of stock, will send next week, or sorry must be lost in the post, will send replacement etc,  I simply tell the seller, fine, refund my money now, let me know when goods are back in stock, or when you are able to resend the item, and I will repurchase.

Stringing you along beyond the time limit to dispute and even to leave FB is as old as the hills, don`t let it happen and you will never lose out.

I will ask though, was your payment funded your credit card?  if so, contact your bank and request a charge back. Even if it wasn`t, the seller does not know that, so contact them, tell them a charge back will be instigated, and additional charges will be added by your bank for the process which they will pay,  but if a full refund is received within 24 hours you will stop the proceedings. 

[purple.cow]

I allow a max time for delivery limit by post of 35 days from OS before telling the seller I want an immediate refund or I open a Paypal claim and leave them a Neg feedback.

I do exactly that if they do not follow through within two working days.

I do it in nice wording, but it always achieves the desired results.

A couple of times the goods have arrived well after that time and all I do if that happens is write to them telling them I just received the goods and will pay for the goods into their Paypal if they provide me with their account ID.

When that's happened I always receive a very nice reply telling me how wonderful and nice I am for being so honest lol.

I suppose some buyers would see me as being dumb for not simply keeping the goods and the refunded sum, but even if it only involves a few dollars I know how I would feel if I were in the seller's shoes and trying to make an honest living when there's so many ripoff artists willing to cheat me, and a little honesty can go a very long way in the end.

No, I'm not some kind of angel, just an honest person.

The trouble with asking your bank for a Ccard chargeback as a buyer is that you are considered to have entered into the transaction on your own free will, so the bank will charge you a fee for it, that can be $25, and still not grant you a concrete promise of getting your money back because all the bank can do is make a request of refund which can be refused by the seller's bank.

I got stuck with that once and learned not to use credit or debit cards for online purchasing.

[***super_nova***]

I got stuck with that once and learned not to use credit or debit cards for online purchasing.

There is no problem using cards to fund PP payments, as it is PP that will refund if you follow the guidelines. 

[purple.cow]

There is no problem using cards to fund PP payments, as it is PP that will refund if you follow the guidelines. 

Sorry, poor wording on my part.

I was talking about making payments by CCs directly to the seller concerned, not via PP.

[purple.cow]

A couple of times the goods have arrived well after that time and all I do if that happens is write to them telling them I just received the goods and will pay for the goods into their Paypal if they provide me with their account ID.

There is no such a thing.

[quote mid="605047709"]

Perhaps I didn't use the correct wording for them giving me the method of paying into the seller's bank account, but they always seem to know what I mean because they send it without hitch and I repay them via their PP account.

The account ID I'm referring to always reads something like:

joebloggs@msn.com etc.

I hope this makes my meaning clearer to you.

[colkym]

Krusty,I think most of it isnt a scam just dodgy postal service from those parts of the world, possibly delayed again by our own Customs.

A seasoned ebayer will advise you to contact the seller first, (which you have done), but if the item hasnt turned up by day 43 open a dispute.  You then have another 20 days to escalate it to a claim, so if it hasnt arrived by then- escalate it.  In effect allowing you 65 days in which to receive your item.

[phorum_junkie*]

The trouble with asking your bank for a Ccard chargeback as a buyer is that you are considered to have entered into the transaction on your own free will, so the bank will charge you a fee for it, that can be $25,

I don't know which bank you use but as a buyer most banks only charge you $15 if you lose the chargeback, that is for using your CC directly, if you use it through Paypal then as a seller if you contest the chargeback and lose Paypal charge you an extra $15, if you agree to the refund or successfully defend the chargeback then you don't get charged any extra.

OP as an 'experienced' ebayer you must have been aware of the 45 day limit for opening a dispute and even if you weren't the first time you must have been the second so it is incomprehensible to me why you would allow yourself to be scammed with what is certainly not a new scam but has been around as long as ebay has.

[zenremix777]

Just open a dispute on the 44th day to cover yourself. If it hasn't arrived close to the deadline of the dispute, claim for a refund.