How long for eBay to make a decision on a case??

[cucumbers789]

I purchased a small item of jewellery on the 7/03/2016, and what I recieved in the mail the following week was an empty letter envelope with a tear in the bottom where the item had fallen out. I suspect it was forced out during letter machine processing, either way, sending the item through letter post in a flimsy paper envelope was not suitable at all!
I contacted the seller with a photo of the torn envelope and they simply refused to see fault, and I did not hear back from them again.

SO, I open an official request for a refund on 19/03/16, seller ignores, I escalated the case on the 25th, get a message from eBay on the 28th saying they need more time to review the case. 

So now it's been two weeks since then and I still have heard absolutely nothing. I understand eBay probably has tons of these cases to sort through, but I am getting a little impatient. 

Anyone had eBay say they need more time for a case before? How long did you have to wait? How long SHOULD I wait before I have to contact them to ask what's going on??

[*tippy*toes*]

Did you open a dispute for not arrived or not as described?

[cucumbers789]

I opened the dispute as item not recieved.
Unfortunately I'm not sure if I did the right thing here because, sure the packaging arrived! But not the item!
I thought about opening as Item not described, but ended up not going through with it because it prompted me to upload photos of the supposed item, which of course I could not do because I never got it.
Could this be what is holding up my case?

[kopenhagen5]

Unfortunately there is a good chance you will lose the case if the seller can prove delivery.

I know there is a provision in PayPal to select "received empty box" but perhaps that is not there in an eBay case?

But being a letter, seller probably cannot prove delivery and you should get a refund.

eBay cases can take a long time, unlike Paypal's which always seem very efficient and quick.

[cucumbers789]

Yes that's what I thought. They were silly enough to send the item as a letter, which also means no tracking number, so it's unlikley they have proof of sending? 
This is the first time I've had to deal with something like this so I'm a little bit of a noob, I originally tried to open the dispute through PayPal but when I tried to, I was just redirected to eBay's resolution centre. I thought it would be more or less the same thing *sigh*
I thought this would have been a simple case to solve but the fact that it's taking a while is a little worrying.

I'm just so annoyed because I genuinely have not recieved my item and just want my money back! My confidence in buying from eBay is pretty low right now 😞 

[kopenhagen5]

Understandable, just remember there are amateurs on eBay but many good sellers also.

I recently opened a case in Paypal and was also redirected to eBay after selecting the link.

So I tried going into PayPal's resolution centre and was able to open a Paypal case from there.

Keep it in mind for next time should there be one.

[cucumbers789]

Yeah, I have heard plenty of times since opening the case with eBay that PayPal's dispute resolution is much quicker and more straightforward! So I will make sure to go through PayPal if I ever need to open a case again (hopefully never!) 
Thank you for the advice

[black*poppy]

If you lose this case with eBay you can still open a case with paypal. But the case must be fully concluded with eBay first.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@cucumbers789 wrote:

Yeah, I have heard plenty of times since opening the case with eBay that PayPal's dispute resolution is much quicker and more straightforward! So I will make sure to go through PayPal if I ever need to open a case again (hopefully never!) 
Thank you for the advice

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If you ever need to open a dispute for not as described, you are better doing that through eBay as the seller will have to pay for the return of the item if they want it back. Through PayPal, you'd need to pay for the return. For not received you're better going through PayPal.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

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@cucumbers789 wrote:

Yes that's what I thought. They were silly enough to send the item as a letter, which also means no tracking number, so it's unlikley they have proof of sending? 
This is the first time I've had to deal with something like this so I'm a little bit of a noob, I originally tried to open the dispute through PayPal but when I tried to, I was just redirected to eBay's resolution centre. I thought it would be more or less the same thing *sigh*
I thought this would have been a simple case to solve but the fact that it's taking a while is a little worrying.

I'm just so annoyed because I genuinely have not recieved my item and just want my money back! My confidence in buying from eBay is pretty low right now 😞 

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I understand why you chose the not received route as it does seem to be the most appropriate in these circumstances, but both eBay and PayPal keep this really simplistic - 

Item Not Reveived = you didn't receive a package at all

Item Not as Described =  you received a package but it didn't contain what it was supposed to in one way or another

Even though the seller might not have tracking, eBay has access to the messages between yourself and the seller, and I suspect the reason they are dragging this out is because your messages confirmed you received a package, which, as you can see, is all that's under dispute in an INR case. 

I suggest you contact eBay by phone (either by calling or requesting a callback, via the Help & Contact link) so you can explain the situation to someone that will be able to review the case rather than risk receiving automated replies where no one views the evidence from your point of view.