I was scammed. Is there anything I can do?

[almel777]

I bought an item that arrived broken.

The seller immediately offered a refund but had me jumping hoops for months. Looking at their negative feedback, it is clear they do this regularly. They keep putting obstacles in front of the buyer until they give up or at least until the three month deadline for raising a dispute expires.

Most advice on the Web says that Ebay will not do anything against fraudulent sellers.

Is there anything I can do?

almel777

[*sparklz*]

If you paid with paypal then you are advised you have 45 days to open a dispute f there is a problem with the item.

By allowing that 45 days too pass it is no ones fault but yours.

No matter what a seller says and how helpful and obliging they sound NEVER allow more than 40 days from payment date to open a dispute.

If you paid with paypal and you funded the payment with a credit card then go to your bank about doing a charge-back to see if they can get your money back.

Other than that there is little you can do.

If it has not passed the 60 days since you won the item then add to their neg feedback in the hope others will not do the same thing.

Advise others seller strings you along till dispute time runs out.

[davewil1964]

Is there anything I can do?

Yes.

In future, don't jump through hoops. The seller only has to stall you for 45 days, so this one went above and beyond.

1. If item is not as described open dialogue with the seller.

2. If no resolution ensure you open a dispute with Paypal within 45 days of sale.

3. When Paypal advise, return to seller by trackable means to the address Paypal advise.

4. You will be out of pocket for return postage, but that's the way the wheel turns.

5. If you paid with a credit card, you might be able to do a chargeback. It depends on your bank and their 3rd party purchase policies.

6. In future, don't jump through hoops. The seller only has to stall you for 45 days.

7. If the seller offers a refund, take it.

What is the seller's feedback? What are the feedback comments?

[putney32]

I bought an item that arrived broken.

The seller immediately offered a refund but had me jumping hoops for months. Looking at their negative feedback, it is clear they do this regularly. They keep putting obstacles in front of the buyer until they give up or at least until the three month deadline for raising a dispute expires.

Most advice on the Web says that Ebay will not do anything against fraudulent sellers.

Is there anything I can do?

two things, one, as above dont jump thru hoops next time, and its 45 days not 3MONTHS, as a deadline for making a claim

two, read their negative feedbacks BEFORE you bid and buy not 3 months later.

sorry, every Buyer is responsible for their own transactions, you need to act with caution when bidding, and with speed when claiming, it is all up to you .

[catsnknots]

Just curious as to what the jumping through hoops means??? 

If you mean they wanted you to send pics to prove that the item was broken then that is fair... 

Always pay via PP and open a dispute that way... 

[almel777]

I only looked at the percentage positive feedback before buying. It was high. Looking more closely, it looks like this seller is mostly legit except when dealing with faulty items. For the small number of items that are faulty, they will use the endless delay strategy and will never refund or replace items.

[almel777]

The jumping through hoops involves asking you to try different things to get the item working. Then asking you to investigate the cost of getting the item repaired at the seller's expense. Then asking you to get a quote for shipping the item back and finally shipping the item using the cheapest method ( with no tracking ). They then claim that the item did not arrive and say that it can sometimes be delayed in transit for a long time. When you have had enough of waiting, they ask for the non-existent tracking number. By taking their time to reply to each message they can stretch the whole process out.

What put me off guard is that the seller was so polite and apologetic about what had happened and assured me that he would take full responsibility.

In the end, I learned a valuable lesson and it did not cost me too much money. In the future I will give the seller a couple of days to refund the money and then stop wasting my time. I will then ask eBay/PayPal to refund the money and when they fail to do so ( according to most people, they do not honour their guarantees ), I will file a complaint against eBay/Paypal with the Financial Ombusman. 

[foxette-in-sox]

I will then ask eBay/PayPal to refund the money and when they fail to do so( according to most people, they do not honour their guarantees)

??? Since when & who is most people ?

The only people who wouldn't get a refund would be those who either don't return via trackable post to the address provided by PAYPAL or they allow the seller to con them into waiting until its past the 45 days to open a dispute.

[*sparklz*]

almel, if you paid by paypal and you need a refund for item not as described, you open a dipsute via paypal and escalate to a claim and paypal will then give you the address to return the item too via registered post to get the refund for the full amount you paid too the seller.

If you follow through with the process as advised then you will be refunded.

The system is there too help you if you follow procedure.

[phorum_junkie*]

What do you mean by a high percentage? Most of us wouldn't go near a high volume seller with a percentage below 99.5 and even at that would look very closely at the feedback comments and DSRs.

You allowed the seller to prevaricate and drag things out, you chose to return without tracking, you chose not to go through the dispute process within the 45 day limit.

You cannot expect ebay, Paypal or the ombudsman to help you when you have absolutely no proof that you returned anything to the seller.