Item not received

[tonyfrangou]

I am hoping someone can advise me on next steps. I reside in Australia. I purchased an item from the US in April 2022. The item was valued at $3000US. The estimated delivery time was 20/4 to 25/5 2022. I contacted the seller on 27 May who said that the item was being returned to them due to incorrect address.  I resent the address details to the seller. Item was supposedly re-sent  week of 8 June 2022. Seller provided a tracking number. Contacted seller again on 13 July 2022 after Item failed to materialise and no progress provided by tracking number on US Postal Service website - the persistent message was that the item had not been received for posting. Contacted seller on 9 August advising I would be seeking a refund. Reported item not received to EBay. On  16 August 2022 I received an updated order form EBay saying the item was on its way. I then lodged a missing item search with US Postal Service - this search was only finalised in February 2023 - the item was not found by USPS. EBay is refusing to refund me stating that it is outside the scope of their refund policy. Surely there is a way to receive compensation here . Any advice form community members would be appreciated.

[sandypebbles]

After this amount of time

Honestly , I wish you luck. I'm afraid after a year, I do not know of any option you have

(and eBay is right on this occasion, it is WAY outside their time limit for a refund)

I would be quite amazed if the item was even ever sent at all, even more so if it was resent, or if the tracking information given was 'real'

Did the seller have any feedback as a seller?

Any negs?

Any in later feedback that would suggest a hijacked account?

Are they still selling?

[padi*0409]

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@tonyfrangou wrote:

Any advice form community members would be appreciated.

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Yes, read up on the basics of Buyer protection when you purchase on eBay.

I'm almost certain you've lost your money I'm afraid - a very expensive lesson you've learnt sadly.

Read up on your protection in the link below.

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/buying/returns-refunds/get-help-item-hasnt-arrived?id=4042&st=7&po=1&uc...

[sugar249]

1 year forget it, you have done you money,  

In future follow the published guidelines for non receipt of items within the timeframe.

[domino-710]

The ' search ' was finalised in February - it is now almost May - why the wasted time.??

[imastawka]

Wouldn't have mattered.

The item was purchased 12 months ago.

It's even too late for a bank charge back

[domino-710]

Yep - the question really was - why the fluffing about for a year or more. lol

[jellybirddesigns]

Seller played you and you fell for it due to not having read the buyer basics.

Ebay has pretty strict time limits for when things go wrong and YOU are responsible for following the guidelines and opening cases.

You have 30 days after the last ETA to open a case, so when the item hadn't turned up within 30 days after the 25/5, then you should have simply opened a case for Item Not Received. This would have put the onus on the seller to refund as they could not prove delivery.

Going back and forth with such a seller in messages is a waste of time and scam-orientated sellers hope that they can give you false information to make you delay opening a dispute - you really should not have ever let things go that far. Open a case within the time frame, ignore any seller communication, and get your money back. 

Also, it does not seem clear if there was an initial tracking number? Were you given one and if not, how did the seller know it was being returned? If you had one, you would have been able to follow its progress. The incorrect address scenario seems rather unlikely. There is also no way that a seller would resend at their own cost IF you had given an incorrect address - they would have asked for further monies for a second lot of shipping. Since this never happened, it was obvious that there were significant red flags on the transaction.

Now it is far too late and a very expensive lesson, unfortunately.

Going forward, read the buyer basics and if in doubt, come to the forums first.

[springyzone]

If ever you purchase from ebay again (and please, please, never something so expensive, especially when you have such a low feedback score, which indicates to sellers you may not know how things work on ebay), then here's what to do.

If it runs late, over the estimated time of arrival, then open a proper ebay claim for a refund on the basis it has not been received.

End of story. Doesn't matter what the seller says or promises. Keep that case open and excalate the claim asap.

Had you given the seller an incorrect address at the start? (just out of curiosity)

I'm with the others in that I think you have lost your money.

Had you opened a case on ebay on eg 28/5/22 you would have received a refund.

Had you opened a claim on paypal (if you paid that way)  on 9 Aug 22 for item not received you would have won your claim.

But by April 2023? Far too late.