Refund for non delivery

[markthomson35]

Hi, just checking in with other EBay users for comment. I am based in Australi and ordered goods from a US seller in March this, almost 3 months ago. The seller sent the goods via the EBay assigned carrier and were lost once they arrived in Australia. The carrier has deemed the parcel lost and I have requested a refund but neither the seller or eBay are willing refund me. How is this lawful and how do they get away with it. I’ve complained on twitter and I keep getting different excuses including that it is now outside the 30 day money back guarantee. The way I see it, they simply refuse to refund you within the 30 day period and push the obligation back on the seller even though it was not the sellers fault or responsibility once the goods left their door. Now it’s oat the 30 days they closed my case and say that I’m not eligible for the money back guarantee.  I’ve gone to twitter and the app itself. The conversation is now about 30 messages long and they still refuse to act. Don’t use EBay. If you have an issue like this make sure you reach out to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision for information on how to raise a complaint and follow up with the relevant State government ombudsman. It is simply

 not good enough for a company to behave in this way.  Australian consumers should expect far better ethical standards. 

[sugar249]

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@springyzone wrote:

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

springy... I agree with most of what you say.

However not the part about eBay issuing a refund.

They are under no obligation to do so unless an MBG Claim is made... which the OP failed to do.

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To me, ebay is very black & white and I usually have no problem with that approach to things, except for the fact that ebay is always cautioning the buyer to contact the seller first to resolve problems, when it is the world's worst adadvice.

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But OP claimed to have contacted seller 10 times, come on EBay don't have to deal with buyers who play games, the time frame isc30 days from EDD,  surely that's sufficient.

[markthomson35]

Thank you Springyzone, you are 100% correct. EBay implore you to resolve with the seller which is exactly what I tried. Just some discretion is all I am seeking. 

[markthomson35]

This is the thing. No one from EBay has actually contacted me. Appreciate your ability to see reason. Thanks again. 

[springyzone]

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@sugar249 wrote:

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But OP claimed to have contacted seller 10 times, come on EBay don't have to deal with buyers who play games, the time frame isc30 days from EDD,  surely that's sufficient.

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But was the buyer playing games?

Are all the buyers who come on here, upset after having been led on by sellers with stalling strategies,  playing games?

I don't think they are.

Ebay specifically advises buyers to contact sellers to resolve issues before they open a claim or before they post neg feedback and so on. Why?

It is the worst advice possible. I am at the stage where I actually think ebay should insist that all claims of any kind-whether it be for faulty items/partial refunds/items not received-the entire lot, should go through official channels.

It's against rules for sellers to try to sell through private messaging, so maybe it is time for an overhaul on this too.

Is 30 days sufficient? I would say yes, if the only response a seller could give to a buyer's question was-we cannot deal with it, you'll need to go through an official ebay claim.

But as we know, there are some sellers who say they will send a new item and so on, and some buyers who are too trusting.

I'm not suggesting that every buyer who runs over the 30 day limit deserves consideration, just that sometimes ebay could look at the circumstances and make a call for a discretionary payment if they can see the buyer genuinely made an effort to resolve the issue within those 30 days. As things stand now.

If ebay is going to keep urging buyers to contact sellers to privately resolve issues, then they need to take some of the blame when buyers do just that.

[cam-2793]

I usually contact the seller if there is an issue prior to opening a case, and sometimes this negates the need to open a case and can even be done before you can open a case. But I never let them drag things out too long. 

Sure eBay recommends contacting the seller before opening a case, but some people seem to interpret that as ' don't open a case'. 30 days is enough time to politely contact seller, give them an opportunity to fix things and open a case if not resolved adequately.

[sugar249]

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@cam-2793 wrote:

Sure eBay recommends contacting the seller before opening a case, but some people seem to interpret that as ' don't open a case'. 30 days is enough time to politely contact seller, give them an opportunity to fix things and open a case if not resolved adequately.

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First check the delivery information, and if the expected delivery date has passed, let the seller know that it hasn't arrived. If the seller doesn't respond or if they can't resolve the problem, you may be eligible for eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Thats what the policy says,  a logical person would assume that if it takes 10 emails, the seller cant resolve it.  No where does it mention chase up the courier company.

I'm like you I would maybe send one email,  if no joy, bang a case is opened,  I'm not into playing games like OP.

[springyzone]

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@sugar249 wrote:

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First check the delivery information, and if the expected delivery date has passed, let the seller know that it hasn't arrived. If the seller doesn't respond or if they can't resolve the problem, you may be eligible for eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Thats what the policy says,  a logical person would assume that if it takes 10 emails, the seller cant resolve it.  No where does it mention chase up the courier company.

I'm like you I would maybe send one email,  if no joy, bang a case is opened,  I'm not into playing games like OP.

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The problem, I think, is that the ebay advice says

-if the seller does not respond

-if the seller can't resolve it

When a newish buyer contacts the seller, the seller may very well respond. In fact, most do.

The next problem is that many dodgy sellers then 'resolve' it.  Or to new buyers, they seem to. They promise to send a new item or they promise to refund after this or that is done or to follow up etc

If a new buyer is promised a replacement or some other action, then of course that will take time to happen, and so the buyer waits.

In a way, it can be stockholm syndrome-like, in that if a buyer has been in friendly communication with a seller, they may feel that it would be rude to suddenly start getting aggressive or they may believe the seller is doing all that is possible.

I don't believe any regular here on the boards would get caught out. 

But we see it all the time with new people. They wait and wait. They are often confused.

I think ebay's advice would be much better if it simply said

First check the delivery information, and if the last expected delivery date has passed, you MUST contact ebay via the link below within 30 days of that delivery date if you are to be eligible for eBay Money Back Guarantee.