There is no โwarrantyโ period - unless the seller is an authorised dealer for the item. (E.g., authorised by Apple (Australia) to sell Apple products in Australia; authorised by KitchenAid (Australia) to sell KitchenAid products in Australia, etc.)
There is a Money Back Guarantee offered by eBay with strict terms & conditions. A guarantee is not a warranty. eBayโs MBG covers the buyer for 30 days (to the nanosecond) after receiving the item in the event of its being not as described (faulty, damaged, not the item as described in the listing, fake, parts missing, and so on. The acronym for this is SNAD or INAD (Significantly Not As Described / Item Not As Described).
Unfortunately some sellers will take advantage of buyers who havenโt made themselves aware of the T&Cs. If you havenโt opened a dispute within 30 days, or havenโt escalated it by asking eBay to step in (once opened) within 21 days if the seller hasnโt refunded you within that timeframe, you are no longer covered.
It seems you have allowed the seller to delay you from action until the time ran out.
eBay will not force the seller to refund you in this event. Thatโs it. Case closed (or never opened.) Finis.
However, if you paid by PayPal, you can still open a claim through PayPal. Their Buyer Protection covers you for 180 days from the date of the transaction. PayPal wonโt cover the cost of returning the item, thoughโฆ but if the seller is in another country, you could plead the case to PayPal (get on the phone to PayPal in that event) that the cost of returning the item isnโt commensurate with the item price, if thatโs the case. Your requirement to return the item for refund may be waived - possibly. Itโs not unknown.
If you didnโt use PayPal but did fund the purchase by your credit or debit card, you may be able to have your bank initiate a chargeback, but it depends on your specific cardโs T&Cs. Some timeframes could be as short as a month - most are longer - at the very most, Iโve seen 6 months but itโs more usual to have 3 months. Check.
I should point out (and you should point this out in any claim or chargeback process) that your seller was unlikely to be charming and nice by offering helpful suggestions; it was almost certainly a deliberate tactic to stall until you could no longer open a Money Back Guarantee dispute (or it closed automatically without resolution). If Iโm wrong abd the seller is not a Chinese seller (for instance) whoโs been leading you on with time-wasting tactics, there is absolutely no reason that the seller canโt refund you directly themselves right now, Iโm betting that the seller wonโt do thatโฆ so youโll need either PayPal (preferred option if possible) or your bank to assist at this point.
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