Seller not sending item.

[drsidesplit]

On November 25, 2024, I paid for an item from a seller listed as being in China.  I was told the item was currently out of stock and was asked if I would please wait.  I agreed.  Weeks have slowly turned into 4 months with many emails back and forth between myself and the seller, and each time the result is the same, they keep asking me to have more patience please.

I have now realised that since the item was purchased more than 90 days ago the seller is actually taking me for a ride, knowing that the ebay help system can no longer find the item.  What can I do about this?

[sandypebbles]

The time limit to open a dispute is 30 days past the latest estimated delivery date, 90 days does not come into it, 30 is the maximum

If you paid with PayPal, you have 180 days there 

Or a bank chargeback is the last resort

In future, avoid buying from dodgy sellers, especially dodgy sellers registered in China, and especially don’t allow these sellers to play games with you

You the buyer have the power and the tools

The item was never going to be sent

[drsidesplit]

Thank you for your reply.

Curiously enough they have a rating of 99.4% after 346K items sold...that's a pretty solid rating.

And their latest reply to my request yesterday to be refunded?

"Please don't worry, the item will be released in 1 to 2 weeks and will be well worth the wait."

I'm confused...aren't the ratings of sellers to be trusted?

[countessalmirena]

With negative feedback being removed for a variety of reasons (sometimes automatically), 99.4% is not necessarily indicative of a good seller.

Furthermore, you yourself can’t give negative feedback now; it’s far beyond the feedback timeframe. Anyone else who’s been played as you have been played would be in the same situation – unable to give feedback.

Don't wait. This has gone beyond any vaguely reasonable timeframe. Open a PayPal dispute immediately if that’s how you paid.

If you paid by some other means, you may well be out of luck. If you funded your payment by credit or debit card, you may be able to request a chargeback - but it depends entirely on the T&Cs of your card. Dispute timeframes vary not only from bank to bank, but between particular cards. Read your card’s T&Cs.

I have really no idea why you’ve allowed yourself to be dangled on the end of this hook. The eBay seller has gone completely against the terms set by eBay. Quoting:

❝Presale listings must clearly state that they are "presale" in the title and description, and guarantee postage within 40 business days of purchase.❞

A seller who blithely strings along their buyers with repeated promises (worthless) while defying the requirement to post AT LATEST within 40 business days is not a seller whom you can trust. Today is the 89th business day from 25 November 2024, and you say the seller is already spouting a “wait 2 more weeks” glittery lure in front of you.

For that matter, was the item even listed as a presale item? If not, it’s even worse.

Don’t be any more of a plaything for the seller from this moment on. I sincerely hope you paid through PayPal. Open the claim now. No more back and forth with the seller. No warning them you’re going to open a PayPal claim. No more being a mug. Open that PayPal dispute… or, if you didn’t pay through PayPal, you can really only hope that your card has a long timeframe for disputes. The average seems to be 3 months (which would mean it’s too late), some may have 4 months, some as little as one month and the very longest I’ve seen was six months.

Let us know how you get on. But one thing is sure: that seller is not going to voluntarily refund you. You need the forced refund route (PayPal or chargeback).

In future, if an item hasn’t arrived by the latest EDD (Estimated Delivery Date) stated in your order, open a refund request under eBay’s MBG and it will be much easier. You have 30 calendar days from the latest EDD. Not a second more.

[drsidesplit]

Thank you so much for this comprehensive and extremely helpful reply!

I have opened a case with Paypal and have been informed it is under review and should be sorted by April 22.  Thank you for this advice!

😄

[springyzone]

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@drsidesplit wrote:

Thank you for your reply.

Curiously enough they have a rating of 99.4% after 346K items sold...that's a pretty solid rating.

And their latest reply to my request yesterday to be refunded?

"Please don't worry, the item will be released in 1 to 2 weeks and will be well worth the wait."

I'm confused...aren't the ratings of sellers to be trusted?

---

Yes, that feedback rating is pretty solid & when someone sees a seller with that number of transactions under their belt, they are probably going to expect it should go smoothly.

But the feedback rating is a guide, not a guarantee.

You can have a seller with 100% rating and have something go wrong and you could buy from someone else with a much lower rating and have everything go well.

You still need to keep an eye on things, no matter what their feedback score is.

When you're buying from a seller in Australia though, it can be a little easier to sort things out (in my opinion).

Let's look at their latest response to you.

The item will be released in 1-2 weeks. 

In effect, what is this saying? It is actually refusing you a refund. The seller is saying-no, wait longer.

And even if the seller is being truthful, they said released. That doesn't mean you'd get it then. Released. In other words, they are saying they hope to get it by then. If it is coming from China, add a few more weeks on to that before you would get it.

So it has now been 4 months, they expect another 2 weeks then maybe a month for delivery, you see where this is going? They know if they can get you to wait till after the 6 month mark, you won't be able to claim via paypal either, if you paid that way.

Whenever you buy on ebay, yes, check out feedback to see what the general outlook is, but regardless of feedback, take no prisoners if the item doesn't arrive on time. It is a business transaction so treat it as such and always open a proper ebay claim & ask for a refund.  Never wait.

[drsidesplit]

Thank you, this was also good information.

My 709 rating or whatever it's up to is purely for purchases, I never sell, so I am quite experienced as a buyer and have rarely ever had any issues...until this one.  Thank you to all who responded.

Oh yeah, and I've already been refunded earlier today!  I think it was less than 6 hours and they emailed me to say the case was in my favour!  😄

Lastly, I had a lot of trouble finding this thread just now.  I am new to this community...do threads tend to disappear from the list?  Is there a moderator who may consider a thread 'solved' and then remove it?

[*casey*]

"Lastly, I had a lot of trouble finding this thread just now.  I am new to this community...do threads tend to disappear from the list?  Is there a moderator who may consider a thread 'solved' and then remove it?"

No, the mods lock a few  very old threads but they're not generally removed.

You posted under Buying.

You can find it again by going to "Discussion" Boards at the  very top of the page, just under the word eBay

Then use the drop down options   Buying and Selling > Buying

Then Forum Posts  >  Sort by most recent

[countessalmirena]

You can see at the bottom of each reply “Accept as solution”. You ad the opening poster/original poster can mark one or more than one reply as a solution.

This won’t lock the thread but it does alert other posters looking for help to a similar problem that this thread was successfully resolved with an answer that might just help them as well.

[springyzone]

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@drsidesplit wrote:

Thank you, this was also good information.

My 709 rating or whatever it's up to is purely for purchases, I never sell, so I am quite experienced as a buyer and have rarely ever had any issues...until this one.  Thank you to all who responded.

Oh yeah, and I've already been refunded earlier today!  I think it was less than 6 hours and they emailed me to say the case was in my favour!  😄

Lastly, I had a lot of trouble finding this thread just now.  I am new to this community...do threads tend to disappear from the list?  Is there a moderator who may consider a thread 'solved' and then remove it?

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Excellent news. I am so glad you used paypal to buy. And that you made a claim, as I am pretty sure that seller was just delaying you. The sellers can't actually tell how you paid any more, so he would not have known for sure if you had used paypal or not.

That's probably why you were still getting polite responses from him instead of being ignored, he was hoping to get you over the 180 day mark if you had happeend to pay that way.

He would have known you were way past the ebay deadline for a refund.

You've got a great feedback score as a buyer (which doesn't count for anything, as such, on ebay) but it probably means you have been a long term user of paypal with no claims, or very few claims. (Now we know you actually used paypal this time)

That's possibly why the case was resolved so quickly in your favour, because you said the item had not been delivered & you're not usually one to make frivolous claims.

Once you're on the community pages and click into discussion boards, you have to remember which board you were on. This thread is on the Buying board.