two bad purchase experiences...recourse?

[tbrewster1]

1. I won a bid on a guitar pedal. For months, the tracking information seemed to be telling me it was stuck in a sorting facility. Finally it indicated that it had been returned to the seller the previous month. That information may have become available soon after the fact - I don't know because I was no longer inclined to check regularly. By the time I learnt about it, it'd been four months since I placed my winning bid. The tracking information is no longer available. I contacted the seller and he denied having received the pedal, but recently I found he'd conducted another auction for exactly the same pedal. I should add that the evidence of this wasn't readily available. It's unlikely that a guy who doesn't typically sell guitar pedals would have two of this particular rare pedal, and sure enough, when I looked at both photos the scratch marks proved them to be of the same pedal, just taken from a different angle.

Obviously it's way too late to open a dispute with either eBay or PayPal, but surely their policies can't survive this kind of practice? How do I compell one of them to act? And if that's really not possible, what are my options? I don't want to confront the seller in case he's able to delete the evidence. I don't just want my money back; I want this guy punished. I sure as hell don't want him to continue to have a near perfect approval rating.

2. I bought a shirt which turned out to be of pretty poor quality. The seller did not lie outright about it, but the photo was quite small and unzoomable, leading me to believe that the print was clearer than it really is. It's a bootleg shirt, so I don't expect it to be worthy to hang in the Louvre, but I would not have bought it if I knew it looked the way it does. I was especially disappointed because I have bought from this seller in the past with no such issues. Their returns policy just states that I can't return the shirt if I selected the wrong size (which I didn't). Do sellers typically allow returns due to general dissatisfaction with the product?

[amber-eyed-girl]

If it has been months, nothing you can do about the pedal unless your payment was through a credit card, and your bank is willing to chargeback at this time. So ask your bank.

The only thing you can do with eBay, is to report the seller, with any facts you may have regarding the newly listed pedal and the tracking information. They may decide to investigate it.

If the pedal seller is local, you can also report it to the Qld based online fraud team.

 http://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/cscp/fraud/complaints.htm

With the shirt, if it is significantly not as described, you can open a claim with Paypal within 45 days of payment, and return it. You will need to send it back to the address provided by Paypal, when they ask you to, tracked, at your expense. Then, you would get the initial payment back.

Sellers should put a returns policy in their listings, as to whether they accept change of mind returns. If there is something significant, or faulty, or it does not arrive, then Paypal will help you if you do not let it go past the 45 days to start the claims process.

Talk to the seller to see if they will accept it back, maybe they will.

Usually, you would be paying the return shipping and first shipping costs yourself for change of mind returns done directly with the seller. Check the listing to see if they say what they offer for postage refunds.

[kobies_costume_jewelry]

I can understand why you are upset 

But because you failed to act you have to accept the outcome.

No Item. No money.

Unless you paid by credit card but I dont know enough about that to tell you what you could do.

Where did you buy the t-shirt from?

Is it worth sending back with tracking which you dont get reimbursed for?

Have you spoken to the seller? Most seller's will try and sort out the problems with their customers.

[tbrewster1]

I failed to act because the whole 45 days thing is ridiculous. I've had the occasional item take much longer than that to arrive, but they always arrived, so I expected that to be the case with the pedal. I did pay by credit card, so I guess I can talk to my bank. I'm less concerned about the shirt and it's only been a couple of days, so I have time to consider my options.

[davewil1964]

It might be ridiculous, but it is the timeframe you need to work with if you want buyer protection.

Besides, all sellers should know about it and post by a method that ensures the buyer receives the item within that time.