Refunded item arrived - Buyer & eBay Don’t Care

[lutel85]

Seeking advice on whether to pursue legal action out of principle. 

In summary:

- I posted the $400 item from Australia to USA

- The item had tracking

- Upon noticing that the USPS had misdirected the item I contacted them and they corrected this.

- The watch was delivered in a month, in alignment with Aus Posts projected timeframes.

- The buyer was incredibly painful sending dozens of messages demanding a refund despite explaining what had happened and that the USPS was at fault. 

- He demanded a refund to eBay and eBay reimbursed him, despite the tracking showing it enroute in his state at the time.

- It arrived the very next day, as the tracking had indicated.

- The buyer has since refused to transfer this refund back.

- I contacted eBay and was transferred ‘offline’ to an employee who sent me a message and told me to speak further with the buyer.
- He is not going to refund me or return the item. I’ve asked and asked.

- I contacted eBay via chat again and was told that I should pursue it through the merchant that processed the payment to retrieve my funds from the buyer.

- I contacted UBank Australia and requested a refund from the buyer. The bank contacted eBay who then said that the refund transaction should NOT be reimbursed.

-now $400 out of pocket and considering pursuing legal action

- The buyer has openly admitted that he has the funds and the item.

I conduct hundreds of sales on eBay and can’t believe that they don’t intervene with this sort of issue.

[davewil1964]

Out of principle, the buyer is in the US and you are not. I'm not sure where you think you can pursue legal action? Interpol?

[lutel85]

Against eBay.com.au who are subject to Australian law.

[jellybirddesigns]

You should be covered by the Seller Protection Policy ie: you posted it with tracking within your handling time to the address on record.

Often Customer Service are utterly useless at assisting,  but you could get back on the chat with them and point out that they are not following their own guidelines. This is Ebay's Seller Protection for events that are outside of your control: 

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protection-policy?id=4345&mkevt=1&mkci...

The other thing you could do is move out your handling time for future purchases: many sellers have theirs at 10 days or more, to account for delays.

[davewil1964]

However eBay don't sell or buy things. They are a platform. Tilting at windmills might make you feel good, but is rarely productive.

What grounds will you use against eBay, the platform?

[love_of_cars]

I feel for you buddy, it's too easy for buyers to rip off sellers now.  The platform claims we have protection but your experience is a perfect example of it not working right.

I would keep going onto eBay chat until you find someone who can help in the way you should be helped.  And don't leave it too long, cases and appeals have a habit of being too old and unable to be changed.

[minimum_56]

I'd contact the buyer one more time advising him that you'll be lodging a complaint with the FBI for internet fraud.
https://www.ic3.gov/

Might scare him into refunding...if he still won't refund...lodge the online form anyway

[jellybirddesigns]

There was a thread a few weeks ago about a guy who had been refunded for an item that was delayed coming from Europe and it arrived shortly afterwards (I think that was the gist of it). Anyway, he did not pay the seller back and ended up getting a letter from a debt collector on behalf of the European seller. I'm not sure how it would actually play out, but might be worth looking into.

[papermoon.lady]

I remember that some time ago a buyer in Australia had received an item from Germany after receiving a refund and only wanted to pay half of it and keep it because in the meantime he had bought the item again, thinking the original one would not arrive. The seller in Germany apparently contacted an international debt collection agency. The item was very cheap, 20 something euros. In your case the item is far more expensive, so in spite of collection fees etc. maybe an international debt collection agency could help. Well, you could look into this option at least. There are articles online on how to collect debts internationally.

[gutterpunkz05]

Your only claim will be against the buyer.  While you could try to bluff them with  The FBI, in all likelyhood

they are aware it is purely a civil matter between yourself and the buyer.

Selling International comes with risks, and it is very well known ,that overdue items are virtually free, especially among scammers, which your items are more likely to attract.

Others have mentioned a recent case of international debt collection, but that referred to a High Volume, Europe based seller, who obviously had international  recovery actions in place.