eBay refusing to pass on balance of buyer's payment

[analog_cameras]

eBay Australia have made a mess of a combined shipping sale with several items. They have only passed on about 2/3 of the money and are unable to fix this in under 10 days! Every day I get some new time-frame (please wait 48hrs  / the manager will contact you wait 24h  / it will take 5-7 days etc). They acknowledge their mistake but refuse to pay me because "we are unable to issue the money as we would first need to replicate as to why the remaining amount was not issued to you". Does anyone have an opinion on the legality of this - holding my money, delaying shipping so they can debug their stuff-up? Also does anyone no how I can report eBay Australia to the parent company for their inappropriate behaviour? Does anyone know if this constitutes behaviour reportable to ACCC or will it take legal action to get anywhere.

[jellybirddesigns]

"I am just getting the impression that the majority of sellers are in awe / fear of the company (or working for it). Can't fathom this - It's just another corporation - as I said before, answerable the the law of the land."

Sellers are not in awe of Customer Service - it's just that many of us have learned by hard experience that they seldom get things right, so users are better off asking members on the boards instead of going to CS, if it can be avoided. In my opinion, CS are simply people hired on the cheap in third world countries, that do not have any actual Ebay selling experience themselves and do not have the means to figure out and solve these issues. That's why they tell you things like  they will "escalate it", or "the IT department is working on it", etc. It's just meaningless rubbish.

[gutterpunkz05]

I am lost,  you said that ebay had been paid and was withholding payment to you, in which case you are required to ship.  Then you say  ebay shows the item as order awaiting payment and you are not yet required to ship, if this is the case,  ebay is not withholding anything as they have not been paid.

CS is probably just as confused, as to how they can be withholding funds they have not received.

[analog_cameras]

Yep - agree with all of that. I accept that the CS difficulty and am not blaming (nor abusing) any of the 10 or so I have dealt with. They are essentially ornamental, trained in the sycophantic style reminiscent of American restaurant staff. The problem is that eBay itself - management / technical staff - hides behind them in a totally irresponsible manner. I expect they (rightly) think that users will feel sorry for these no-doubt poorly paid shock troopers - victims in the front-line of anger. I think if we fall for this - let eBay escape responsibility for there stuff-ups, their greed (taking success fees out of state taxes levied in the US!!!), and their dishonesty - it is to our detriment as sellers.

All of which takes me back to my original question - is there a way to contact eBay US and complain about the OZ office or is there a way to complain to an Australian regulator?

[analog_cameras]

eBay has the relevant sale of BOTH "awaiting payment" AND "overdue shipping" lists (YES I KNOW THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE) AND yes they have been fully paid but have only forwarded part-payment. Got it?

[sugar249]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

The thing is, an eBay CS' interpretation of events is probably just as good as anyone else's,

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Exactly,  and if it has been explained as badly as both of OP's attempts here, you can understand why CS are having troubles.   We still dont have a clear description of the issue, if the OP can't explain it clearly here imagine how it has been explained to CS

[digital*ghost]

Your best bet would be AFCA - eBay are not signatories but Adyen are.

[gutterpunkz05]

Maybe if you had explained the situation better in the first place, rather than drip feeding bits and pieces and then getting  uppity.   Wink

[analog_cameras]

No - you don't seem to understand. CS staff completely understand the issue - it takes 20-30 minutes every day but they all get it. When you say "We still don't have a clear description " I assume you mean you - it is really quite simple.

1. A buyer purchased 7 items

2. 4 were singles (i.e. one of ...)

3. 3 were multiples (i.e 2 of these and 3 of these...)

4. If you total the individual prices they come to $250 (ish)

5. If you total what the buyer purchases it comes to $360 - Which the buyer paid and eBay received

6. However eBay only sent me the $250 - short about 110

7. They marked the item as paid and ready to ship

8. I advised the problem

9. They investigated - ACKNOWLEDGED THE STUFF-UP - changed the status to "awaiting payment" but left it on the ready to ship list

10. Where it languished until it became "Overdue" so that now it is on

11. Both "awaiting payment"" (even though it has been paid) and "overdue shipping"" AND I STILL DON'T HAVE THE BALANCE

Capiche?

[analog_cameras]

The trouble is that payments insist this is eBay's baby - they only funnel what eBay lets them. If there is no regulatory oversight how do other people deal with eBay conflict - just cop it as the price of doing business here?

[padi*0409]

The $250 wasn't in US dollars by any chance was it ?  That would equate to around AU$350.