Lost Vinyl - at the end of my tether!

leakyboots

Hi guys, just looking for some advice, apologies if it's long-winded, there's a bit of correspondence in it and I said I'd include as much as I can to give a clear picture of where I'm at.

Any help, much appreciated
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I'm an avid vinyl collector, have bought a few hundred online in the past year with no fuss, but I'm having trouble with one particular transaction:

I placed an order for two vinyl albums from a seller in the UK (WhatUK)-

Primal Scream - Screamadelica 20th Anniversary Edition
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl

Anyway, the records arrived but he had mistakenly sent me the original studio version of Astral Weeks. I contacted the seller and he asked me to send it back.

This was March 31st when I received an email from him. I was on holidays so only got around to sending the item back in mid-April.

I sent him an email on April 29th to see if he had received it and asked when I would get the proper album and my refund for postage.

I sent him another email on May 4th asking the above again as well as a tracking number.

Him - May 10th - "Just a follow up mail. Have you got the album now? I've sorted the refund."
Me - May 11th - No sign of the album this morning - when was it posted?
Him - May 15th - Just a follow up mail. Have you received the album yet?
Me - May 16th - No sign of it in today's post. When was it posted and to what address? Normally UK mail takes 4-5 days max.
Me - May 19th - It wasn't in today's post either. Can you provide some indication of when it was posted? It's been two months to the day since I got my original (incorrect) order. If it's not here by Monday I'd like a refund and will take my business elsewhere, this is going on far too long.
Him - May 19th - I'll get you the posting date but its been ages now, I can confirm that. Its no problem to refund you since it seems unlikely to turn up now.
Me - May 26th - There was no sign of it at all, very strange that it didn't show up. I've bought hundreds of vinyl in the past year, from ebay (username XXXXXX) amazon, discogs (XXXXXX),private sellers from Europe/Japan/U.S. and this is the only one that hasn't reached me. The cost of the vinyl was 16.99, shipping was 5.25 I think.
Me - June 14th - Just wondering what is the status on the refund? Still no sign of the record at all.
Me - Today - This is going on for 3 months now and I'm pretty sick of it. I've bought hundreds of vinyl online under the user names I gave in previous correspondence, my feedback scores are all positive - and I have never had as much hassle and lack of communication as this from a seller. Please provide me with my refund for the album asap or I'll be forced to take further action.

jor el

You've left it too long for a Paypal dispute now, so you're not going to be able to force a refund at this stage. If the seller doesn't respond, there's nothing you can do.

leakyboots

I wasn't aware there was a set length of time, how long is the window to dispute a payment?

jor el

45 days with Paypal, 60 days with eBay. If you paid with Paypal then eBay will most likely not refund you, as they'd just send you to Paypal. If 45 days have passed, Paypal won't even entertain a dispute.

BengaLover

ebay have recently introduced a new dispute system tho, whereby ebay will actually refund someone themselves if items not recieved, and then bill your paypal account for it, so you owe ebay the payment.
Try opening a dispute via ebay anyway if you can, sounds like this person was aware of the 45/60 day window and took advantage by holding you off until the time period elapsed..
Anything is worth a try.

leakyboots

That last barbed email must have worked, he refunded me yesterday.

Thanks for all the advice!

Now to reorder the album (from someone else!)