ebay buyer protection b.s.

arirang

Hello,

I sold a mobile phone on ebay and sent it via insured, signed for delivery. The buyer received the item, but claims the phone wasn't in the parcel, only a phone case. I told him I'd need the parcel and whatever was in it to claim insurance from Royal Mail, but he refused to send it back to me. Ebay settled the case in buyer's favour and refunded the buyer, now I'm left with no money and no phone, and no way of claiming compensation from Royal Mail either.

Is there anything at all I can do, other than rage at ebay being a bleeped up piece of bleep company? Isn't simply taking my money like that illegal, or something? I'm willing to take it to court if there's any chance of success at all, I don't care how much of a headache it would be as at this point it's a matter of principle.

Jarren

Sorry to hear about that.
Did you use an post to send that phone to UK by any chance?

arirang

I live in Northern Ireland, so I was using Royal Mail I'm pretty damn certain the buyer just pocketed the phone though, why else would he refuse to return the parcel to me? It really makes no sense.

Jarren

Grand
Was the package weighted in the post office?

arirang

It was weighted, yep. I still have the receipts of postage, as well as some pictures of the parcel and the phone right before it was sent (not that it does me any good). I just have no idea where to go with it from here, because RM told me they need the parcel to investigate and the buyer won't send it to me (even though according to ebay terms, he HAS to do it before he gets refunded...)

Jarren

So it was weighted, surely that the phone would be heavier than the empty box?
Strange decision by paypal to be honest.
Call paypal tomorrow and ask for the clarification on that.

arirang

Yeah, that's what I told them but they literally refuse to discuss it anywhere beyond "case was closed in buyer's favour"

allthedoyles

I presume you sent eBay/Paypal proof that item was delivered successfully .

I think its unusual for them to rule in favour of buyer.

How long did dispute process take , from when initiated by buyer to case been closed ?

arirang

Less than two days. I didn't receive any communication from ebay at all; I just got the, "Buyer escalated this to ebay, we will contact you in x days" notice, then straight to "case was resolved in buyer's favour"; I called them after that and the guy on the phone did not say anything of substance other than, this case is now closed bye. I have no negative feedback on my account and a bunch of other purchases / sales that went without a problem; in fact I had another 500 pounds item listed at the same time as this phone which was happily accepted by the buyer.

I'll probably look for some law firm that deals with consumer rights - I presume this is what it would fall under? tomorrow, but yeah, I'm pretty bummed about the whole thing. Definitely won't be using ebay again after this, lol.

the_syco

Do you have the IMEI number? I'd consider what the buyer did as theft, and would look into a way to have the phone blacklisted.

But yeah, have heard how eBay usually just accepts the buyers word.

allthedoyles

Did eBay / Paypal ask you to provide proof of successful delivery ?

arirang

No. As I mentioned earlier, ebay did not contact me about anything at all other than to let me know that the case was closed in buyer's favour.

allthedoyles

Go to Paypal resolution centre and read through the claim history , and see if you can determine from there , why the buyer was refunded so quickly.

I find it hard to understand why case was closed after 2 days , without proper investigation .

Check Paypal again , to see if you can respond to claim .

arirang

Oh, the claim history actually says that 'the item was delivered to me' (even though it wasn't, and the guy on the phone specifically said that ebay won't do anything more than 'politely ask the buyer to send it and will in no way enforce it'). There's nothing else about it.

wmpdd3

Sorry to hear this, this would seriously put me of selling anything on Ebay.

I thought once you had the weight of the parcel before you sent it you would be covered for scams.

allthedoyles

arirang wrote: »

Oh, the claim history actually says that 'the item was delivered to me' (even though it wasn't, and the guy on the phone specifically said that ebay won't do anything more than 'politely ask the buyer to send it and will in no way enforce it'). There's nothing else about it.

So eBay/Paypal have closed the claim in favour of the buyer , and eBay/Paypal also say that you are buyer .

Have you clarified with them that you are the seller ?

arirang

Nono, the item was delivered to me as in, returned by the seller for a refund. They're happily ignoring my further attempts at communication now, too.

chopsey

i've just been through a refund situation on paypal where i was the buyer and from the time i opened the case to getting a refund was in all about 3 weeks. i opened the case and paypal then requested information from the seller and waited 20 days for the seller to respond, once he didnt respond i got my money back and i get to keep the item that was not what i'd ordered.

it seems very strange that it would be closed without your knowledge or chance to respond to the allegations, you must be able to get it re-opened in some way with Paypal.

just to clarify that it is Paypal your pi**ed at ebay dont make decisions like this (i know they are the same company but work as two seperate)

A Dub in Glasgo

ebay is not good for sellers. Some buyers take the piss and ebay will more than likely side with the buyer but that is what buyers on ebay wanted!