Help wanted with ebay nightmare.

[maltaseagull]

As a regular ebay buyer as seller (2500+ items) I've never had a problem bring refunded when an item hasn't arrived. Similarly, when, in the past, I sent items that 'got lost in the post' ebay immediately took the amount from my paypal account pending the item being found. If the item wasn't found within their accepted timescale the buyer was refunded. Needless to say I now only ship on signed and tracked services, and I don't ship to Indonesia, Malaysia or Thailand at all.

Open an "item not received' case through the ebay process, the seller will have the money held in their account, it will take a while, but you'll get your money back.

Only if the seller has the funds in the account- if not they don't refund. I actually had an account holder who received an email from paypal saying they had found in his favour and £ 0 was credited to his account! (I work as an antifraud manager for a provider of Virtual Visa Cards for online use and, within that role, deal with disputed transactions for our clients)

 

[Superphil]

Only if the seller has the funds in the account- if not they don't refund. I actually had an account holder who received an email from paypal saying they had found in his favour and £ 0 was credited to his account! (I work as an antifraud manager for a provider of Virtual Visa Cards for online use and, within that role, deal with disputed transactions for our clients)

Ebays own policy reads;

If a buyer doesn’t receive an item, the buyer needs to report it by contacting the seller in My eBay. The seller should address the buyer’s concern and provide updates on the delivery of the item, tracking information, or a refund.
If the buyer isn’t happy with the seller’s response or doesn’t receive a response, the buyer can ask us to step in and help.
If asked to, we review the information provided by the buyer and seller for evidence of successful on-time delivery to the buyer’s address. We require proof of signature to confirm delivery for items with a total cost of £750 or more.
If we determine that the item wasn’t successfully delivered, we refund the full cost of the item and original postage via PayPal. The seller is required to reimburse us for the amount. Find out more about reimbursement.

If a seller is required to reimburse the buyer or eBay, the reimbursement amount is removed from their PayPal account, placed on the seller’s invoice and/or charged to the seller’s payment method on file.

The seller is required to have a valid payment method on file and to allow us to charge any reimbursement amounts owed. We may also place the reimbursement amount on the seller’s invoice. You can also find further details about Reimbursements in our User Agreement.

 

[maltaseagull]

Ebays own policy reads;

If a buyer doesn’t receive an item, the buyer needs to report it by contacting the seller in My eBay. The seller should address the buyer’s concern and provide updates on the delivery of the item, tracking information, or a refund.
If the buyer isn’t happy with the seller’s response or doesn’t receive a response, the buyer can ask us to step in and help.
If asked to, we review the information provided by the buyer and seller for evidence of successful on-time delivery to the buyer’s address. We require proof of signature to confirm delivery for items with a total cost of £750 or more.
If we determine that the item wasn’t successfully delivered, we refund the full cost of the item and original postage via PayPal. The seller is required to reimburse us for the amount. Find out more about reimbursement.

If a seller is required to reimburse the buyer or eBay, the reimbursement amount is removed from their PayPal account, placed on the seller’s invoice and/or charged to the seller’s payment method on file.

The seller is required to have a valid payment method on file and to allow us to charge any reimbursement amounts owed. We may also place the reimbursement amount on the seller’s invoice. You can also find further details about Reimbursements in our User Agreement.

That may be the policy. How many disputes have you had via Paypal?

I have dealt with over 100 where the buyer has not been refunded until we did a charge back..

 

[Official Old Man]

I trade on the net so this is my side of the case, although I'm an honest trader.
I took an order from someone overseas. Web site clearly states UK only so I sent an email to buyer to ask either pay a bit more shipping or I'll refund in full (at a PayPal cost to me). As I heard nothing I again sent an email, in fact about 4 in one week. All I got was PayPal threatening to close my account if I did not respond to buyer. I replied to PayPal that I had and that I was not in the wrong. Stock reply from PayPal about responding or close account etc. I refunded but felt I was made to feel in the wrong all the time.
So my advice is contact PayPal and they will organize a refund.

 

[Superphil]

That may be the policy. How many disputes have you had via Paypal?

I have dealt with over 100 where the buyer has not been refunded until we did a charge back..

I've had a few, including one when they froze my eBay and PayPal account until I had sufficient funds available to settle a dispute. Nothing sinister, an item hadn't been received by the buyer, they opened a case and at the time there was not enough cash in my account to give the refund. eBay/PayPal instructed me to deposit money of my account would be under threat of closure, I paid into it and the matter was solved.

In the case the OP mentions, if the seller is an experienced ebayer, with 100% feedback, then it's possible they won't want their account closing. Until he opens a case he won't know how it will pan out. If the seller has offered 'signed for' delivery, and says its despatched but won't provide tracking details then my experience says that eBay will refund him and take steps to recover the money from the seller.

I'm not doubting your experience but do bear in mind others have had a different experience, me included, which is why I only send items by 'signed for' services and those that buy from me are never left out of pocket.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Only if the seller has the funds in the account- if not they don't refund. I actually had an account holder who received an email from paypal saying they had found in his favour and £ 0 was credited to his account! (I work as an antifraud manager for a provider of Virtual Visa Cards for online use and, within that role, deal with disputed transactions for our clients)

I've had to refund something on eBay when my Paypal balance was 0, they money went back to the customer and my balance was in the negative. It might vary depending on how it was paid for but this seems to be the norm when the transaction is between two paypal accounts.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

I don't know how some of the sellers can sleep at night. Poor delivery, poor service, poor listings and poor products. I wish Ebay would kick them off.
If you make a mistake as a seller, or the package goes missing fine, but sorry there are some real crappy sellers out there.

 

[Binney on acid]

Thank you all for your input. I've just received an email from paypal to inform me that I have been refunded in full.