what the actual F***!!!! have you been in contact with PayPal as well? as you know they don't have their partnership with ebay anymore, you might want to put them in the picture as well. so you have lost money and your item????
While eBay and Paypal are divorcing, it'll not be complete until 2020 so I'm sure they're both very aware of each others data at this time.
As for the overnight status, you are correct.
I do not have my items (Z3 roll hoops in 'great', 'used', '19 years old' condition worth £350-450) which sold for the full asking price £475, the original postage fee of just under £30, the return postage fee of just under £20 and countless hours of time looking into my ebay rights, legal rights, and of course keeping my fellow Zorgsters entertained with this thread.
I run a web marketing business, and we sell e-commerce solutions (using Paypal checkouts), so whilst the loss of £500 and so much time might terrify some people (as it should), I've been looking at it from a different angle and this has been fascinating to see just how one of the major alternatives to running your own online store could totally cripple a small trader.
It'll be a great case study as part of our sales pitch if nothing else!
Anyway, the fact still remains that I'm personally over £500 down from where I should be, so as you'd imagine I didn't sleep much last night and on the stroke of 8am I was on the phone to eBay.
Now, this time, after spending 2 mins 23 secs listening to the automated response telling me the case was closed and to hang up, I got transferred to an agent, a pleasant girl with an Irish (southern) accent. Any time I've called before I've not had someone as 'local'.
I did ask if I could record the call, as I expected it would contain some juicy content as I regurgitated a very factual account of this whole saga, but consent was not given.
Anyway, as this person obviously had no prior knowledge of the case, I spent just a few minutes explaining that I placed an ad for an item, which was subsequently bought by a buyer with no address, no email, no telephone, who sent messages outside of ebay, who then abused their buyer protection by claiming the item was damaged when it wasn't and was in very acceptable condition for a 19 year used car part, who then caused issue after issue with the returns process and that I had followed ebays instructions at all times regarding the return and felt let down as a buyer as ebay have refunded him and I haven't received the item back.
I was then told:
"this has been resolved incorrectly"
I added that the buyer had initially described a situation in his first SMS text outside of ebay that more or less exactly described the situation he's subsequently put me through.
So far, I've been talking for just under 3 minutes.
The next words that came from the agent shocked me once again.
"I do apologise. That's not how we want anything to go down. We will be appealing that for you."
[not even a 1 second pause]
"We've granted the appeal in your favor"
Seriously???
I had asked her to detail what that meant, and had to ask her again to repeat as I could barely believe it, but it sounds very like I'll get the funds back within 48 hours or sooner.
How can this be so buyer protection focused all the way to this point, then be reverted in just a few minutes and without much investigation to either side?
Obviously, this is great news for me, but lets just assume for a minute that this buyer was genuine (a genuine pita), shouldn't the case remain open rather than being resolved so quickly in either parties favour? He still has the refund money, he wanted a courier collection on Friday (today) and was 'claiming' damaged goods had been received.
One things very clear, ebay don't spend much of their 10% commission doing much to actively help anyone, and everything is geared up to formally close a case at the earliest opportunity, whether by accidentally clicking a vague action without full understanding of what it means, or through sheer frustration and giving up.
Anyway, whilst I've been typing this, I've just received the following email from eBay:
Thank you for contacting us about case [case number removed] for the following item:
192463737257 - Genuine OEM BMW Z3 Z3M Black Roll Hoop Retro Fit Bars Kit
We've reviewed your concerns and have reversed the outcome of the case. You don't need to take any additional action to reimburse eBay for the refund paid to the buyer, and eBay will make no further attempts to seek reimbursement from you.
Because we decided in your favor, this case, any feedback left, and all detailed seller ratings left, will not affect your seller performance. In addition, any feedback left for this transaction will be removed.
If you have other questions, please contact us. You can reach us by going to the eBay website and clicking "Help & Contact" in the upper right corner and then selecting "Contact eBay."
Thanks,
eBay
So, I've logged into Paypal, and I'm pleased to announce the money is back in my paypal account!... and 3 seconds later, now in my bank account after a full withdrawl !
However, looking at the transaction history, I have noticed the original payment from the buyer remains
'Refunded' and that the current funds come from '
Update to Reversal - Status Cancelled'
I reckon that's because the buyer doesn't have a valid Paypal account and they can't actually recover the funds from him, so the real loser here might end up being ebay themselves!
As for the buyer, if that's the case, he's still got the item, my £18.79 for the return postage and a full refund of his original fee, and ebay have closed the case (again).
Well, he certainly know what he was doing!
I need a coffee. I'm not really sure what just happened over the past 3 weeks.
but what a pita. Just shows some local person with morality and working ethic compared to these mmm ‘off shore’ centres dealing with issues and limited englie.
