USPS lost the Ebay item I ordered - whose resposibility is it to refund me? HELP!

Sunshine05

Sunshine05

Member
Mar 1, 2016
31
3
#1
Hello everyone,


my situation is not a usual one, so I would really, really appreciate any advice. :smile:

I bought an item on Ebay on February 21st, 2016 (the seller and I both live in the US). On February 25th, the USPS tracking status said that the package has arrived to my local post office, it was "Out for delivery". Then later on that day the tracking status changed to "Undeliverable as addressed" and got returned to the sender (the Ebay seller). The seller has printed the label directly from Ebay, so the address on the package was correct. I have never had problems receiving a package before. So, USPS made a mistake. The seller offered me to resend the package again once he receives it.

Anyway, it has been more than 1 month, but the returned "undeliverable" package still hasn't arrived back to the seller. I have waited patiently for long weeks knowing that returned undeliverable packages can take a long time getting back to senders, but now I have lost my patience and I want my money back.

A few days ago I contacted the seller again and long story short he told me to call Ebay so they can help me to get a USPS refund since USPS indeed lost the package.

My question is, isn't it the seller's responsibility to refund me (step one)? And then the seller can file an insurance claim with USPS to get HIS money back (step two). As far as I am concerned, Ebay sellers are ALWAYS responsible for the safe delivery of their shipments, no ifs, ands or buts.

Another question: Unfortunately I have noticed that even the Ebay 30 day money back guarantee is over (it has been more than 30 days). How can I make the seller refund me in case he refuses to?


Thanks in advance for your answers,

Anna
 
#2
Open an item not received complaint. I think you can do this through either EBay or PayPal. I'm pretty sure you have more than 30 days. You are right, it's the seller's problem to recoup the money from USPS, if they insured it at all.
 
#3
caannie said:
Open an item not received complaint. I think you can do this through either EBay or PayPal. I'm pretty sure you have more than 30 days. You are right, it's the seller's problem to recoup the money from USPS, if they insured it at all.
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I tried to open an Item not received complaint on Ebay, and this is what it says:

"Your eBay Buyer Protection eligibility has passed. Unfortunately, your purchase is no longer eligible for the eBay Money Back Guarantee since 30 days have passed since the estimated delivery date of the item but we encourage you to contact the seller to work things out. Most sellers want their buyers to be satisfied and will work with you."

I paid for the item with my bank card, not with PayPal, btw.
 
#4
Can't you open a claim with Paypal? Even when you use a credit card on ebay, it goes through paypal. I think it sets up a temporary paypal account at the time of payment. Otherwise, open a claim with your credit card company.

ETA: I thought the money back guarantee was longer than 30 days? It often takes longer than that to get international shipments. I remember it being 6 weeks in the past. Then I thought they extended it to 180 days.
 
#5
whateve said:
Can't you open a claim with Paypal? Even when you use a credit card on ebay, it goes through paypal. I think it sets up a temporary paypal account at the time of payment. Otherwise, open a claim with your credit card company.

ETA: I thought the money back guarantee was longer than 30 days? It often takes longer than that to get international shipments. I remember it being 6 weeks in the past. Then I thought they extended it to 180 days.
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No, the Ebay Money Back Guarantee is unfortunately only 30 days long. :sad:http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html#timelines
It is possible that for international shipments it is longer, but mine wasn't international, since both me and the seller live in the US.
 
#6
Sunshine05 said:
No, the Ebay Money Back Guarantee is unfortunately only 30 days long. :sad:http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html#timelines
It is possible that for international shipments it is longer, but mine wasn't international, since both me and the seller live in the US.
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So you are like 4 days too late? Note that it isn't 30 days from your purchase but 30 days from the latest estimated delivery date.

This is ebay's information:
"When we have no information about the actual delivery date, we use the latest estimated delivery date. When we have no estimated delivery information, we consider the latest estimated delivery date to be 7 days from payment date for transactions between a buyer and seller in the same country, and 30 days from the payment date for buyers and sellers in different countries."

So 7 days after payment is February 28, and 30 days would have been yesterday. I'd call ebay and complain loudly.

ETA: And if that doesn't work, try Paypal. They should be able to look it up by the transaction number. You probably got an email from paypal when you paid.

ETA2: it is normal for returned packages to take 30 days to get back to the sender.
 
#7
whateve said:
So you are like 4 days too late? Note that it isn't 30 days from your purchase but 30 days from the latest estimated delivery date.

This is ebay's information:
"When we have no information about the actual delivery date, we use the latest estimated delivery date. When we have no estimated delivery information, we consider the latest estimated delivery date to be 7 days from payment date for transactions between a buyer and seller in the same country, and 30 days from the payment date for buyers and sellers in different countries."

So 7 days after payment is February 28, and 30 days would have been yesterday. I'd call ebay and complain loudly.

ETA: And if that doesn't work, try Paypal. They should be able to look it up by the transaction number. You probably got an email from paypal when you paid.

ETA2: it is normal for returned packages to take 30 days to get back to the sender.
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Thanks for your help! I will call Ebay and if that doesn't work I will try it through PayPal. Hopefully I will be able to get my money back. I think I learned the lesson for a lifetime to never wait for so long...
 
#8
INR is better opened through PP anyway so open a case through them.

If the seller wants to file with USPS, that's up to her. But since you didn't get the item and tracking doesn't show delivery, you should win a PP dispute. (Addiitonally, PP allows 180 days to open a dispute!)
 
#9
BeenBurned said:
INR is better opened through PP anyway so open a case through them.

If the seller wants to file with USPS, that's up to her. But since you didn't get the item and tracking doesn't show delivery, you should win a PP dispute. (Addiitonally, PP allows 180 days to open a dispute!)
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Thank you! This is what I found: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/security/buyer-protection-resolution

But doesn't it matter that I don't have a PayPal account now? I have always paid with my debit card on Ebay, so I have never had a PayPal account before. Another poster mentioned that even card payments go through PayPal. All I have is a transaction ID, that I received in email from Ebay when I paid for the item. So all I have to do is to just create a PayPal account or how does this work?
 
#10
I would call Pay Pal and ask them how to proceed with a dispute because you never received the item.

If that does not work, call your bank and ask them to reverse the charge made to your credit card because you never received the item. They will be able to process your chargeback for you.
 
#11
Sunshine05 said:
Thank you! This is what I found: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/security/buyer-protection-resolution

But doesn't it matter that I don't have a PayPal account now? I have always paid with my debit card on Ebay, so I have never had a PayPal account before. Another poster mentioned that even card payments go through PayPal. All I have is a transaction ID, that I received in email from Ebay when I paid for the item. So all I have to do is to just create a PayPal account or how does this work?
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For future purchases, it may be a good idea to to open a PayPal account and run your debit card through PayPal for the extra layer of protection. I hope you are able to get a successful outcome on your refund. :smile:
 
#12
Sunshine05 said:
Thank you! This is what I found: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/security/buyer-protection-resolution

But doesn't it matter that I don't have a PayPal account now? I have always paid with my debit card on Ebay, so I have never had a PayPal account before. Another poster mentioned that even card payments go through PayPal. All I have is a transaction ID, that I received in email from Ebay when I paid for the item. So all I have to do is to just create a PayPal account or how does this work?
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I have always paid with Paypal so I don't know the answer to this question but I think it would matter. I would think that if you don't have a Paypal account and did not pay with Paypal that Paypal would not get involved with this. But I'm not sure how it works now that ebay and Paypal are two separate entities.
 
#14
bernz84 said:
+1

And if you really, really, REALLY want to protect yourself, use a credit card, not debit.
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I find it super frustrating we have to keep telling people this. Credit cards offer people the last resort of a charge back if nothing else works. I would never, ever buy anything online without using a credit card.
 
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