Escalating to a Claim - eBay or Paypal? Which one? R They the Same?

[iluvmybags]

I recd a bag that was SNAD & opened a dispute under eBay's new Buyer Protection Policy. The seller is not cooperating and refusing anything short of a return/refund (I want to keep the bag & have it repaired and asked the seller to reimburse/refund half of the cost which is less than 20% of the purchase price). I had escalated the dispute to an eBay claim where ebay will decide. But I wonder if maybe I should close the eBay dispute and open a Paypal claim instead?

Does anyone know if one or the other is "better"? Do they work pretty much the same way? eBay says they will contact me within 48 hrs, whereas Paypal says it can take 20 days. I know that Paypal will place a hold on the seller's funds if I file thru them, but I don't know if the same is true with an eBay dispute.

Can anyone offer some advice? TIA

 

[iluvmybags]

I take it, nobody knows the answer to this? Is that because the ebay policy is so new?? I've never had to do this before, so I'm not sure which way is the better way to go - ebay or paypal (or are they really the same??)

 

[New2Coach]

Personally I think they are the same. Do not close the ebay one because if they are the same you may not be able to open a dispute with PP.

 

[cute_lil_fiend]

No!
Stop...DO NOT close your ebay claim. I had a bad personal experience with a SNAD I filed through both ebay and paypal at the same time (not knowing it was either one or the other).
I accidentally closed the ebay claim and a few days later, Paypal automatically closed my claim b/c they said I could not file with both. I ended up with no method of recourse but in the end resolved it.

I say stay the course with your ebay claim.

Best of luck. I think asking the 20% pt refund is reasonable but every seller has their own way of doing things. I'm not sure if a seller is obligated to do a pt refund, but if you win a SNAD they will have to refund you once you return the item at your own expense.

 

[Love Of My Life]

Don't know if the seller is obligated to offer any incentive..sounds like this seller

is standing firm on her ground.. probably would go the route of a pp claim,

only because the funds are held until this is resolved and you can always contact

your cc and file a dispute that the item is not right.. any other thoughts would

be interesting to share...

 

[iluvmybags]

Don't know if the seller is obligated to offer any incentive..sounds like this seller

is standing firm on her ground.. probably would go the route of a pp claim,

only because the funds are held until this is resolved and you can always contact

your cc and file a dispute that the item is not right.. any other thoughts would

be interesting to share...

unfortunately, filing with my CC company isn't an option since I paid with existing PP funds.

I was reading eBay's Buyer Protection policy and a partial refund seems like something they favor short a full refund (http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/item-not-as-described.html#receive), which is why I opened a claim there rather than thru paypal. Altho I know they hold the funds on Paypal, which is why I was wondering if maybe that would have been the better route (maybe she would have been more inclined to issue a partial refund if they were holding her $$)

I outlined everything within my claim -- one of the handles is a diff color from the other & from the bag, there's wear to all 4 corners & two stains inside the bag - she described the bag "Excellent...Like New" and didn't specify any wear. You can actually see the handle discoloration in her listing pics, which I asked her about at the beginning of the auction (thru ebay's Msg). She replied that "no, the handles are the same color." I also provided the information I recd from Loving my Bags about having the color restored and the corners fixed. (She gave me a quote of $145 to restore the color to the handle & $25/corner). I asked the Seller if she would agree to refund half the quote ($125, which is less than 20% of what I paid), which she refused. I marked the box that said that I want to keep the item because it's a color to find & I've been looking for this for 2 yrs now (I included this within my claim as well)!

While it would be nice if they decided that she had to issue a refund equal to the quote I was given, I'd be happy with half - I could cover the other half & have my bag within 3 weeks in the condition she originally described it to be (Like New!)

 

[iluvmybags]

FYI -- this is the discoloration - it looks lighter in the pics (I was afraid it wouldn't show up at all when I first took the pics), but it's more obvious IRL. The bag is a light beige/taupe color, but the front handle is more of a golden color (the edge paint has even turned a green-ish color while the edge paint everywhere else is dark grey)

 

[iluvmybags]

and these are the four corners of the bag

 

[iluvmybags]

and wear to the frame and stains inside the bag (which I didn't even bother to ask about having repaired)

If the wear had been the only issue, I probably would have let it go - I would have sent her an email letting her know that I was disappointed that the bag wasn't as described, but I wouldn't have pursued anything further as far as a claim goes. The fact that she lied to me when I asked about the handles really bothered me - I could see it in her pics, but when she said they were the same color, I figured it was just bad lighting or the flash that caused it to look like that, when they actually ARE two diff colors

 

[Love Of My Life]

Think that I would file a SNAD.. as this is what appears to be.. would also

not be happy with the discoloration on the handles.. hope all your communication

went through ebay so you have her e-mails to forward if necessary..

and would think pp would put the funds back into your account upon the return

of the bag..and by the way if you do decide to send the bag back, please take

a pic of it, insure, signature & delivery confirmation.. not sure that I like this

seller's behavior..

 

[iluvmybags]

I really don't want to return it - I'd rather take the loss and eat the cost of the repair than send it back. It's too HTF to let go of - as it is, it took me 2 yrs to find this one.

Yes, all communication was either thru eBay's Msgs or thru the Dispute form (before you escalate to a claim, you can communicate with the seller thru the Resolution Center so that they can monitor/access the communication). The only communication that wasn't thru ebay's msgs was when I sent her the pics - I did include within my dispute/claim that I sent pics to the seller & if it was necessary, I could provide ebay with the same pics I provided the seller.

I just have a feeling she wants it back so she can make a 2nd chance offer to the 2nd highest bidder - it was only $5 less than my winning bid. If I returned it and she relisted it, she runs the risk that I'd leave neg FB saying what's wrong with the bag. If she's refusing a partial refund of $125, I don't think she'd take a chance that another auction will end lower than that. I have to believe that if the other bidders knew what condition the bag was in, they may not have bid as high as they did

 

[cute_lil_fiend]

I just have a feeling she wants it back so she can make a 2nd chance offer to the 2nd highest bidder - it was only $5 less than my winning bid. If I returned it and she relisted it, she runs the risk that I'd leave neg FB saying what's wrong with the bag. If she's refusing a partial refund of $125, I don't think she'd take a chance that another auction will end lower than that. I have to believe that if the other bidders knew what condition the bag was in, they may not have bid as high as they did

True, but in the end it's her right to refuse a refund and my gut tells me (like you said) that she'll want to relist or do a 2nd offer. Really, there is nothing you can do to make her do a pt refund.

 

[iluvmybags]

True, but in the end it's her right to refuse a refund and my gut tells me (like you said) that she'll want to relist or do a 2nd offer. Really, there is nothing you can do to make her do a pt refund.

No, I know that - that's why I'm hoping that ebay will decide in my favor and honor my request for a partial refund that's equal to half the cost of repairs. I REALLY want this bag!! And to be honest, the quote to fix it is less than what I was anticipating. I really didn't think that asking for half of it was all that bad.

From a seller's standpoint, I don't think I'd take a chance that the next buyer would have the same complaints about the bag - and then what is she going to do? She'd have TWO buyers who could leave FB stating the bag's true condition and would she really be able to sell it for the same price if buyers knew that it really wasn't "Excellent, Like New"? Even when I look at this from a seller's point of view - issuing the partial refund seems to make more sense rather than taking a risk that there would be more problems down the road and loosing even more $$

 

[ninth]

i think you should file with paypal, cause once you open a case with them they automatically freeze the funds in the seller's account,
which probably put more pressure on the seller to resolve the problem,

i notice eBay does nothing really to help, the only decision they can make is for a full refund including original shipping, but you'll have to pay for your own return shipping which really isn't fair
ebay doesn't ever rule in favor of partial refunds, the seller has to agree to that

 

[cute_lil_fiend]

No, I know that - that's why I'm hoping that ebay will decide in my favor and honor my request for a partial refund that's equal to half the cost of repairs. I REALLY want this bag!! And to be honest, the quote to fix it is less than what I was anticipating. I really didn't think that asking for half of it was all that bad.
$$

Sorry. I made a mistake on my last post that you quoted. I meant to say that Paypal can't force a seller to do a PARTIAL REFUND, only a FULL REFUND.
Sooo...if you file a claim and the seller doesn't want to do a full refund, then you have NO CHOICE but to return the item for a refund. Either that or keep the bag without the partial refund if you really want the bag.

Honestly, you might have to just suck it up and return it if you can't accept the flaws, because at this point it looks like the seller isn't going to be cooperating. From other posts here (on purseforum ebay subforum) I get the feeling that there's been a glut of buyers looking for ways to get pt refunds on ebay after receiving an item. You have legitimate concerns so I'm NOT saying you're one of those people, but I think in general it makes sellers reluctant to do partial refunds.

There will always be other chances, even if you do take a bit more time to find this, your dream bag. Sometimes ebay can just be such a friggin headache.