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

#16
caannie said:
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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I know, I never use my debit card for any online transactions, not even with Amazon. It is just too risky.

I know there are some people who don't like to "owe" money on a card (myself included), but if that's the case, just pay off the balance once the charge goes through. Maybe it's a pain, but it's not difficult.
 
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#17
bernz84 said:
I know, I never use my debit card for any online transactions, not even with Amazon. It is just too risky.

I know there are some people who don't like to "owe" money on a card (myself included), but if that's that's the case, just pay off the balance once the charge goes through. Maybe it's a pain, but it's not difficult.
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I don't even own a debit card. We use our credit card for everything and pay it in full every month. We never pay interest, and it's a rewards card so we often accumulate $800 or more a year in cash back. ;)
 
#19
I think the problem here is the package is not considered lost by USPS if the tracking shows it is on its way back to the seller. And packages returned to sender can take forever because they are essentially "hitchhikers" - no-one is paying for their journey so they have to wait until the next truck that has space for them.

As for an insurance claim - unlikely that either of you would be successful since the package is currently not lost. Also, only Priority Mail comes with insurance (unless the seller self-insured, which I doubt).

As suggested, I would try calling Ebay to see if there is any chance you might still be within the 30 days from the latest estimated delivery date for an INR case. Otherwise it should be up to the seller to refund you since it is the seller's responsibility until USPS scans the package as delivered. You may also want to mention this to Ebay.
 
#20
I had the same thing happen with a lost package but I was lucky the seller refunded me on the 28th day. I went around a few times with USPS trying to locate the package, even filed a stolen claim. Low and behold, it arrived exactly three months after the purchase. I notified the seller and repaid them for the item. My mail carrier claimed it just "appeared" in the post office but it was marked to be returned the shipper by USPS. I completely lost all confidence in USPS after this fiasco.
 
#21
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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Ugh. I assumed you used paypal. Buyers CAN pay with PP when they don't have an account. They use a credit card but the payment goes through paypal.

BeautyAddict58 said:
I think the problem here is the package is not considered lost by USPS if the tracking shows it is on its way back to the seller. And packages returned to sender can take forever because they are essentially "hitchhikers" - no-one is paying for their journey so they have to wait until the next truck that has space for them.

As for an insurance claim - unlikely that either of you would be successful since the package is currently not lost. Also, only Priority Mail comes with insurance (unless the seller self-insured, which I doubt).

As suggested, I would try calling Ebay to see if there is any chance you might still be within the 30 days from the latest estimated delivery date for an INR case. Otherwise it should be up to the seller to refund you since it is the seller's responsibility until USPS scans the package as delivered. You may also want to mention this to Ebay.
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But that's not the buyer's problem. It's the seller's responsibility to get the package to the buyer and if it doesn't get there, the seller should refund her buyer and become the biggest thorn in USPS's side for her insurance claim.

But the buyer shouldn't have to do anything. She's been way more patient than many of us would have been.
 
#22
BeenBurned said:
Ugh. I assumed you used paypal. Buyers CAN pay with PP when they don't have an account. They use a credit card but the payment goes through paypal.


But that's not the buyer's problem. It's the seller's responsibility to get the package to the buyer and if it doesn't get there, the seller should refund her buyer and become the biggest thorn in USPS's side for her insurance claim.

But the buyer shouldn't have to do anything. She's been way more patient than many of us would have been.
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Exactly, that is the point I was trying to make. The seller should refund the buyer and then see what she can do with USPS.
I do think that this buyer has been a little over-patient in this case.
 
#23
northerndancer said:
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.
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From what I understand, ALL payments on Ebay go through Paypal, so if I don't have an account, I am considered a "guest user". In this case l will have to open a PP account using the same email address and card I have paid with on Ebay and call Paypal to help me set up a dispute to get a refund from the seller if the seller refuses to refund me.
 
#24
I do not have a paypal account and always have wondered about my protection in cases like this - I always pay with Amex as a guest (compromised paypal account years ago). I had to return an item and the seller just credited my card back. If your seller does not want to acknowledge the tracking of the package saying it's on the way back to them - I would communicate one more time letting the seller know you intend to file a chargeback with your credit card - you should win as the seller cannot prove delivery and the seller will also have to pay a $20 fee. They should refund you immediately to avoid this.
 
#25
BeautyAddict58 said:
I think the problem here is the package is not considered lost by USPS if the tracking shows it is on its way back to the seller. And packages returned to sender can take forever because they are essentially "hitchhikers" - no-one is paying for their journey so they have to wait until the next truck that has space for them.

As for an insurance claim - unlikely that either of you would be successful since the package is currently not lost. Also, only Priority Mail comes with insurance (unless the seller self-insured, which I doubt).

As suggested, I would try calling Ebay to see if there is any chance you might still be within the 30 days from the latest estimated delivery date for an INR case. Otherwise it should be up to the seller to refund you since it is the seller's responsibility until USPS scans the package as delivered. You may also want to mention this to Ebay.
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No, the package is lost. The tracking only shows the shipping history, the last date being February 25th when it was "undeliverable as addressed" and returned to the seller. I can't see where it is exactly on its way back. I am not even sure if the seller hasn't received it yet, he very well could have. Anyway, it is the seller's responsibility to first refund me (item and shipping cost included) and then he can file an insurance claim with USPS, that has nothing to do with me.
 
#26
VelaLV said:
I had the same thing happen with a lost package but I was lucky the seller refunded me on the 28th day. I went around a few times with USPS trying to locate the package, even filed a stolen claim. Low and behold, it arrived exactly three months after the purchase. I notified the seller and repaid them for the item. My mail carrier claimed it just "appeared" in the post office but it was marked to be returned the shipper by USPS. I completely lost all confidence in USPS after this fiasco.
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I can't blaim you! I am glad you got your package though! :smile: I also would repay the seller if for some reason it would ever show up in my mailbox, but for right now I just want my money back which is pretty understandable.
 
#27
BeenBurned said:
Ugh. I assumed you used paypal. Buyers CAN pay with PP when they don't have an account. They use a credit card but the payment goes through paypal.

But that's not the buyer's problem. It's the seller's responsibility to get the package to the buyer and if it doesn't get there, the seller should refund her buyer and become the biggest thorn in USPS's side for her insurance claim.

But the buyer shouldn't have to do anything. She's been way more patient than many of us would have been.
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I know I have unfortunately made the mistake of being too patient, honestly I don't have much experience with Ebay, I have bought a lot of things on Ebay already but I have never encountered any problem.
 
#28
I'd contact your bank to see what their policy is on an item paid using a debit
card that hasn't been received or as of now, lost. You can provide tracking
to the bank to back you up on this, if needed.

If you receive reimbursement, I'd probably contact your seller .Seller needs to
be proactive with the post office at this point in time. You have been more than
patient..

If seller is not being cooperative or still won't refund you & if the bank isn't going to reimburse you ,
I'd take the next step & file an INR (you don't have much choice at this point)
 
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#29
hotshot said:
I'd contact your bank to see what their policy is on an item paid using a debit
card that hasn't been received or as of now, lost. You can provide tracking
to the bank to back you up on this, if needed.

If you receive reimbursement, I'd probably contact your seller .Seller needs to
be proactive with the post office at this point in time. You have been more than
patient..

If seller is not being cooperative or still won't refund you & if the bank isn't going to reimburse you ,
I'd take the next step & file an INR (you don't have much choice at this point)
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My bank doesn't have such a thing. Now my only hope is PayPal, if the seller doesn't refund me willingly.

I sent a message to the seller this morning and told him that I want a full refund (item and shipping costs included) and warned him that if he is refusing to do so I will open a PayPal dispute. It has been a few hours since I sent the message and so far he hasn't answered.

In his previous message yesterday, the seller said that it is USPS' responsibility to refund me since they lost my package. That was when I came to this site to ask whose responsibility is it really when a package gets lost. The seller got it all wrong! It is HIS responsibility to refund me first, then he can file an insurance claim with USPS to get his money back, but that's none of my business.
 
#30
Sunshine05 said:
My bank doesn't have such a thing. Now my only hope is PayPal, if the seller doesn't refund me willingly.

I sent a message to the seller this morning and told him that I want a full refund (item and shipping costs included) and warned him that if he is refusing to do so I will open a PayPal dispute. It has been a few hours since I sent the message and so far he hasn't answered.

In his previous message yesterday, the seller said that it is USPS' responsibility to refund me since they lost my package. That was when I came to this site to ask whose responsibility is it really when a package gets lost. The seller got it all wrong! It is HIS responsibility to refund me first, then he can file an insurance claim with USPS to get his money back, but that's none of my business.
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I would give your seller 24 hours to respond.

If he doesn't respond, at this point, you have to open an INR with PP
( it is unfortunate that your bank isn't behind you on a debit card &
for this reason, I would reconsider getting a credit card to use for any future
ebay purchases or any other internet site that takes PP. You need to
have an extra layer of protection).

Your seller should know better with that comment, but sounds like he may be buying
time & that's why you need to take the next step if he doesn't refund..

Good luck & keep us posted..
 
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