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I have been an E-Bay customer/buyer for about ten years with no problems. The E-Bay sellers I have dealt with have been trustworthy and honest. But on April 11, 2010 I was the high bidder on a listing by a person who turned out to be one of the "bad apples" you occasionally hear about: this guy took my money then refused to ship the items I had purchased from him and has refused to refund the money order I’d sent him for $80.53
westinghouse roaster oven cabinet 1950s to 1960s - eBay (item 120552669891 end time Apr-11-10 09:16:50 PDT)
After two months of broken promises and stalling it became apparent what kind of irresponsible person I was actually dealing with and that I had probably been ripped off. That was the first rip-off.
The second rip-off came from E-Bay when I went through their so-called "resolution" process:
On May 21, 2010 I contacted E-Bay through their "Resolution Center" because the seller kept saying he was going to ship my items, didn’t, then just stopped answering e-mail. They replied that they would contact the seller and let me know what he intended to do by May 28. On May 28 I received an e-mail from E-Bay asking if the seller had contacted me (of course not!) and if not, to let them know. I did, through the button on their e-mail to me, which called up a form on the E-Bay resolution page.
The form asked if I now wanted the case to be "accellerated" to a final resolution of some kind--the detail of which were NOT outlined beforehand, and of which I was NOT given the opportunity to review first in order to make a decision as to whether their proposed resolution was acceptable to me or not-I hit the appropriate button expecting something further to appear. The only detail offered before accepting their final resolution was that I was to have no further communication with the seller.
Almost immediately I received an e-mail from them telling me that they had "decided in my favor" against the seller and that they would give me a full refund, just one time, as a courtesy only because I had paid the seller with a money order and not used their PayPal product, of $56. (which was just the selling price MINUS the shipping) and told me I had to sign up for a PayPal account in order to receive it, and that it needed to be done within 30 days or the refund was forfeited. Their policy is to refund, in full, the price of the item plus shipping.
There was a button on their e-mail that I could use to appeal the decision so I used it: I told them that $56. is a PARTIAL refund, not the full refund of item-plus-shipping that they claimed it to be, and told them that I wanted a full refund of $80.53 (if not from them then from the seller) They had forgotten to add the shipping charge, which is on their own invoice and clearly stated on the seller’s advertisement page. All they had to do was look at their own invoice and see that fact for themselves. I also told them I do not want to sign up for a PayPal account because I do not feel comfortable giving a third party access to my credit card or bank account information--for the same reasons people are complaining about it on their own discussion boards--and certainly not for a partial refund.
I got a letter back from them claiming the $56. is indeed a full refund and did indeed include the shipping charge (a blatant lie) and that the case decision was closed and final, that I needed to sign up for the PayPal account whether I wanted one or not if I wanted to receive the (partial) refund they offered.
This went back and forth several times and in the end I was told, basically, to just shut up, accept the partial refund, and move on. In short, the royal runaround. I ended the exchange saying I wanted a full refund, rejected their partial refund, and elected instead to try and extract it from the seller since he lives just two hour away from me. No luck there, to date...more games, excuses, stalling.
I feel E-Bay did not do enough to motivate the seller to perform his end of the deal and unfairly stuck me with the results of his irresponsible behavior: he is the screw-up and I am expected to cheerfully accept fraud and a theft of $80.53 while he gets to freely keep my money and the items I purchased?
My main gripe with E-Bay’s resolution staff is: if their policy is to refund just the cost of the item to buyers who do not have a PayPal account, and expect them to get one in order to receive it, then they should just SAY that up front--but don’t insult me by trying to brainwash me into accepting a blatant lie: $56. + 24.53 does NOT equal $56. and don't repeatedly stonewall my attempts to correct the matter.
I also question WHY, when they must certainly know better, did the E-Bay resolution staff insist repeatedly, and rudely, that the selling price and the selling price with the shipping price added were one and the same when they know that cannot possibly be true? I would hate to think what one possible motivation for this kind of behavior could include but if I am not the only one to be subjected to this, it might be worth looking into.
westinghouse roaster oven cabinet 1950s to 1960s - eBay (item 120552669891 end time Apr-11-10 09:16:50 PDT)
After two months of broken promises and stalling it became apparent what kind of irresponsible person I was actually dealing with and that I had probably been ripped off. That was the first rip-off.
The second rip-off came from E-Bay when I went through their so-called "resolution" process:
On May 21, 2010 I contacted E-Bay through their "Resolution Center" because the seller kept saying he was going to ship my items, didn’t, then just stopped answering e-mail. They replied that they would contact the seller and let me know what he intended to do by May 28. On May 28 I received an e-mail from E-Bay asking if the seller had contacted me (of course not!) and if not, to let them know. I did, through the button on their e-mail to me, which called up a form on the E-Bay resolution page.
The form asked if I now wanted the case to be "accellerated" to a final resolution of some kind--the detail of which were NOT outlined beforehand, and of which I was NOT given the opportunity to review first in order to make a decision as to whether their proposed resolution was acceptable to me or not-I hit the appropriate button expecting something further to appear. The only detail offered before accepting their final resolution was that I was to have no further communication with the seller.
Almost immediately I received an e-mail from them telling me that they had "decided in my favor" against the seller and that they would give me a full refund, just one time, as a courtesy only because I had paid the seller with a money order and not used their PayPal product, of $56. (which was just the selling price MINUS the shipping) and told me I had to sign up for a PayPal account in order to receive it, and that it needed to be done within 30 days or the refund was forfeited. Their policy is to refund, in full, the price of the item plus shipping.
There was a button on their e-mail that I could use to appeal the decision so I used it: I told them that $56. is a PARTIAL refund, not the full refund of item-plus-shipping that they claimed it to be, and told them that I wanted a full refund of $80.53 (if not from them then from the seller) They had forgotten to add the shipping charge, which is on their own invoice and clearly stated on the seller’s advertisement page. All they had to do was look at their own invoice and see that fact for themselves. I also told them I do not want to sign up for a PayPal account because I do not feel comfortable giving a third party access to my credit card or bank account information--for the same reasons people are complaining about it on their own discussion boards--and certainly not for a partial refund.
I got a letter back from them claiming the $56. is indeed a full refund and did indeed include the shipping charge (a blatant lie) and that the case decision was closed and final, that I needed to sign up for the PayPal account whether I wanted one or not if I wanted to receive the (partial) refund they offered.
This went back and forth several times and in the end I was told, basically, to just shut up, accept the partial refund, and move on. In short, the royal runaround. I ended the exchange saying I wanted a full refund, rejected their partial refund, and elected instead to try and extract it from the seller since he lives just two hour away from me. No luck there, to date...more games, excuses, stalling.
I feel E-Bay did not do enough to motivate the seller to perform his end of the deal and unfairly stuck me with the results of his irresponsible behavior: he is the screw-up and I am expected to cheerfully accept fraud and a theft of $80.53 while he gets to freely keep my money and the items I purchased?
My main gripe with E-Bay’s resolution staff is: if their policy is to refund just the cost of the item to buyers who do not have a PayPal account, and expect them to get one in order to receive it, then they should just SAY that up front--but don’t insult me by trying to brainwash me into accepting a blatant lie: $56. + 24.53 does NOT equal $56. and don't repeatedly stonewall my attempts to correct the matter.
I also question WHY, when they must certainly know better, did the E-Bay resolution staff insist repeatedly, and rudely, that the selling price and the selling price with the shipping price added were one and the same when they know that cannot possibly be true? I would hate to think what one possible motivation for this kind of behavior could include but if I am not the only one to be subjected to this, it might be worth looking into.
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