Dear Ina,
I thought I’d share my experience with your readers as it once again shows eBay swirling like a toilet bowl. In addition, it is also the CLASSIC reason why you should NEVER shop directly on eBay with your debit or credit card.
In early June, I bought an item for well over $ 500 + tax + shipping. I paid through PAYPAL because pigs fly before I give eBay my credit card information.
The part-time seller hadn’t signed up for managed payments and insisted they wouldn’t. Too much personal information, etc., in her opinion to just get her money. So they contacted me outside of eBay and we had a very pleasant conversation. I was able to walk him through the MP steps etc and he said no, he wouldn’t complete the transaction through eBay. Too much effort.
Because wherever I live, you have to have a license for the product you buy, and that was the reason for the cancellation. All of this literally happened in 90 minutes, meaning I bought the item, spoke to the seller and the order was canceled in those 90 minutes.
I called eBay explaining that the seller would not complete the transaction as I don’t have a license and asked how long it would take to get my refund back through PayPal. They said 24-48 hours.
Three days later, not seeing the balance on my PayPal account, I called eBay. They said the order cancellation is being processed and I should see it within a week. I thought you greedy SOB’s. You want your money from the seller NOW, but now you will hold my money for a week? Ok i can play this game
I call a week later and the cancellation was still under investigation. It will be another week. At this point I really want to see where this train wreck is going! I wait the week. I’ll call and guess what … IT’S STILL PAYING. It has now gone from entertaining to so very, very sad. All of this only confirms what others have said about eBay.
I called PayPal and started the argument, knowing that I could still get back to my credit card company. PayPal was happy to give me the refund within 4 days. The problem is solved … at least I thought!
I get a message on eBay:
Activity on your account does not comply with our Abusive Buyer Policy. Buyers must not abuse feedback, returns, buyer protection programs, or payment disputes.
Which activity does not meet the guidelines?
See below for more details.
What to do next
Read this policy and make sure you understand it to avoid abuse of eBay Buyer Protection programs
What’s the policy?
– The buyer cannot abuse eBay’s return process. The following actions are not allowed:
– Return of an item other than the item originally received
– Use of or damage to an item and subsequent return
– Make false claims such as:
– Returning an item for the reason that it was not as described when it was accurately described
– Saying that an item was not received upon delivery
How this will affect your account
As you may not have been aware of this policy, we are sending you this notice to clarify and ask you to follow this policy in the future.
If you fail to follow this policy in the future, you will lose your ability to return items on eBay and may result in your account being suspended.
Why we have this policy
To make eBay a safe place to sell, we adhere to certain standards for buyers and take steps to protect sellers if buyers fail to follow our guidelines.
Thank you for your understanding.
Now I’m so mad that I decide to give eBay fine customer service a call. I had the wonderful experience of speaking to someone who reads the prepared script flawlessly, and he cannot give me any explanation other than that I disputed the fees through PayPal. Yes, I did after waiting 2 WEEKS for a refund that should have been made on the day the order was canceled. You can bet on it.
The whole CS person was talking in a circle. I actually got dizzy. When I finally asked where this went wrong, her answer was, I don’t know. Now I can only shake my head in disbelief!
Moral of the story:
1) Use PayPal and a credit card through PayPal. If the transaction goes south you can at least appeal through PayPal and if that fails you can contact your bank that issued your credit card.
2) Keep track of your money on eBay. You have to take it out of their hands
3) NEVER use a checking account or debit card. You don’t have the recourse as you would when using a credit card.
I had to vent and hope that some of your readers will laugh at my expense if they only confirm that eBay really depends on the support of life.
B.
