Could I have some advice on an ebay refund please.

appleblossom

Upshot - I bought something for £161 on friday- seller said he would send monday. I was told this was the last one he had but he sold a fair few later that day and on saturday. I mailed him expressing my concerns as he told me I had the last one and he said he had a lot of NPB on the others and the auctions I could see were where he had to relist - alarm bells started to ring but oh said that he seemed genuine,had answered q's about it on his auctions etc so to sit tight.

On monday night, I mailed to ask if the item had been posted as he stated, he replied yes, he was just going through the tracking numbers and would mail me mine later that day.

Tuesday morning - nothing rec'd, mailed asking for tracking number - no reply

Wed morning - as above. I then checked his ebay account to see if any of the original 5 ppl that bought had rec'd to find a Neg from someone who bought a phone from his last week saying it was 100% con, reported to ebay etc etc.

I contacted ebay to express my concerns and told her the story (he had also changed his user id on saturday night after the auctions had finished) - she asked if I wanted to continue with the tranx and I said no as I had every reason to believe he would not send the goods as he would not supply me with the tracking detls. She asked if I had opened a pp dispute and I said not at that stage as I wanted to speak to ebay first bearing in mind the other person had also reported them to ebay. She then said that she would issue a refund which I would receive in 3 days and that I didn't need to do anything else - I asked if this was dependant on him still having pp funds and she said it was seperate from pp and that she was processing the refund (she done it there and then) - she also said she would pass info to fraud dept.

I have never known ebay to refund before, I thought you had to open pp dispute it you paid by pp so I'm a bit confused if she is telling me the right thing - also IF (which I doubt) the goods were to arrive tomorrow - what happens then as she has done a refund - I don't want to not sign for them just incase the refund doesn't go through as then I don't have the goods or the money but if they do arrive and I have been refunded, can I then request the seller arrange collection?

Never been conned before on ebay (one of the lucky ones I guess) and am gutted I have been this time.

Would appreciate any advice and thank you for reading this far.x

POSSETTE

it does sound odd that ebay refund and not paypal, hopefully soolin or steve will be along to put you right.
if you get a refund keep it,even if the goods arrive,you can still arrange to repay him later,if you want to of course!

appleblossom

Thanks for the reply - I don't want the goods now as I have had to rush out tonight to re-buy them as my kids were completely gutted about whats happened (and not easy to explain that nasty men take your money to a 4 and 7 yr old) but I dont want 1/ to have to pay to return them or 2/ for him to start action to me for non-payment - I dont think for one minute that the postie will deliver in the morning but just trying to think of all the posibilities. x

catmiaow

Highly unlikely the goods will arrive, but if they do just refuse them so you do not have to pay for return postage.

Never heard of ebay refunding before, did you get email confirmation? Did they say they would refund via Paypal as if that is the case you should have had an email? I would speak to Paypal about it.

appleblossom

I've not had any emails from ebay - she did ask if my email and pp email email were all linked to my ebay account which they are - think I might give them another ring in the morning - I don't mind refusing it if I know I have the money (I even said to her am I def. going to get it all back as I need to replace them and can't if I am not guaranteed the money and she said yes, even checked if he cleared his pp account would I and she said yes)

soolin

Ebay have no facility at all to refund as they don't hold any monies from either buyer or seller. I assume there has just been a misunderstanding and OP was being reassured that the OP will be refunded by paypal once the dispute system has been completed.

appleblossom

soolin, she told me I didn't need to open a dispute with pp - I asked if the refund depended on him having funds or cleared his account and she said no as she was issuing the refund - also she said I would have the money in 3 working days whereas I know that the process of a pp dispute takes longer then that - I'm going to give them a ring when they open - have used ebay for about 6 yrs both buying and sellling on a regular basis - just never experienced this before!

appleblossom

ok,have just come off the phone to ebay - if you have not opened a pp dispute then you can go direct to ebay and they will issue the refund (which is guaranteed btw - not depending on if seller has funds) - they are working together with pp to get resolutions sorted out quicker and she has 100% guaranteed me that I will receive the refund in 3 working days and she can see that it has been processed. Once this has been done, you cannot open a pp dispute (though I wouldn't need to anyway) - but she has reassured me that it is ebay and not pp (which she admitted takes longer) who are refunding. - all news to me! but I'm a lot happier now I've spoken to them again. Thanks for all replies.

frivolous_fay

I've heard about some 'discretionary' refunds lately, perhaps this is more frequent than I thought.

soolin

Goodness gracious, maybe all those extra FVFs are being put to good use then?

appleblossom

I assume that even though ebay are issuing the refund they will still pursue the little git - sorry I mean seller for the funds as I am not alone in who he has had.