here's the problem.....

lyniced

I won a scarf on ebay nearly two weeks ago. Paid straight away(via PayPal), but as yet nothing has arrived, despite me emailing a few times. I was told 'it was on its way' last Friday, but have my sincerely doubt it. Now the seller won't reply to my emails. I'm kind of giving up hope of receiving said scarf, which I wanted for a Christmas pressie. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to sort this situation out? I really don't want a slanging match, but feel slightly miffed.

FloFlo

Start a claim through paypal, hopefully the seller will refund immediately.

arnie&caseysma!

RM dont consider an item lost until after 15 working days. When this time lapses and the seller still does not respond to emails THEN start the claim through paypal.

lyniced

Thanks - trouble is I now have to start thinking about getting another scarf.

arnie&caseysma!

I understand it is fairly frustrating. I have now stopped buying and selling on Ebay due to it being December and I think there is a higher chance of items going missing this month (not that there are dishonest people about....) due to the sheer number of items getting posted. Good luck with the seller if the item doesnt arrive.

soolin

arnie&caseysma! wrote:

RM dont consider an item lost until after 15 working days. When this time lapses and the seller still does not respond to emails THEN start the claim through paypal.

Never wait that long before starting a chargeback. The RM claim is nothing at all to do with the buyer, it is completely immaterial.

If a seller is not responding to e emails I might go for a cheargeback as early as week 2, if they are polite and are promising a refund then I might wait until the start of week 3. However no serious seller is going to make you wait 3 weeks for them to start a RM claim and then another 3 weeks or so to receive their own compensation. You only have 45 days to start a paypal chargeback anyway, so keep an eye on that.

Soo

arnie&caseysma!

soolin wrote:

Never wait that long before starting a chargeback. The RM claim is nothing at all to do with the buyer, it is completely immaterial.

If a seller is not responding to e emails I might go for a cheargeback as early as week 2, if they are polite and are promising a refund then I might wait until the start of week 3. However no serious seller is going to make you wait 3 weeks for them to start a RM claim and then another 3 weeks or so to receive their own compensation. You only have 45 days to start a paypal chargeback anyway, so keep an eye on that.

Soo

In the recent case where I had an item undelivered, after about 10 days the seller contacted me to let me know she had not received. I asked her to check the sorting office and get back to me. Should the item not have been received within the 15 working day after which RM consider it lost, again I asked her to let me know which she did. She was refunded at that point BEFORE any claim made through Royal Mail. It is not the sellers responsibility to ensure that the item has bene delivered when it is in the hands of RM, sellers cannot control the delivery time if the buyer has not requested another method of postage (a tracked method was offered in my case).

Communication is the key and there has got to be give and take with both buyers and sellers - if the buyers wants it super quick then they should request a form of postage that is going to get the item to them in a couple of days, or next day special delivery. If not, then they cannot expect the seller to refund the cost before the delivery company can even admit it lost!

If the seller is not responding to emails then that is a totally different situation although personally I would wait until the 15 working days are up before filing a paypal dispute.

soolin

Yes the buyer can reasonably expect the seller to refund before they get their own compenstion from the Royal Mail. The seller has the contract with the RM, not the buyer, all that matters is whether or not the buyer has their item in a reasonable time, and paypal allow a chargeback to be started on day 7.

A seller that told me i had to wait for the RM to process a refund first would set alarm bells off and having me going to a chargeback pretty quick! It rather implies the seller is being difficult and will only refund *if* the rM pay out, and of course there are circumstances where the RM will not refund.

Lyniced, if your seller is still being unco operative and you still don't have your scarf start a chargeback.

arnie&caseysma!

My point was that refunds as in my case should be made after the 15 working days and before the seller makes any claim to RM. They typo in my last post where I accidentally entered paypal anstead of RM has been rectified. I would not expect as a buyer and seller to have anyone wait until after the RM claim has been settled.

I always contact my buyers when I post items and at this time of year I do not think that 15 working days after posting is unreasonable as any person who urgently needs an item should be willing to pay for the special delivery postage and not just first or second class. If the seller waits an unreasonable length of time before posting or no communication then that is a different matter altogether.
I have now stopped buying and selling for the festive as it is just not worth the hassle of items going missing and the hassle with some sellers.

martindow

I would consider 15 working days (3 weeks) is a very long time to ask customers to wait even around Christmas.

soolin

martindow wrote:

I would consider 15 working days (3 weeks) is a very long time to ask customers to wait even around Christmas.

So would I. I expect my buyers to wait until the second week, but would never expect them to wait any longer. Likewise I would expect a refund in week 2. maybe edging into 3 weeks if I was being generous, but I'd not wait 15 working days, no way.

The one I refunded yesterday was only day 13 in total (9 working days) but the buyer explained politely she needed my item or somehting similar by next weekend, so I refunded yesterday so she could buy this weekend and have a chance of having it delivered for next weekend. She has already left me glowing feedbac mentioning that she got a full refund on non receipt of her item, and i have left a similarly worded positive for her.

Soo