Scammed by a chinese seller on ebay

bubbles777

Hi there, please forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong section.

I am looking for a little advice as to how to handle an ebay buyer protection dispute. If I can just provide a little back story;

I won 2 auctions on ebay for the total amount of £74.01 I bought 30 cloth diapers and 60 bamboo fibre diaper inserts, I paid immediately through paypal which is linked to my visa debit card.

I received 2 small envelopes (2 auctions) with 1 insert in each. (not even bamboo and worth virtually nothing). The items received I signed for at my door.

I contacted the seller asking what the mixup was was sent a generic email apologising and promising to put it right, a few days go by I email again, no response. I opened 2 claims with ebay as 'Item not as described'. In the info I did write that I would be happy to wait for my baby's nappys or that I would like a refund.

The seller is a power business seller on ebay, they had over 99% positive feedback I did check this before I bought the items. All of a sudden this month over a hundred people have left negative feedback saying that they had exactly the same issue as me. Some peopke did say 'full refund given' on the feedback. I contacted other buyers through ebay messaging and asked if they got refunds, all of them did and didn't have to send anything back.

Ebay informed me that in order to receive a full refund I would have to send back the inserts at my own expense, they offered me a 25% refund on shipping cost when I explained that it was cost a fortune to send the inserts back. So basically with the discount I am looking at paying about £43 shipping costs... Ebay have specifically requested that the package be signed for in China to prove receipt so I can't just send it tracked through royal mail as this is uk only. Must also use parcelforce to get the dicount.

So basically I know that technically I 'won' the dispute because I'm getting my £74 back but by the time I've spent the money shipping I'm still totally out of pocket, I would be prepared to swallow the cost and learn from it but why is everyone else getting a refund without sending and I'm not? I've called so many times and asked to speak to a manager and nobody ever gets back to me the managers always seem to be in meetings..... I even asked if I could just pay the cost of the inserts which are worth about £2 and just get the rest of my money back... nope.

I found an address for ebay
eBay UK Ltd
Complaints Department
PO Box 659,
Richmond-upon-Thames
Surrey
TW9 1TX

but apparently the letters go into a big black hole and you can't do anything about it.

I've kind of looked into the chargeback facility with my debit card IT'S ALL VERY CONFUSING but it looks like they would want the items returned too. Paypal won't help me as I've already logged dispute with ebay itself.

Anyway......Sorry it's so long... Any advice much appreciated. Thanks

byjimini

Send back 2 empty jiffy bags for a pittance, let him sign for them, voila!

I'd jump on the phone to Paypal though and refuse to budge until they do something.

bubbles777

Thanks for replying

I considered this but it's only a couple of pounds of a difference as the inserts are light as a feather! If all else fails I will still do this as a couple of pounds is better than zero pounds!

bubbles777

byjimini wrote: »

Send back 2 empty jiffy bags for a pittance, let him sign for them, voila!

I'd jump on the phone to Paypal though and refuse to budge until they do something.

Darn, just checked the parcelforce website it seems the price I was quoted is the bare minimum so even if i reduce the weight and dimensions it's still the same cost cause the insert is so light! Gah! Can't get postage cheaper anywhere else cause ebay is giving me 25% off parcelforce.

I've been on the phone to them non stop since this started they are not budging one but. I'm 38 weeks pregnant too (obvs not their concern, granted it is a business of course) I just hope I don't drop before the 10 days expires for me to send or not sent this stupid parcel...:mad:

pinkshoes

I'm sorry to say this, but by not buying from a BRITISH seller, this is the risk you are taking.

Unfortunately ebay rules state that you need to send them back, so you either have to send them TRACKED, or just kiss goodbye to the money.

How did you pay?

Have you tried telling ebay the weight of the package, stating that they have sent the wrong item as it only weighs a fraction of the actual weight it should.

Did it clearly state it was a chinese seller on the ebay auction?

bubbles777

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'm sorry to say this, but by not buying from a BRITISH seller, this is the risk you are taking.

Unfortunately ebay rules state that you need to send them back, so you either have to send them TRACKED, or just kiss goodbye to the money.

How did you pay?

Have you tried telling ebay the weight of the package, stating that they have sent the wrong item as it only weighs a fraction of the actual weight it should.

Did it clearly state it was a chinese seller on the ebay auction?

I knew it was a chinese seller had bought from others before with no issues! Defo learnt my lesson the hard way. If the price seems to good to be true, it is.

I did explain to ebay that the inserts are tiny and worth nothing but didn't go into weight details. I also forwarded them records of other ebay buyer who had been scammed by the same person and got a full refund and went through the same process as me. Ebay said they consider all cases individually so I must have gotten through to someone who had had a bad day.

Really annoys me how their policies are not uniform for everyone.

Tina20

I would say that this was an 'item not received' case, not an 'item not as described'.

You ordered inserts that didn't arrive, you didn't receive inserts that were not described as pink/long/new etc.

Hope I'm making sense? You didn't receive the item you paid for...

bubbles777

Tina20 wrote: »

I would say that this was an 'item not received' case, not an 'item not as described'.

You ordered inserts that didn't arrive, you didn't receive inserts that were not described as pink/long/new etc.

Hope I'm making sense? You didn't receive the item you paid for...

I just followed the guide on the resolution centre. Didnt think I could have said I didn't receive the item as I signed for a package and they have proof. Doubt I can change it now since I've spoken to just about every memeber off staff and sent them war and peace by email.

arcon5

What does the item weight? What size is it?

Quick look on RM website is showing a price of about a tenner for 500g small packet.

bubbles777

arcon5 wrote: »

What does the item weight? What size is it?

Quick look on RM website is showing a price of about a tenner for 500g small packet.

Royal mail will only track it in the uk sadly ebay have requested a signed for delivery.

Tina20

Hmmm yes good point, eBay probably wouldn't accept that, although is there no option to claim for missing items?