Tricked into closing ebay case

jennyjelly

Ok, before anyone says anything, I know I've been a numpty. My only excuse is inexperience, and it's a mistake I won't make again. But I hope someone can help.

A couple of weeks ago I bought an item from an ebay Top Rated Seller.

When it arrived it was of very poor quality and I was not happy with it, so I opened a case and emailed the seller with my concerns and suggested a partial refund (really not worth sending it back as postage was quite high).

Almost immediately he responded saying he was sorry and had refunded so please close the case - and like a mug I did.

Obviously he's not going to refund now, so I've tried going though Paypal but just get directed back to ebay.

Anything I can do or do I just have to take the hit?

reborndoll

That's a shame, happened to me once but it was a private seller who persuaded me to close case, she offered a refund but sent it as an e-cheque, the case would have remained open until it cleared, but I assumed an echq payment would come through and closed the case and as predicted, it bounced. It was a low cost item and that was my fault for being too hasty.

My advice, don't be hasty again stay calm! Check the payment isn't in paypal as an echeque or remind the seller, all you can actually do is one polite email saying reminding them the refund hasn't gone in, and ask ebay for advice, because you have it in writing from the seller they would refund but didn't it may help, but then again, they may say just say the usual flannel " you closed the case and it cannot be looked into again, we assumed you had resolved your issue. Work it out with your trading partner yourself" (that sort of lingo !)

Closing a case before it has been resolved it usually has no recourse to be looked into again but ebay may check the sellers stats and see if they do this often, but to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they genuinely forgot to click refund at paypal ,or even refunded the wrong buyer if you and someone else both bought the same item!

TrickyWicky

Small claims.. otherwise take the hit, chalk it up to experience and don't do it again!

Don't be too hard on yourself, it happened to me years ago. I bought a laptop and printer from someone that had wifi, carry case, in GWO etc. What turned up was a working laptop with a knaff charging socket, dead battery that wouldn't hold charge, fag ashes all over the keyboard, no carry case, no built in wifi, keyboard bent and knackered, usb socket duff in fact the only non duff thing was the printer - you'd think it would be the other way round. The printer was superb but the laptop was absolutely knackered. Opened a case, got one issue sorted, asked to close the case and like a mug I did it. Gutted. I left a neg and so did a few more people and within a short amount of time her ebay account closed (I wonder how many more she's ripped off since with another account?).

Bloody laptop cost me an arm and a leg. £70 on a new battery, £5 on a new charging socket, got that soldered in and then cracked the screen putting it back together etc... PITA.

jennyjelly

Thanks for the answers Reborn and Tricky, both of then pretty much what I expected. Reassuring to know I'm not the only one to fall for it!

It's not a huge amount so not worth small claims and I'm not going to starve or lose the house over it, to be honest it's mostly that I'm really cross with myself for falling for it.

I've always been really lucky with the people I've dealt with on ebay and take the view that if you treat people well they will reciprocate. Coming across one like this leave a bad taste.

Thanks for the help, lesson learnt!

ETA Just made myself feel a bit better by leaving dreadful feedback! Childish, me?!

soolin

jennyjelly wrote: »

Thanks for the answers Reborn and Tricky, both of then pretty much what I expected.

It's not a huge amount so not worth small claims and I'm not going to starve or lose the house over it, to be honest it's mostly that I'm really cross with myself for falling for it.

I've always been really lucky with the people I've dealt with on ebay and take the view that if you treat people well they will reciprocate. Coming across one like this leave a bad taste.

Thanks for the help, lesson learnt!

Assuming seller is being un coperative, hit them with a well worded neg and poor stars (in appropriate categories). Don't threaten it, and don't do it in haste, make sure the neg is a good one.

Many sellers will suddenly find their way clear to refund properly if they think they can persaude you to remove the neg.

jennyjelly

I've left a factual neg as I know this is what is always recommended, and one star across the board. Strangely he hasn't had many negs, so maybe most of what he sells is ok. It will be interesting to see fb from other people who have bought this particular item.

It would be nice if he offers a refund in exchange for removal, but half of me hopes he doesn't as I want to warn people of the sort of person he is!

pinkshoes

You could always phone ebay and tell them you closed the case by accident, as the seller lied and said they'd refunded when they hadn't.

Gleeful

jennyjelly wrote: »

I've left a factual neg as I know this is what is always recommended, and one star across the board. Strangely he hasn't had many negs, so maybe most of what he sells is ok. It will be interesting to see fb from other people who have bought this particular item.

It would be nice if he offers a refund in exchange for removal, but half of me hopes he doesn't as I want to warn people of the sort of person he is!

But was his packaging and despatch time worthy of 1 star? I agree that item description and communication warranted 1 star though.

Strapped

pinkshoes wrote: »

You could always phone ebay and tell them you closed the case by accident, as the seller lied and said they'd refunded when they hadn't.

^This. If you have in writing that the seller claims to have refunded, then ebay will intervene if they have not actually done so.

jennyjelly

Well probably I've been a bit harsh on the packaging and dispatch stars, on the other hand he's a cheat and a liar and what goes around comes around.

jennyjelly

I'll ring ebay tomorrow if I don't get any response to the fb I left. TBH I didn't do it before because I thought I'd just get the "well you closed the case so there's nothing we can do" stuff.

It's certainly worth a try if you think they might do something though.