I Hate eBay! ...They do NOT honor the money back guarantee.

[Falcon69]

exactly grumpydoc

I just copied and pasted directly from eBay site a few minutes ago.

They are moving toward hassle-free return policies.

However, in this particular incident with this seller, they simply said they would issue a refund, and gave mailing address, but no option to print a shipping label.  I clicked the link, and I was to manually enter the shipping tracking number and all.

however, under eBay's hassle-free return policy, eBay was suppose to provide a link to print the shipping label, and that link was not present, which tells me that the buyer is trying to opt out of eBay's policy and get me to buy the shipping label.  According to eBay's policy, if I do buy the shipping label myself, The seller is not responsible for return shipping costs. That I can agree with, as a disgruntled buyer (which I haven't quite gotten to yet) can send a huge package full of bricks that way 1000 pounds, just to screw over the seller who is required to pay for shipping costs.

But in this situation, it sounds like the seller is trying to screw me over on the shipping costs, hoping that I don't know about eBay's return policies, which, in all fairness, I didn't until I did alittle more research.

[miguelvp]

Buy from Amazon then and pay somewhere in the middle with a good return policy.

[abaxas]

I gave up being nice to ebay sellers. Now I just open a case immediately and as if by magic, it always gets sorted and if not, ebay just refund!

Job done.
 

[Towger]

I gave up being nice to ebay sellers. Now I just open a case immediately and as if by magic, it always gets sorted and if not, ebay just refund!

I have gone much the same way, once they start messing around. 
BTW: I believe on eBay UK (and prob Europe) the rules have just changed that the seller pays the P&P on wrong/faulty returns.  This brings eBay into line with standard EU customer protections laws.

[nctnico]

I'm tired of ordering from eBay.  I order, mostly because I don't know anywhere else to get some items.

So, I order a new power supply, 100w 12V for outdoor use.  It was suppose to be RAINPROOF.  They sent me the non-rainproof model.  Now, after spending several days arguing with them, they sent me an email asking for me to return the item, and they'll refund my money, except, I am responsible for the charges to mail the item back. 

Just open a Paypal claim and be done with it.

[dannyf]

I'm tired of ordering from eBay.  I order, mostly because I don't know anywhere else to get some items.

Vote with your feet (and your money). Don't order from them. It is that easy.

[VK3DRB]

You get what you pay for. Lose $50 here or there, that's all part of the game these days.

I bought a high powered torch from China - it's LED wattage rating was fraudulent and it died within a couple of months. Of course when the feedback time on eBay had passed, I had no comeback. I am not complaining - I took the risk and I have no-one to blame but myself for being a cheap-arse trying to exploit workers in a third world country for my own gain, like most of us do but won't admit to.

If we and our politicians were all a lot more nationalistic and loyal, quality electronics manufacturing would be commonplace in our own countries, products would be built with nationalism and pride of workmanship, and the sellers would be decent companies that can be trusted with after sales service.

[dannyf]

a cheap-arse

High cost of lowp rices.

trying to exploit workers in a third world country for my own gain, like most of us do but won't admit to.

Spot on.

If we and our politicians were all a lot more nationalistic and loyal, quality electronics manufacturing would be commonplace in our own countries, products would be built with nationalism and pride of workmanship, and the sellers would be decent companies that can be trusted with after sales service.

Politicians are the least of the problems here. It is the consumers, you, me and our neighbors, who aren't willing to pay for good quality and services, who aren't willing to work hard and compete smart, who aren't willing to be financially prudent, etc..

It is us who drove the race to the bottom.

[Pasky]

More like labor unions and pensions.

[zapta]

I gave up being nice to ebay sellers. Now I just open a case immediately and as if by magic, it always gets sorted and if not, ebay just refund!

Job done.

+1

Last seller dragged me beyond the complain deadline. Everything was documented in the ebay messaging but it does not help once the deadline passes. It was a seller that I used before and wanted to keep good relationship. I am now buying directly from his source for less money and fast DHL shipping.  Lesson learned.

Ebay can be a very sleazy place, compare to let's say Amazon, but vast majority of my transactions go smooth.

[David Hess]

Last seller dragged me beyond the complain deadline.

I have had companies do this with warranty returns.  Colorado Memory Systems comes to mind.

[Corporate666]

I'm tired of ordering from eBay.  I order, mostly because I don't know anywhere else to get some items.

So, I order a new power supply, 100w 12V for outdoor use.  It was suppose to be RAINPROOF.  They sent me the non-rainproof model.  Now, after spending several days arguing with them, they sent me an email asking for me to return the item, and they'll refund my money, except, I am responsible for the charges to mail the item back. 


WTF!!!!

It was their mistake, why should I pay for the shipping to send back?  That's a bunch of BS.  Now, the shipping costs nearly what I had paid for the item.

I could understand if I had ordered the item, and simply just decided I didn't want it.  Then I can understand being responsible for the shipping to return the item.  but in this case, they sent me the wrong item to begin with. An item I did not order.

So, now the only recourse I have is to leave a negative feedback.  Like that does any good.  I guess next step would be to contact the credit card company have the charges reversed. But would that be dishonest, since I would still have the item?  Doesn't make sense to ship it back, when shipping will nearly be what I paid for it.

If the seller doesn't agree to refund shipping on incorrect items, why should they pay the shipping back?

I agree that doing so is the "right" thing to do, but the terms of sale are laid out by eBay and/or the seller before you buy.  Why should the seller pay for something they have said they won't pay for because the buyer didn't read the auction terms?

I'm not saying you're wrong to feel they should cover return shipping - but eBay is (to quote Obi Wan) "a wretched hive of scum and villainy" (mostly talking about buyers - not you, just in general)... so I can totally understand sellers making their terms and sticking by them. 

And filing a chargeback would likely be illegal - read the terms you agreed to when you purchased the item (presumably) using PayPal.

[Corporate666]

Call your credit card company, dispute the payment, and start a dispute with paypal too.  You paid for a rainproof power supply, and never received it. Its as simple as that. Doesnt matter if it was the wrong item, non rain-proof power supply, block of lead, bag of dog shit, a pound of silver, all equally useless.  Maybe if the seller doesnt have his money, he'd be more inclined to pay return shipping.

You did pay with your credit card and not let paypal have your bank account info, right? 

This is horrendously bad advice.

First, per almost all credit card agreements, you are to work with the vendor to resolve the problem first.

Second, claiming you never got something (or thinking that because you didn't get what you paid for that you haven't received something) is fraud, end of story. 

Third, once you initiate a dispute, the vendor pays a fee - typically $25 - and it will take them months to get their money.  As a vendor, the millisecond someone initiates a dispute, they get everything "by the book" and nothing more at all.  Typically we will get the item back and then we cancel the order.  I have zero interest in fighting CC companies to get paid nor do I care about the customer's business any more, I just want the item back.

Fourth, all credit card companies have a limit on how often you can dispute charges.  If you are disputing too much stuff, you're likely to get cut off by the CC company.  The dispute process is not and never was meant to be the first course of action for customers who have an issue with a vendor, it has always been intended as the last resort.


Always remember - when you pay with a credit card, it is the VENDOR who takes all the risk, not the cardholder. 

[Falcon69]

Ya, I know C666

I'm trying all i can, but it seems the vendors are stalling until the the time limit runs out.

I just left negative feedback for both those vendors.

One quit contacting me completely, the other keeps trying to make me pay for the shipping label to send the item back.  Under eBay's policy, if I PAY for the shipping label myself (instead of the seller initiating one through eBay and emailing me it), then the seller does not have to return the shipping costs to me.


So, I left negative feedback, I'm tired of trying to work things out. Now I'll just let eBay deal with it.  At this point, I think I just lost my money, wasn't much, under $100 for all items, but still sucks. That's a days full wage for me.

[Falcon69]

Oh, and C666

Just FYI, I never disputed the fact I didn't receive an item.  Except in the case where I only received 3 of the 6 LED's I ordered.  I am disputing the fact that the items I received, were not the ones I ordered.

In eBay's dispute process, I selected, 'The item received does not match seller's description'. 

[Corporate666]

Ya, I know C666

I'm trying all i can, but it seems the vendors are stalling until the the time limit runs out.

I just left negative feedback for both those vendors.

One quit contacting me completely, the other keeps trying to make me pay for the shipping label to send the item back.  Under eBay's policy, if I PAY for the shipping label myself (instead of the seller initiating one through eBay and emailing me it), then the seller does not have to return the shipping costs to me.


So, I left negative feedback, I'm tired of trying to work things out. Now I'll just let eBay deal with it.  At this point, I think I just lost my money, wasn't much, under $100 for all items, but still sucks. That's a days full wage for me.

I am sorry to hear it didn't work out.  I don't think you are being unreasonable to think a vendor should pay return shipping if they made a mistake on sending the wrong item, I'm just saying that eBay has some policies that most buyers don't realize until it's too late.

The reality these days is that buyers shop pretty much entirely on price, and as bad as people think eBay is as a buyer, it is 100 times worse for the seller... so there isn't that much incentive to jump through hoops when sellers are barely making any money on the sale.

Regarding receipt of the item, sorry if I wasn't clear - I was referring to the guys who said it is easier to claim non-receipt or to call your CC company and claim you didn't get your item (leaving out the fact that you got something - just the wrong thing).

[Corporate666]

Oh, and C666

Just FYI, I never disputed the fact I didn't receive an item.  Except in the case where I only received 3 of the 6 LED's I ordered.  I am disputing the fact that the items I received, were not the ones I ordered.

In eBay's dispute process, I selected, 'The item received does not match seller's description'.

One area where eBay has screwed sellers is that even selecting "I want to contact the seller" sometimes automatically opens up a dispute.  I've had buyers "open disputes" when they really just wanted to ask me a question.  Those disputes count against me, and if you get enough, you can get booted from eBay.  eBay's onerous policies became so bad and so burdensome to comply with that I stopped caring about being "Top Rated". 

eBay is a really difficult place to sell, on both sides... although I've had almost all good luck as a buyer (I'm also very patient in dealing with sellers having been one for so long and seeing so much... I can tell when a seller is just being an asshole).

[Falcon69]

Sadly though, it happens alot. I can't tell you how many times UPS/Fedex/USPS has just left a package on my front door.

Just recently, my roomate ordered $5k worth of parts from NewEgg.  UPS just left the boxes on the front door. Each BIG box said NEWEGG all over them.  Now, If we hadn't been home, you think those would have lasted long on the front porch?

Yet, when the seller's all look at the tracking, they say, well, sorry, it was delivered according to our tracking info.  And they say you are SOL.

Alot of the seller's nowadays just look at the tracking and delivery confirmation. If it says it was delivered, it was delivered, regardless of the fact that it was just left on the porch, and a chance that a passerby grabbed it.

If I did in fact receive something, personally in my hands and physically, I won't lie and say I DIDN'T receive it.  But, regardless of what the tracking says, if it was left on my porch and someone stole it, I'm not going to say that I got it when I didn't.

[Falcon69]

... I can tell when a seller is just being an asshole).

Like when they stop communicating with you or when it seems they are obviously trying to skate around policies to get away with not refunding the buyer?

[ConKbot]

First, per almost all credit card agreements, you are to work with the vendor to resolve the problem first.

He did, tried to return the item they didn't want the wrong item back bad enough to do anything about it. 

Second, claiming you never got something (or thinking that because you didn't get what you paid for that you haven't received something) is fraud, end of story.

Its not claiming, its a fact.  You pay for xyz item in stated condition.   If you dont have xyz item in stated condition in your possession from the vendor, have you received the item? When do you say that you never received the item that you ordered? When it similar but still completely useless for your purpose?  When its a brick in a box and useless for your purpose? When its a empty box, and useless for a purpose? When its an empty box and has been mangled in shipping, and useless for your purpose?

Thinking like this makes ideas like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniScribe seem like a good idea.

when after failing to procure short-term financing, the company executives decided to embark upon a fraudulent course of action to bring in the financing unwittingly from their customers. As each unit sold was tracked via serial numbers and also sat uninspected for some weeks inside warehouses in Singapore awaiting use in production, the decision was made to ship pieces of masonry inside the boxes that would normally contain hard drives. After receiving payment, MiniScribe then planned to issue a recall of all the affected serial numbers and then ship actual hard drive units as replacements, using the money received to meet financial obligations in the short term.

at least they were probably going to pay for return shipping

I just want the item back.

apparently not this vendor

Fourth, all credit card companies have a limit on how often you can dispute charges.  If you are disputing too much stuff, you're likely to get cut off by the CC company. 

Why I dont mess around with stuff on ebay usually. Personally I'd have purchased a meanwell power supply from Jameco, and had the product I wanted in my hands exactly as described, and they'd have my money in their bank account.  Also exactly as described.

Ship the wrong item to a gov't agency placing an order for something, demand they pay return shipping, and see if you end up with your money or your item back

[G7PSK]

To date I have not had any problems from e bay sellers on returns. The few times I have either not received or received the wrong or a broken item the seller has either just sent a refund or another product no questions asked even the sellers in China in fact the Chinese one are the best at this, a refund by return of email reporting the problem seem the norm. I even had a bench power supply that did not work on arrival and they sent a refund and told me to bin the item as it turned out it was an easy fix the power transistor was open circuit.
To the most part it is not worth the Chinese sellers asking for the item to be returned as the postage costs back to china is so high especially for heavy or bulky items.

[abaxas]

Sadly though, it happens alot. I can't tell you how many times UPS/Fedex/USPS has just left a package on my front door.

I'll try to dig out the best 'you were out' card I've ever had.

"Parcel left in recycling bin"

WTF thank goodness it wasn't bin day!

[macboy]

Ya, I know C666

I'm trying all i can, but it seems the vendors are stalling until the the time limit runs out.

I just left negative feedback for both those vendors.

One quit contacting me completely, the other keeps trying to make me pay for the shipping label to send the item back.  Under eBay's policy, if I PAY for the shipping label myself (instead of the seller initiating one through eBay and emailing me it), then the seller does not have to return the shipping costs to me.


So, I left negative feedback, I'm tired of trying to work things out. Now I'll just let eBay deal with it.  At this point, I think I just lost my money, wasn't much, under $100 for all items, but still sucks. That's a days full wage for me.

You have NOT lost your money, you just need to go through the process! You only just opened the dispute. These things do take time unfortunately.

ebay allows the seller a few days to resolve the issue with you before getting involved. Three days after you opened the dispute, you can escalate the case to ebay. Summarize the issue when you contact them, tell them the item is not as described, and that the seller wants you to pay return shipping, which is not in line with ebay's policy as you understand it. ebay can see all the messages that you have exchanged with the seller using their message system (a good reason to only use it, not e-mail). They will no doubt side with you, then contact the seller, and you will get your money back fairly quickly. Based on what it costs the seller to pay for the return shipping vs the cost of the item, they may either pay it or just absorb the loss.

You were not wrong in leaving negative feedback, but perhaps a bit hasty. I always give the seller ample opportunity to resolve the issue before leaving negative feedback.

[Falcon69]

eBay deleted the negative feedback.  They said the seller agreed to accept the return.  I called them and they said they overlooked the policy about the item was wrong in the first place, but since the feedback was retracted, there's nothing they can do about it now with their current system.  So, The seller will not be receiving ANY feedback from me now.  I can't leave any now.

So, with no threat of a negative feedback, they won't pay up now. What incentive do they have to do so?  Pay, or not pay, It doesn't matter to them, as they have no bad feedback.

[Kjelt]

dispute with paypal.