Need some advice for an ebay deal gone bad.

[dababus]

I purchased this coin from an ebayer on the 16th of September. Its been over 10 days and still have not received my merchandise.

I paid the seller instantly on the 16th and didn't hear from him until the 21st of September. In his first email which I received on the 21st, he told me that the coin was shipped on Monday the 18th. I asked him if any form of tracking or delivery confirmation is included or not.

He replied 5 days later saying that no tracking was included only insurance. I asked what type of service he used to which he never replied. I believe he said he used the postal service, but didn't specify whether it was first class, priority or media mail.

I called him twice and he never replies back. He has not replied to any of my emails.


I have noticed that there are other customers who are complaining about him for not receiving their merchandise or receiving their merchandise after a month from the receipt of the payment by the seller.

The seller has change the status of his ebay profile to the private status, which makes it impossible for others to see his feedback ratings.

I would like to know how to pursue this so that I can get my money back. I have opened a dispute with paypal in order to get him to send me the coin or refund my money. I would like to know if I should escalate the dispute. What are the chances of getting my money back? He owes me $300 worth of merchandise.

Any advice is truly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[S Freud]

paypal dispute, get his info from ebay, contact local authorities(sp?)

 

[AlgaeEater]

Escalate immediately. There's no reason not to escalate it, since the worst that can happen out of pre-emptive escalation is that he gives you a negative feedback for being "Pushy".

Paypal is going to ask for a delivery confirmation from him, and it takes 2 weeks for them to "Acquire" this information. If he doesn't respond to them it automatically defaults to you winning. However, keep in mind Paypal only takes money that is in a paypal account, and if he has no funds, you will be rewarded with nothing.

If he does respond, it will take them another week to investigate it. If they find it still in your favor, then they will begin the withdraw process of returning your money.

If you paid via Paypal and the funding source was a CC, then file the claim with Paypal and immediately notify your credit card company for item not received. You have to notify Paypal that you are going to go through your credit card company and not them, so they have it on file that there is a dispute, but that your CC will handle it. This allows them to lock the guys account while you get your things strait.

Run don't walk if this guy really is giving you a red flag scammer alert. Paypal takes forever to settle disputes, so it's best to get the ball rolling.

 

[dababus]

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater
Escalate immediately. There's no reason not to escalate it, since the worst that can happen out of pre-emptive escalation is that he gives you a negative feedback for being "Pushy".

Paypal is going to ask for a delivery confirmation from him, and it takes 2 weeks for them to "Acquire" this information. If he doesn't respond to them it automatically defaults to you winning. However, keep in mind Paypal only takes money that is in a paypal account, and if he has no funds, you will be rewarded with nothing.

If he does respond, it will take them another week to investigate it. If they find it still in your favor, then they will begin the withdraw process of returning your money.

If you paid via Paypal and the funding source was a CC, then file the claim with Paypal and immediately notify your credit card company for item not received. You have to notify Paypal that you are going to go through your credit card company and not them, so they have it on file that there is a dispute, but that your CC will handle it. This allows them to lock the guys account while you get your things strait.

Run don't walk if this guy really is giving you a red flag scammer alert. Paypal takes forever to settle disputes, so it's best to get the ball rolling.

Ok, I will escalate it. I paid through my debit card which is linked to my paypal account.

 

[Slew Foot]

Always pay through paypal credit card. Credit card companies are infintely better (especially Amex) at getting your money back.

 

[AlgaeEater]

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Always pay through paypal credit card. Credit card companies are infintely better (especially Amex) at getting your money back.

That's the truth. Since Paypal is a middleman, you need the security from your CC, since Paypal doesn't ever give a damn about you getting your money back, because it doesn't affect them whatever party has the money/goods in question.

It's a shame so many people here still use Paypal on FS/FT and thus I have one account open with Paypal for that purpose alone. If there was a better way, I would close mine in a heartbeat.

 

[dababus]

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Always pay through paypal credit card. Credit card companies are infintely better (especially Amex) at getting your money back.

That's the truth. Since Paypal is a middleman, you need the security from your CC, since Paypal doesn't ever give a damn about you getting your money back, because it doesn't affect them whatever party has the money/goods in question.

It's a shame so many people here still use Paypal on FS/FT and thus I have one account open with Paypal for that purpose alone. If there was a better way, I would close mine in a heartbeat.

I'll keep that in mind. In the meantime, I have contacted my bank and filed a claim through them.

What do I need to tell paypal, although I have escalated the dispute already.

 

[everman]

For something that small and expensive I'd have made FedEx a requirement.

 

[AlgaeEater]

Call Paypal up and tell them that your dispute is being handled by your Bank/CC company.

Your Bank/CC is going to withdraw money from PAYPAL, since they are the one you sent money to. Paypal is a middleman, hence you actually gave the money to Paypal first, before they gave it to the other guy.

Your Bank/CC is going to ask Paypal for confirmation that this item was delivered to you. If Paypal can not dig this information up (And they won't usually), then you get your money back and case is closed.

Don't be surprised if the customer service representative on paypal's end is quite rude. I mean really, you have been warned.

 

[Trikat]

1) Use a credit card to buy on eBay.
2) Make sure you are protected by PayPal. Right under the seller's S/N in the listing you will see This item is covered up to $1,000 See eligibility. If there is nothing about This item is covered up to $1,000 then you have absolutely no protection.
3) Make sure the seller has numerous feedback, very good feedback, and has received recent good feedback.
4) Make sure the seller has sold "real" stuff not 1 cent items to boost his feedback.
If you do all this your chance of getting scammed is about <1% although if you did not use a credit card it will be a pain in the butt to get money from PayPal (most of the times.)

As for trying to recover your money, the best thing to do is get your bank to recover the money if you can. (I see you are attemping that right now.)
Call PayPal and have them do an investigation (You already started that.)
Wait and see what PayPal says. When PayPal replies with a unfavorable outcome they will probably send you an email where you can file reports to several agencies that may help you. Other ways are to contact the local authorities, Attorney General, and if you really want to file a BBB report against PayPal just for the heck of it. Maybe it will get PayPal to squirm a bit and give you back the money.

PayPal can be assholes when they help you or not. For example I sold a Xbox 360 to a confirmed address buyer. I shipped it out and the same day the buyer files a claim to get his money back. PayPal actually gave the person back his money (I have no clue why, but PayPal did it when there was no proof I was at fault. Plus I have HIGH feedback with eBay and PayPal. This shows how PayPal does not care for their long term clients.) So the buyer got their money back and had my Xbox 360. I had to call PayPal more than 8 times over a span of 2 weeks just to recover my funds. They kept giving me the run around until I talked to a supervisor who made the buyer's account negative $ and credit me back the funds.

Yes, even if the buyer has a confirmed address PayPal will be EXTREMELY reluctant to help the seller out. For whatever reason PayPal almost always favors the buyer first regardless of the situation. PayPal doesn't get money from the buyer, they give it from the seller as whoever receives the money pays the fees.