Dealing with eBay - Exasperated!
Discussion
Long story short, I sold an item on eBay, buyer claims its not as described and requests a refund. Very irritating as it was accurately described, but knowing the way eBay always sides with buyers I paid for a return label, and on receipt of the item back I issued a refund. I simply hit the refund button and for reasons I don't understand PayPal processed it as an e-cheque.
5 days later the buyer opens a case to say I haven't refunded. eBay decided to refund the buyer and zap £112.50 leaves my account. 2 days later the original refund of £109.54 leaves my account.
I've spent hours on chat to eBay customer services, to PayPal customer services, I've spoken to six different representatives on eBay over the phone. eBay kept saying it's PayPal's issue, PayPal say it's eBay's issue. I'm exhausted. The buyer has confirmed they have received the money but won't return it. eBay acknowledge over the phone that a human being at eBay should have seen the e-cheque was processing and shouldn't have issued the second refund, and the eBay reps say that this simply cannot be undone, hence the manual referral to 'back office' at Dublin.
At no point will they put anything in writing or respond to an email, they won't give you a phone number.
It's been 7 days since it was referred to 'back office' at Dublin and no refund. I managed to speak to another human today who said they can't see that it had ever been sent but assured me they would.
I really can't see me getting this money back. I feel I've done it all by the book yet have been shafted by the system. What's the likely outcome if I put a small claims court claim in? Any other ideas? It's only £112.50 in the scheme of things but that's still a lot of money to me and worth fighting for!!
Thanks.
5 days later the buyer opens a case to say I haven't refunded. eBay decided to refund the buyer and zap £112.50 leaves my account. 2 days later the original refund of £109.54 leaves my account.
I've spent hours on chat to eBay customer services, to PayPal customer services, I've spoken to six different representatives on eBay over the phone. eBay kept saying it's PayPal's issue, PayPal say it's eBay's issue. I'm exhausted. The buyer has confirmed they have received the money but won't return it. eBay acknowledge over the phone that a human being at eBay should have seen the e-cheque was processing and shouldn't have issued the second refund, and the eBay reps say that this simply cannot be undone, hence the manual referral to 'back office' at Dublin.
At no point will they put anything in writing or respond to an email, they won't give you a phone number.
It's been 7 days since it was referred to 'back office' at Dublin and no refund. I managed to speak to another human today who said they can't see that it had ever been sent but assured me they would.
I really can't see me getting this money back. I feel I've done it all by the book yet have been shafted by the system. What's the likely outcome if I put a small claims court claim in? Any other ideas? It's only £112.50 in the scheme of things but that's still a lot of money to me and worth fighting for!!
Thanks.
How was the money taken? Did Paypal take it directly from your bank account/payment card,or is your Paypal account now just in the red?
It's clearly an eBay problem but I'm honestly not sure how best to go about resolving it. If the answer to the above question is the latter option, I'd probably just leave it to sort itself out. If they've actively taken money from your account/payment card and you really do get nowhere with eBay then I would contact the bank and ask for their help. It might mean Paypal close your account if they forcefully reverse the transaction, mind you.
ECheques to sake sodding ages to come through and I've had a couple of annoyed buyers as a result in the past, but I wasn't aware that you could fool the system by escalating it.
It's clearly an eBay problem but I'm honestly not sure how best to go about resolving it. If the answer to the above question is the latter option, I'd probably just leave it to sort itself out. If they've actively taken money from your account/payment card and you really do get nowhere with eBay then I would contact the bank and ask for their help. It might mean Paypal close your account if they forcefully reverse the transaction, mind you.
ECheques to sake sodding ages to come through and I've had a couple of annoyed buyers as a result in the past, but I wasn't aware that you could fool the system by escalating it.
PartOfTheProblem said:
The buyer has confirmed they have received the money but won't return it.
So they now have an extra £109 odd quid of your money after receiving two transactions won't return the one paid incorrectly back to you? Sounds like theft to me. And they're a cock womble.TheAngryDog said:
PartOfTheProblem said:
The buyer has confirmed they have received the money but won't return it.
So they now have an extra £109 odd quid of your money after receiving two transactions won't return the one paid incorrectly back to you? Sounds like theft to me. And they're a cock womble.
Howard- said:
How was the money taken? Did PayPal take it directly from your bank account/payment card,or is your PayPal account now just in the red?
It's clearly an eBay problem but I'm honestly not sure how best to go about resolving it. If the answer to the above question is the latter option, I'd probably just leave it to sort itself out. If they've actively taken money from your account/payment card and you really do get nowhere with eBay then I would contact the bank and ask for their help. It might mean Paypal close your account if they forcefully reverse the transaction, mind you.
ECheques to sake sodding ages to come through and I've had a couple of annoyed buyers as a result in the past, but I wasn't aware that you could fool the system by escalating it.
The money was taken from PayPal and out of my bank account. I spoke to my bank who are happy to reverse the payment under the Direct Debit guarantee, but they suggested I try to resolve with eBay/PayPal first as they will simply continue to chase it at the problem won't go away. I really don't want to lose my PayPal account to be honest. It really is eBay's cock up!It's clearly an eBay problem but I'm honestly not sure how best to go about resolving it. If the answer to the above question is the latter option, I'd probably just leave it to sort itself out. If they've actively taken money from your account/payment card and you really do get nowhere with eBay then I would contact the bank and ask for their help. It might mean Paypal close your account if they forcefully reverse the transaction, mind you.
ECheques to sake sodding ages to come through and I've had a couple of annoyed buyers as a result in the past, but I wasn't aware that you could fool the system by escalating it.
I guess I need to sit tight and hope eBay 'back office' at Dublin do the right thing and refund the money, otherwise Letter Before Action it is. I just don't want to end up another £80 odd out of pocket for the small court claim fees!
What a ball ache.
PartOfTheProblem said:
The money was taken from PayPal and out of my bank account. I spoke to my bank who are happy to reverse the payment under the Direct Debit guarantee, but they suggested I try to resolve with eBay/PayPal first as they will simply continue to chase it at the problem won't go away. I really don't want to lose my PayPal account to be honest. It really is eBay's cock up!
I guess I need to sit tight and hope eBay 'back office' at Dublin do the right thing and refund the money, otherwise Letter Before Action it is. I just don't want to end up another £80 odd out of pocket for the small court claim fees!
What a ball ache.
It's a tricky one now that the buyer has openly admitted to receiving both refunds, the cheeky sI guess I need to sit tight and hope eBay 'back office' at Dublin do the right thing and refund the money, otherwise Letter Before Action it is. I just don't want to end up another £80 odd out of pocket for the small court claim fees!
What a ball ache.
tbag. But that's pretty much theft - the police might be interested if you contact them and show the conversation trail. You could certainly threaten thusly...I'd like to hope eBay will sort it out in the end though.
It is a great way of buying and selling things when it works... But when it goes wrong it's often a nightmare.
PartOfTheProblem said:
TheAngryDog said:
PartOfTheProblem said:
The buyer has confirmed they have received the money but won't return it.
So they now have an extra £109 odd quid of your money after receiving two transactions won't return the one paid incorrectly back to you? Sounds like theft to me. And they're a cock womble.Ebay won't give a toss, neither will PayPal.
I live by a rule nowadays when it comes to large companies. If I am confident that I am in the right and I am owed money, I try once to resolve it by email (I then wait 7 days), then I try once to resolve by phone (wait another 7 days), then I send them a warning 'letter before action' (wait 14 days), then if not resolved I raise a small claims court/moneyclaim against them.
The court fees (£25 I think in your case, for that size claim) are added on to the amount they have to repay.
90% they will capitulate within a week and pay you "without prejudice".... 9% they won't respond to the court so you can ask the court to enter a judgment against them by default.... and 1% they will try and defend in court, which if you have described accurately, they will lose.
I have taken several large companies (including some global brands) through the money claim process - and every single one of them has paid out.
I live by a rule nowadays when it comes to large companies. If I am confident that I am in the right and I am owed money, I try once to resolve it by email (I then wait 7 days), then I try once to resolve by phone (wait another 7 days), then I send them a warning 'letter before action' (wait 14 days), then if not resolved I raise a small claims court/moneyclaim against them.
The court fees (£25 I think in your case, for that size claim) are added on to the amount they have to repay.
90% they will capitulate within a week and pay you "without prejudice".... 9% they won't respond to the court so you can ask the court to enter a judgment against them by default.... and 1% they will try and defend in court, which if you have described accurately, they will lose.
I have taken several large companies (including some global brands) through the money claim process - and every single one of them has paid out.
38911 said:
Ebay won't give a toss, neither will PayPal.
I live by a rule nowadays when it comes to large companies. If I am confident that I am in the right and I am owed money, I try once to resolve it by email (I then wait 7 days), then I try once to resolve by phone (wait another 7 days), then I send them a warning 'letter before action' (wait 14 days), then if not resolved I raise a small claims court/moneyclaim against them.
The court fees (£25 I think in your case, for that size claim) are added on to the amount they have to repay.
90% they will capitulate within a week and pay you "without prejudice".... 9% they won't respond to the court so you can ask the court to enter a judgment against them by default.... and 1% they will try and defend in court, which if you have described accurately, they will lose.
I have taken several large companies (including some global brands) through the money claim process - and every single one of them has paid out.
I have had similar experiences, but never had to go through with it. I live by a rule nowadays when it comes to large companies. If I am confident that I am in the right and I am owed money, I try once to resolve it by email (I then wait 7 days), then I try once to resolve by phone (wait another 7 days), then I send them a warning 'letter before action' (wait 14 days), then if not resolved I raise a small claims court/moneyclaim against them.
The court fees (£25 I think in your case, for that size claim) are added on to the amount they have to repay.
90% they will capitulate within a week and pay you "without prejudice".... 9% they won't respond to the court so you can ask the court to enter a judgment against them by default.... and 1% they will try and defend in court, which if you have described accurately, they will lose.
I have taken several large companies (including some global brands) through the money claim process - and every single one of them has paid out.
Don't stay on hold on the phone, ask them to pass a message on to the or manager, they have always phoned me back and have sorted at this level for me, usually with a voucher or similar for my inconvenience.
jfis89 said:
Having a not dissimilar issue. Which phone number have you been able to get hold of eBay on? I’m struggling even to find email addresses.
Therein lies the problem. Obscure phone numbers, few direct email addresses and they direct you to webforms which make it hard to retain copies/evidence for legal action.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff