Re: Problem with Ebay purchase. (EBAY IDENTITY ADDED!)

[Libelle]

Hi everyone!

I bought a MOC pony on Ebay Germany on August 2nd. Before I had bought the pony, the seller was great to communicate with. According to my Ebay purchase history, they dispatched the parcel containing the pony on August 6th. However, they failed to provide a tracking number. Parcels take 2 weekdays to be delivered anywhere in Germany. Thus, the pony should have been delivered on August 9th. (That's also the date Ebay gives me as the estimated date of delivery.) When the pony hadn't arrived by August 14th, I sent the seller a message notifying them about the non-delivery and asking them to provide a tracking number so we could try to figure out what had gone wrong. It is now August 17th, and I haven't heard back from the seller.

What do you think I should do? Open a case with Ebay, because I haven't received the item? I will be going on holiday in 9 days and would love to resolve the issue beforehand.

ETA: To be honest, my suspicion is that the seller has printed a label for the parcel, but hasn't dispatched it, yet. The same happened to me with a non-pony item a few months ago: The seller printed a label, updated the information on Ebay, even sent me a tracking number ... but only dispatched the item once I had opened a case after more than two weeks of waiting.

[bluerose9978]

I would open a case since your item has not arrived and your seller seems to be unwilling to communicate. You've waited long enough. And there is no tracking number for you to check out the status.

[flying_narwhal]

I agree with bluerose9978, I would go ahead and open a case. The pony has been "missing" for about 9 days past when it should have been delivered at this point. The fact that they did not give you a tracking number and are unresponsive makes me suspicious too. The one time I had a similar situation the seller turned out to be a scammer  I know it is really disappointing have to deal with all this headache when all you want is the pony to arrive safely. Keep us updated!

[Libelle]

Thanks so much, bluerose and flying_narwhal! I'll go ahead and open a case. I'm not happy, because I hate conflict and always try to give sellers the benefit of the doubt ... but it's my first MOC and a lot of money for me, and I'm getting rather anxious. Will keep you updated!

[Ringlets]

I think you made the right choice   Normally I would leave it  longer before opening a case but this is a more high value item and the lack of communication after you made the purchase (especially as the communication was good before!)  , as well as the lack of tracking number is worrying.  Hopefully the case should get the sellers attention

[Libelle]

Thanks Ringlet!

No reply, yet, but it's only been a day. Sadly, the seller has received four other negatives, one of them reading "no reply, no refund, no item". Sigh. The MOC isn't the only item I'm expecting from the seller - I've also bought several accessories - but it's the most valuable item and the highest amount of money I've ever paid for a pony. I'm just glad I paid via Paypal. I'm optimistic I'll receive a refund if the seller remains MIA.

[Libelle]

Oh dear ... I opened a case three days ago, and the seller hasn't reacted, yet. I'd say, everything is pointing to a scam. They have ten days to resolve the issue, though, so all I can do is wait.

ETA: Technically, I opened four cases, because I bought four items from the seller with the MOC being the most valuable.

[jrr74]

Shoot, I'm sorry.  One thing I did when I was not able to contact an individual through eBay was go to paypal and retrieve their personal e-mail.  I then messaged them directly letting them know I sent an message through eBay.  The seller responded saying she usually doesn't pay attention to her eBay account if she has nothing active.  Not a good practice on her part in case there are issues after a sale, but I did get through and received my item. 

[Libelle]

That's really good advice jrr72! If I don't hear back from them tonight, I'll email them tomorrow.

They have a bunch of auctions ending tonight, so we'll see whether they'll finally respond. I've had another look at their feedback, and the buyers that won auctions on the same day that I won my four auctions, have all received their items and have left positive feedback ... the difference being that their items were worth about $5 each, and my items were worth $100.

[flying_narwhal]

I am so sorry that the seller isn't communicating with you, that is so frustrating.  Hopefully you will at least be able to get your money back by opening the case. I know it's frustrating though, when I've been in similar situations I really just wanted the items (generally they were rarer things that took me forever to find in the first place).

[Libelle]

Since (1) I will be on holiday next week and the week after, meaning that any parcels send to me will be returned to the sender automatically and (2) some of the items were meant as birthday presents for a birthday that has since passed ... I called the ebay customer service. They advised me to send the seller another message, telling them that they have failed to send the items on time (ebay had given Aug 9th as delivery date) and that I am requesting a refund. If they won't agree to the refund, I will have to wait until the end of the month until I can make a paypal claim.

Guess what? The moment I request a refund, the seller comes out of hiding and responds. They claim that the parcel shop was closed for more than two weeks because of a holiday and that they were therefore unable to send the parcel.

Let me explain: In Germany, the big parcel services (like DHL, Hermes, DPD, etc.) have a network of parcel shops. In every village or city, you will find multiple parcel shops for each individual parcel service. Thus, there is always more than one parcel shop for DHL, more than one shop for Hermes, etc. In other words, if you want to send a parcel and find one of the shops closed, you simply drive/walk/whatever to the next shop and dispatch the parcel there. (To give you an example: there are three DHL and two Hermes shops within a radius of one kilometer of my flat.) Alternatively, you could always use a different parcel service altogether.

Moreover, I don't actually believe a word of what they're saying, because some of the buyers that won auctions on the same day that I won my auctions, have already received their items (the difference being that my items were far more valuable). Hence, their parcel shop of choice cannot have been closed for a holiday. The seller definitely lied about having dispatched my parcel on Aug 6th: I believe this to be another lie. 

I wouldn't be surprised if they declined my request for a refund. I will probably have to wait for paypal to intervene.

[jrr74]

Are you going to remind them that your parcel supposedly went out on the 6th?  I would love to hear their response as they try to backpedal out of that one.  Did it ship or was it just after you dropped off everyone else's packages and were handing them mine that they said "Sorry, we are now closed for the next two week.  Although I know there are others carriers in the immediate area, we would really like for you to wait 2 weeks and then come back so that we may conclude our business"
 
I too am dealing with a crummy seller over a missing item.  I did open a case due to poor response time .  Instead of apologizing to me, they have been nothing short of condescending but are finally mailing me the missing piece on Monday.  Meanwhile, I am thinking enough is enough you jerk.  I sent one more message but kept it PG in case eBay does get involved. 

letter to seller...

One more thing. I really think you are a liar and I have been trying to be nice. Nothing you said or did makes sense. For one, you should have just mailed out the extra purple pony from the other set you still had listed on eBay right away. When you did finally 'FIND' the purple pony, how come you needed 9 days to mail it out? You have a online store! What kind of crappy turn-around time do you have? Quit being so arrogant and just admit that you were wrong. No need to reply. I will not read anymore of your bullshit messages. I just want the pony or a refund and to be done with you. This is in my top three of worst experiences buying on eBay

The purple pony, as suspicious as it may sound, is honestly not a mlp item. 

Anyway, I really hope you get your package soon. I assume you would much rather have the item than your money back.

edited - language - df

[flying_narwhal]

Since (1) I will be on holiday next week and the week after, meaning that any parcels send to me will be returned to the sender automatically and (2) some of the items were meant as birthday presents for a birthday that has since passed ... I called the ebay customer service. They advised me to send the seller another message, telling them that they have failed to send the items on time (ebay had given Aug 9th as delivery date) and that I am requesting a refund. If they won't agree to the refund, I will have to wait until the end of the month until I can make a paypal claim.

Guess what? The moment I request a refund, the seller comes out of hiding and responds. They claim that the parcel shop was closed for more than two weeks because of a holiday and that they were therefore unable to send the parcel.

Let me explain: In Germany, the big parcel services (like DHL, Hermes, DPD, etc.) have a network of parcel shops. In every village or city, you will find multiple parcel shops for each individual parcel service. Thus, there is always more than one parcel shop for DHL, more than one shop for Hermes, etc. In other words, if you want to send a parcel and find one of the shops closed, you simply drive/walk/whatever to the next shop and dispatch the parcel there. (To give you an example: there are three DHL and two Hermes shops within a radius of one kilometer of my flat.) Alternatively, you could always use a different parcel service altogether.

Moreover, I don't actually believe a word of what they're saying, because some of the buyers that won auctions on the same day that I won my auctions, have already received their items (the difference being that my items were far more valuable). Hence, their parcel shop of choice cannot have been closed for a holiday. The seller definitely lied about having dispatched my parcel on Aug 6th: I believe this to be another lie. 

I wouldn't be surprised if they declined my request for a refund. I will probably have to wait for paypal to intervene.

Wow... This is just ridiculous. I don't understand how the other people who bought items on the same day as you got their packages but yours couldn't be shipped because of a mysterious 2 week long holiday?? Something is just really off with the whole situation. Just out of curiosity, when they mentioned the store's supposed 2 week holiday, did they give any indication of when they might actually ship the item or just mention that excuse? (Not that I think they'll actually ship anything at this point)

[Libelle]

Just out of curiosity, when they mentioned the store's supposed 2 week holiday, did they give any indication of when they might actually ship the item or just mention that excuse? (Not that I think they'll actually ship anything at this point)

They claimed that the shop would open up again tomorrow (as in: the moment I request a refund and they are in danger of losing the money they made, the shop miraculously opens again).

Something is just really off with the whole situation.

Exactly. To be honest, I just want a refund at this point. Like I mentioned above, I have no use for most of the items anymore, and I don't even want to imagine what further issues might arise if they actually ended up shipping the items to me. They tried to deceive me, and I don't trust them anymore.

[Taffeta]

I think it sounds like opening a case was the best thing.

I had a situation like this recently. I don't really want to accuse the seller of anything, because I can't be sure of anything. But I bought a MIP pony and it never arrived. I opened a case on Ebay, and the seller said it didn't have tracking cos that would've been more expensive than the amount she charged me for shipping. Seller suggested that she refund half the money and then if it arrived I would pay her the amount and if it didn't, she would refund me. But it also came out in this that they were moving house and so if it was returned to them, they wouldn't know. It had been 6 weeks by this time (and within Europe postage is usually a week. Even the box I sent that went to China before ending up at its destination in Holland only took 2 or 3 weeks). So I asked ebay for the full amount in refund, and got it. Pony never did arrive here. This happened in June and it's now August, so if it was sent, it really is superlost by now!


I can't be sure if it was sent or if it wasn't. I am sad thinking that pony might be lost somewhere in the mail, too. But in that situation, what else can you do?

(My seller wasn't in Germany, by the way, otherwise I might be wondering if it was the same person.)