Slam head into wall....

[slj84]

I'm back again!  You think I would learn my lesson and not sell on eBay.  But I wanted to sell my extra iPhone 4S.

So I finally give up on auction style. Kept getting none paying bidders.  Set up a buy it now, with required immediate payment.  Phone sells after a few days.  It's going to the Estonia. No problem shipping overseas for me until now.

The person pays for priority international shipping, but for some odd reason online did not give me this option.  I take it to the post office the next day after selling it.  Nope they can't figure out either why it's only giving the first class international option as well.  I go back home and email the seller.  No response for several days.  (Wednesday-Saturday).  So I go ahead and ship out Saturday as they did leave a note to please ship out ASAP as it's a gift.  I also refunded the shipping difference.

I enter the tracking code into eBay and email it to the buyer as well again explaining my predicament with the shipping.  No response.   Today I get a case opened against me that the item hasn't arrived yet.

It's going to another country! Yesterday was a USA holiday! So its only been in the mail one day! Of course the item has not arrived yet.

Seriously eBay let someone in another country open a item not received case against me in a week is ridiculous. Now my account funds are frozen in PayPal because the freakin buyer thinks I can magically make my item go from the USA to the Ukraine apparently overnight.  Plus when I asked about the tracking code I was told any tracking code will stop working after it leaves the USA no matter what shipping method you send it. So now I only have proof if was shipped not that it arrived.

[tulagirl]

That is true about the tracking unless you send it registered mail.  I am sorry.  That was so wrong of that buyer.  I would call ebay immediately.  Dont sit on this one.

[Shenanigans]

What a bummer I won't do international shipping on ebay. Too much hassle and people just don't seem to realize that it takes a long time to get there! A week at LEAST! I ordered something from Mexico and it took almost a month to get here, but I never opened a case because I realize it takes a long time. People are so impatient sometimes I really hope it works out for you. I would call ebay

[lunar_scythe]

They probably just wanted to send you a message an eBay auto opened the case; ya happening more and more these days. :/

[slj84]

I'm going to call them tomorrow of the buyer does not respond to my response.  I also filed a "confidential" complaint about the buyer to eBay about opening a case when they have not given nearly enough time for the item to arrive overseas,  heck it wouldn't of even arrived to someone in my own country yet.

If the post office would of offered to send it registered I would of.  I asked them to add any tracking to it they could and that's when she told me that nothing would work after it leaves the USA. So I said just give me whatever you can then.

 I even refunded the extra shipping with a note why and the tracking number in that too!  Why would I be trying to rip them off when I refunded them right away with the overcharge on that.  I didn't choose the cheaper shipping option because I wanted to pocket the extra.  I wasn't really given a choice.

If eBay sides with the buyer on this I'm closing my eBay account.  I will find another place to sell stuff I don't want or I will just donate it to someplace that can sell it and use the profits for something good.

Post Merge: November 12, 2013, 10:15:44 AM

I don't think it auto opened it as they even said they would give it a few more days before they escalated the claim.

[tulagirl]

Could they possibly not be writing back due to not speaking English?  I feel they are way out of line here.  That is nuts.  In order to do registered mail it must go first class.  The post office employees don't realize that registered mail will track overseas.  Its expensive though, but the only way to go as the item is also insured.  If you send priority mail, you can not sent registered mail.  So at that point you would need to purchase international insurance and hope for the best.  Its getting harder and harder to do international shipping with rates the way they are and ebay rules about tracking. I stopped a loooong time ago and refuse to ever send an ebay sell anywhere but in the USA.

[slj84]

I think I'm going to stop as well.  Something odd here. The buyer opened their eBay account on Oct 15th 2013 and already got a + feedback that day as well.  How does that happen?  I guess a seller could leave feedback as soon as payment arrives.  But I don't leave any feedback until the transaction is completed and the item arrives to the buyer and the buyer is happy.

[tulagirl]

Yes I have had many sellers leave me feedback as soon as I paid.  In the old ebay days you would wait in case they left a negative so you could defend yourself.  Now there is no point as you can't leave a false positive and you can't leave a negative for a buyer.  I usually wait until they are happy and leave feedback for me, but often people just don't leave feedback anymore.  Ebay has just changed so much.  I remember the good old days when huge profits could be made and it was fun to be a seller.  Now its like having the stomach flu and asking for it.

[Ringlets]

I'm so sorry to hear this - its absolutely ridiculous that the buyer should expect the item so soon and open as well as threaten to escalate a case after only a day. The item probably wont arrive in Ukraine  until 2-4 weeks   it might even be longer if customs hold it up.
Definitely give ebay a call and explain what happened - reagrdless of the shipping issue, the problem is that the buyer is expecting something impossible - the item wouldnt be there that quick even if the shipping had gone to plan.

[SeashellnBubbles]

I, Myself, sold 4 things this week and 2 backed out saying "son had car accident" and "didn't realize shipping would be so high" I put RIGHT IN THE. AD that shipping would be expensive as i'd only ship these items with tracking. I said to pm and ask what the rate would be but this last guy was like, oh this is my first time backing out of an auction i won so it's fine. I was livid! And there's nothing i can do but write them that they're banned from future auctions of mine. What other course of action can we take? None that i know of.

[slj84]

eBay says they can't do anything until the case would escalate as it's still between me and the buyer.  The buyer never responded to my response about how it can take awhile to arrive and that Monday was a holiday here so if it was still in the USA it didn't move.  So hopefully my response made them think about it.  I know I sent my swap package via first class international and it arrived in about a week and that seemed fast.

eBay did suggest I sign up with their global shipping program so I did.  I ship to them and they take care of the shipping to the other country.  Once it arrives to eBay the item is no longer my responsibility.  Probably will cost the buyer a lot more as they have to pay customs up front but it protect me.  No more having to deal with people wanting me to lie on a customs for  either.

[NoDivision]

If the post office would of offered to send it registered I would of.  I asked them to add any tracking to it they could and that's when she told me that nothing would work after it leaves the USA.

I really wish the post office - and people online - would stop saying this. While it's true that sometimes packages don't get scanned so the USPS can't guarantee that tracking will update once it leaves the US (You know the same is true within the US, packages sometimes don't get scanned) I have sent many packages internationally that have had tracking updates all the way and delivery confirmation. I found a few old labels (so the full tracking details are archived) but feel free to look them up to see that yes, they were tracked outside of the US and the delivery was confirmed.
CF007074467US
CF004362124US

I hear all the time that people at the post office are telling customers there is no way to track packages internationally and it drives me bonkers. It is possible. Don't let the post office tell you otherwise. Even if they say there's no tracking available, just smile and nod and get priority or higher service and you have a pretty darn good chance of getting it. If you're in a situation where you might need proof of delivery for ebay/paypal/any other reason, don't let the post office talk you into first class mail.  Sure there's a small chance that with priority service the tracking might not work, but with first class your're guaranteed not to get it at all.

[slj84]

Sigh so I have sent them several messages without a response, yet they escalated it to a claim now.   On hold with eBay now.  Here is the real kicker,  they are no longer registered yet they were able to escalate the claim.

Update:
  Okay after being on the phone for over a hour with ebay, the representative said he would approve the case in my favor.  Due to the fact that A.) the buyer has never responded to me via the case, or through ebay.  B.) I have proof of shipping through paypal and proof that the item left the US soils C.) The item is a high enough price to be stuck in customs and the buyer even stated when they first opened the case that they had not gone to customs (only contact I had) and D.) they are no longer a registered user with ebay.

I should receive a email within 24-48 hours and my funds should be taken off hold.  Hopefully ebay will follow through with what the rep told me, as this was no little sale, or else I will be calling back again if they side in favor of the buyer. 

They kept telling me I needed to contact my post office and I kept telling them that the item left through Chicago meaning it has left the USA and my post office has said they cannot track it. Why would paypal even offer to let me ship this method if I was not protected shipping this way.

Update 2:

I decided to try something online.   I went
to search and typed the country's postal office.  Sure enough the person name popped up as well as tracking information once it got into their country. I now have tracking proof.  From the translation sites I believe it was either delivered or is being held by customs. The translation doesn't go to english very well. I actually forwarded this to the buyer as well hoping they will see that I have proof and will cancel the claim before eBay declares anything.


Post Merge: November 18, 2013, 08:55:48 PM

Just as expected eBay screwed me over after telling me if would be found in my favor.