Advice regarding an eBay transaction...

[Sunshine]

So I know it's the holidays and everything, and the post might be slow due to increased mailings of things... but I've been waiting for a package from an eBayer since like... the 10th... and the estimated arrival dates were between 12/11 - 12/17... I messaged them on eBay but they haven't responded, and again, I know it's the holidays and some people are "signing off" for a while and stuff... but...

How long should I wait before I open a case about not receiving my items? I definitely could use the money back if I was getting scammed and I have no issue just going through the waiting period to get the money back (I'm sure eBay will also get no response from the seller, which usually makes it pretty quick)... I just don't want to be a "jerk" and open a case on them over the holidays, but I feel like as a seller they have a responsibility to make sure their items get to their buyers, regardless of the holidays (their own fault for listing something during this time...)

[ClosetAvalanche]

has the seller uploaded a tracking number?

[ponylady]

I know this time of the year can be hectic but like you mentioned if she does not have the time to address issues, then she had no business listing anything this time of the year 

But I have to ask also was there ever a tracking number uploaded that you can check the status? or did she mark it as shipped?

The time limit you have for Paypal is 45 days to open a case.  I would maybe send her one last message and explain to her that you are concerned. And that if you do not hear back from her it will leave you no other option than to open a case to protect yourself. You can open a case after the estimated delivery date of an item or 7 days after making payment if you weren't given an estimated delivery date. Which you received a estimated delivery date and are passed it.  The seller has I believe 7 days to respond with some sort of resolution or prove the item was shipped. If 7 days have passed since you opened the case, and if the seller still hasn't resolved the problem, you escalate the case to eBay Customer Support. And ebay may refund you on their own accord.

Good Luck and I hope you can get this resolved quickly and painlessly.   

       

[Ringlets]

I think that there is a very good chance that the itme will still arrive safely and that its just been a bit delayed due to the amount of post at this time of year   If the seller has good feedback, then I would think they arent a scammer... but it is concerning when there is no communication from them   that being the case i would wait a few days more and if the parcel hasnt arrived by then, then I would say to contact the seller one last time, as Ponylady mentioned, and if there is still no response, then open a case. If the seller *does* start to communicate, but the parcel still doesnt show, then keep an eye on your 45 day deadline for opening a case, and if it starts to get close, then open one anyways.
I hope that its a genuine delay and the parcel will arrive soon - please let us know how it goes

[Sunshine]

They marked it as shipped, but manually, with no tracking number. I don't really have an issue with that, I USED to do that all the time because it was so much easier for me to just go to my local post office than to print off labels somewhere... but now I have my own printer and always use the tracking number thingy...

ANYWAY... yes I'm worried because it was one of those auctions where you get it for a good price and you're super excited... it wasn't a "too good to be true price", just a good deal for what it was type of thing.

They don't have a ton of feedback, but over 50, and one negative that just says that they refunded their money without saying anything. Now, I wouldn't even care at this point if that happened to me, because I just want one thing or the other. Of course I'd rather have the ponies, but I'd take the money if it came down to it.

I guess I'll send them another message... I was thinking about giving them until Saturday to open a case (after messaging them about it today)... try to see what's going on... GRR I try to be a good ebayer to people and I still get crapped on by eBay and their policies because of that star rating system... and then we I go through and open cases, I can't ever leave negative feedback... why is that?
(I mean, if eBay is the one that has to settle the case, and it's not the seller who settles it, why can't I leave them poor feedback? They deserve it...)

[Galactica]

If today is the very first time you have messaged them about the issue- you should give them a reasonable opportunity to respond before opening a dispute.  I think a couple of days is reasonable-

[Sunshine]

No I messaged them about it a few days ago the first time... today I sent the 2nd message...

Like I said, I understand it's Christmas-time... but what if that item I bought was for someone elses Christmas gift... now their lack of response may ruin someone elses holiday because they're too busy enjoying their own? I just want some response from them... I mean... there's a whole slew of reasons why someone can't respond to their messages (or excuses)... and I may hear some of those but at this point, I don't understand the point of giving them the benefit of the doubt (like, oh gosh what if they got really sick and can't come to the computer)... I would feel awful if it was true, but I've been burned so many times trying to wait on people that my fuse for that is kind of short...

Normally I'm not like this, very easy to work with, always try to be a good ebay person, same with the Arena/TP - but I'm tired of getting the short end of the stick... 

[Galactica]

Oh well you should open a dispute just in case-  you can always close it if and when the package shows up...

[Sunshine]

ARG... just thought I'd give an update...

My ponies DID finally arrive today. I am thoroughly disappointed in their condition, as the seller did not list anything except apparently STOCK photos from the wiki and no descriptions and one small dark picture.

Regardless of the condition of the ponies, I found out WHY they weren't here by the 17th...

THE SELLER DIDN'T EVEN SHIP THEM UNTIL THE 19th! They sent them priority, obviously after reading (and not responding) to my message on eBay...

I think at this point I'm still entitled to leave the seller neutral feedback (not negative... but I really want to leave them negative feedback...)
So, no communication...
Didn't ship the item until 9 days after I paid
Didn't return my messages
Did not describe the item at all (just described a stock item)

What do you all think?

Edit: Here is the most recent message I sent them, is this too mean?
"Hi again. I know I'm sending you lots of messages, sorry... I finally got the ponies today. I see they weren't mailed until 12/19 - and you did not respond to my messages... I was pretty disappointed in the blue pony. You have no description and your picture hides all the orange glue issues and discoloration that she has on her body... I don't think the items were described properly and you used stock photos and info in your actual page description. Please message me back so we can work this out, otherwise I will have to report the "item not as described" to eBay and see how they want to handle it. I would like to keep them but in the condition the blue one is in (I knew about the hair cut on the other one even though you did not mention it at all in the listing) is not worth the full price I paid for these two (plus, priority shipping 9 days after I pay, from MO to IL...) Please respond. I will not open this case until Monday or Tuesday."

[ClosetAvalanche]

IDK, I would leave a negative if they aren't willing to work with you. As a seller myself, we are held to high standards and it bugs me that they would just slack off like this. Can you post the auction? I'm kind of split on the condition. Most sellers don't know anything about ponies so are clueless on conditions, so it would have been wise to ask questions before buying.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Please share with us the seller's ID so that nobody else gets caught up in their nonsense.

*pony hugs*  So sorry to hear you are going through this, and over the holidays, too! 

Also... just so you know, filing a "not-as-described" means you will need to return them (on your dime) to receive a refund. 

I would, however, leave them negative feedback.  No communication is unexcusable after they have taken your money.  Shipping late is insulting on top of that.  Using stock images to sell items that have vastly differing conditions can be constituted as fraud. 

[Sunshine]

Do I post all that info here about the seller? Sometimes I feel bad about bringing this up and listing someone as bad... like who am I to say that this person is a bad seller, maybe I'm the odd case out? But I know I wouldn't want others to deal with this at all, but do I send the name to a mod or something to post on the "watch list"?

And I understand about it being 1/2 my issue to write the seller and ask about condition if I was concerned... but I knew about the one issue, it wasn't listed, I should've been like "I wonder if there are any others"... but I believe I had put it a kind of last minute bid on the road and wasn't able to do the best research - but, you have to wonder if they would've even responded to my question about the item in the first place, since they're still not responding now. The stock photos in the description were very confusing when viewing the page on a mobile device, as it took me a minute to realize, oh... those aren't the same ponies...
(No mention of them being stock photos either... I think that a collector would realize that the actual words were taken from somewhere else, like I did, but at first I didn't realize the photos weren't of the actual ponies). I'm a seller on eBay who sells lots of random things that I don't know anything about, and I can tell you that this person is also a small volume lister, so, it only takes a minute of time to put "Please ask me questions I don't know much about this item"... I always feel like, at least the buyer could say to themselves, "Okay, well then I'll check into this further because they admit to not knowing much about it"

Again, I should've asked for more photos, the one on the auction was small, dark and a little blurry... but hid the issues with the blue pony well, while exposing the issues of the orange pony (hair cut). I've run into people time and time again that will not even listen to the fact that their item was described incorrectly because it's "in the photo" (and they were right, I missed it in the photo), so I've learned to #1 study the photo, THEN hope they have a good description, and if they don't, go on the photo. But, I probably wouldn't have been answered... (BTW, I REALLY hate being "aggressive" like this and being the "bad guy"... I usually roll with things, I also got a Dance 'n Prance pony in the mail, same day as these other ones, was described to be working perfectly, doesn't work... contacted the seller, seller is LOVELY and we're starting to chat and I don't want to leave her anything but positive feedback regardless of the incorrect description...)

I think I will wait until Monday or Tuesday like I told them in the message, I will message them again telling them I'm keeping the item but leaving them feedback reflective of their efforts as a seller... and perhaps that if they had answered me, or shipped on an appropriate date, that I would be more willing to work with them (at this point) to resolve the issue and avoid negative feedback. I'd rather not send them back because I'm assuming this person would just re-list them, and the cycle may repeat (hopefully not... but, like I said, they did already have 1 negative feedback in only 50 or so total feedback scores...)

Once I've left feedback and put this thing to rest on my side I will share the sellers name and info so no one else has to deal with them, or at least tries to establish some line of communication with this seller before/during buying.
I really appreciate all the input from everyone... it makes this process that I don't like very much a lot easier knowing that I'm not totally off my rocker...

[lovesbabysquirmy]

You can always PM me if you feel uncomfortable calling them out in public, if you'd like.    *pony hugs*

[ponylady]

Do I post all that info here about the seller? Sometimes I feel bad about bringing this up and listing someone as bad... like who am I to say that this person is a bad seller, maybe I'm the odd case out? But I know I wouldn't want others to deal with this at all, but do I send the name to a mod or something to post on the "watch list"?

Sunshine, pony do not feel bad about sharing your experiences. I feel you are handling it very well and have a good sense of buying ethics. And you know exactly how to handle what happened.

I am a regularly buyer and seller on ebay and I have had some doosies of transactions.  But I look at each case individually. I would hate to think I ruined someone's reputation over one incident. So do not feel pressured to share the name if you are not comfortable doing so. If you like, as Ringlets or I are the TS MODS here, you can PM one of us and we can further look into it. Believe me if there is an on going problem with this person we will know. And if there is we can take the next steps on alerting the community.

[Sunshine]

Thanks! I'll PM you their username, still no response from them about the condition of the ponies (meanwhile, the other seller who I had an issue with is STILL having rapid communication, working with me, and chatting about ponies in general - all in all, a wonderful experience even if I have a DnP who doesn't Dance or Prance anymore, heh... it's almost worth it because dealing with NICE people on eBay is always a positive experience...)

I'm also having to sit on my hands because I would really like to try and restore the one pony, but I'm afraid to touch her at all until I finally leave feedback or whatever. I guess I will not open a case because I'd rather be the one who gets these ponies into a new home, rather than let the seller have them back and sell them again, just in case this happens.

Once again, I know it's the holidays, so this person may be a perfectly adequate seller during other parts of the year... I guess my Christmas spirit is kicking in and I feel like giving them the benefit of the doubt (until Tuesday, lol)... but then I unfortunately will have to leave them negative feedback.

Is there any protection against me if they haven't left me feedback yet and then try to leave negative feedback because I leave them negative feedback??