Ok, I have never had a problem buying off of ebay before, but I won a Monster, Inc DVD and on the auction site it had a pic of the collectors edition so of course that is what I thought I was bidding on, well when I got it, it was one of the very first ones they ever came out with different case and everything looked NOTHING like the picture and it was all scratched up.. I email the guy (let me just say that I had already payed for it through paypal) and he says no problem just mail it back to me and I will refund your money. Well July 6 was 3 weeks ago that I mailed it back to him and I have sent him email after email with no response except for one and it said payment received item shipped , well @$#%*^ he didn't even read it evidentally, so now, what should I do?? All of his feedback was positve except for 2 out of thousands. How would you handle this?? I don't want to be pissy about it but geez, he sure didn't have a problem getting me the item, but now that he has the item he is having a problem returning my email and crediting my money back to my account.. Sorry this is so long, I just feel dupped (sp)

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 05:55 am:

Seems to me you should contact eBay, AFTER telling the guy specifically that you intend to do so. I have never bought on eBay, but from what I have read they have procedures for dealing with exactly this kind of thing.

My son had a problem with a purchase from eBay with the purchase not arriving. He emailed the guy saying that if he didn't receive it within X days he would make a complaint to eBay. He got a very rude message from the guy but also got his purchase 2 days later. A friend of another son sells a lot on eBay and has related stories of unsatisfied customers - he always tells them to send it back and refunds their money because he doesn't want a bad rating.

If you choose to email the guy telling him you will complain to eBay, if it were me I'd compose the email to eBay ahead of time and send him a copy of it. I'd keep it simple. The best complaining letters simply list the facts - the reason you are complaining and the history, with whatever backup you have. Something like:

The photo posted for this item showed the collector's edition. The item I received was an entirely different edition, not the one shown in the photo, and in addition was scratched. I emailed X and complained, and received this reply, telling me to return it and he would refund my money (then, if you still have it on your computer, copy and paste his entire email, including full headers - you'll need to set your view to show the headers). Continue with: I returned the item to him on X(date) and I have not received my refund. I have emailed him X times about the refund and received the following email in reply (again, paste the email). I emailed X on (date) and advised him that I would complain to eBay. I have not received a satisfactory response or my refund. I am requesting that eBay intervene so that I get my refund.

For the subject of your email, I would say something like: Dissatisfied and will complain to eBay. That should get his attention.

One question, though: what did the word description say? I agree, showing a photo of the collector's edition and etting an entirely different edition, different case from the photo, and scratched - that's not what you thought you were buying. But if the word description was clear and described what he sent, eBay may say that to you - to which my response would be that showing the photo of one item and describing another is deceptive, and you went by the photo.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 05:57 am:

duped - one p. I wouldn't ordinarily do this because I believe it is rude to correct someone who didn't ask for correction, but you did say (sp) so I hope you don't mind.

By Renee on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 07:58 am:

If you paid with Paypal you could also check into getting your money refunded through them. I bought a computer on Ebay and had problems with it. I finally filed through Paypal and finally the guy refunded money. good luck

By Jackie on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 08:08 am:

There is also something On Ebay that me and my husband both used.. Its called "Square trade" or Fairtrade, cant remember the name
But its a free service.. they are listed somewhere onebay.. Its likea 3rd party who listens to your case.. You e-mail them using their form, and tell them what happened.. They contact the other person and work out something.
I did this about 4 yrs ago, when I was getting no response from the seller..and when he got a letter from Square trade, all of a sudden things were worked out.
My husband dealt with them recenently when a women promised to refund money after we sent back an item, she never refunded it us, and it was 150$.. My husband wrote to square trade, and in 2 days we got our money refunded.

By Kate on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 08:17 am:

I'd email him again with a topic line like "I Am About to Leave You Negative Feedback". Just to warn you though, when emails go unreturned, the first step ebay takes is to have you CALL the person. Ebay will give you the seller's phone number for this reason. I HATE that suggestion!! I had a problem once but eventually the item was received so I never had to call. But it was a six dollar item and I think I would have taken the loss rather than call some stranger who I was already having problems with.

Oh, and I'd tell him exactly what you plan to say in feedback...something like 'item misrepresented & damaged, returned item as instructed, no refund received'. That 80 character max is tough, I don't know if I was short enough or not. Good luck!

By Rayanne on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 09:08 am:

I'd e-mail him and tell him what you want done and if it isn't then, you will talk to someone on e-bay.

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 11:12 am:

Very easy solution.
On Paypal you can file a case. It is basically a means of having them investigate and mediate. Trust me NO SELLER wants Paypal to investigate fraud on them. They will respond immediately when you do this. Once resolved Paypal will close the case. It IS fraud if you were sent a different item! What is the guys feedback like?

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 12:02 pm:

I've had to file fraud reports with Paypal twice and they did a great job in refunding my money quickly. I'd do what Ginny recommends first, write him a warning letter to give him one last chance. Good Luck!

By Kaseys on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 12:04 am:

Ginny - No problem, now I know how to spell it!!

I have tried and tried to call him but the number is either busy or I get no answer..

How much longer should I give it before I email him and say that I am leaving negative feedback or emailing ebay??

It has been 3 weeks as of Tuesday July 6.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 12:46 am:

3 weeks? I think you have been more than patient. I think you should write that email and send it off tomorrow.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 05:59 am:

Don't bother calling. Email him now. And if you decide to use the complaint system and they tell you that you have to call him, tell them you have already tried and with what results. The only change I would make to the email I suggested above is to add in Paypal - that you are going to complain to both. And tell him that if you don't have your refund in hand, in the form of a money order (since he already has your address) no later than July 15, with an email telling you he has mailed it no later than July 11th, you will file the complaints. That gives him 3 days to buy a money order and a total of 6 mailing days for the refund to get from him to you, which is plenty of time. The reason for the specific deadline is so that you know when to file your complaint(s).

By Yjja123 on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 09:05 am:

He may be waiting for the item to no longer be in the ebay system (after 30 days items are not always available to see on ebay).
Report him to Paypal NOW!!
If you paid via paypal he needs to refund through paypal. He is stalling. Do not let him. I would report to paypal today and send him an email afterwards. If he refunds you immediately the case will be closed on paypal.