The CEO of eBay wouldn't be scammed like this because he wouldn't let the 45-day deadline pass.

eBay practically lays out the complaint process for buyers on a silver platter. There's no excuse for not knowing how it works and what the deadlines are. What are they supposed to do, leave buyers on the hook forever because you're too lazy to educate yourself?

No, I did not file a complaint because I thought my problem was solved without going through the EBAY complaint process.

I guess that I was completely stupid to try to do that.  I must have made the seller's day. He got my money without parting with product.

It took 398 purchases over 10 years for me to meet up with a seller like this one.

I am sure I will be blasted over this statement....obviously many sellers can not be trusted.  Next time you have a problem..like I just recently did....just immediatly file a SNAD.  That way for SURE  you won't get ripped off.  The seller should have refunded you...wonder why he never did????.  No wonder ebay is making new rules..these crappy sellers really need to go..

The trouble with eBay's 45 day policy is that it is inflexible.

Yes, eBay needs to protect itself against endless involvement with basically unresolvable disputes, but there will be cases where the facts are clear, the sums of money substantial and eBay is effectively condoning theft rather than compromise its policy.

You might be someone who has been a member for ten years and worked with some awkward sellers to resolve every issue without bothering eBay. Then, one day, you find out about the 45 day policy and if you are lucky it's over a $15 item, or may be its a $500 item, which is a different matter!

I really do not think it is in eBay's best interest to be part of the check-the-small-print/buyer-beware relationship between buyers and sellers.

It needs to be seen to operate on principles of natural justice and common sense rather than sticking rigidly to arbitrary policies.

PS: it's interesting that so many people effectively take the side of the "thieves" over the guy whose only "crime" was not knowing the rules.

The rule is too course.

I know someone who buys Christmas presents on eBay months in advance. They don't check the items they receive until after they have been given as gifts. It's sad if this person gets ripped off, but its not unreasonable for eBay to decline to become involved 6 months after the transactions take place.

On the other hand if I buy something, say a used motorcycle engine the seller is someone like me, not a big business, just an enthusiast trying to clear out his garage. It takes time for them to figure out how to package and ship such an item: there's residual oil in it and the shipping company say it contains hazardous materials. It's necessary to cut such people some slack, it might take three weeks to get to me coast-to-coast. Then it's not as described and has to go back and we're up to the 45 day limit, but the seller and me are still working to resolve the issue: there's no dispute as yet.

That is an entirely different situation to buying a movie that ships in a padded envelope and turns out to be DVD rather than Blu-Ray. eBay need to differentiate between cases where buyers don't bother to check an item for months and cases where shipping is difficult and time consuming, where a return is involved and both parties are still trying to work things out 45 days after the transaction. eBay needs to be more flexible: my business is going to cost them a lot more from now on as I go from zero dispute resolution calls in ten years to 3 or 4 a year.

The answer is too simple.

Do not buy anything on eBay that you do not intend to personally inspect within 45 days of payment.

So as to Christmas presents, unless these are brand new in teh original oem box items how hard is it to open the brown paper package or USPS flat rate box to see what is inside and determine it is what was ordered?

There IS NO WARRANTY!!!  Not from eBay, not unless the buyer pays additionally to squaretrade on eligible purchases.  There is a 45 day window of filing a claim that an item is not as described- period, exclamation point.!

Even a gift purchased 3 months in advance of Christmas from a bricks and mortar store will not have a warranty when gift is given.  Consider a digital camera. Most have a 90 day factory warranty.  No store on the planet will have put their Christmas exchange program into effect in August.  So you buy a camera today to give on Christmas morning and even though it was a highly rated by Consumer Union name brand and purchased from a national chain with stores in every major city if it does not work on Christmas morning you and the giftee are SOL.  Wait until Black Friday sales to buy and yes, the warranty will start on THE day it is opened.

NOT AS DESCRIBED means at time received whether that is 44 days after payment or 1 day after payment.  The buyer has until the 45th day to open a claim (but soon must first contact seller and seller gets 3 days to respond), plain and simple.  If a seller didn't figure out that a motorcycle engine cannot be shipped by normal means with residual oil and it takes 46 days for delivery then the buyer should have opened a INR dispute long before.

The really bottom bottom line is that buyers and sellers on eBay cannot nor should not, despite all the hoopla over the recent survey results, trust implicitly any individual or business on the opposite side. (I know THIS statement will probably get THIS post yanked - but it IS theTRUTH).

A seller that says wait (until after day 45) and I'll make it right should not be trusted - IF - if the buyer desires to retain Buyer Protection.

Our country's #1 export? - Money! (think about it)

Mitch,

I am in the same situation as you and the more I think about this the more the 45 day limit seems to be irrelevant in cases like ours.

Whatever eBay calls its customer support services: "Buyer Protection" or "Dispute Resolution" I do not consider myself to be involved in a "dispute" I consider myself the victim of a crime in progress and it sounds like you are too.

If you have email (as I have) from your seller, confirming that they agree to you returning the item; confirming that they will refund the purchase price and confirming that they received the returned item and yet they will not make the refund, then I believe that is quite clearly theft. If eBay have that evidence and refuse to take the measures available to them to help you recover your costs then they are, in a way, accessories to the crime.

eBay have created an environment in which thieves can operate; they undertake to apply reasonable measures to protect their customers from crime and yet, in our case they do nothing, despite abundant evidence and clearly identified victim and villain.

I'd like to hear from any other eBay member who is or has been in the same position as Mitch & I. Please send a message directly to me.

It does seem unfair; you can be an ebay member for years, complete dozens of transactions with patience and tact and thus never have to bother ebay and also, as a result, not be aware of the 45 day limit; then one day, when patience and tact aren't enough, and you are relying on ebay intervention they really let you down.

As a reward for being a great ebayer who works things out for themselves it would be nice if they gave you a once in a lifetime "break" on the 45 day rule, That way you know next-time and you remain a happy customer.

bobingtonus wrote:

A similar thing has just happened to me the seller accepted the return but then did nothing when I contacted them they replied without using Ebay message service this gave them enough time to reach the 45 day rule. I have tried many many times to report the rogue seller and recover my money but Ebay will do absolutely nothing to help me or to protect other buyers. Ebay is now untrustworthy and has no interest in good customer relations. Tell as many people as you can about the conduct of Ebay and the lack of support. Find online forums and vent your spleen about them. Most important try and buy from elsewhere and use Ebay as the last resort and when you leave feedback point out your distrust of Ebay.

Go ahead and vent your spleen. Most people understand what the word "deadline" means. Why do you think you deserve special treatment?

I had the exact same thing happen to me - it took almost 3 weeks to get the product (this was disclosed), then the seller, STICKERPOWER2011  promised a full refund after it was returned, we returned (with tracking) which took awhile, then he sent several emails requesting different info - by the time I relized he was stalling, it was to late. STICKERPOWER2011 has $$$ AND the product. And even though I can prove the product was returned, and have emails from STICKERPOWER2011 that he will give me a full refund, EBAY and PAYPAL will do nothing, it is a legal scam they have provided to bad sellers.

mythreesuhns wrote:

If you buy Christmas gifts in advance just start an issue with the seller regardless of whether you're happy with the purchase or not to leave the window of opportunity open to return. Play the system just open an issue with every single thing you buy until you know that the person recieving it is happy and then close the issue.......maybe?

that's telling them to violate policy, which is also a policy violation.

opening too many cases can get you to not be able to use the buyer protection ever again as a buyer

age is a measure of time , wisdom is the measure of how we used that time

I had oredered item "APPLE CHARGER USB ADAPTER + SYNC CABLE FOR IPOD /IPAD/IPHONE 2G 3G 3GS 4 4S" (150947734442) which I recieved on 14 th edc 2012, but the charger was not working. I put a negative feedback directly on the ebay site without contacting the seller i.e netrade.in. However within an hour after putting the feedback I recieved a number of calls from the seller. They apologized for defect in the item and assured me that they will send me a new item within a weeks time. They requested me to remove the negative feedback from the ebay site. I accepted their apologies and promptly removed the feedback. But till date i have not recieved the new item as they had promised to me through phone as well as email(I can forward you that mail). Since last two weeks I mailed them four times but there was no reply.