ebay advice I didn't receive an item I paid for About This Page:

[Marv]

Long story here and hoping some of you experienced buyers and sellers can give me some advice...

I paid for an item and didn't receive it after two weeks, so emailed the seller. They said they were having difficulty getting the item from their distributor and were waiting for a shipping date, that's why they hadn't notified me sooner. I was disappointed they hadn't let me know sooner, but I just took it in stride. I emailed back and said I was still interested and could they expedite shipping though. I waited a week and didn't hear back from them so I emailed again, asking the same question and stating it had been almost a month now. Another week went by and still no response from them. So, now it's one month later. I looked up on ebay what to do and it said you can phone them. I got their phone number and left a message stating I'm very disappointed and would they get back to me as to when they will ship it. I followed up with an email, stating I phoned them.

Now I got a "Unpaid Item Mutual Agreement for Item" email-no personal communication explaining why they aren't shipping or any apology for not communicating with me, which really makes me sad. I have ordered from them many times in the past and have never had a problem. They have a 99.6 % positive rating. I have been more than polite and patient and feel I've handled this situation with utmost repect. Should I go ahead and o.k. this unpaid mutual agreement or follow another course of action (which I don't know what that would be)? I don't really understand this process. I did pay for the item, they just didn't ship it. Will this somehow leave a bad mark on my record, as if I didn't pay for something? I did pay for the item. Please help me! I don't know how to proceed. This is so frustrating!

[wayneava81]

I probably wouldn't agree to the unpaid item notice. You did pay for it. You should open a dispute through paypal stating you haven't received it.( if you payed through paypal) Then open a dispute through ebay also. You shouldn't be penalized for them not following through with the transaction. If the seller does not respond to your paypal dispute then you can escalate to a claim and paypal will determine the outcome. If they still don't respond you will get a refund. Hope this helps.

[ariel14]

I´m not an Ebay expert, but I also would not agree to a mutual unpaid notice. You did pay for the item and they are the ones who could not provide the item. Plus, if you agreed to an unpaid notice--would they refund you the money that you paid them? I also do not like the fact they are not communicating with you at all.

[eff051102]

No I wouldn't agree to an Unpaid Item Mutual Agreement for Item or an Updaid item notice. What I would do also is file a complaint for non-received paid for item with Paypal and with ebay. Also since you have sent multiple e-mails and it has been a month, I would go ahead and escalate the claim with both Ebay and Paypal. I would include in the comments the numerous e-mails with no response and the one response that you did get. I wouldn't wait for the seller to comment, which they may not.

It's nice that you are so patient with them (since you've done business with them before) but for me, a month wait (unless you are paying by check or money order) is WAY to long. If they want to keep their good rating, they will work better with their customers. I wouldn't worry about your feedback, you can always add your comments to anything they happen to say about you.

[Marv]

Thanks for your advice.

I just went and reread that "unpaid item" thing from ebay. I got that sent to me because the seller is requesting their fees back. I was so MAD when I realized that! Not only did they not send the stuff, they want the money back from ebay that they paid for fees to list it. Some people...

It's going to be such a pain to request the money from paypal, I'm afraid, but at this point I guess I will. All the seller would have needed to do is email and say they couldn't ship it and refund my money. The only email I got from them (the one two weeks into the process) said they'd email and let me know when they'd get the item from the distributor or gladly refund my money. At that point, I assumed I'd still get the item and asked to still get it. Then, the no-contact from them started...they've been sitting on my 123.00 for a month...how very frustrating.

[Marv]

Well, I responded to ebay's message about whether the agreement for unpaid item was mutual. I said it was not unpaid and nothing was mutual.

So just now I went into my paypal account to file a dispute and saw the seller refunded my paypal account. So, at least I got my money back without having to file a dispute.

Next question, can I still leave feedback for the item if the seller returned my payment? I went in to look and doesn't give me that option any more. It only gives me a "pay now" option...So that means the seller still has their good reputation. That is pretty unfair. I guess that's what I get for trying to be fair with them. I shouldn't have tried to communicate, I guess, I should have just been mean and filed the dispute without contacting them.

[wayneava81]

You can still leave feedback for them. Go to 'my ebay' and on the left hand column where all the links are, there is a feedback link. Click on it and find the transaction. That's good that you got your money back.

[jpod523]

's that things have gotten better! i'm extremely new to ebay, but so far i've been pretty lucky (knock on wood).

[PatV]

We ordered something in Dec and didn't receive the required email at the 3 day point. Then when a week went by, I accessed the EBAY rules/procedures and iniatited contact with the seller by email. Within 2 days, I was notified the item was being mailed and it arrived within the week.

I did notice that EBAY stated they require almost immediate acknowledgment on the seller's end. And they give steps to follow if the buyer doesn't get these. You should definitely consider contacting EBAY and finding out how to leave your feedbacks. As I understood the rules, an item must be available when posted or the seller has to clearly state why item isn't immediately available for mailing.

I'm so glad you got your money back. Your experience makes us all aware things sometimes work out, just not like we expect.

[Marv]

Originally Posted by wayneava81

You can still leave feedback for them. Go to 'my ebay' and on the left hand column where all the links are, there is a feedback link. Click on it and find the transaction. That's good that you got your money back.

Thanks, I just went to ebay and I do see where I can leave feedback.

[mttafire]

Thats life. Ebay is NOT perfect shopping and NOTHING is "garunteed". I too have bought items that i NEVER received. Thats just the risk you take with online auctions.
Post your "sellers" rating mand move on. No use getting upset.
Plus you DID get your money back so....thats always a GOOD thing.

[korki-rad]

If you haven't already left feedback, here's a tip that I use on those rare occasions when I need to leave negative feedback....

Since it seems that many sellers will leave negative feedback for YOU if you leave negative for THEM (even when it was THEIR fault), I have started waiting until the last day that you can leave feedback (90 days) to leave a negative comment. That way, they can't retaliate and hurt YOUR feedback rating. Yes, you can leave a comment with their negative, but it will still show up in your percentage, and that bugs me. This way, they don't really have a chance to hurt your rating, but you still alert others to their practices.

Just a tip. Good luck! I'm glad you got your money back.