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Yet another eBay PSA: Now try to avoid eBay as a buyer too, you can't get your money back

kaplan
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I'll keep this short, ordered a dial, received a different brand dial instead, since there was tracking, eBay sided with seller and didn't issue refund or initiate return despite pictures and proof.

This is a new approach I believe, they are likely trying to favor sellers now and overcompensating. In the past the process was quite different, just talking to a representative and explaining the situation was enough, I think they separated the response department.

Further insult to injury, they removed my negative feedback too, so no way to warn others either.

This is quite scary, I suggest not making any risky purchases unless it's a must. Ultimately I just lost $60, but it cost me a month as the seller took close to 2 weeks to ship it and I'm now spending quite a bit more in express shipping to compensate. Also quite demotivating and time consuming to chase the issue.
 
josiahg52
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Yeah, eBay is my very last resort and if it is, I question do I really need this thing I want to buy.
 
kaplan
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Seems very chaotic, I think only malicious people would gain from it, I've been burned on both sides, as a seller and as a buyer, this recent change seems to favor sellers more, but impossible to trust and asses what's changing and why. For example on my last 2 purchases, it made me pre-authorize while offering, and automatically completed the order once my offer was accepted. It would solve one problem if they did this for bids too, as almost half the winning bids were just not paying last time I checked

To be honest it'd be better if they reduced the fees and made all sales final, at least the risk would be obvious and we'd have a thriving marketplace
 
josiahg52
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The pre-authorization for bids is not a bad idea. All sales final isn't crazy.
 
Scarecrow Boat
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kaplan kaplan
Further insult to injury, they removed my negative feedback too, so no way to warn others either.
Sorry you have gone through this. I’ve pulled back on how much I use eBay for purchasing. I have long since stopped using it for selling after dealing with several people that purchased my items to have a “free 30 day trial” and return them. They even messaged me saying absolutely nothing was wrong but that after 29 days they just didn’t want it anymore and initiated a “product not as described” return. However, I have had one recent negative purchasing experience where I really had to fight for the return. After two weeks it did end in my favor and like what you described, the negative feedback I left for the seller was also removed. 👎
 
rendo
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Sorry to hear that. I had a similar situation recently with a negative review that I left for a seller. He was able to get eBay to remove it shortly after.

They have been screwing honest sellers for a long time by siding with the buyer in almost every case that I read about. They must have had enough complaints that now they are changing sides. Time to screw some buyers.
 
bgrisso
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kaplan kaplan
I'll keep this short, ordered a dial, received a different brand dial instead, since there was tracking, eBay sided with seller and didn't issue refund or initiate return despite pictures and proof.

This is a new approach I believe, they are likely trying to favor sellers now and overcompensating. In the past the process was quite different, just talking to a representative and explaining the situation was enough, I think they separated the response department.

Further insult to injury, they removed my negative feedback too, so no way to warn others either.

This is quite scary, I suggest not making any risky purchases unless it's a must. Ultimately I just lost $60, but it cost me a month as the seller took close to 2 weeks to ship it and I'm now spending quite a bit more in express shipping to compensate. Also quite demotivating and time consuming to chase the issue.

Did you use PayPal to pay for your item? If so don’t bother with eBay, use PayPal to get your money back. I was victim of obvious scam on eBay where multiple other buyers were victims of the same exact scam and everyone left tons of negative feedback in a row, I was like the 10th person. Because tracking showed “delivered” they sided with seller and removed my negative feedback. And this was a super obvious scam. eBay is asleep at the wheel. PayPal had it sorted in a few minutes. I would never buy on eBay without using PayPal for the transaction.
 
kaplan
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Yes Paypal seems more calm, at least they don't take harsh actions. Though in one case, I similarly received a wrong item, wildly wrong crystal in an Omega bag, seller ghosted, I opened a case, Paypal made me cover the return costs.

Scarecrow Boat Scarecrow Boat
Sorry you have gone through this. I’ve pulled back on how much I use eBay for purchasing. I have long since stopped using it for selling after dealing with several people that purchased my items to have a “free 30 day trial” and return them. They even messaged me saying absolutely nothing was wrong but that after 29 days they just didn’t want it anymore and initiated a “product not as described” return. However, I have had one recent negative purchasing experience where I really had to fight for the return. After two weeks it did end in my favor and like what you described, the negative feedback I left for the seller was also removed. 👎

This is quite extreme, sorry you experienced this, can't imagine how bad it felt.
 
B
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I dropped eBay last year,gave me Too much stress both buying and selling.
 
blubarb
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I would also add that their Global Shipping Program is exorbitant and they are encouraging sellers to use it - Their GSP is making low value items no longer economically practical for international buyers.
 
rendo
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blubarb blubarb
I would also add that their Global Shipping Program is exorbitant and they are encouraging sellers to use it - Their GSP is making low value items no longer economically practical for international buyers.
This is very true. A while ago, I convinced a U.K. seller to ship a watch to the States. He called eBay for some reason, and was told that the safest option would be the global shipping program. Shipping went up to £35, which is probably double of what it would be with Royal Mail. On top of that, it took over a month for the watch to get to me.
 
X350 XJR
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If you fund your PayPal payment with a credit card that's another layer of protection. I had a problem years ago with an eBay purchase which was grossly mis-described, eventually I got my money back through my credit card company by doing a charge back after both eBay and PayPal failed to protect me.
 
Lazy_Lightning
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X350 XJR X350 XJR
If you fund your PayPal payment with a credit card that's another layer of protection. I had a problem years ago with an eBay purchase which was grossly mis-described, eventually I got my money back through my credit card company by doing a charge back after both eBay and PayPal failed to protect me.

Disputing through your credit card, especially if you have Amex, is always the best bet. eBay and PayPal are useless in providing any meaningful protecting to the seller and/or buyer. They are, however, incredibly skilled at protecting their own interests.
 
JwRosenthal
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I will add to this in a positive way- I just had a risky purchase go south, item vanished and seller is now listed as inactive- yet I had already been charged.

I went through the eBay help feature and asked them to call me. Within 60 seconds I got a call from a live person with a US accent (so local) who was very helpful, understood exactly what happened (scam) and processed a “item not received” case. She said because it was Saturday it wouldn’t go through until Monday and they would go through the process of reaching out to the seller and if I heard nothing, they would refund. I got a notification of a full refund about 2 hours later- will see how long it takes to credit back to my credit card.
 
X350 XJR
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Lazy_Lightning Lazy_Lightning
Disputing through your credit card, especially if you have Amex, is always the best bet. eBay and PayPal are useless in providing any meaningful protecting to the seller and/or buyer. They are, however, incredibly skilled at protecting their own interests.

In fact it was AMEX in my case.
 
JwRosenthal
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X350 XJR X350 XJR
In fact it was AMEX in my case.
My father was nailed with $70k of identity fraud back in the 90’s (it’s not new). They got all his info (and many other people’s) off an Enterprise rental car agreement that they had thrown in the trash and not shredded. They opened several new credit cards to different addresses under a “spousal name” and the only one that contacted my father was Amex. They asked if he had ordered a new card for his wife. It took 3 years to clean up the mess, legal fees etc and all wrote off the fraud except Neiman Marcus that still pursued him for the charges….more lawyers. fυck Needless Markup.
 
Archer
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X350 XJR X350 XJR
In fact it was AMEX in my case.

Just got a call from Amex today about $1800 US in charges that looked off...and they were off. Amex is rock solid in terms of protecting customers (and themselves of course)...
 
Walrus
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My wife is still doing ok with her eBay thing. There is always some nonsense that pops up these people who complain about a small scratch or something that she clearly stated and took pictures of on the ad but we get the complaints saying they should get “a few dollars back”. Sometimes she just gives it to them other times she will say start a return thing through eBay so I can refund you and we never hear back. She did get hit by one scammer but it was kind of her own fault so other than the occasional returns it hasn’t been bad although I’d like to get a bracelet I saw on eBay I might just skip it and use strapcode or uncle seiko because I hear way too many horror stories not just here but in general.
 
sathomasga
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Archer Archer
Amex is rock solid in terms of protecting customers (and themselves of course)...

Feels like that's always been part of their reputation. Others are definitely stepping up, though, probably as a matter of survival. My wife's Target Red Card (MasterCard) has been hyper vigilant ever since we've had it. One time she got queried about (bogus) charges to Ashley Madison. Not knowing anything about that site, she mentioned it to her coworkers. We had a good laugh about that. Also, they do go after the perpetrators. Last year I received a letter with a return address of the US Department of Justice. I was definitely a little nervous opening that one up, but it turned out to be a letter informing me that, as a victim of a federal crime (identity fraud), I had the right to participate in the legal proceedings against one of the crooks. E.g. make an "impact statement" at sentencing. This was for a different set of bogus charges. Apparently they caught one of the guys in the ring, and he was cooperating against the others. I didn't bother going to the trial or anything, but I still get updates. The guy that's cooperating got 4-6 years in a federal penitentiary. Trials against the other two are still under appeal.
 
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