posted on August 13, 2009 09:59:25 AM new
I've pretty much had it with ebay as a buyer - back in the day (1997, 1998, etc.) I would purchase a lot from Ebay. In recent years, that has been reduced a lot. One reason is that all of my hobbies have taken a back seat (more like buried in the closet) with kids, and business keeping me busy.
I lost my USB cable to my camera - so I decided I would go on ebay to get a replacement. This is a pretty cheap part, and the prices were low - but not that much lower than what I could get them for off ebay.
The company sends me to cord, and it is the wrong one! I told them I wanted a refund, they said no. Oh, forgot to mention, this company was based overseas (China) though nowhere in the ad did it mention their location. I filed a dispute, they offered me a partial refund. I rejected, and then paypal said they would grant me a refund ONLY IF I sent back the cord, with a trackable method of shipping. This means it would cost me about $10 to send back a $4 item.
I know this is low cost stuff, and I am not losing sleep over losing about $4 total, but it more the principle than anything else. Basically, these companies know that even if they don't send you the right things, you have no hope as a buyer of winning a paypal dispute because it would cost more money to send the item back than it costs to receive it. It's crazy that they don't even mention what country they are in.
I wrote to paypal, and they simply said I can not have the item and the money. While I agree with that, I shouldn't have to pay to send back an item that isn't incorrect. I have several ebay accounts, one is a gold power seller, one a silver and one a bronze. I don't charge my buyers return shipping when I make a mistake...that's terrible customer service.
I went to google and purchased with my AMEX. I would rather use a method of payment where I have more control as a buyer. Paypal is really worthless if you are a buyer, and ebay makes buyers use paypal. That's it, I am done with ebay as a buyer at least.
posted on August 13, 2009 10:03:15 AM new
Just got their email back from my complaint...gotta love all the words to say NOTHING:
Thanks for contacting PayPal. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you
with your questions.
We appreciate the time you've taken to write us with your comments about
our service.
PayPal continuously strives to provide you with the highest quality
website features and navigation system. We carefully consider every
feedback email we receive and appreciate your suggestions.
Thank you very much for your feedback, and we hope that you continue to
enjoy using PayPal!
Thanks for sharing your concerns with us. We value what you have to say,
and we know situations like this can be difficult. If you have more
questions, visit our Help Center by clicking "Help" in the top right
corner of any PayPal page.
Sincerely,
Lori
Protection Services Department
PayPal, an eBay Company
posted on August 13, 2009 12:55:38 PM new
I guess I never looked at it from a buyers point of view before.
Have you contacted ebay. Maybe you can get help there.
They should have had to have their location listed. I just did a small purchase as well and it came from Hong Kong - I had no clue until after the auction. That just doesn't sound fair.
[ edited by ebabestreasures on Aug 13, 2009 12:57 PM ]
posted on August 13, 2009 01:15:34 PM new
My guess is that I won't get anywhere with ebay as paypal already denied my claim. Well, actually, they approved it, but set it up that it would have actually cost me money to get a refund. It's a very dangerous loophole I think when companies from overseas can set up a business, ship something that isn't what you ordered, and have it set up where it costs more money for the customer to return the item than it costs to purchase it (as you need a shipping method which can be tracked, which is more expensive for overseas shipments) - Something is VERY wrong if the country of origin isn't required in the listing. I would have never purchased it if I realized it was coming from China, but since it did not say China, I figured it was domestic.
Like I said, I am a seller and sell thousands of items a month on ebay - I know both sides of the coin, and it is going to be a problem if buyers don't have better protection. Ebay is already hemorrhaging customers as it is.
posted on August 13, 2009 09:02:20 PM new
I was searching tonight with the US only option set and was still getting listings from Hong Kong because the seller has listed their location as Hong Kong, United States. Very frustrating.
I do agree with you ebayvet. If the seller made a mistake, they should correct it and refund your postage.
posted on August 14, 2009 06:45:41 AM new
I wont buy anything overseas anymore exactly for that reason - not worth the return shipping. If I can't confirm where the item is located, I won't buy. These sellers like those Ebayvet had the issue with, they are the reason that Ebay is rolling out so many crappy rules - we are the ones paying the price for this type of seller.
Did you pay with paypal balance or a credit card through Paypal? Is there anyway you can do a chargeback? Hope you gave them appropriate feedback and 1 DSR across the board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caroline
posted on August 14, 2009 01:03:28 PM new
I paid with a balance - which I know is a mistake, but it was a pretty small purchase, so I guess even if I got hosed (which I did) it wouldn't be enough to be too concerned about, at least from a financial point of view. I did dispute it through paypal, the problem is that they said they would grant the refund, but I would need to send it to China using a trackable method of shipping. That's going to cost me a lot more than the $4 or so I paid for the item shipped (the weight was very light, maybe a few ounces. If I could have sent it back via regular first class international, I would have even if it was a break even thing - but I would have had to pay a decent amount just to get it back to them for a refund that would have been a fraction of my return shipping cost. This company had a lot of feedback too, and was overall pretty positive (over 99%) so I am sure that most of the time they send what they are supposed to. My complaint is that when they make a mistake, basically even if you win with paypal, it is a Pyrrhic victory because it costs more to win than it does to lose. My lesson is that I will no longer use ebay for such purchases. There are a lot of websites who sell items like this, and I can pay with a card like AMEX who will stand behind me in a dispute. Being forced to use paypal sucks as a buyer, and it sucks as a seller having to accept it.
posted on August 15, 2009 04:06:22 PM new
It does not have to be a Chinese seller in China or Hong Kong who sells bad merchandise,I bought a 4 feet HDML cable from some dude in California who has his own website and also sell on Ebay.
It is not much money,shipping included is like under 10 dollars and it comes with a lifetime warranty.
A few months later,it stops working,it never works right to begin with but what do I know about HDML?I just figured I did not hook it up right?
Anyway when it stops working,I emailed him on Ebay as he is still selling,no response.
I then emailed him from his website and no response.
It is too late to file a dispute with Paypal and too late to leave a neg feedback.
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
posted on August 15, 2009 06:32:07 PM new
Amazon has been hit or miss for me. When they are good they are very very good. The used shoe fiasco from Christmas still irks me but he wanted to keep them...
Still - I bought some $$$ grill covers from them 2 years ago and a couple of days ago I went to take one of them off the grill and it ripped and I said I think this has a 5 year warranty on it. I looked it up and it had a 3 year warranty on it and I wrote Amazon and they shipped me 2 new grill covers next day air.
So it's nice being able to look up what you bought and when and what your warranty is. That's not the first time they have honored their warranty on something. The first was a memory foam mattress topper but they didn't like replacing that one much.
posted on August 16, 2009 07:26:04 AM new
Did you buy it from AMZN the company or someone who sells on AMZN?
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
Caroline 