Update: The USPS supervisor told me he can reimburse my shipping if I can provide an invoice. So I emailed the seller to send me a paypal invoice for the second shipping charge. He replied that he would share that cost with me, and send an invoce for half the amount, and I paid it. So, there is progress. I may yet get the item. If it proves disappointing in any way, well, never mind.
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Stuff happens, and packages are mis-delivered often enough that I wouldn't call it rare. In this case, the seller has acknowledged receiving it back, so there's no real dispute for ebay to enter (yet)...
Right. There's no real dispute for ebay to enter
yet. You acknowledge that there may be such a dispute, and imply there may come a time when eBay would have to enter into it.
Ebay's role is to facilitate and mediate in the event of a dispute, and that role is not finished until the transaction is complete. But since I still don't have the item, and am still in communication with the seller about it, the transaction is not yet complete. Recognizing this, I alerted eBay to the potential problem and asked them to keep the case open. In other words, I made sure they understood that their supervisory role is not yet finished. And they said, nope, we're done here.
The point of this thread is that, to my surprise, eBay considers its role done as soon as the item is delivered in the right zip code. As far as eBay is concerned, if any person in that zip code received the item, their role is done.