If it gets resent the same way, then talk to the mail carrier before it arrives… put yourself on their radar. Might not help if you are not on a standard route or if there is a substitute carrier on that potentially fateful day… but knowing your mail carrier does help. Inconvenience. Yes.

Frankly this sounds more like an issue with USPS and the seller. I am neither anti-eBay nor pro-eBay. It's a valuable service, it's low cost compared with other options and I haven't had many horror stories. On the negative side, I think it's appalling that they're allowed to have any interest in craigslist and the relationship with paypal offends me. So I do think I have a balanced view, and I'm not sure eBay can be expected to get involved after delivery. At some point eBay needs to be able to say the item is delivered, it's out of our hands, and I don't think it's fair for them to demand the seller pay to ship again when the seller is not at fault. Your beef is with USPS.

Now the piss poor service standards and the lack of liability and responsiveness by USPS are absolutely infuriating, especially when the employees are paid well and treated well as a union quasi-governmental service. If you think contacting a useful human at ebay is hard, just try contacting one at USPS!!

I would offer to eat the shipping and ask the seller to do the right thing. It sounds like the relationship has already been compromised by the prior mediation.

When you called ebay did you speak with a supervisor? Or just the first CS rep who answered? I would imagine that, like most places, the CS reps are fairly low payed and inexperienced workers who are going off of a script of problems/responses and policies. Once they hear "delivered" they probably revert to their script saying it's done. A supervisor would be needed to take any action outside of the script and normal policy.


The fact that the seller has had the item back for three weeks and hasn't either re-shipped or refunded your money within that time period would worry me. An honorable seller should feel obligated to do whatever they can within their ability to resolve the issue.

ftfy

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). I'm sure that since the seller willingly admitted having it, the only issue is who pays the expense of shipping anew.

If I were the seller, I'd offer you the option of a refund, less the postage paid, or resending if you paid the 2nd postage. After all the problem occurred at your end, either with the USPS or someone at your office complex.

In hindsight, I should have. At that point I was happy to get the refund.

Thanks! All those months just start to run together when you're retired.

I just finished with an ebay mess. buyer was from Singapore and used an import export shipper in California. tracking info showed it arrived but they took their time shipping it to him. So he opened a case saying he hasn't recieved his item. Well they pulled the money from my bike account which there wasn't any in there at the time. So that was another mess. I finally called around and found the item for him and confirmed they did have it and was getting ready to ship. So after a week I got my money back. Ebay is starting to leave a sour taste.

I have been involved on both ends of a do the right thing transaction and its worked out. However, I am presently involved in a dispute that has been rather disturbing, whereas the buyer has delivered both verbal abuse and threats of physical violence despite offers of fully refunding the buyer. ebay doesn't really do much do curb this behavior. That's about all I can say for now.

I made a rather foolish transaction on CL with an eBay seller; he didn't describe the item well (I am convinced it was not deceptive) and I failed to ask sufficient questions. I ended up sending a fairly large amount of cash to Belgium and further conversations, after cash payment, revealed there would be an issue. I had no eBay protection, which was 100% my fault. I spoke with the seller and offered him a restocking fee...I did feel that part of the error in communication was my own and felt he was being reasonable. We agreed to the restocking fee. He refunded me the entire amount and elected not to keep the stocking fee I had agreed to provide. He very easily could have kept the entire amount by just shipping an empty box.

Most ebay transactions I've had have been with honorable, decent people. I know the schmucks are out there...and I've hit them too...but the majority are good. If anyone comes across ebay seller Marcel...he is a man of high principle.

In the future, only ship to the address provided on the paypal account. As long as tracking shows delivered with the adress on file, ebay will side with the seller in the event of an "Item Not Recieved" case.

Buyers also lose ebay's protection when they use a reshipper. So if the reshipper is on file with paypal as their address, like said above, if the buyer files an INR he will automatically lose if delivery confirmation is provided.

ebay is fairly safe when you follow their rules.

I wasn't sure on that, I thought the seller was responsible until it was in the buyers hands.

In terms of an item not recieved case- as long as a seller has delivery confirmation proof it was delivered to the paypal address, he wont be held responsible. According to ebay it is the buyer's responsibility to make sure the package will be safe where it is delivered. If it gets stolen off a porch, or goes missing in some other manner, that is not the seller's fault and he cant be held liable.

and as mentioned above, buyers lose all ebay protection when using a reshipper. that goes for an item gone missing AND if an item arrives damaged. if something like this happens again, just call up ebay's customer service, show them that the buyer used a reshipper's address, and they will decide in your favor.

USPS here in NYC is a total crapshoot. At my office, our mail carrier is pleasant, responsible, and helpful. At my home... Well, she won't even use the mailboxes, because they are a couple inches higher than the code maximum height--it's a historic building and they are installed above the 125 year old woodwork. So she tosses the mail down in the hallway. I sort it for the 7 apartments when I get home for work--note that carries are supposed to sort the mail at the office, since it's not sorted, she's not even doing that. Mail is delivered to the wrong address all the time. I had to spend a couple hours at the DMV a while back because she delivered my new license to some other address. When it was returned to her, she sent it back instead of delivering it correctly. Same with my friend's wedding invitation. I regularly find whole rubber banded packets of mail for other buildings on the block in my hall. I do her job and deliver it for her. I have complained about her a few times, but nothing changes.

I come from a "postal" family. My grandfather was a carrier and assistant postmaster, my mom is a carrier and my aunt is a clerk. We take this stuff personally.

I think this sums it up for me.

And it is one reason some of us use the Ebay global shipping service, even though they charge the buyer quite a bit for shipping. Once it delivers to their reshipping point in KY, my responsibility for the sale is over.

From ebay site:

[h=3]How sellers are protected[/h]With the Global Shipping Program, you're protected in the following ways:

• You qualify for automatic 5-star protection on shipping and handling charge detailed seller ratings when you provide free domestic shipping to the US shipping center. If you receive a rating below 5 stars for shipping and handling charges, it won't count against your seller performance standards.
  
  
• You qualify for automatic 5-star protection on shipping time detailed seller rating when you ship with same day or 1-day handling, upload tracking information within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment, and the item is delivered to the US shipping center within 4 business days. If you receive a rating below 5 stars for shipping time, it won't count against your seller performance standards.
  
  
• Any negative or neutral feedback that can be attributed to the Global Shipping Program from item handling during international transit will be removed. See details.
  
  
• You aren't responsible for item loss or damage that occurs after the item is forwarded by the US shipping center. Once an item has been forwarded by the US shipping center, you won't be responsible for refunding the buyer if an eBay Money Back Guarantee or PayPal Purchase Protection case is filed against you for one of the following reasons:
  
  • A buyer claims an item isn't received or
    
    
  • A package is damaged in transit
    

Me too - but I'm biased: I'm waiting on a seller in Belgium to go to customs to pick up his returned item and he's claiming he won't do so because he suspects he'll be asked to pay duty. I marked it "Returned Merchandise" in order to avoid this problem.

Of course, until he picks it up, Ebay won't consider it delivered back to him - and I won't be refunded my money. This is a high-dollar item. It doesn't seem that I have many options and Ebay's made it way too hard to contact a real, breathing human being. I recall with fondness the good old days when one could also communicate to Ebay with a message and get a reply, too.

Customer service these days just isn't, ya know?

DD

Yep, I use the international shipping program and do enjoy the piece of mind. However it does come at a steep price, and that price is profit for eBay and more than funds their insurance program for sellers. Because they charge the buyer a large sum, the buyer bids lower for the item, factoring total cost of purchase. I find it interesting that the seller can never really know what eBay is charging the buyer.

I'll throw in my interesting Ebay encounter from last month. I bought a new Kindle Fire on Ebay. It's not uncommon to have such items be won in office events or fundraisers, and those people often sell them. It was listed as brand new and I was going to save about $40 total on it after shipping.

I got the Kindle, it looked brand new as promised. However, when I tried to register it so I could put some books on it, I kept getting error messages. I contacted Amazon and found out after an hour of problem solving that the Kindle was reported stolen. I filed a claim with Ebay explaining the problem and they made me ship it back to seller to get a refund. I left negative feedback because the item was stolen. Ebay contacted the seller and I was refunded my money.

Because the seller refunded my money, Ebay considered the case closed. They erased the negative feedback and the shipping/paid/feedback status of the Kindle, saying that I needed to pay for it still and leave feedback, etc. I just recently finally had that erased.

I'm satisfied I got my money back, but not very happy with the process. The seller gets to keep a perfect feedback and can sell the item again to someone else. Not too sure I like that.

This is not eBays fault. If anything I would say you chose a poor place to have it delivered if any random human can sign for it and then they don't give it to you. Hopefully the seller will send it back to you but you are responsible for the shipping costs. If not he should refund the purchase price minus shipping. I have the opposite problem with super picky mailman that will only let the addressed person sign for a package. Not even my wife can sign for me. It is sad buut the sooner the USPS goes belly up the better.

A Lot of random misplaced anger against ebay. what is kafka-esque about a world marketplace where anyone with an internet connection can join in? That oppressive nightmarish eBay <rolleyes>

Kaf·ka·esque
ˌkäfkəˈesk/
adjective

• characteristic or reminiscent of the oppressive or nightmarish qualities of Franz Kafka's fictional world.
  
  
  

Had the same thing happen years ago. The seller re-shipped it. The seller in the OP's case should refund everything or re-ship.

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.

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.

Yes. Even with Delivery Confirmation, as soon as the carrier drops it off, anywhere, and scans it as delivered, it's a done deal as far as the USPS is concerned. And ebay as well. That's one reason I have a P.O. box. It isn't scanned as delivered until they hand it over the counter into my hot little hands.

I assume this is a box at the post office?