Ripped off on ebay - am I protected?

TheThaiger

TheThaiger

Banned
I think I might have been duped into buying something on ebay that didn't exist. It looked too good to be true, and probably wasn't. I know I'm an idiot. It was only $50, though.

The seller had no feedback and is now no longer a registered member. His location was put as Glasgow, but he has a chinese name according to PP. I thought I was protected by either PP or ebay, but am now not so sure.

Assuming it's a scam and the goods don't arrive, who do I register a complaint with - ebay or Paypal. I cannot do both, apparently.

What are my chances of getting my money back?
 
Tony_in_MD said:
If you payed via credit card (linked to paypal) you have some protection there too.
Click to expand...

My Paypal account is linked to my debit card, so I'm not sure if that's the same thing. I had money in my PP account, so it's come from that anyway. I might be wrong but CC protection only kicks in on purchases over £50 ($80), I think - probably why the scammer chose the amount he did.
 
I've always gone through the ebay complaint department. It takes a little while, but I've never had a problem being refunded for goods that were never sent.
 
DrGonzo said:
I've always gone through the ebay complaint department. It takes a little while, but I've never had a problem being refunded for goods that were never sent.
Click to expand...

Thanks - good to hear. Do you know why you're asked to pick one or the other to contact - what difference does it make?
 
Ripoff?

I would give the seller a week to 10 days to allow for delivery before investing too much time in your options.
 
Last edited:
Just curious

what did you buy from the chinese guy who lives in poland?

SLIM
 
ebay owns Paypal, so either one is probably ok. I have filed claims through Paypal before and had no problems getting it resolved.
 
ebay is paypal. I am a top rated power seller on ebay. I would suggest calling ebay and explaining the situation. This is the best and quickest way to get it taken care of. If you don't want to do that... Go to the resolution center on ebay and open a case against the seller. This will take time though. Good Luck!
 
You have to follow their bs routine and do it exactly as they tell you, paypal or ebay whatever it says to do nowadays. It's been a long time, but I had a problem a while back and recall some crap like I had to wait 30 days after I paid to do anything at all, to be sure it wasn't just slow arriving in the mail or whatever, but then had to fill out their form reporting the rip off and submit that before the end of 40 days or something dumb like that... Then there was some back and forth masturbation talking to an automated email system where no person is involved and then when the seller eventually never responded I got my refund.

Never once got a real actual person to just deal with it, just a bunch of canned answers and runaround but it was covered.

I think they hope a lot of people will give up or forget along the way, miss the window you're allowed to make a claim or decide your own time is worth more than playing tag with any automated emailer.

Stick with it though, it's not that big a deal, an will probably be covered its just a hassle on purpose.

****Next time never leave a dime in your paypal**** withdraw every penny after every transaction and use a credit card, you can skip all that and just dispute the charges on a card (even debit if it says visa or mastercard on it) and not have to deal with ebay or paypal. It forces the credit card people to do that runaround for you.
 
Paying with a debit card is nothing like paying with a credit card. Most debit cards give you almost no recourse in disputes whereas most credit cards give you complete leverage.

Although, in this case it doesn't matter. If the seller has closed (or had it closed by eBay) his eBay account, you are completely protected by eBay's Buyer Protection policy (unless it is different where you live) which covers you for the purchase price and shipping charges.

You can file with the Resolution Center here (although as a buyer there may be a waiting period of some number of days before you can open your dispute):

http://res.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ResolutionCenter

Kevin
 
Bigjohn said:
ebay is paypal. I am a top rated power seller on ebay. I would suggest calling ebay and explaining the situation. This is the best and quickest way to get it taken care of. If you don't want to do that... Go to the resolution center on ebay and open a case against the seller. This will take time though. Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Calling E Bay? I had no idea that was actually even possible. Don't get me wrong as I do almost nothing on E Bay anymore because they are no longer a true auction site. Almost all items are 'buy it now' as in shopping at a store.
If they have a number please post it for the OP as he may benefit from it..
 
Quesports said:
Calling E Bay? I had no idea that was actually even possible. Don't get me wrong as I do almost nothing on E Bay anymore because they are no longer a true auction site. Almost all items are 'buy it now' as in shopping at a store.
If they have a number please post it for the OP as he may benefit from it..
Click to expand...

The OP will need to go thru the steps at ebay customer support. He will have to answer some questions about his problem and it will direct him as to how to contact them by phone. It takes a little effort but it is the best way. IMO
 
Paypal does not immediately let you withdraw most funds. I have sold stuff on Ebay only to have buyers reverse their payments, the payment goes into a "hold" and the seller has no access to that money. Unless the seller can without a doubt show they sent the item and the buyer recieved it the money defaults back to the buyer who sent the funds.

I would personally NOT wait on this, I would reverse the payment immediately if you truly feel you have been ripped off, and if the person on Ebay no longer has an account all of the sudden and you cannot even contact them that would be a strong sign something is up.
 
I'd try the resolution system of Ebay.

Recently I had a bad buy, the seller was "no longer registered" right after my purchase and Ebay refunded my money immediately......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top