Ebay problem. Please help.

[Linus27]

I bought a new bass guitar from Ebay and the auction ended on 14th December. The seller had 100% history and so I felt everything was going to be ok. The bass was a Fender Precision 1953 re-issue and cost £320.00 I recived the email saying I have won the auction and to make payment. So I made payment via Paypal using my credit card. I emailed the seller on Saturday night to say I have made payment but I heard nothing from him by Sunday. So I sent another email to say I have made payment and to let me know if everything was ok and when I can expect the bass. I finally heard from the seller on 19th December saying sorry for the delay but he had been in hospital but the bass will be sent that night.

I had still not received the bass by 29th December so i emailed the seller again so say I had not received it and can he let me know when I can expect to receive it. I heard nothing. I emailed him again on 5th January saying the same and again I have not heard back from the seller.

Should I start to worry now and start taking action?

I know I can contact Ebay and say that I have not received the goods and the seller is not responding to emails. What other action can I take?

I also paid with Paypal using my credit card so I guess, funds were taken from my credit card and put into paypal and then the seller was paid from paypal.

What other things can I do apart from contact Ebay direct??

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edited January 8, 2008 by Linus27

[Hamster]

You can request the sellers contact details which might include a phone number.

Hamster

[wateroftyne]

If you used your Credit Card (rather than your debit card) to fund PayPal, I think you're probably covered under the Consumer Credit Act if it all goes wrong.

First thing's first, though - read eBay's guidelines and find out how long you have to wait before you can report him and what the procedures are.

Then... I'm not sure. Others will be able to advise - make sure you do your own research, though.

[narnia]

no problem if you used paypal, you are protected, so mail ebay ,tell them what the problem is and ask for a refund.It might take a little while, but you WILL get it back.....

[Beedster]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='116386' date='Jan 8 2008, 05:59 PM']If you used your Credit Card (rather than your debit card) to fund PayPal, I think you're probably covered under the Consumer Credit Act if it all goes wrong.

First thing's first, though - read eBay's guidelines and find out how long you have to wait before you can report him and what the procedures are.

Then... I'm not sure. Others will be able to advise - make sure you do your own research, though.[/quote]

+ 1. Good luck
Chris

[Beedster]

[quote name='narnia' post='116395' date='Jan 8 2008, 06:12 PM']no problem if you used paypal, you are protected, so mail ebay ,tell them what the problem is and ask for a refund.It might take a little while, but you WILL get it back.....[/quote]

Not always quite that simple so make sure you follow all the ebay/Paypal guidleines as suggested by WoT
Chris
PS I didn't know they did a '53 reissue? Or perhaps that's the problem...?

[CPBass]

+1 to Narnias advice.

The paypal system protects you up to £500. Report it to ebay ASAP and also inform paypal of the problem. It will be sorted but its a total pain for you!!!!!

My advice would be to share a few details with the seller during the auction. Ive bought and sold many a bass on the bay and always rely on contact during and after to gain confidence this includes sharing numbers etc etc.

Hope this helps

Good luck

Col

[Linus27]

[quote name='narnia' post='116395' date='Jan 8 2008, 06:12 PM']no problem if you used paypal, you are protected, so mail ebay ,tell them what the problem is and ask for a refund.It might take a little while, but you WILL get it back.....[/quote]

It says I am only covered up to £150. I have registered a dispute with Paypal. When I try to do the same with Ebay it just takes me straight to the paypal dispute page.

[warwickhunt]

In the past I have filed a claim through eBay and PayPal but I believe that I may have initiated the eBay one first. Have you gone to the drop down menu in the 'won' section of your eBay account?

The level of protection that you have is dependent upon the sellers length of service etc. Did you pay via your credit card through eBay? If yes, then you have a chargeback option through PayPal whereby your credit card gets the money back from PayPal.

You may find that this puts the frightners on the seller and you get the item sharpish but it was a valid earlier point that you can request his full contact details inc phone number, which incidentally he is informed that you have asked for, further pressure on him!

Good luck but don't be 100% downheartened... there could be a genuine reason why this hasn't completed.

[Gazm]

[quote name='Linus27' post='116432' date='Jan 8 2008, 06:53 PM']It says I am only covered up to £150. I have registered a dispute with Paypal. When I try to do the same with Ebay it just takes me straight to the paypal dispute page.[/quote]

I've raised two disputes with PayPal (you can't dispute with eBay if you paid with Paypal ) and in both cases I received the goods within two days.
Hopefully the same will happen for you.

Pete.

[Linus27]

[quote]Did you pay via your credit card through eBay? If yes, then you have a chargeback option through PayPal whereby your credit card gets the money back from PayPal.[/quote]

Yes I payed via Paypal using my credit card. So when I clicked on pay, I selected Paypal. Once it had taken me to paypal, I selected to pay using my credit card.

[narnia]

you are protected up to £500, so just let them know what the problem is.Send another email to your seller, telling them you are reporting it.Keep all your emails, because ebay will ask to see them.My daughter had probs with an American seller, (tix for Madonna, which were never sent.........),and paypal coughed up once she provided the info.Good luck

[bass_ferret]

I'm not an ebay expert but has the seller been active on ebay since. If there is a genuine problem he wont have been active.

[Mr. Foxen]

If they've been in hospital, they might have had to go back. In which case, think of someway to not feel bad about it, and get your money back outta ebay.

[Perry]

I ordered a spare mixer (from eBay) as I had a lot of discos over the Xmas period.

Yesterday made 3 weeks without a delivery I got a reply saying the he was ill with the virus/bug that loads of us are getting and it was posted yesterday.

eBay gets a lot of bad press but it is only as good as the people who use it.

I wish you luck.

[tauzero]

You may find [url="http://www.upce.org.uk/"]the uk.people.consumers.ebay FAQ[/url] of use. And, come to that, the newsgroup uk.people.consumers.ebay itself. Packed with handy hints and tips on using ebay...

[Linus27]

Right, a break through. I tried the mobile number that Ebay sent me and I got through to the chap. He was very surprised that I had not received the bass but said that he will chase it up with Parcel Force. He had his apendix out which is why he had been in hospital and he hardly ever goes online which is why he does not check his emails. He said he will phone me tomorrow by 11.am so fingers crossed I might get this sorted.

I will keep you posted.

[Beedster]

It's amazing how many crap ebay members have a dodgy appendix or similar when push comes to shove I requested a seller's details from ebay a while back, having not received an item I'd paid for after 4 weeks or waiting. When I called the seller, he was furious, became really abusive, wanted to know how I had obtained his phone number, and then said he was going to sue me, sue ebay, pretty much sue everyone, for breach of privacy. Twat However, having pointed out that I also had his address and was planning a visit with my mate Big Dave the coming Saturday to 'retrieve my legal property', I received a refund the same day
Good luck with your seller, I'm sure it will work out, but be vigilant and keep the pressure on
Chris

Edited January 11, 2008 by Beedster

[coasterbass]

Yep - I've had the same issues on ebay. Never for geetars fortunately, but still applicable
I think the most sensible answers have already been posted, and I hope it works out for you. But, this is what I did one time... Find out the sellers real name (its often best to check their paypal details for this as its linked to their bank account and people also think its more secure than ebay); once you have this you can use it in conjunction with the 'item location' on ebay. Hopefully this won't give you 'John Smith of London'.
Then you can use 192 or other electoral register-type websites to pin down a list of potential buyers.
It sounds like a long shot but its worked twice for me. Both times they couldn't have been more surprised that I'd pinned them down, and the goods were always forthcoming
Good luck!!

[Linus27]

coasterbass

Yep, already done that. I contacted previous ebay members who he had dealt with and got the address from them. I also got his mobile phone number. So I have all his details.

Fingers crossed it won't have to come to anything and the bass will turn up.

[coasterbass]

Good initiative!! ; )
Fingers crossed for you, and I hope you like the bass when it eventually arrives!!

[guitarnbass]

if you paid through paypal it doesn't matter what method you used, it's still a paypal transaction and thus you will be covered by seller protection, the thing to do is start a dispute right away about goods not received.

[Jono Bolton]

I had to do something similar when an item I'd paid for still hadn't turned up. The seller claimed to have been ill and said he would try and find out where it was. I said that as a registered seller he would've had the smarts to get proof of postage and then he disappeared again. Looking at his recent feedback it seems other people have had the same happen to them. He'd been online to leave feedback (negative, when it was entirely his fault) but didn't bother to tell me where my stuff was. I lodged a complaint and was given a refund, and the guy has since been removed from ebay.
Linus27, I'd report the guy, or be on the phone to him everyday asking where the bass was. Threaten to get the police involved too, see if your stuff doesn't miraculously turn up. If it does make sure you check the date stamp on it, so you know if he's been BSing.

[Linus27]

Just an update on the outcome of this story.

The guy never phoned me back by 11 a.m which then got me starting to worry that maybe I am being scammed. So I sent a text at the end of the day and he phoned me back the next day. Parcel Force claimed that the bass had been sent to me but I was not in so it went back to the depot in Surrey. Makes me wonder why they never left a card to say they tried to deliver Anyway, the bass was then sent back to the depot in Warrington and was sitting there so the other guy was very surprised at this also. He then went to collect it and sent it again. How true this story is i really do not know.

Anyway, he said he would sent it on Saturday on Parcel Force 24 hour so i should have it by Monday or Tuesday. So guess what, come the end of Tuesday and no bass. I also asked him to send it to my work address as that is where I will be all week. So end of Tuesday i sent a text to say n bass and on Wednesday he texted back and said sorry for delay but bass has now been sent and I will have it beforwe the weekend. Well guess what, end of Friday and no bass. So I sent a text again saying no bass, where has he sent it home or work and can he chase it up. Got text back saying sent to home and yes he will chase it up. Why he sent it to my home I have no idea as we agreed to send it to my work.

Anyway, Saturday morning, knock on the door and low and behold, it arrived by Parcel Force. It came with a hard case which is a bonus and the bass is in mint condition. It plays very nice but feels excatly like its brand new and has not played in at all. The ad on Ebay did say it was bought brand new and has just sat in the hard case for 12 months so this I can believe. It could do with a setup I guess especially as the E string is a lot quiter than the other strings. I may even change the pickup at some point. All in all, very happy.

So it all ended well in the end. Not really sure how much truth is in what the seller said and what parcel Force said but at the end of the day I got the bass. Not sure if there is a moral to this story but hopefully it might be intersting to others who may be thinking about buying a bass from Ebay and what they can do if they run into any troubles.

Also many thanks to all those that offered help. It really did help me keep on top of this.

Edited January 20, 2008 by Linus27

[E_MaN]

mate this sucks for you. It always sends shreds of fear through my body when I here something like this, eBay is still so dodgy but its good that it ended all good in the end.

Edited January 20, 2008 by E_MaN