Was I wrong? When a cel never arrives....

MidniteKitten · Post by **MidniteKitten** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:02 pm

I recently completed a transaction with a member for a dream cel of mine. The person had 100% feedback on eBay and no complaints from anyone I've spoken with. But after 2 weeks passed I started to get worried. I had not received the cel or the tracking number. I contacted the member again and got a response that they would find the number and rest assured I would have my cel soon. Well its been nearly a month now and I'm still out a cel and my money as well as no tracking number. The responses from the seller seem to be very sporatic and very kind.

So as a precautionary step I escalated the transaction to a dispute on Paypal to get my money back (seeing as I have no proof of shipping, no cel, and hard to reach the seller before time runs out, I don't want to be cel-less). I wrote the seller in the Paypal dispute that this was only a precautionary measure, should they find the number I would contact the last post office at which it was and find out what happened and possibly file an insurance claim. Also that should the cel show up suddenly I'd be happy to return the money, after all I wouldn't want either of us to end up jipped which is exactly why I took this measure.

My question is, was I wrong to escalate this to a dispute? What other steps should I have taken? Do you think both of us will end up empty-handed?

Thank you

Ryouko · Post by **Ryouko** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:04 pm

A month is more than long enough for anyone to ship one package. You are totally within your right to file a dispute, to protect your money. Besides, after 30 days, it's near impossible to file any kind of dispute through paypal for a refund on a bad deal.

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:16 pm

You have 45 days to file a dispute with PayPal. After that, you're pretty much on your own. So it sounds like you were in your rights to file the dispute since you haven't received your package in a month's time. I don't send out tracking numbers anymore. It becamse a hassle when I started selling a lot. But if you've requested to see a copy of it since it's apparently been shipped but not received, something just seems fishy.

Just remember don't close the PayPal dispute unless you receive the cel. PayPal will close it for you should you receive a refund. I had a dispute open for over a year since a seller didn't have any money in their account when I won my dispute. Had I closed the dispute, I never would have received my money. A year later, he tried to sell something to someone else using his PayPal account. As soon as money hit his account, it was immediately transferred into my account. I just sat back and read the email "You have money." with delight.

Good luck with your transaction!

MidniteKitten · Post by **MidniteKitten** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:55 pm

Thank you so much for the advice. I was worrying I may be impatient. I'll go ahead and remember to not close the dispute! That's very helpful advice as I probably would have done so, so many thanks. I'll let you know should my cel arrive (because I'll obviously be gloating). Again thanks for the suggestions, if anyone else has anything they might want to add please do!

klet · Post by **klet** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:00 pm

duotrouble wrote:I had a dispute open for over a year since a seller didn't have any money in their account when I won my dispute. Had I closed the dispute, I never would have received my money. A year later, he tried to sell something to someone else using his PayPal account. As soon as money hit his account, it was immediately transferred into my account. I just sat back and read the email "You have money." with delight.

That is so cool!

I wonder if it works on 3 year old transactions . . . I won a dispute, too, and didn't receive any money for it because the account was empty. *sigh*

But anyway, MidniteKitten, you're totally within your right to start a dispute now. You don't want to wait too long, and it's not like it will hurt their reputation too much if you receive the cel and close the dispute. Sometimes, the extra push that PP provides motivates deadbeat sellers to ship out items.

MidniteKitten · Post by **MidniteKitten** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:06 pm

I've done so once before on not a cel but another eBay item where the seller refused to cooperate, soon as he saw Paypal get involved he was much better about it and ended up making up for all the delay, I'm crossing my fingers it gets here. I'd much rather have the cel and return the money then not have it..

Ronin · Post by **Ronin** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 1:07 am

My thoughts echo everyone elses, you did the right thing...at the end of the day there's nothing wrong with opening a dispute to cover yourself. I mean if they would've pulled through it's easily closed.

MidniteKitten · Post by **MidniteKitten** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 1:22 am

Indeed, glad to see that everyone agrees unanimously, I no longer feel like I'm being too aggressive or doing the wrong thing. Thank you for the help!