I have all the proof from Royal Mail, but eBay refuses to accept responsibility and bluntly tells me

[cracawcm0sg]

Case ID: ***

Seller ID: ***

Request reason: Item not received

Case reason: I still haven't received my item

The last two weeks have been very stressful for me because of eBay and the seller.

I have not been able to get a clear answer to my question, why the Seller received an incomplete address for my first item? I purchased this item from eBay by using my trusted PayPal account. I did get in touch with eBay and PayPal, but they were unable to give me a clear answer. 

I was about to cut my loss and move on until I receive a phone call from the Seller, he was very polite and came across as sincere. This was when I discovered the error and could not understand how this could have happened. He promised me that he would send me another charger in good faith with the correct address that I had sent to him through the eBay correspondence but needed me to send him £5 to cover his cost. I agreed, hoping that he would follow through on his word. I did not realize at the time that the phone call will not back me up in my defense since I did not think it would come to this.

I have all the proof from Royal Mail, but eBay refuses to accept responsibility and bluntly tells me that I have to resolve this issue with the seller, whom is not responding to my emails. The experience with online shopping has opened my eyes on how dishonest; some people can be by having a better knowledge of eBay. I cannot read a Sellers mind to find out if he had intended to deceive me; I only have the evidence that backs up my statement.

I opened a case against the Seller but eBay closed it in the seller's favor. It came to me later that eBay does not read the correspondence between the Buyer and the Seller and, I believe, the seller knew of this. EBay told me that they have both tracking number from Seller:

Tracking Number: *** (Delivered) and *** (returned to sender)

But when I asked them, "ok, but did they also receive tracking number with the postal address making sure it arrived at the correct address? They did not give me a clear answer, I am very mad about all this and I feel let down but eBay. 

I’m not concerned about the first item, but with the second one that also had an incomplete address. I can’t accept an incomplete address for the second time. Therefore it is clear that second item did not arrive at my given correct address, that’s my issue.

[red_magpie · Accepted solution]

EBay's decisions are very mechanistic and based on compliance with their rules, e.g. the tracking record. The evidence suggests that they are decided by a fairly low grade of staff. They seem to have a library of standard replies, which often miss the point altogether.

They were probably confused by the account of what happened (which frankly isn't surprising). As far as eBay is concerned the fact that the tracking said it had been delivered was probably sufficient. There have been numerous complaints about eBay not checking the address.

The problem with eBay is that it is unregulated and unsupervised.  It can get away with sloppy decision making because we have all agreed to accept their sole decisions. There is no right to any independent appeal.

Now that eBay and PayPal are separate companies you might be able to try again with PayPal.  But keep it clear and simple!