How do I get my money back

[situ-ations]

I bought a gazebo cover in error.  I sent it back 3 days after I received it.  Parcelforce delivered it, I paid for it out of my own money.  I asked the seller if they had refunded me because I couldn't see any evidence of it.  They told me they hadn't and told me to track the number.  I did and in fact they had received it and had signed for it.  I phoned Parcelforce and they sent me a screenshot of the proof of delevery, I sent all off this to the seller and they did not respond.  So I asked EBay to step.  They MISREAD my complaint and thought that the date of my complaint was when I sent the item back, it clearly states on the document I sent ebay that the item was returned well within 14 days - I HAVE PROOF!

They said the case is closed and now I cannot access it to correct their error, and the appeal line is closed because of Covid-19.  So I sent another message to the seller asking them please in view of all the proof I sent them could I now have my money back.  They still have not responded.  So WHAT DO I DO?????????????

[m25jet · Accepted solution]

Given that eBay appear to have screwed up you will have to open a case via PayPal.  You have one hundred and eighty days during which to do so, so open a PayPal case and make sure that you include the tracking number that proves that you returned the item to the seller.  PayPal tend to look at cases far more closely than eBay do, so once they see that the item has been returned to the seller but you have still not received a refund they will more than likely decide the matter in your favour if the seller will not voluntarily issue a refund.  If that is indeed the case then you ought to receive a total refund of the money that you paid for the item.

Once you have opened the case, if the seller says anything along the lines of "I'll issue you with a complete refund so long as you close the case" then make sure that you refuse to close the case.  If you allow the seller to persuade you to close the case on the promise of a refund there's no guarantee that the seller would keep his word and actually refund the money, and you would probably never get your money back again.  You have a lot more clout with the case open, so if it does become necessary to escalate the matter to PayPal then make sure that you escalate the case to PayPal after two days, but no later than the twenty day cut-off point.   If you leave it too long and the case times out, or if you allow the seller to mislead you into closing the case, then you will not be able to open another one and you won't get your money back.