I ordered an item months ago. Order No. 22-05063-99057. It finally arrived but is a dud.

[eddihughe_1]

I contacted the buyer who offered a small refund saying I could keep the item. I did not want to keep it but accepted the offer. Nothing arrived. Offer was marginally increased. Nothing arrived. I have been waiting for months but can find no way of asking eBay to intervene.

[m25jet · Accepted solution]

Judging from what you've said it sounds as though the seller had no intention of ever issuing you with a refund of any amount.  By allowing the seller to string you along he's successfully managed to drag the matter out for so long that you can't open an eBay case against him, in which case he ends up getting to keep the money that you paid for the item, despite making repeated promises of a refund.  Unfortunately you fell for the seller's stalling tactics - it's unfortunate that you've had to find out the hard way that there's nothing you can do about it via eBay, but remember this lesson for the future if you're  not happy with anything you buy on eBay and don't let the seller drag matters out past the thirty day cut-off point for opening up a case in the eBay Resolution Centre.

If at any point in the future you do end up opening a case against a seller in the eBay Resolution Centre and the seller fails to resolve the matter amicably within the given timeframe then escalate the case to eBay at the first chance that you get.  In most cases eBay tend to decide cases in the buyer's favour, so you should stand a decent chance of getting a 100% refund if you were to use the eBay Money Back guarantee properly and avoid allowing sellers to drag things out to the extent where you've run out of time to open a case against them.

Given that you've now run out of time to open an eBay case in relation to this specific transaction your only other hope would be to open a PayPal dispute if you haven't run out of time to do so.  PayPal offer buyers one hundred and eighty days to open a case against a seller, so if you haven't run out of time to do so then open a PayPal case against the seller and escalate the case to PayPal after two days, making sure that you definitely escalate the case before the twenty day cut-off point.  PayPal tend to check cases far more closely than eBay do, so if you're still within time to open a PayPal case and you follow these instructions to the letter then you should be able to get a total refund of the money that you paid for the item.

[eddihughe_1 · Accepted solution]

Many thanks. I usually take more care but this time I was too trusting. Thankfully, the amount was not large.
Eddie Hughes

[ruby*tuesday]

You shouldn't have had so much faith in him. He has mislead you. You had 30 days to use the EBay Money Back Guarantee for a Full Refund. 

You have180 days Buyer Protection with PayPal. If you are within the 180 days Log In and find Contact Us at the very foot of the Page, then on the next page, Resolution Centre and Report a Problem. Open a Case for Item Not As Described. You will have to Return the Item using Tracked Postage. Add the Tracking Number into the Case.

Escalate the Case after 2 days but before 20.

[eddihughe_1]

Many thanks. I usually take more care but this time I was too trusting. Thankfully, the amount was not large.
Eddie Hughes

[red_magpie]

I have been waiting for months but can find no way of asking eBay to intervene.

Of course you can't. Didn't you bother to read eBay's money back guarantee? One glance would have told you that claims must be made within 30 days.

Even now you haven't told us when bought this item. If you still have it, and can satisfy PayPal that it was dud on delivery, you may still be ble to file a dispute under Paypal's longer, 180 day buyer protection policy, see: https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/article/what-if-i-didn%27t-receive-my-item-or-it%27s-not-as-adve...

Unlike eBay, PayPal requires buyers to return items at their own expense, unless you're eligible to activate "Return shipping on us" before filing the dispute, see: https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns

The lesson to learn is that eBay's terms and conditions revolve around exact dates and time limits. If you don't bother to read them, you will throw away all the protection that eBay provides.