eBay

gnosemalf · ‎13-05-2026

I'm in a bit of a predicament. My partner ordered a £75 item from a private seller a week or so before going into hospital which she thought was going to be one or two nights - it now looks like it could be two weeks and she is barely able to hold a conversation with me let alone chase anything up.

She mentioned it to me and I checked her eBay account on her iPad and it said that it had been delivered by Evri on 7th May but there is no sign of it. I tried to obtain proof of delivery by entering our postcode on their website but it said that the postcode was incorrect. I checked that the postcode on the order details was right and it was the same - so despite it saying it was delivered to supposedly the correct postcode, I can't see proof of delivery.

Yesterday whilst visiting her in hospital, I sent a message to the seller via her account, informing them who I was and the situation but when I visited today and checked her messages, there was nothing from the seller but a response saying that because the item had been sent via Simple Delivery, it had to be dealt with by eBay customer services.

I actually had an Evri delivery today and the driver knows the area well. I had hoped that he might be able to trace the proof of delivery without having to enter the postcode but he said that he couldn't.

What can I do if my partner is too unwell to deal with this?

gnosemalf · ‎21-05-2026

there’s a chance eBay would find in your favour.

There is your answer, right there!

Money has changed hands. Goods have not been received. It shouldn't not be a matter of chance. Saying that amounts to surrendering to the capriciousness of the eBay monolith.

jonatjonatjonat · ‎21-05-2026

But there’s the thing. If you can’t access Evri tracking with your postcode, then that would suggest it wasn’t delivered to your postcode.

so they don’t actually have evidence it was delivered to your address (which is one of the requirements)

and more to the point what have you actually got to lose. It’s the seller who has to provide the evidence. Who of course isn’t corresponding with you. So you may as well open the item not received case, they don’t give evidence and you win a refund anyway. If .that fails - you’d have to go to the payment provider. All that’s happening right now is you are running out of time to actually do anything via eBay.

And that is the last time I’ll give that advice. I’m unsure why you won’t try it. I really am not.

gnosemalf · ‎21-05-2026

Anybody can access the tracking information with a tracking number. Anybody. Only by entering the postcode can one access proof of delivery.

Why won't I try your advice? Because it is not my account and the account holder, my girlfriend, is in hospital and frankly in too much pain and otherwise inconvenienced to deal with it right now. She just had a secondary hip replacement, lost a lot of blood, has had four blood transfusions and now has a blood infection. She was supposed to be in for two days and it has been two weeks. I can pass on advice but I'm not going to push her into anything. One minute it is important, the next, it is the last thing she wants to think about.

jonatjonatjonat · ‎21-05-2026

I hope their condition improves. Unfortunately - the only solution here appears to be open item not received claim from their order history. If your partner is too unwell - there isn't anything you can do. Depending on the payment method used - they may be able to open a claim with their payment provider if the 30 days ebay gives runs out.

gnosemalf · ‎22-05-2026

My girlfriend was unexpectedly discharged last night so I encouraged her to take action first this morning.

Unfortunately, 'technical difficulties' are preventing any communication with eBay and she then went straight to PayPal.

lucy_farmer · ‎22-05-2026

'Unfortunately, 'technical difficulties' are preventing any communication with eBay '

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Oh blimey yeah....as luck would have it, your first chance of dealing with it is on a Friday .... a.k.a 'glitch day' 🙁

gnosemalf · ‎24-05-2026

PayPal issued a refund. I don't know who actually coughs up in this situation; PayPay, eBay or the seller but in my opinion, it should either be the seller who couldn't be bothered to address the package properly (or pulled some kind of stunt - not off my radar as they didn't reply to any messages) or eBay, for their not fit for purpose policies but I suspect that it will be PayPal who, with all their faults, have actually honoured their customer protection.

I know that this was not my transaction and that I have ranted this before but the eBay experience is deteriorating rapidly. Four out of my last six transactions have been problematic (one is yet to be delivered but being a pair of braces, I'm not anticipating anything going wrong). One (a birthday present) was supposed to be next day delivery (from 80 miles away) and turned up 8 days late and days after the birthday, one never arrived and I got a refund and one, I ordered two identical items in the same listing and they were completely different fabrics. The other has its own thread, my inability to buy a set of hole saws because despite being on eBay since 2001, I can't prove that I am over 18 without a credit card.

It's increasingly not worth the bother. Two of the transactions with issues were supposedly sent from sellers with addresses in the UK but were probably shipped from China. It's far less hassle to buy directly from a Chinese website - I can't remember the last problem I had with 'A*' or 'T*' both of whom operate along similar lines to eBay in that individual sellers use their platform. I think I have had three or four times the number of transactions, delivery is usually within a week and it's a fraction of the cost of exactly the same items being sold on eBay and Amazon. To paraphrase Bill Clinton's advisor, James Carville, 'it's the customer service, stupid'.

jonatjonatjonat · ‎24-05-2026

If you are successful with a PayPal payment dispute - it should be the seller who funds it (plus possibly an additional £16.80 dispute fee).

*vyolla* · ‎24-05-2026

@gnosemalf wrote:

PayPal issued a refund. I don't know who actually coughs up in this situation; PayPay, eBay or the seller but in my opinion, it should either be the seller who couldn't be bothered to address the package properly (or pulled some kind of stunt - not off my radar as they didn't reply to any messages) or eBay, for their not fit for purpose policies but I suspect that it will be PayPal who, with all their faults, have actually honoured their customer protection.

If its a PayPal item not received claim then the payment is reversed, the seller funds the payment.

gnosemalf · ‎24-05-2026

I'm glad. Let them try to find the missing item with a dodgy postcode.

sml192 · ‎24-05-2026

@gnosemalf wrote:
PayPal issued a refund. I don't know who actually coughs up in this situation; PayPay, eBay or the seller but in my opinion, it should either be the seller who couldn't be bothered to address the package properly (or pulled some kind of stunt - not off my radar as they didn't reply to any messages) or eBay, for their not fit for purpose policies but I suspect that it will be PayPal who, with all their faults, have actually honoured their customer protection.

With any kind of payment dispute/Chargeback it will be either eBay or the seller that will have to fund it depending on whether the seller qualifies for eBay Seller Protection. In this instance the seller had tracking showing delivery so will probably have been protected unless eBay are able to prove that it was sent to the wrong address.

jonatjonatjonat · ‎24-05-2026

If eBay are sensible they don’t have proof of delivery to the right address if you can’t access the tracking with the presumed delivery postcode.

gnosemalf · ‎24-05-2026

Let eBay use Evri tracking and enter our postcode and have it rejected. If it had been delivered to the correct address, the delivery postcode would be accepted.