I believe i am being scammed

[swampy.x]

Please help....
I bought an item that showed a 5-7 days delivery.  48hrs Tracked royal mail.
Upon sale, seller took 24 hrs before dispatch.
I checked tracking and eBay showed Yodel.....

1. Fri 20 Feb

   8:20pm
   Your parcel is at our national hub

   HATFIELD TERMINAL
2. Sun 15 Feb

   7:48pm
   We have your parcel. Please check back for updates

   YODEL
3. Sat 14 Feb

   6:44pm
   Your parcel is on its way to Yodel. Please check back for updates

   YODEL
4. Fri 13 Feb

   6:41pm
   We're expecting your parcel from your sender. We will provide updates here once we receive it

   SWANSEA SERVICE CENTRE (YODEL)
5. Sat 14 Feb

   9:36am
   Tracking number provided

Now I live in Swansea. I was shocked. Checked item listing to see seller is in Italy.
I was confused. Why is my local Yodel office listed when it shouldn't even be here
I checked delivery time and it showed up to 10 days.
Now i know some sellers put long times on here just in case there are problems but i was convinced i would have it within a week.
Its now 10 days and it now shows it could be up to 10th March, that is 28 days.
I would never have ordered if id seen a month.

I've messaged seller on the 18th, no reply, 19th and asked for refund.

Today seller messaged me and said they'll update me shortly. That was 9 hours ago.

It seems i cant contact eBay for advise until the full 28 days expires.
Im worried seller will have disappeared by then, with my money.
I cant claim on Paypal either as i bought on eBay with buyer protection.
how can i use this protection before seller closes account or whatever?

[tobiasd4]

Check item in purchase history for estimated delivery date.

You can open item not received 1 day after then.

Escalate on day 4.

Ignore seller excuses. 

[papso22]

The buyer protection fee has nothing to do with the money back guarantee which is what you need to use here.

Also, if you paid  by PayPal you have PayPal buyer protection which for item not received cases lasts 180 days.

Make sure you open an ebay case first though and never try and open two at once.