Why does eBay allow listings with out of stock items?

[savishna333]

Hello everyone!

I have encountered an unpleasant situation and cannot get help from the customer service here. I bought a product that turned out to be out of stock, they offered me a similar one and wrote that they would mark my order as sent while they were waiting for my response. I asked for a photo of the product I am going to receive, but they did not answer me. Later, I found out that the approximate date of delivery of my order is in a month and a half, from Italy, with no tracking number, seriously???!

I asked to cancel my order for a full refund. They asked for dialogue. What??? I was waiting for pictures for 5 days! I cannot open a case about my item not received, I cannot cancel the order, there is no tracking number, the seller does not cancel my order and is keeping my payment. I need money to buy a similar item elsewhere.

Why is this possible here? Why do eBay allow listings with products that are not in stock here? People are wasting their time and energy buying products from them! And they are just using people's money!  What a scammers!

[savishna333]

How smart - falsely mark the order as dispatched and use the buyer's money for a month and a half without any hesitation! Shut the buyer up so that he can't cancel the order and open cases. The seller and the listing were reported, but no action was taken. Hopeless... I need to wait one and a half months to open an 'Item not received' case. What a chaos here!

[*vyolla*]

The long delivery date should have shown on the listing underneath the postage price, it can't be changed on the order details after you've paid.

However, in this scenario, because your seller is being really out of order, if you paid with a credit or debit card I would issue a not received chargeback. This will get you a full refund and the seller will be hit with a £16 fee. 

[savishna333]

Thank you for participating. I paid with the eBay balance, so, no chance to ask my bank for help. I can't understand why the seller marked my order as dispatched while they were waiting for my answer, is that allowed here? Isn't that against eBay policy?

[*vyolla*]

It's not against eBay policy, it's just a daft thing to do.

[savishna333]

I think this practice of a setting listing that falsely advertises an item as in stock when it's actually out of stock is misleading and can lead to customer dissatisfaction.  Also, eBay should accept reports from buyers about sellers who marks the orders as shipped but haven't actually shipped it. This is considered misleading and a breach of contract in some cases. If the seller is unresponsive or refuses to resolve the issue, the buyer can then pursue further action, such as disputing the charge with his payment provider or reporting them to the relevant consumer protection agency. But here, on this site, customer service refused to take any action, finding no issue in my reports.

Thank you, fortune, that customer service let me open a case 'item not received' earlier, it cost me a whole day.

[*vyolla*]

The estimated delivery date must have been showing on the listing though to enable you to decide whether to buy the item, or not, and it must've been a long wait one.

Go to your Purchase History and find the order, what's the latest estimated delivery date?