customer ser vice

[francisthearcus]

How do I get in touch with a human at Ebay to resolve a dispyed payment where a seller has warranted a product that arrived defective, promised to replace it or give a refund and then strung out the conversation until the returns period expired. All documented in teh messages to teh seller.

Ebay show no email address or phone number and I keep going in circles being redirected to "contact us" pages that are more online help answers.

The only way in the past I have obtained a human responder is to withhold ebay fees until someone calls me.

what do other peolle do in this situation other than just suck up the loss?

[tressygirl · Accepted solution]

Your seller unfortunately  played you for time. 

Never listen to a seller's promises or excuse when you receive a broken  defective item but just proceed this way below:

If you receive an item not as described,  you are guaranteed a full refund under eBay's 30 day MBG,  Money Back Guarantee policy,  if you claim within 30 days of the item's last estimated date for delivery.

You then go right of the item in your Purchase History,  and from More Actions select Return this item,  selecting the reason...  Item Does Not Match Description or Photos.

The seller has 3 days to accept the case,  if they don't ,  you need to  escalate on day 4,  or within 30 days,  and eBay will step in and force the refund.

If the seller wants the item back first,  they need to pay for a fully tracked return postage.  On receipt of their item they have 48 hours to refund you.  Again,  if they don't,  you escalate the case.  Aways best to receive a refund not a replacement.

Never close any case early for any excuse or promise the seller may give,  and you must remember to escalate.  

I realise all of the above is too late if you have passed your the 30 day timeline to claim, but it may help you for any future purchases.

There is truly no point turning to eBay Customer Services now, but you can try your payment provider for help with your refund.

@francisthearcus 

[francisthearcus]

Interesting.

My credit. Card issuer authorised a reverse payment. This  is against ebay who is the recipient of the seller's payment.

Lesson is always pay by credit card.

I've been using ebay since 2000. In those days you could call or email ebay customer service, which was my original question. Your answer confirms ebay have insulated themselves from supporting consumers in consumer protection law disputes.

I had a similar case before and used PayPal as the payment method and they also failed to uphd consumer protection law and in that case my mastercard company stepped in and reversed the payment.

Lesson learned, ebay and PayPal are law evaders.

[papso22]

Neither ebay nor PayPal sold you anything that comes under consumer protection law.

They are not 'law evaders' simply because they wouldn't cover you under their extra statutory buyer protection schemes.

[francisthearcus]

You are entitled to your opinion, however ebay is the merchant's agent in the transaction. As evidenced by  the fact that it iseBay against whom mastercard have made the reverse transaction. So clearly they are under obligation of consumer protection law in this matter. At least according to mastercard.

My question and  complaint is the inability of ebay members to contact it's customer services representatives except through extreme measures.

Previously to generate a conversation I have resorted to withholding fees owed until they broke cover and dealt with the matter by email.

This was not the case when ebay started out.

My opinion is that this is a poor reflection on their attitude to the members who are, after all, the ones who have made ebay the success that it is.

My opinion is widely shared amongst my small circle of acquaintances. Ebay PR might like to take note.

And my opinion that, in this case, ebay's refusal to engage is an evasion of their lefal responsibilities, I feel is justified by the outcome. It is now ebay's problem to recoup the recharge from the illegaly acting seller.

If anyone wants my advice, use only credit card for ebay transactions so that ebay cannot duck their responsibilities, at least under English jurisprudence. Might be more of a jungle wherever Papso22 lives? But if ebay wants to trade in England better shape up!

[tressygirl]

Just to add to your point about not being able to contact CS sometimes,  from the 4th of Feb eBay will be charging buyers a ' Buyer Protection Fee',  this being 4% of the sale item,  plus 75 p.,   and for this,  you will now have a 24 / 7 Customer Service ,  service !  😶

@francisthearcus 

[tobiasd4]

Ebay never disputes charge backs, they always recover money from seller.

[francisthearcus]

Sensible. Disputing a clear breach of UK consumer protection law would be futile.

Upon researching I find that UK and US law have key differences.

Could be summarised as US favours the seller, UK favours the buyer.

But the conclusion remains valid, always use a credit card for online purchases if buying in UK or EU. Regardless where the seller originates.

[francisthearcus]

seems to be a trend towards regarding good customer service as something that the customer should have to pay for.

In this country increasingly seeing pushback against corporate trend to minimise personal engagement with their customers in favour of automation. Many supermarkets are considering the cost /benefit of automated tills and one has even started removing them/

My solution appears to be effective in ebay though, use credit card payments and rely on consumer protection law to claw back where necessary.

Your original answer nailed it though. Dont let the seller play you for time and use the 30 day limit ruthlessly.

Thanks

[john1297576]

Just for information, when a chargeback is made, if seller does not willingly refund, and ebay have to pay up, the seller not only has to pay for the refund, but gets charged £14 plus VAT, and if seller still does not pay, ebay use Debt Collectors so more costs for seller.

Good sellers would always point buyer to the correct way of getting refunds, and not con buyer into running out of time.

[francisthearcus]

thanks john. you seem to confirm that ebay is just as bound by consumer protection law as the seller.

\And that legal responsibility extends to merchantable quality of goods well beyond the 30 days buyer protection ebay offer. ditto paypal.

|Seems another very good reason to avail themselves to buyers needing to contact them and not hide behind automated "help" and AI bots that can only point to the "help" section.

Sometimes an email or a quick call with a human can sort things out immediately.

This case took me nearly two months to get the right result.