empty package

[elliechickpea37]

My son bought a laptop from a private seller. The parcel arrived, so Royal Mail confirmed delivery, but there was nothing in the box. We know the seller posted it, as the weight logged was 5kg. But now, because he contacted the seller a couple of times chasing up the seller chasing Royal Mail, my son has had his ebay account supsended. There does not seem to be any way to contact a real person to explain the situation. As far as ebay is concerned, a parcel was delivered so they won't have it that the goods were not delivered. The seller had the contract with RM to deliver securely, so we can'tchase RM (Idon't think?? I've tried there online form but it is geared to the sender, not the receiver). What can we do? Is there a real life contact for ebay to explain? Thanks for any advice.

[redwick1]

Your son needed to open a Not as described dispute not a not received.

A not received dispute is thepnly dispute you can close and open another one.

Problem is if your son is now suspended he will not be able to do that.

Why was he suspended for contacting the seller. 

If he is suspended then you will not be able to contact ebay

Here is the contact if you wat to try.

www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

Weekdays lines open between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Weekends they open between 9 a.m. aand 6 p.m.

Best time is first thing in a morning when you may get Belfast.

Failing on ebay if you paid by paypal then try not as described there.

Then you could try your card provider

[elliechickpea37]

...strikes me that the new rule I've just seen about not getting payment until the goods are received (and ok'd by the buyer?) would have  been good in this situation!

[elliechickpea37]

Thanks for replying. We're both of us a bit green where ebay is concerned, i hardly use it and he opened an account specifically to buy the laptop (he's just 17 and has lost £400), so did what we thought was correct thing to report error when we realised box was empty. The reason for suspending his account said something like hassling the seller (obvs not exact wording!). It's so frustrating to not be able to get through to anyone who can look at the case objectively! Will try your link, thanks.

[redwick1]

If tracking says delivered  ( which it was ) then the seller would get paid if the buyer ok'd it. However if the package was empty surely the buyer would not ok it.

They did receive something so the item was not as described and that is the dispute they needed to open.

The seller sends a pre paid label for the return and once they have it back ( the empty box) then they refund. The seller deals with RM as they sent the item.

[elliechickpea37]

Ah, I see. Wasn't aware of that loop. Seems a bit odd, but I see the reasoning behind it! Too late for this time, but good to know in the unlikely event it happens again (or is this a frequent occurance in ebay world?!) Thanks

[tobiasd4]

FYI. 

You have to be 18 to open ebay account. 

Probably reason account was suspended. 

[plum993]

Try contacting the payment method you used to pay,so if card payment try your bank for a chargeback,or paypal.

[elliechickpea37]

Interesting... how do they check? I'm pretty sure my son wouldn't have lied if asked his birthdate. Will check what process he went through to get the account. Still doesn't alter the fact that he's given the seller £400 though 😕

Thanks for your response.

[elliechickpea37]

Thanks for the reply. Will try this route (he paid from his bank account) if no success with the ebay direct contact redwick1 has given 👍🏽