PayPal returned payment to buyer - Ebay being obstructive.

[gilliandoole]

Letter I sent today detailing my problem with eBay/paypal also sent it to Ireland...

 

DATE 16/02/2015

 

John Donahoe eBay CEO

2145 Hamilton Avenue

San Jose

CA 95125

USA

 

 

SUBJECT: eBay/PayPal complaint

 

Dear Mr Donahoe

 

I am a PayPal and eBay customer.

I am writing to you as a last resort.

Your company has treated me very badly and has left me with choice but to contact you.

 

Background

My eBay user ID is:

 

........................

 

I sold a Horizon Meter (.............. item ID) on 23rd of November 2014 for £155.00 and £8.00P&P, total = £163.00.

 

As new to selling eBay I was not sure of the procedure,

I contacted eBay and was advised that the money was on hold as I was a new seller

and would be held for 21 days,

however if I wanted to escalate the payment then I should send the item by Tracked delivery service,

which I did – tracking number ............

To date I have still not received the money despite countless phone calls to eBay and PayPal.

 

I contacted eBay to say that I had received no money into my PayPal account

and they told me to contact PayPal which I did

PayPal informed me that the money was returned to the buyer on 30.12.14 a

s the email address on eBay did not match PayPal

they added the email address and asked me to contact the buyer.

 

I emailed the buyer and explained the situation and have never received a reply.

 

I contacted eBay again and was told that the Fees charged to me for selling the item would be returned to me

and to lodge a complaint with action fraud which I did National Crime Reference Number: ..................

Action Fraud informed me that I would have to go through eBay to get my money back.

It is now over 7 weeks and still I have received no money or further information about what eBay are doing to help me.

 

On 08.01.15 at 1345hrs I spoke to .... in Customer Services at eBay,

call Reference: 1-........, and she stated that eBay would not honour this payment.

I asked to speak to her manager and spoke to J.... who said that in order for my account to be credited

it would be a long process but the money £163.00 would be returned to me within 15 days.

 

I reported all the facts to .... and he said that eBay would help me.

I asked him what eBay intended to do for me and I would receive payment for the item.

 

He stated that eBay would attempt to contact the buyer and:

1. Try and get the money from them.

2. Ask them to return the item to me.

3. Report the buyer.

4. Escalate the case.

 

I asked what escalating the case meant and he said that within a maximum period of 15 days

I would receive feedback from them and my money returned.

 

This particular phone call lasted 45 minutes.

 

Currently

Today 16.02.15

I telephoned and spoke to M.J. to check the progress of the return of my money as I had heard nothing via J....

 

He said that J'' had put no notes on my account and apologised and said that the time had lapsed now

and eBay could no longer help me.

As I had reported everything correctly as requested I was now at the end of my options

and eBay would not help any further and that I could send my complaint to an address in Dublin.

 

I have enclosed all the above information for your convenience,

I hope that the information I have provided about my case will assist you in helping me in the return of my money.

 

Complaint

I am outraged that I have been treated like this.

1. I have still not received payment for the item.

2. I have spent an absolute fortune on phone calls to these premier rate numbers at both eBay and PayPal.

3. I think that this payment should be honoured at the very least and perhaps more because of the stress this is causing me, I am extremely upset.

 

As CEOof this company, I would think it was in your best interests to keep your customers happy especially

when all your customers want is to use your service without interruptions.

I hope you take the time to prove that your customers are important to you.

I look forward to a prompt reply and resolution to my problem.

 

 

Respectfully,

 

 

..........

Ireland

[havinastella]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

[gilliandoole]

Thanks feel like I am going mad atm...with eBay so unhelpful...

[citizenB]

Sadly we hear quite a few of these horror stories regarding Ebay and PayPal. They hang out the process and then say that you are outside their reporting times. It is why we repeatedly advise people to keep screen shots of online communication and record ALL calls

 

I have edited your thread title to reflect the situation and tweeted the problem as well for you.

[Anus Horribilis]

PayPal informed me that the money was returned to the buyer on 30.12.14 as the email address on eBay did not match PayPal they added the email address and asked me to contact the buyer

 

This seems weird. Do they mean that the buyer's email address didn't match, or yours?

 

Either way, the outcome seems to be that the 'buyer' has scammed you through a loophole in the ebay/paypal system. They maybe made a fraudulent payment, or they reversed the payment after making it.

 

As citB says, there are very many disgruntled stories like yours. Your contract with eBay probably excludes any liability for them, on the grounds that they are merely a marketplace. I don't think that would stand up under UK law, but it may not be easy to get a judgement against them. But it can be done - see http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/feb/17/ebay-goes-wrong-debt-collectors