So last month I bought an item off of e-bay. I posted on another thread about it. This item is hard to find. I thought maybe there would be someone selling during the boycott that would list it. Sure enough, not only was the item listed, it was at a really good price. The item is so rare, the item usually gets big up over $100. This seller, though, had it listed as a 'buy now' at around $50. I hopped on it before anyone else could get there before me!

Well, the item came quickly and sure enough I could see it wasn't the correct item. It was definately not as described. There is no dispute over the difference.

The problem is, the seller refuses to refund my money. I had to escalate the dispute and PayPal is handling it.

Couple of questions ...

1) What has been your experience with PayPal dispute claims handling?

2) Is there a way to e-mail PayPal and send pictures. I can see that PayPal has received e-mails from the seller. I believe they even called and talked to her. However, except for my original dispute, I can't find a way to contact them. PayPal is apparently at the 'review' stage but they haven't contacted me.

Any hints? Tips?

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

I don't have any experience with this but gosh, I'm sorry this has happened to you! You said the seller agrees that it's not the item as described, if so, why isn't he/she refunding you?! Ugh!

The only thing I would maybe suggest are the community boards at eBay...I've been be to get questions answered, or searched for situations similar to mine on the boards. Everybody was very helpful.

Found these numbers for you at eBay...not sure if they're current but it's worth a shot! HTH!

eBay Guides - PAYPAL PHONE BOOK...WHEN YOU NEED A LIVE PERSON

You'll win. Paypal all but always sides with the buyer.

Thanks. The message board helps.

Okay, here's my vent...

The seller is a flake. Seems as soon as I elevated the dispute all I get is e-mails from her that she can't log onto her paypal account. However, I can see on the dispute page that she has had multiple communications with paypal. Today she e-mailed me that she is suddenly having trouble with accessing her e-mail now, too. She wants me to know 'just in case I was wondering why she wasn't responding if I sent her anything.' Actually, I read on the paypal dispute page that I shouldn't try to resolve the issue directly with the seller once they get involved so I haven't been e-mailing the seller. Why she would think I was suddenly trying to e-mail her is almost funny.

Why hasn't the seller refunded my money? Because she insists all sales are final - no matter what! Then she went on to write that she's a SAHM who is just trying to make extra money on e-bay and she doesn't have the money in her budget to return to me. She has sent e-mails to paypal implying that I'm some kind of saavy buyer who was out to trick her. She has implied to paypal that I had the wrong item already and took pictures of that instead of the item she really sent in order to defraud her. She suggested that if I was unhappy with the item I should simply re-sell it on e-bay - at my loss, of course. She said I should be happy with what I got - even though it in no way worth the price I paid nor what I thought I was buying. She also told e-bay that she isn't sure if she should ask me to send the item back because it might not be in good shape any longer.

She then admitted that she's had problems with buying before. Funny, she has (or had - she hasn't listed anything since the dispute) a 100% seller score so now I suspect she switches her seller account when she runs into trouble.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

Oh dear!

We had a problem one time with a woman advertising a Gund Elmo and we ended up getting the Fisher Pricer one. Trust me there is a BIG difference. Turned out she was selling for a friend and didn't know what she was selling. She returned us some of our money and we ended up with a crappy Elmo that we didn't want or need.

I have tried to give this seller the benefit of the doubt. In every e-mail with her, I have been polite and professional. I've been very specific about what is wrong and what she can do to resolve the problem. It got me nowhere. Worse, she panned me to paypal.

It took a long time to post here about the transaction. I've been very careful about not giving out too much detail so her identity would be protected. I'm not out to ruin her.

My only hope is that paypal will look at all the e-mails she sent me and immediately see how inappropriate she has been. I'm really more upset about this than I'm letting on. I'm trying so hard to be moderate and reasonable, even in this vent. Which is why I had to post something. I was going to start spittin' nails soon.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

Cookie - I don't have advice to offer, but wish you a speedy & positive resolution...

I THINK YOU SHOULD WARN PEOPLE ABOUT HER, OTHERWISE, SHE WILL STILL DO THIS TO OTHER PEOPLE.
She does not deserve you to hide her identity.
she is not worthy of that..!!! she does not feel that nice towards you, as you do towards her, because she's still trying to STEAL YOUR MONEY
I would be so upset!!!

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***VIEW MY BLOG***
Thanks,
Bestmommysaver!

That's just ridiculous! LOL! I understand a 'no return' policy but it was HER error! Ugh...

Have you tried mediation thru Ebay? I hope that you have contacted them as well (I know they share the same owner) because the few times I have had problems, they have jumped on them, regardless of the type of issue. You can sometimes get an online chat with an ebay person who can try and help/direct you.

They can track a seller or buyer by name, address, log on, email, etc... So if she's changingn emails all the time, or log ons, they can find her. Does she has alot of transactions to her name?

Don't forget to leave her negative feedback when its all done - I wouldn't do it until you have the final resolution. You don't get alot of space but be sure to be as concise as you can.

I happened upon your post from the online bargains site so I hope I can keep up to hear what happened.

Good luck! All sales are only as final as the seller makes them - that's totally bogus that she is not refunding you. I have had final sales, all my listings say that but if someone got an item incorrectly, broken, etc, sometimes not under my control, I refund.

Lisa