eBay item didn't ship yet

[space-time]

Black wrote:
Next step after contacting seller and not getting a response is to get seller's contact info and call, as noted above. "Escalating to eBay" means selecting "item not received" to start the case, and eBay won't let you go through with that until a certain amount of time has passed (I think someone explained that avove as well.).

Black, please be nice

Janit said: "One thing you can try is the "find contact information" link...". Does it mean you MUST contact the seller before opening a case? Like I said, my friend already sent a message (not sure if via eBay or private email, I assume via eBay).

Then Janit also said: "Once your friend loses patience, he can file an "item not received" claim and go from there. There may be some waiting period before he can escalate the claim and/or ask for a full refund. "

If I were in this situation, I would lose patience when item didn't even ship a week later. Also it is not clear if you can open the case already, if not, how long the waiting period is.

Then hal (which I consider to have more eBay knowledge than you Black, sorry) said: "I'll send one request for info like your friend did. If I get no response, I open a case at the first possible chance. If the seller is alive and well, THIS will get their attention."

So your response didn't add anything new to the conversation, and stop trying to make me look like I didn't read the responses so far. I did, and it seems one can either call, or open a case. IMHO the latter is the better, since we're not talking about 1-2 days delay, but a whole week.

[Black]

space-time wrote:
[quote=Black]
Next step after contacting seller and not getting a response is to get seller's contact info and call, as noted above. "Escalating to eBay" means selecting "item not received" to start the case, and eBay won't let you go through with that until a certain amount of time has passed (I think someone explained that avove as well.).

Black, please be nice

Janit said: "One thing you can try is the "find contact information" link...". Does it mean you MUST contact the seller before opening a case? Like I said, my friend already sent a message (not sure if via eBay or private email, I assume via eBay).

Then Janit also said: "Once your friend loses patience, he can file an "item not received" claim and go from there. There may be some waiting period before he can escalate the claim and/or ask for a full refund. "

If I were in this situation, I would lose patience when item didn't even ship a week later. Also it is not clear if you can open the case already, if not, how long the waiting period is.

Then hal (which I consider to have more eBay knowledge than you Black, sorry) said: "I'll send one request for info like your friend did. If I get no response, I open a case at the first possible chance. If the seller is alive and well, THIS will get their attention."

So your response didn't add anything new to the conversation, and stop trying to make me look like I didn't read the responses so far. I did, and it seems one can either call, or open a case. IMHO the latter is the better, since we're not talking about 1-2 days delay, but a whole week.
wtf? Just trying to help. Yes, hal absolutely knows more than I do, no question. When your friend goes to "open the case" it will tell him exactly how long he has to wait to do so. But first assumption should be that there's something funky going on with emails, and place a phone call.

[hal]

DO NOT go for the seller contact info. Not needed and when you do that, your contact info goes to them. This is a serious problem.

DO NOT file a claim with paypal. If you win the dispute, pp will pull the funds from the seller acct and give it to you. If there aren't enough funds, they'll freeze the account until the funds show up. If money never shows up, you never get paid.

Ebay does the same thing, but if paypal money isn't there, they pay you our of their own pocket.

ebay and paypal split a couple of years ago and the relationship is beginning to get contentious.

[space-time]

seller didn't ship a hard drive recently. before that, they had excellent feedback.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=dallas.texstar&&_trksid=p2047675.l2560&rt=nc&iid=172123867105&sspagename=VIP%3Afeedback&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller

thanks hal for your clear advice, I will tell my friend to open dispute with eBay.

[Markintosh]

While my item was shipped, its now several days late....the final destination is near Lake Tahoe, CA. Here's the tracking history:

Monday, Mar 14, 2016 11:55 PM HONOLULU , HI Departed USPS Facility
Monday, Mar 14, 2016 7:26 PM HONOLULU , HI Arrived at USPS Facility
Sunday, Mar 13, 2016 6:31 PM BARRIGADA , GU Departed USPS Facility
Saturday, Mar 12, 2016 9:54 PM BARRIGADA , GU Arrived at USPS Facility
Wednesday, Mar 9, 2016 2:33 AM NASHVILLE , TN Departed USPS Origin Facility
Tuesday, Mar 8, 2016 10:21 PM NASHVILLE , TN Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
Tuesday, Mar 8, 2016 9:06 PM NOLENSVILLE , TN Accepted at USPS Origin Facility

Seems a bit circuitous to say the least!

[hal]

Markintosh wrote:
While my item was shipped, its now several days late....the final destination is near Lake Tahoe, CA. Here's the tracking history:

Monday, Mar 14, 2016 11:55 PM HONOLULU , HI Departed USPS Facility
Monday, Mar 14, 2016 7:26 PM HONOLULU , HI Arrived at USPS Facility
Sunday, Mar 13, 2016 6:31 PM BARRIGADA , GU Departed USPS Facility
Saturday, Mar 12, 2016 9:54 PM BARRIGADA , GU Arrived at USPS Facility
Wednesday, Mar 9, 2016 2:33 AM NASHVILLE , TN Departed USPS Origin Facility
Tuesday, Mar 8, 2016 10:21 PM NASHVILLE , TN Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
Tuesday, Mar 8, 2016 9:06 PM NOLENSVILLE , TN Accepted at USPS Origin Facility

Seems a bit circuitous to say the least!

I bet it ends up in Jamaica, NY - I get the idea that's were all messed up label boxes go.

[Gareth]

hal wrote:
I'll send one request for info like your friend did. If I get no response, I open a case at the first possible chance. If the seller is alive and well, THIS will get their attention.

DON'T FEEL BAD ABOUT IT.

Yes. This is what I do, and one could infer that this is what eBay wants you to do because their "contact seller" links will prompt you into choosing "item not received" and then it will either tell you to wait until the estimated delivery date, or it will start the claim process (depending on how long it's been). You actually have to put a little work into actually sending the seller a message and half the time I don't bother if there was a tracking number provided. You want to open a case as soon as possible since it takes a few additional days to a week to actually get your money back.

I did have success recently with messaging the seller as apparently the shipping label had been damaged and the package was just sitting at the post office until he provided a new label (or so he says). And another case where the seller never provided a tracking number, nor responded and eBay refunded.

I never bother with trying to call the seller. As a seller myself, I don't want to be bothered with phone calls and actually provide a Google number that just goes straight to voicemail. The one time I did take a call (from an Amazon buyer), it wasn't even one of my customers, but she wanted to return a laptop and apparently couldn't figure out who she'd actually bought it from. So I just don't see the point in taking the time for a call, especially since your friend is overseas and would have to deal with the time differences to make a call (unless you're going to make the call, but that might sound fishy to a seller).

As for Global Shipping, not all sellers use it, but I think it's a great program. eBay takes responsibility for the international shipment portion, and they had my back (as a seller) and my buyer's when they totally screwed up a shipment. I got to keep my sale money and presumably they refunded my buyer out of their pocket.

[space-time]

It is very likely that this seller is affected by the floods in TX, apparently he had 100% positive feedback until recently, so I don't think he did this on purpose. Something happened to him recently.

[tenders]

Yeah, maybe the seller is buried under six feet of mud - MAYBE. Even so, the seller has been paid in full and it is still his responsibility to follow eBay rules for prompt shipping. If he can't follow the rules, the onus is on him to tell the buyer so and why. Without that specific information the buyer has absolutely no obligation to sit and wait around, hoping for the best. If the merchandise cannot be shipped for any reason it behooves the buyer to get the ball rolling by following eBay rules for a broken deal.

I've had to deal with flaky sellers on $100+ items five or six times, and this is what I've learned. In the few cases where I as a seller have had difficulty delivering (usually due to my own poor planning, having auctions end when I was traveling and not near the goods needing shipment) I've bent over backwards to inform the buyer exactly what the problem was and how long it would take to resolve so no eBay deadline ever came close to being breached.

That is the way responsible sellers operate. If a buyer is not being treated that way, the seller is not being responsible and the buyer should simply follow the rules.

[RAMd®d]

That is the way responsible sellers operate. If a buyer is not being treated that way, the seller is not being responsible and the buyer should simply follow the rules.

Agreed.

I don't know my way around eBay and only do the occasional Buy It Now thing, but the above seems to be the way to go.

There are many, probably valid circumstances where the seller couldn't ship as expected/promised, but barring personal injury to himself or a loved one, they need to be responsible.

If they are not or can't be, the buyer and potential buyers shouldn't have to bear the burden.