Journal Chacham's Journal: Chronicle: Bought Google Voice Invites on ebay (2) 1
Continuing my ebay saga, i started a thread in the ebay forums and got just one real reply. Quickly checking another thread, i figured the guy just has a bad attitude. So, i opened chatted with ebay support, and Tabatha told me to open a case. I did just that. The seller offered a compromise, i rejected because it wasn't 50/50. We decided to escalate, and ebay decided in my favor. Here's the text (sans phone number) from the resolution center.
Jun 30, 2010 at 4:10 PM eBay Customer Support has opened a case for you.The seller has 7 days to respond.
Details you provided:
The item doesn't match the seller's description.
You have tried contacting the seller
You paid on Jun 28, 2010
You have issues with 10 items in the order
You contacted the seller through eBay Messages
The seller has responded to you
The seller isn't working with you to solve the problem
You entered the phone number xxxxxxxxxx
We will not share your phone number with the seller.
The buyer said the item is unusable
Additional information:
"I bought 10 google voice invites for $1.25. I paid right away via paypal.) Moments after i bought it i realized Google Voice has been open for a week, and thus invites are useless links now. I messaged the seller about this and asked for a refund. He sent the invites and responded that he sent them and i was paying for his waiting time. He explained that he did not know google voice was open now. Our entire conversation was through ebay. He was courteous. I'd like to get ebay's opinion on this. In short, i made a stupid mistake. He is selling bogus invites."
You wanted:
A full refund
Jun 30, 2010 at 8:42 PM The seller has offered you a partial refund of $5.00.
Refund information:
The seller offered a partial refund of $5.00 that will be issued through PayPal within 3 days if you accept the offer.
Seller's note:
"I feel we both should share responsibility. I delivered what I listed. I waited a long time for these, and they were sent in a timely manner. With that said, I'm willing to give you a partial refund. I think this is a fair solution."
Jun 30, 2010 at 8:48 PM You have responded to the seller.
Your message to the seller:
"I think i can accept that we share the responsibility here. But let's make it 50/50. The cost was $12.50, so half would be $6.25. And i will delete the emails you sent to me. (Haven't touch them.)"
Jun 30, 2010 at 9:46 PM The seller has responded to your case with other solution.
Seller's message:
"But I have paypal and ebay fees, you don't. I think my offer is fair. We are arguing over penny's here."
Jul 01, 2010 at 4:46 AM You have responded to the seller.
Your message to the seller:
"In truth, i really think you should refund the whole amount and stop selling these expired invites. This is a compromise. The way i see it, you're making free money by selling no-longer-required invites, i'm losing money for something absolutely useless. I'd like to refuse the offer and have ebay decide. So, if you believe you are in the right, just say so, and i'll have ebay get involved. That's probably be the best option anyway."
Jul 01, 2010 at 6:05 AM The seller has responded to your case with other solution.
Seller's message:
"Have ebay settle it!"
Jul 01, 2010 at 7:15 AM You have escalated the case to eBay Customer Support.
Your message to eBay Customer Support:
"We did not agree on terms. Would like ebay to look at the details and decide."
Jul 01, 2010 at 1:02 PM eBay Customer Support has refunded you through PayPal and the case is closed.
Refund information:
A refund of $12.50 has been issued to your PayPal account. View PayPal transaction
Final decision:
Neither you or the seller were found at the fault.
eBay Customer Support comments:
"You will be issued a refund."This item was covered for your purchase price plus original shipping. Learn more
Find out more about getting your refund.
The message from ebay support was:
Dear chacham,
We appreciate you contacting eBay in regard to item #180525725741. I
understand it can be very frustrating to have to open case in the
Resolution Center to get a problem resolved , but we truly appreciate
your cooperation. I thank you for your patience and commend you for the
time that you have given the seller to correct this situation.I have good news! After reviewing the case, due to the value of your
claim as a courtesy to show that we value you as a member, I have
decided to close it in your favor! In this situation, you do not need to
send back the item for this particular claim. We do realize that it can
be frustrating to receive an item that is not as described in the
listing. Rather than have you spend time to send this item back, and
wait for a refund when you have done nothing wrong here, we'd like to do
you a favor to show our appreciation, and issue you a refund today.Our system will generate an automated email that says the same, but I
wanted to take a few moments and explain our decision in further detail.
You should see the money in your PayPal account within 48 hours. If you
do not have a PayPal account you'll simply need to open one with your
registered eBay email address to claim the refund.Also, please make sure that the email address on your eBay account is
added and confirmed on your PayPal account. If it is not, you will not
be able to receive the refund.Here are the steps to confirm your email address with your PayPal
account:
1. Log into your PayPal account at www.paypal.com
2. Hover over the "Profile" link under the "My Account" tab
3. Click on "Add or Edit Email" from the drop-down menu
4. Select your email address and click "Confirm"
5. Check your personal email for an email from PayPal
6. Open the email and follow the instructions to confirm your email
addressThank you for being a valuable member of the eBay community! I look
forward to assisting you with your many future eBay transactions.Sincerely,
Rodney G.eBay Buyer Protection
All in all, ebay seems to have their act together. I'm impressed by this part of their service.
I would've sent you $6.24... (Score:1)
...and told you to sue me for the rest! ;)
Seriously, it prolly costed ebay a lot more than $12.50 to have their customer support staff screw around with crap like this for even a few minutes. I'm a little suprised you both weren't booted from the system and asked not to come back.