I got charged for an item I never received.

[kenson]

In short, I bought something from a seller and never received the item. It's been well past the 45 day mark and I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to possibly get my money back.

Here's the details.

I purchased an item from a seller on eBay back on 9/29 of last year. The seller had a 4+ year track record with really good ratings and customer comments all pleased with their transactions so I figured they were reputable (virtually no negative comments). The item was expected to take about 2 months to be delivered (seller was shipping from china). But when it still hadn't shown up I decided to open a case in eBay's resolution center. That's when things started to get weird...

When I checked the tracking number of the item, it said that it had been shipped, but all information on its status like where it was or how far along it was, was blank. I contacted the seller and they responded very quickly but they could not find me anywhere in their database. Later that same day they sent me a second message saying they re-shipped the item, only problem was it was going to a totally wrong address I'd never seen before.

I sent them another message explaining this and that's when they stopped all communication. Then some glitches started happening in my eBay account. I'd get "technical difficulty" pages when I'd try to send more messages. And some messages that got sent confirmations weren't showing in eBay's log. I'm not even sure if the seller is aware there is still a problem. Judging by the seller's track record it really doesn't make sense to me that they'd just take my money and run.

I've called eBay and they say there is nothing they can do. They suggested that PayPal might still be able to help but it looks like Paypal has a 45 day limit for reporting problems like this. So am I out of luck? Are there any other options for me?

One last thing: I did manage to find the seller's email address. Should I try contacting them directly? Or is that a bad idea without eBay or Paypal's supervision?

I've never had anything like this happen to me before with such a high rated seller. Personally I think it's some kind of freak mix-up and not foul play. It would be great if the item could be shipped but at this point I'd be happy with just getting my money back. Any advice or ideas? It would be greatly appreciated!

[kernowlass]

Paypals buyer protection changed from 45 days to 180 days but this change happened for purchases after November so guess that was too late for you. >>>>>>>...

Amendments to the PayPal User Agreement

Effective Date: November 18, 2014

We encourage you to carefully review this Policy Update to familiarize yourself with all of the changes that are being made to the PayPal User Agreement. These updates will be posted at least 30 days prior to their effective date. These changes will not apply retroactively and will become effective November 18, 2014. If you use PayPal after the date these changes become effective, we will take that usage as your consent to the changed terms.  

1. Dispute Filing Window
   

   We’re increasing the time for buyers to file a merchandise dispute (Item Not Received and Significantly Not as Described) from 45 days to 180 days.   All references in the User Agreement to “Opening a Dispute within 45 days” have been updated to reflect “Opening a Dispute within 180 days.” The Sections these changes appear include the Introduction, 3.15, 13.2 and 13.5.

If you were too late then all i can suggest is if you funded your paypal payment with a credit card then contact your card issuer and do a chargeback.

[kenson]

Yeah I thought I saw it was 180 days... But when I signed in to open the dispute everything said 45 days. So your reply just solved that riddle. Thanks!

I just got a response from PayPal today saying they're stepping in to help for a fair resolution. With any luck that means somebody's actually going to work on the case.

I was charged for the item back on Sept 29 but the delivery date to complete the order was scheduled for November 25th. Does Paypal go by the charge date or the date the transaction between buyer and seller is supposed to be complete?

If it was 45 days from the charge date then that means I would have had to file a dispute before the item was even expected to arrive, which doesn't make any sense.

And if PayPal really can't do anything, what does anyone think about contacting the seller directly via their email address? Is that not advised for any reason?