Trying to reclaim $$$ from an eBay transaction gone bad.

[maxpower982]

In May of 2017, I purchased an iPhone from an eBay retailer within the US (or so I thought).  When I received the phone, it didn't work.  I went thru the eBay return procedure - only to find that the return address was in China - not in the US where the product was shipped from.

By means of eBay messages back/forth with the vendor they had agreed to pay the S&H expense of $55.04....along with the cost of the phone itself ($464.99).  Several weeks later - I was issued a refund for the $464.99....and as of today, I have never received the return S&H.  And at that point, eBay has washed their hands of the entire transaction.  They claim - the seller as refunded as promised and they can no longer do anything.  Even though I have eBay messages stating the seller promised to pay the return S&H.  They then informed me to take it up with paypal.

I am writing this community on finding the necessary steps I need to take to open a claim (or ticket) on how to re-coop this cost. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated folks.

[kernowlass]

@maxpower982

No one can force a seller to refund your return postage costs.

[Whac-A-Mole]

if you open a case of item not as described on Ebay,and win,Ebay expects seller to reimburse or pay for return shipping,however,with overseas sellers,it is not possible for Ebay to enforce such.

 promise of reimbursing shipping in email is between you and the seller,Ebay or Paypal cannot give you more than what you pay for,it is not judge judy,even in a court,if you win a case,colecting the $$ is up to the plaintiff,,court is not responsible to collect $$ due/

now aasume you find this seller on Ebay USA,on the listing,under the seller ID and his feedback score,there should be where he is and where the item is located,what does it say about the item? 

[sidemouse]

No, that seller lied to you, at this point you may be able to leave appropriate feedback.

In the future here is how it works:

- After you open a return the seller must first ACCEPT the return, you will know the seller has done this once ebay allows you to print a return label right from within the returns system itself, the option will appear.

- With most international and even some domestic sellers either can not or will not ACCEPT the return.  If such is the case you will likely have to call ebay and ask them for assistance, with domestic sellers ebay will first ACCEPT the case for the seller which in turn opens the "print return label" option from within the returns page itself... If a domestic seller failed to accept the case it is also possible you will need to call ebay again after the item's tracking shows delivery (in some cases the seller will "refuse" the delivery but fortunately on ebay that backfires on the seller, oddly enough the item is then on its way back to you) and then ebay's customer service can force the refund.  With an international sale ebay's CS can not force the seller to ACCEPT the case however if the seller never accepts and you can not print the label then after some time ebay can escalate the case and force-issue the refund to you. 

- Either way if you experience trouble with a return (and this is so unfortunate) you should always consult either these boards, the ebay boards, or ebay's customer service.  To some degree sellers will be helpful but you never can be sure which one is trying to help you or not so again unfortunately it is best not to trust the sellers, my advice to you is familiarize yourself with the returns process.

Hope that made sense.

[Whac-A-Mole]

Ebay cannot force refund unless tracking shows it has been returned t o the seller,in her case,it is overseas and OP is complaining she is not willing to pay return shipping.

an expensive lesson.

[Whac-A-Mole]

With an international sale ebay's CS can not force the seller to ACCEPT the case however if the seller never accepts and you can not print the label then after some time ebay can escalate the case and force-issue the refund to you. ------------------------------

ebay does not escalate the case to get Ebay involved,only buyer or seller can escalate.

If after escalation ,Ebay reviews the case and decide in Buyer favor,it will ask buyer to return the item with tracking ,once tracking shows delivered,Ebay will refund in full.

RETURN SHIPPING TO OVERSEAS SELLER IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BUYER.   

[Whac-A-Mole]

but,IF THE seller misrepresent the location of the item,if the listing said the item is in USA,and then the buyer finds out return shipping is an overseas address,this is false advertising and should be reported to Ebay.