Finally, somone who knows the answer to your query - for the next time, anyway.
You HAVE to open a "dispute" with the seller on BOTH EBAY and PAYPAL on day 44!
Oh, they don't tell you that, but that is the worst-kept secret of this system. THEN, if the item arrives, you simply close the dispute, probelm solved. The seller MIGHT seem a little annoyed...but it's an ACT! They know exactly why you are opening the dispute, and that you will, of course, close it when (if) your item(s) arrives.
Buying a lot from China, ( a 100 items total, or so), this as happened to me exactly once. The other 2-3 times it HAD been a scam! The second (OR the first!) item did NOT show up, then neither did the second...therefore, statistical probability says, without ANY doubt, that your secound item was either 1) sent to the wrong address, or 2) not sent at all. And since you went over you address with the seller (right?), it has to be 2). You've caught a thief. After 20 days, no items, time to excalate to a claim. Of course, it hose items ever DO show...it's actually FUN to be the guy/girl that contacts tye seller and says, well. guess what, and pays. That happene to me ONCE - and they were, of coure, very gracious. But the system is what the system is. And used by honest folks, it usually works.
I find Paypal has been MUCH better than Ebay on the few times I have felt ripped off. That is probably because I use paypal for MANY things, not just Ebay....and I have bought several "medium-ticket" items with no hassles ($500-$1500)...
And so, I believe that they have refunded me a couple times on some fairly small purchases ($10-$20) out of their own pocket. However, by then I am 100% that the seller is running a scam. Here's what they do. They sell a popular item that many sellers sell. Take, for instance suglasses-cams or cell-phone batteries. You wait 30 days...still no item, you contact seller, and you are polite, and you get an overly effusive apology, ( let's face it...it's insincere sounding; "obsequiosness", really.)
Honestly, I often seem to get my parcel then the next week...no harm, no foul...weird selective memory combined with 5-6 weeks being a modal delivery time, it seems. But, in the last few years, I OFEN seem to get suckered into waiting just little longer: "it's in customs", "it will be there soon friend, don't worry! ", blah blah blah.
But it doesn't come, and unless it's a big deal item, I usually lose track of the fact that 45 days has passed. Other things are arriving from other sites etc etc...you get the picture. Oh well, ultimately I blame myself of letting them get away with it.
But no more. I'm sick of it. Most Chinese sellers are good, they really are. But do not be fooled by high trade numbers. Anyone can build up literally thousands of seller account with high numbers. Ebay can't stop it, it legal.
So, on those cases when it's even too late to launch a dispute, I suggest calling them both up, letting them know what happened, and that yeah it's too launch a dispute but (guess what?), lol you and I are gonna waste some time here on the phone while I grumble about your policy, lol. yes, "time is money", so at the next staff meeting, pass it up!
One day they will HAVE to realize that 45 days is TOO SOON - I shop more at DXdotCOM than Ebay for that very reason.
And yeah, I use paypal, so I don't expect anyone to edit, censor or remove this post, Paypal. I'm a Paypal advisor of sorts TOO, an unofficial one - I have gotten dozens, if not hundreds, of folks set up on it, and for the most part, I like and repsect your service: I do not encourage or advise ANYONE to even THINK of making a false claim!!
Nor would I, even for a minute, competmplate doing that...lol.
My grandfather always apparently said "nahh...If I steal somethin;, it's be worth millions!
He was actually a rumrunner that disappeared offf Belize in 1928, hahaha.
I just lost money on a couple pairs of camera glasses....but got 5 pair that worked, and 4 that did not.
But it put me right off Ebay. and their 45 day limit - it's too short.
There: my tuppence worth turned into 50P!
