How to get a refund when the seller's account was closed by eBay

[lamewing]

I have had a problem with a seller who acted in a very unstable manner. I tried to back out and ask for a refund since I did not trust the person. He refused and tried to play games regarding shipment dates, etc. Finally he started to use hate speech, slurs to my sexual orientation, and finally he threatened to come to my home and cause me harm.

eBay has since suspended his account, but he still has my payment. The eBay listing no longer exists and eBay didn't do anything to initial a refund after suspending his account. So, right now, I am out $290.00. Anyone know HOW I am supposed to get a refund at this point? I have emailed eBay, Paypal and have left messages in the forums. Do I need to contact my bank at this point? 

Thanks for your help.

[PayPal_Andy]

lamewing- I'm very sorry to hear about the troubles you're having with your seller.  As far as the whole "coming to your house and threatening bodily harm", I'm thinking you may want to contact law enforcement about that.  Just on general principal.

Now for recovering your money, my first question is, did you actually receive the item you paid for?  If you did, then getting your money back will be somewhat hard.  On the other hand, if you didn't receive your item, you can file a dispute and we'll take a look at things. There is a chance we could recover your money for you.  You could certainly go to your bank and see what your options are there, but if you did receive the item, the seller (for good or bad) should get paid. 

Andy

[rsummers]

Hi Lamewing. Sorry to be the bearer, but I'm waiting 4+ weeks for a refund through Paypal for an item that my seller never even shipped. Paypal simply doesn't care what common sense dictates as practical response time. They will keep contacting the seller's bank until they get the money, because they don't want to abide by their own "buyer protection" policy unless it benefits them - which is when the seller has money in their account.

None of the dispute reps agree on the amount of time this should take. Trust me, I've spoken to 6 of them. Not only that, but Paypal has just this week changed the workflow for getting a rep on the phone. Now suddenly, you have to wait for 10+ minutes to get someone even with a web pin. The line says "due to extreme call volume" but that's a lie. They reappropriated their resources away from disputes and claims and don't want to invest time and service in that anymore.

Case in point - i politely asked to speak to a supervisor about my account, and they've left me on hold until I hang up.

It's sad really. Amazon, here I come. But I do hope you get your resolved quickly!

[lamewing]

@rsummers

I got a full refund in 5 days by addressing the problem to eBay and not Paypal. I think the fact that the moron seller sent threatening emails through eBay's message center helped. eBay also suspended the seller's account due to his actions. Of course the moron (who claims to be a "detective") calls me up twice and leaves messages on my voicemail threatening me again and again. Not too bright. I am taking a trip to the police department tomorrow..

I agree. I gave up on selling on eBay a few weeks ago. No more. I am about ready to just close my eBay and Paypal accounts compeletly due to this mess. eBay is not what it once was and Paypal was worthless in this situation.