I paid for my item which was never received.

[BiteeSize]

Hi, I wondered if anybody using paypal could offer me some information.

I saw an iPhone being advertised on ebay as an auction. I contacted the seller, and we were able to agree for him to sell it to me for £375 (best offer) however as he did not have a best offer option, he needed to close the auction to stop others bidding. I paid for the phone immediately via paypal, and he has said that he sent the phone. Realistically, it would have been ideal to post the phone with recorded delivery, but he claimed he always sends items with royal mail first class and has never had any problems. Typically, he does now!

I have contacted him to inform him that over a week later, my phone still has not arrived and expressing that he must issue me a refund. Evidently, he is liable for not sending such an expensive item with recorded post as he does not have a tracking number, and the post office have also told him that they cannot give any information without this code.

He is adament that he is 'in the same boat' as me as he will now have lost out, and although I appreciate this, it is his fault for not covering himself with postage. He seems to be reluctant to offer my refund, so I have set up a dispute via paypal.

What I would like to know is, what are my chances of receiving my refund? It is a LOT of moneywhich I cannot afford to let slip away. Also, what is the standard procedure? How long does a refund usually take? I understand that the dispute can take upto twenty days for us to resolve the issue, but if he still does not agree, what happens next? Can he get away with not refunding my money?

I would appreciate as much knowledge and advise that people are willing to offer. Thanks in advance.

[kernowlass]

It depends how you paid.

Did you pay via send money > goods option or

send money > gift / family friends or services option?

[BiteeSize]

I definitely selected payment for goods! Is this a good or bad thing?

[kernowlass]

No thats a good thing.

If you paid for an item using the "goods" option and you have not received your item and it was a physical item that is sent in the post then you should be covered with buyer protection.

You have up to 45 days to file a dispute for item not received via the resolution tab in your paypal account > put in what has happened and give the seller a few days to do a cleared refund > if not then escalate the dispute to a claim.

Then paypal gives the seller 10 days to provide a tracking number that proves delivery of the item to you and if not then you should get a refund....if the seller does not respond or refund then paypal will refund under buyer protection.

[BiteeSize]

Perfect! Thank you so much for your help. I have filed a dispute but the seller has not responded on paypal, instead he is sending me messages on ebay expressing how reluctant he is to issue my refund. I told him that he needs to respond but will only wait a couple of days before escalating the issue to paypal.

There is no tracking number for him to provide as he carelessly did not use recorded mail to send my phone; he chose to use first class royal mail.

You have been extremely helpful. I feel much better about the situation now as I can rest assured I will receive my refund, even if it does take a few weeks.

[BoogieBoogie]

And what if it was sent via family/friend option to avoid fee??

[kernowlass]

@BoogieBoogie

To send or receive a friends / family payment for goods is against paypal rules and can lead to the buyer OR sellers paypal account being limited.

Also you have no buyer protection as no goods should have been purchased, you just sent a ''gift'' of money to someone.

[mrnouz]

hey!! thx for the helpful information.

would like to ask, that im having th same problem

the seller posted a tracking number, which was fake, and he doesn't not answer my messages.

what can i do? and what will happen to him?

[PayPal_Donna]

Hi mrnouz,

Welcome to the PayPal community.

You should still be able to file a dispute for this payment if you paid using PayPal.

Please follow the steps in the following link to do this: goo.gl/FeBcwV.

-Donna

[aidan40]

Can I ask what the sellers name was, because I am looking into the exact same problem for myself