EBAY problem - what to do now? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Jane
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2015, 08:33:48 pm
content: I bought few pieces of CPU on ebay from a Chinese company. After I received them, I checked and they seemed being reballed, not brand new, as declared.I tried to solder 2 pcs and they did not work.Besides they were about 4 years old( according to the date on CPU).I informed the seller, they wanted me to return the CPU to them. It took about 2 weeks .AFter that I informed the seller that the goods is waiting for them at his post office( I traced the parcel) but I was told they did not received the goods yet.So I opened the case and Ebay promised to step in to help . It took for ebay about 2 weeks to reply like this( a part here)QuoteIs it worth appealing or going to Paypal?Thank you for your feedbacks

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2015, 08:45:09 pm
content: it's your only way to get your money back, so ?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 10, 2015, 08:53:51 pm
content: Yes you can go to paypal. Since the last year they offer 6 months protection. Recently I won the case which was opened after more than 3 months. Chinese seller shipped crap, promised proper replacement which never arrived. Then just refused to communicate.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2015, 09:06:56 pm
content: The scammers are counting on the fact that its not worth your time for a small refund if you put a strict monetary value on it. Punish them and defeat their crooked marketing model by pursuing the matter wth PayPal in any odd moments of spare time you have when you cant concentrate on more important stuff. Report back here for publicity, anything you can that wont compromise your case.

author: electrolust
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 01:12:42 am
content: Unfortunately, paypal and ebay claims to nothing at all to punish this type of seller. After paypal or ebay closes their account, they move on to the next of the dozens of accounts in their arsenal. It's still worth pursuing a case to get the refund, of course.The only way to punish these guys is to not order from Chinese sellers period. It's too bad that the bad guys end up hurting the sales of the good guys, but there's no way for us to tell them apart other than reviews outside of the ebay system. Perhaps a sticky post somewhere on this board, naming good/reputable Chinese sellers.It's personally never worth my time to order Chinese products direct if there is a US source (as I'm in US). The US source may ultimately be of Chinese manufacture and carry a markup, but it's worth it to me as the risk of going direct is high.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 09:08:04 am
content: I ordered lots of things from China these pas years, and I had lets say 1-2% of items not arriving at max ?and I always got my money back with paypal. so no the direct risk is really not that high.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 04:37:34 pm
content: Quote from: electrolust on November 11, 2015, 01:12:42 amThat's not true or did USED to be not true. At least within the US. Ebay has (or had?) a policy of kicking off sellers that they had at least two *substantiated* cases of fraud. Further, E-bay used to double check credit card names and account numbers, telephone numbers and addresses against their list of banned sellers in an effort to prevent to from opening a new account under a new name. That's also one of the reasons that E-bay INSIST that both buyers and sellers pay to and ship to the LISTED address of the other party. But I don't know how well that systems works with sellers located in China.I actually called and talked to an E-bay rep this morning concerning some of the new shady sales gimmicks that I'm seeing on there and they DO listen. It may take time for them to find a way to deal with these dishonest sellers but they are making an effort. But MOST buyers that have been cheated simply won't take the time to complain to E-bay and pursue the issue so sellers frequently get away with these kinds of thievery.

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 06:32:23 pm
content: All the phantom sellers on ebay is a real problem. None of them have any idea what they are actually selling because all the listings are done at corporate. You can't ask a question before you buy. BUY IN COINS is a typical corporate seller. I just got a batch of PT100 sensors with solid uninsulated wire. The listing shows insulated stranded wire and had bought a number of these before. They were a great sensor with insulated wires but uninsulated wires are totally useless in my application. Complaining does nothing. Enough negative and a phantom seller is just replaced with another.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 06:43:52 pm
content: I tried to buy a few cheap things from China. Mistake. It's not saving money if you don't get what you expected and the recourse is slim to none. While I am sure there a some nice folks there, the average purchasing experience for me is dismal (a generous term). Even the little things like pogo pins where you get 100 spring pins for $10 but they cost me $100 in time to figure out how bad they are.It is simply not worth the hassle. I spend a lot less time/money buying something ONCE.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 08:04:31 pm
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on November 11, 2015, 06:43:52 pmEh, it really depends on what it is. And it doesn't take but a few orders to figure out which sellers are good and which aren't. (For example, Tayda, which is actually Thai, is not as cheap as the others, but ships super fast and seems consistent in quality.)As for when I have gotten the wrong thing, 9 times out of 10, they tell you to just keep it, and they either send it again, or give a refund. I've found the vendors to be rather accommodating, since they don't want negative feedback.

author: SharpEars
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 08:36:30 pm
content: I just wanted to add: Always file a complaint with eBayimmediatelyfor a refund if anything goes wrong with a Chinese seller. If it's for parts not received, you get a refund. If it's for shitty/fake parts, keep the parts and make the seller suffer the refund (i.e., NEVER ship them back, unless it is an obvious genuine mistake on the seller's part and they are not out to screw people).For example: Any semiconductors you order from Chinese sellers are always, 100% of the time, fakes. So, punish them by asking if they are selling genuine parts (eBay will record your query) and if the seller says yes (also recorded): Buy the parts and immediately upon receipt (if you get any duds, half-working parts or they just turn out to be bad fakes) file for a refund saying that the parts are not genuine/non-functional. Then, keep the (shitty) parts and get your money back.If enough people did this, this plague of shitty half-working chips from China would end.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 08:44:11 pm
content: Quote from: Seekonk on November 11, 2015, 06:32:23 pmI completely agree with that. I've had much better luck buying straight from China than with buying from phantom sellers thatclaimto be in the US! Many of the Chinese sellers seem to be genuinely concerned with their reputation. STILL if I need a QUALITY item, I go to Digikey or other reputable supplier. I only buy cheap, disposable items that don't need very much quality, from China.Besides a fraudulent seller, the OP's main problem is that he waited too long before trying to resolve this via E-bay. But he's lucky in that he can still take this up with PayPal.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 09:16:16 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 11, 2015, 08:04:31 pmFor me, it's a matter of protecting my time. I don't want to hunt for the handful of good ones. I would rather pay a little more and either get it right or have easy and fast recourse.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2015, 09:52:18 pm
content: Well yeah, if it were just "a little" more I'd agree. But it's not. Many parts cost 20x less from China. I simply can't justify paying such a big premium for tinkering.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 04:30:08 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on November 11, 2015, 11:16:05 pmI was benefited by AliExpress' proactive fraud detection. A month or so ago, I decided to order from a brand new seller - I knew the risk, so I was going to go with someone with a longer history. But, a moment of shall we say "out of my good-heart". I thought if I avoided the guy because he is new and has no feedback, how would this new seller get any. So I decided to risk my $2 to give him a shot at getting his business going.A week (or so) later, I got an email from AliExpress "Order frozen due to suspicious seller activity." AliExpress examined the sellers shipping records, found it inadequate to show they are on the up and up, and AliExpress refunded me a week or so later. The seller is now deleted, and my money is back in my pocket. Had it been eBay, my $2 would have been gone and the experience would have been a lesson for me.

author: Jane
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 06:50:16 am
content: Thank you for your feedbacks.It was Broadcom CPUs. I think that problem of the money back guarantee is time. If I understood in a correct way I have ONLY 30 days to claim my money back from mypayment. Delivery from China( NOT express way) takes about 15-20 days. After the arrival ,when I inform the seller that the goods is faulty, he wants me to return the goods back. And now I must use either express delivery( very expensive ) or I must forget about that 30-day-money return or immediately open the case and ask money back - not very polite to the seller though .

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 07:33:31 am
content: Quote from: Rick Law on November 12, 2015, 04:30:08 amNo - paypal would have refund you, but you would have to ask for your money back, even if the seller is a ghost you get a refund if the seller doesnt answer to ebay.

author: Srbel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 07:46:04 am
content: I was advised to always open a dispute at 29th day, no matter what. Except, of course, if item has arrived and everything is OK.So, even if I know that shipping will take month and a half (for example), I should open a dispute after 29 days and inform the seller that I will wait for an item to arrive, but I opened a dispute just so I don't loose money back guarantee protection.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 07:49:28 am
content: Quote from: kripton2035 on November 12, 2015, 07:33:31 amRefund didn't happen when I ordered a 3.5 inch disk drive that came in a small 3x4 inch (there-about) envelop - with a small lump like a folded piece of chewing gum in the middle. So tracking shown item shipped and delivered. That was a few years back. Paypal was part of eBay then. The seller disappeared (self-closed, not kicked out) shortly after order. Web research I did later shown that it was a repeat offender who shows up a couple of Christmas ago taking advantage of Christmas shoppers.I only buy from established sellers on eBay; Whereas, by their action, AliExpress has given me more confident by far.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 09:29:21 am
content: Quote from: Srbel on November 12, 2015, 07:46:04 amI'm doing that too. but now paypal has more days to open a dispute than it was a year ago.

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2015, 09:31:30 am
content: I've had few problems on eBay and this is after ordering hundreds of items, many from China. Of the things that went wrong, only one time did I have to make a claim. I can remember two other times where an item appeared to be lost within the USPS itself and the seller refunded after one contact. One time the USPS lost it with a tracking number, in flight, it just never reappeared after going through a sort center. About $7 worth of stuff, I doubt anyone even stole it. It's probably stuck under a belt somewhere and will be found in 2072. The other time the sender completely put my address on the package incorrectly. It was delivered, tracking confirmed this, but to the wrong place, a high school, who had no idea where it was. Wish I could get them to find that, it would be nice since I bought the last freaking two of those on eBay (ADCMP580) and now the only place I can get them costs twice as much.(this is why I like eBay!)The one problem I can recall is a seller who sent 3 1.3" OLED displays and they never arrived (no tracking). About 35 days later I complained and the said they would reship (again, no tracking). After another 35 days and those did not arrive I asked for my money back, no reply after 3 days, I made a PayPal claim and after about 3 more days they refunded my money. None of the displays ever arrived so either both shipments were lost (not likely) or this was some sort of very low-rent fraud or stupidity on their part. Either way, PayPal fixed it pretty quickly.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 13, 2015, 08:23:26 am
content: Quote from: SharpEars on November 11, 2015, 08:36:30 pmBS, yes there are a lot of fakes but not nearly 100%. But there are some components which are impossible to buy genuine or really new, not recycled from e-waste.

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2015, 03:36:24 pm
content: A number of times I have been told I have to close my case before they can issue a refund. They must all go to the same ebay school!