Monday, 22 February 2010
Warning eBay Sellers, £9400 from my Paypal account
The picture is just for window dressing and to make me remember happier days, but the WARNING is for real.
I recently listed a business for sale on eBay and just as the listing was about to end I got a bid. The person bidding had a minus 1 feedback rating which immediately made me suspicious that it was not a serious bid. I contacted eBay as I was concerned I would get charged the commission fee on this substantial listing. I was told so long as I opened and successfully resolved a dispute with the "buyer" (i.e. prove he had not bid with the intention to purchase) that I would not be charged. I contacted the "buyer" and had no response as expected so opened the dispute, He had even marked the item as paid! I then had to wait a few days before I could close the dispute and get credited for the fee which was just over £3400. This I did successfully but my account still showed the fee, another call to eBay and I am assured by the operator the money has been credited and indeed it did then show as a credit in my account.
The next week I get a notification from Paypal and eBay have taken the fee! despite being told this would not happen. Another call to eBay and I am told the fee will be paid back to my Paypal account and I should keep an eye on it.
Nothing has changed by the end of the day so I call them back, a different operator tells me it could take up to 30 days to get my money back!
It just gets worse as the fee has been charged to my credit card (no cash in Paypal account) and now I am going to get a bill for the full amount from my credit card company. So I get on the web and find email addresses for eBay (check out www.Screw-Paypal.com for info). Armed with the e-mail addresses on Friday I write to all of them to complain.
Monday and nothing not 1 reply, shows how much they care! Back on the phone and I ask for a manager (always do this first not last like I did), she was very helpful and I am now keeping my fingers crossed that I will get refunded to my Paypal account a bit quicker, but no guarantees.
So a quick call to my credit card and they are very understanding and I should not get charged any interest as they agree to freeze the payment until it can be repaid.
So let this be a warning, if you list a high value item on eBay and some idiot bids on it who has no intention of purchasing you will get billed for the fee. I still do not understand how they can take the money after the credit has been confirmed, but that is how they work. They have my money sat in their bank account for up to 30 days and I am left trying to sort it out.
I was also told by the first eBay operator that the person who bid was "not the kind of person we need on eBay" and that his account would be investigated and likely closed. Yes you guessed right, he still has his account and has already NOT BOUGHT an item from another seller. You can't even leave bad feedback anymore as a seller!
Be careful out there!
(c) Gordon Bloomfield 22nd February 2010
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