Am I screwed?

[BergerKing22784]

So I bought a bat on ebay on August 30th. I paid on the 31st. I asked where the bat was on the 12th seller said he sent it priority and it should come the next day. As of yesterday still no bat so I opened a dispute with paypal. Seller provided me a confirmation # after I did that. I enter the # and it says "package accepted" on Sept 5th in Tracy, CA. What does that mean? It does not say the package final destination nothing, I have not recieved my bat is there any chance of me winning a claim?

Seller responded said he did his part and because I didnt get insurance it is my problem now and not his. I am kind of annoyed because he mailed it from his work office so I have a feeling that plays a large part on this missing bat. He did not go to the actual post office and have it mailed.

I have requested of the seller he refund my money until the bat shows up, not sure if he will accept that.

So my questions. What are my options and chances of getting my money back? If I claim it via paypal. Will paypal side with me?

Also if I call my credit card company and dispute the charge if they side with me do they take the money back from pay pal and make it their problem? I have a feeling if this to be the case pay pal would side with me because now the money would becoming out of their pocket.

Does this confirmation # that to me proves nothing to where it was to be shipped or nothing. ?



Please help,

Thanks,
Brian

[ahuff]

Re: Am I screwed?

I would recommend taking the tracking number to your local post office. I believe they can look up what address it went to, specifically.

As far as the protection. How much was the bat? The reason I ask, is that if it is over $200 or $250 they have to provide a signature confirmation. If it is under that, I believe the tracking number is suitable for the seller.

Others, please correct me if I'm wrong.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Am I screwed?

The tracking number seems valid. PayPal will not refund money, if the tracking number is good. Sounds like the seller is telling a story, as to when the bat was originally sent. Sit tight. I bet you will get the bat tomorrow. Call you post office, most likely that is where it is.

[MRMusial]

Re: Am I screwed?

So I bought a bat on ebay on August 30th. I paid on the 31st. I asked where the bat was on the 12th seller said he sent it priority and it should come the next day. As of yesterday still no bat so I opened a dispute with paypal. Seller provided me a confirmation # after I did that. I enter the # and it says "package accepted" on Sept 5th in Tracy, CA. What does that mean? It does not say the package final destination nothing, I have not recieved my bat is there any chance of me winning a claim?

Seller responded said he did his part and because I didnt get insurance it is my problem now and not his. I am kind of annoyed because he mailed it from his work office so I have a feeling that plays a large part on this missing bat. He did not go to the actual post office and have it mailed.

I have requested of the seller he refund my money until the bat shows up, not sure if he will accept that.

So my questions. What are my options and chances of getting my money back? If I claim it via paypal. Will paypal side with me?

Also if I call my credit card company and dispute the charge if they side with me do they take the money back from pay pal and make it their problem? I have a feeling if this to be the case pay pal would side with me because now the money would becoming out of their pocket.

Does this confirmation # that to me proves nothing to where it was to be shipped or nothing. ?



Please help,

Thanks,
Brian

In my experience, "package accepted" indicates that a package with that tracking number has made it to the post office so I'd probably spend my time trying to get the post office to locate it.

As for a PayPal claim, I believe it's up to the seller to prove it was delivered. With insurance though, not sure how that work work. In my particular cases, the tracking number showed data was electronically transmitted to the postal service but that was it. Since the sellers obviously couldn't prove it was delivered, PayPal decided in my favor.

Also, I would file the claim and not rely on the seller refunding your money - or worse - being strung along to the point where you miss the PayPal filing deadline and have no recourse.

Finally, if you have a credit card company that's willing to stand behind you - AMEX does (or used to at least) - I'd call them too. As long as you get your money back for an item you haven't legitimately received, you'll have to let them sort it out.

I think you have some time to see what the post office turns up, but I'd use every avenue to protect myself ... my two cents anyway.

[skipcarayislegend]

Re: Am I screwed?

I have to side with the seller if he is indeed being truthful, which I'm thinking he is given that he's provided you with a tracking number--which is showing up as vaild in the USPS tracking system. You paid via Paypal and did not request insurance. I don't follow how he should be held responsible for this. If your bat gets lost (sounds like it's just held up somewhere - packaged "accepted" and "delivered" are two different entries), how is that the seller's fault? You paid, he shipped, end of story. Mistakes happen. The middle man loses the ball sometimes and everyone gets screwed. But we shouldn't automatically bury the seller because of it. My money's on your bat showing up soon. Hopefully it will.

[MRMusial]

Re: Am I screwed?

...we shouldn't automatically bury the seller because of it. My money's on your bat showing up soon. Hopefully it will.

For the record, I'm not trying to bury the seller. I just tried to provide my experience, which is obviously slightly different than his, so he knows what some of his options are for any eBay/PayPal transaction. At least, in this case, the seller has brought the package to the post office. I'm in agreement with you though - hopefully it turns up soon.

[kneerat]

Re: Am I screwed?

I feel your pain... same thing happened to me recently, but worse. Read my blog entry I did for today. It's like losing bad at poker, except you have no chance at winning.

http://gavelchat.sportscollectorsdigest.com/Postal+Theft+In+My+Town.aspx

[skipcarayislegend]

Re: Am I screwed?

For the record, I'm not trying to bury the seller. I just tried to provide my experience, which is obviously slightly different than his, so he knows what some of his options are for any eBay/PayPal transaction. At least, in this case, the seller has brought the package to the post office. I'm in agreement with you though - hopefully it turns up soon.

Gotcha. I know there has to be some buyer protection, but it seems to me that Paypal sometimes goes too far and things become too black and white.

[MRMusial]

Re: Am I screwed?

I feel your pain... same thing happened to me recently, but worse. Read my blog entry I did for today. It's like losing bad at poker, except you have no chance at winning.

http://gavelchat.sportscollectorsdig...n+My+Town.aspx

Ouch.

Sorry, Chris.

[Spiezio23]

Re: Am I screwed?

Isn't the point of insurance for mail to recover the funds to the seller so they can offer a full refund? A seller would rather just say tough, I got my money it's not my problem?

I've never had that mindset and can't really understand that method of doing business but some just want money and don't care about taking care of the customer to the very end of the transaction.

[halofan]

Re: Am I screwed?

Pretty sad a seller would be like that, when I sell something specially a high value I always add the signature confirmation. But everything I ship is with delivery confirmation and insurance if the buyer pays for it. Seller can't be responsible for buyer not paying for the insurance. As a buyer if I buy something over $50 I always pay for the insurance. I only had one problem with a seller, item was damaged in which I paid for the Insurance but, the seller never insured it and I filed a paypal claim and I won because when they pull up the record and see that I paid for the insurance and the seller had no proof for the insurance, I won the case.
When someone buys from me, I treat there stuff the way I would want my stuff to be treated and I go the extra mile to make sure its packaged carefully. If a buyer emailed me, I wouldnt act like "I got your money, your item is shipped..bye" I would look into it, show some concern. Everyone's different

[BergerKing22784]

Re: Am I screwed?

Well I have a feeling I will lose the case because that he came up with some confirmation # that to this point tells me nothing, but I mean right now I am out $52 bucks and out a bat. So I figure throw out a claim there worst thing that can happen is I am still out $52 bucks and no bat but if I some how winthe case I get my money back.

My question still has not been answered though. If I call my credit card company and dispute the charge as I have no item to show for what I purchased, if they side with me, does the credit card company go to pay pal to recoupe their money or do they just take the loss to keep a loyal customer happy? If they go to pay pal for the money I have a feeling pay pal would be more tempted to side with me so they do not lose their money? Any thoughts or answers?

[otismalibu]

Re: Am I screwed?

Seller can't be responsible for buyer not paying for the insurance.

The insurance is for the seller. Who makes the claim if something gets damaged? I'm pretty sure it's the person who shipped it. If I buy any item from ABC online shop and it arrives damaged, they don't say "You should have paid for insurance." I either get my money back or get a replacement.

When I was an eBay newb, I used to buy insurance. Then the package would arrive with no proof of insurance. Now I never buy it.

And if I sell anything over a certain amount, I just automatically insure it at my own expense.

[MRMusial]

Re: Am I screwed?

Well I have a feeling I will lose the case because that he came up with some confirmation # that to this point tells me nothing, but I mean right now I am out $52 bucks and out a bat. So I figure throw out a claim there worst thing that can happen is I am still out $52 bucks and no bat but if I some how winthe case I get my money back.

My question still has not been answered though. If I call my credit card company and dispute the charge as I have no item to show for what I purchased, if they side with me, does the credit card company go to pay pal to recoupe their money or do they just take the loss to keep a loyal customer happy? If they go to pay pal for the money I have a feeling pay pal would be more tempted to side with me so they do not lose their money? Any thoughts or answers?

I'm not sure why you think you'd lose the claim when, IMO, you hit the nail on the head ... "the confirmation number tells me nothing". I'm not saying for certain that you'd win, but based upon the fact that delivery can't be proven it seems to me you stand a pretty good chance of having it decided in your favor (all other burying the seller aside, that is).

As for your credit card company, why the concern as to how they handle it? That's between some combination of them, PayPal and the seller. I'd like to think they'd be acting as your advocate and should be doing the legwork for you - so let them.

Again, just my two cents...

[MRMusial]

Re: Am I screwed?

When I was an eBay newb, I used to buy insurance. Then the package would arrive with no proof of insurance. Now I never buy it.

I've had that happen often too so, like you, I stopped buying it since it appeared the sellers weren't purchasing it anyway...

Luckily, I didn't have anything broken or lost.