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eBay Screwing buyers again - Changes to Buyer Protection Effective Today

S

Shadow Lord

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FYI

Timelines for opening an eBay Buyer Protection case have changed to expedite issue resolution

Starting October 26, 2013, the timeline for opening an eBay Buyer Protection case will change from 45 days from payment date to no later than 30 days after actual (or latest estimated) delivery date. This timeline change will give all buyers, domestic and international, the same amount of time after actually receiving or expecting to receive their item, to open an eBay Buyer Protection case. See the policy for details.
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I am not sure why anyone would wait more than a few days to open a case but for those of you who wait until the last minute the last minute just changed.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Well, there can be some sellers who will drag their feet when answering a customer complaint.
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Not sure what you mean Chuck? All this would do is help those sellers: instead of stringing the buyer along for 45 days they now only have to string them along for 30 days and no more opportunity to file a calaim.
 
Well, the few times Ive had occasion to complain...


I did.


LOUDLY. :p

Once they wanted me to send the thing back... but by the time they replied I had already fixed it myself. I said 'no thanks'.
:rolleyes:
 
Chuck(G) said:
I think they're trying prod buyers into filing complaints promptly instead of letting things slide.
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I don't think so. At least my experience recently leads me to think eBay is trying to pull out of buyer portection as much as possible while still giving the illusion that it exists to promote sales through a sense of false safety.
 
leeb said:
Well, the few times Ive had occasion to complain...


I did.


LOUDLY. :p

Once they wanted me to send the thing back... but by the time they replied I had already fixed it myself. I said 'no thanks'.
:rolleyes:
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So do I but apparently some people let it drag out until the time period lapses. I mean you get your stuff, you inspect it, if there is a problem communicate and it wil lbe almost immediately apparent if the seller is willing to help. If he is taking a week to reply to you then you just file.
 
Read it again. They changed it from 45 days after payment date to 30 days after delivery date. This works out to the benefit of international buyers, where the item might take several weeks to get to them, wasting significant amounts of the "buyer protection" time just waiting for the item to be delivered.

In extreme cases, such as going to backwoods villages in third-world countries, a "First Class" international package might take 6 to 10 weeks to get delivered, so under the old rules, the 45-day-after-payment "buyer protection" would have already expired before the buyer even receives the item.

So, yes, if the seller and buyer are both in the USA and it only takes 2 or 3 days for the item to be delivered, then the buyer loses 12 or 13 days off of the old 45-days-after-payment rule. But most sellers only offer a 30-day money-back guarantee anyway, so those extra 2 weeks or so would've been a hassle to get something returned anyway, because you'd have to get eBay to rule in your favor against the seller, who would be arguing that 30 days is more than adequate to try out an item before deciding whether to keep or return it.
 
vwestlife said:
Read it again. They changed it from 45 days after payment date to 30 days after delivery date. This works out to the benefit of international buyers, where the item might take several weeks to get to them, wasting significant amounts of the "buyer protection" time just waiting for the item to be delivered.

In extreme cases, such as going to backwoods villages in third-world countries, a "First Class" international package might take 6 to 10 weeks to get delivered, so under the old rules, the 45-day-after-payment "buyer protection" would have already expired before the buyer even receives the item.
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I read that part but I see that to the benefit of sellers at the expense of buyers as well - although the unscrupulous ones (which I am okay with and which is why I did not point it out) for the most part. In the past international buyers like the ones you pointed out could/would claim item never arrived and the tracking number would show as expired or unupdated or whatever and eBay would pay them at the seller's expense. While this is bad for the unscrupulous buyers these guys deserve to be screwed and the harder the better!

vwestlife said:
So, yes, if the seller and buyer are both in the USA and it only takes 2 or 3 days for the item to be delivered, then the buyer loses 12 or 13 days off of the old 45-days-after-payment rule. But most sellers only offer a 30-day money-back guarantee anyway, so those extra 2 weeks or so would've been a hassle to get something returned anyway, because you'd have to get eBay to rule in your favor against the seller, who would be arguing that 30 days is more than adequate to try out an item before deciding whether to keep or return it.
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Lets be honest - this is the majority of cases for ebay.com. Most sellers don't sell internationally and don't want to deal with the headaches. As for the 30 day return - when was the last time you saw someone offer 30 day return policy. Heck I buy 99.9% vintage audio and computer gear and 99.999999999999999999999999% of the time it is "AS IS ALL SALES FINAL BLAH BLAH". So the policy mainly benefits eBay by getting rid of unscrupulous international buyers and screwing over US buyers with a shortened time.
 
It's mainly to protect U.S. buyers from Chinese sellers. Something I bought a few years ago didn't work, but it took so long to get here and then to get back as a return that it was too late to file a complaint. And of course there was no tracking to China, so "sorry, package never arrived, no refund possible". This is happening often enough to bring on a policy change at ebay.
 
GottaLottaStuff said:
It's mainly to protect U.S. buyers from Chinese sellers. Something I bought a few years ago didn't work, but it took so long to get here and then to get back as a return that it was too late to file a complaint. And of course there was no tracking to China, so "sorry, package never arrived, no refund possible". This is happening often enough to bring on a policy change at ebay.
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This is exactly what I mean: you waited to long to complain. You bough something, it didn't work, you and seller agreed to return fine. You return it, if by the 44th day from sale (under old policy) seller had not received it you open a case and that adds at least another 20 days to your claim. Total of 65 days should be good. I buy mainly components from China and it take any where from 13-18 days usually to get the stuff.

As far as tracking I don't see how the new policy makes any difference in that what so ever (i.e. if you did not have tracking before you still don't have tracking).
 
GottaLottaStuff said:
It's mainly to protect U.S. buyers from Chinese sellers. Something I bought a few years ago didn't work, but it took so long to get here and then to get back as a return that it was too late to file a complaint. And of course there was no tracking to China, so "sorry, package never arrived, no refund possible". This is happening often enough to bring on a policy change at ebay.
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I often buy parts from China. In fact I prefer to get things from there because of the no hassle business style. Everything has gotten here in 20-30 days. .... except the last one. Three items didn't arrive. The seller said they'd reship, so I'm assuming that I will still get the parts.

I have a distaste for whining and arguing, especially if it's me doing it. I think it's in poor taste. If I get screwed, I consider it my own shortcoming in choosing who I associate with (or buy from). My "luck" has been very good.
 
Oddly enough I never had a problem getting items from China (or other Asian countries) in working condition, its the local US sellers that give me a headache sometimes. Shipping from the UK is faster then I figured it would be.

I think I filed and won a dozen cases on ebay over the years (1000+ feedback) and it is always from sellers who never ship nor reply to emails. If your item is not marked as shipped in 10 days I start emailing wondering what is up and if I get no reply I file with ebay in a few days. There is no reason to wait it out. Filing a claim does not hurt the seller UNTIL you escalate it.
 
Unknown_K said:
Oddly enough I never had a problem getting items from China (or other Asian countries) in working condition, its the local US sellers that give me a headache sometimes. Shipping from the UK is faster then I figured it would be.

I think I filed and won a dozen cases on ebay over the years (1000+ feedback) and it is always from sellers who never ship nor reply to emails. If your item is not marked as shipped in 10 days I start emailing wondering what is up and if I get no reply I file with ebay in a few days. There is no reason to wait it out. Filing a claim does not hurt the seller UNTIL you escalate it.
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10 DAYS????

I wait 3. Then I ask 'has it been sent?' No response = immediate contact to Ebay. Giving 3 is plenty to cover the weekend and get it there Monday (will allow extra if holiday MO)...
When I decide I want something from Ebay, I dont wait to pay... I expect an appropriately timely shipment.
That's just how I roll :rolleyes:
 
There is always a lot of risk involved with buying online. Something does not work (100%), items get damaged in shipping and so on. As a buyer I like the eBay resolution process. As a seller I strongly dislike it. There are scammers out there who play the system and as a seller you always get the short end. :(
 
leeb said:
10 DAYS????

I wait 3. Then I ask 'has it been sent?' No response = immediate contact to Ebay. Giving 3 is plenty to cover the weekend and get it there Monday (will allow extra if holiday MO)...
When I decide I want something from Ebay, I dont wait to pay... I expect an appropriately timely shipment.
That's just how I roll :rolleyes:
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Some people use ebay to get rid of items they do not want trashed, not as a money making business. So I give people 10 days figuring they might need the weekend to make it to the post office.
 
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