Anyone in Rockford IL want to help me resolve an eBay issue?

I purchased some gaming miniatures on eBay from a lady back in August, I paid for insurance. PayPal and eBay were no help even though I filed in a timely manner because they said that she shipped the item. Well, whether she had or hadn't (I actually do believe she did) now that the package never made it to me it's time for the insurance to kick in. I believe this lady doesn't want to be bothered with actually filing for the insurance, and the 180 USPS deadline is looming, I'd REALLY like some help getting either my package (which if she did mail it and she probably did is long gone) or my money back, I'm entitled to one or the other. My options are for her to refund the money (which she will get back if she actually files the insurance paperwork EVER) or to sue her in small claims court. I believe I can have someone file the small claims court claim for me, and I'm actually prepared to spend what little I can spare to get justice in this case. I'm really frustrated with this whole situation, people who can't honor their eBay commitments shouldn't be allowed on there, but eBay is much more lax with deadbeat sellers than with deadbeat buyers. :-( If anyone can help, either by talking to this person on my behalf, or can perhaps help with advice (PayPal and eBay have both proven USELESS) please let me know. It's only $71.76 total but I couldn't exactly afford to just throw out the money.

The seller is handling this very poorly. Have you told her you will leave negative feedback if she doesn't handle the insurance claim? If she's been on eBay a while, that might have some leverage with her.

She should really refund your money immediately (that's what I've done when I had an insurance claim), mainly because the insurance will be paid TO HER. It's her responsibility to get you the refund.

Wouldn't small court costs be more than $71.76? I dunno.

I would contact the lady again; kindly and respectfully explain the situation (including your financial need for the $71.76), and as her to please file the insurance claim. Offer to talk with her on the phone (much better than e-mail for conveying niceties).

Hope you can recolve this.

It's too late to even leave negative feedback, eBay gives you 90 days. It's been closer to 165. I don't think that filing for small claims costs more than about $10-20. However I've already put in more of my time than the money's worth, just because it's a matter of principal, I have a legal, moral, ethical right to either have my money returned to me or to have the package. The package never turned up but according to her showed as delivered on the tracking on August 29th but that just means it was delivered to someone besides me since I never received it. PayPal's response to my claim was that she showed that she mailed it...but it's still her responsibility to file the insurance, >I< can't do it!

This person HAS a lot of positive feedback on her account, and I don't think she is trying to defraud me, she's just NOT following up on the insurance like she's supposed to. User ID babyskillet on eBay. It's SO frustrating. It'd almost be better if there were more negatives so it wouldn't look like I'm just making noise, but it's been over 5 months and the post office only has a 180 day limit to file for insurance. If she doesn't file the papers properly that's her fault, not mine, she's responsible. :-(

She has SUPER feedback, so the potential of a negative would be a strong motivation.

Why not email eBay and explain that it has taken this long because of the insurance and will they let you give feedback now.

Then, email or phone the seller and say "I've contacted eBay about leaving negative feedback ..."

As for small claims, it's really pretty simple if you're both in the same state and costs about what you said to file (varies by state). If you win, you get costs too.

It might throw a monkey wrench in that you're in different states. You have to show that you entered into the contract to purchase in your state, which shouldn't be hard...there are probably many precedents with eBay and jurisdiction.

From a legal standpoint, I think you are going to have a hard time proving you didn't get it. Consider what the judge sees: You saying it never made it, and her with proof of both shipping and delivery.

It would appear paying for insurance as a buyer is a waste of time.

Whether she shipped it does not seem to be the issue. It could have gone anywhere. If there is no proof of delivery why can't you get the paypal refund? I thought that was part of their 'buyer' protection scheme?

Lightmeup said:

It would appear paying for insurance as a buyer is a waste of time.

Whether she shipped it does not seem to be the issue. It could have gone anywhere. If there is no proof of delivery why can't you get the paypal refund? I thought that was part of their 'buyer' protection scheme?

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She apparently HAS proof of delivery. Unfortunately, there is no way to show it was misdelivered.

magic79 said:

She apparently HAS proof of delivery. Unfortunately, there is no way to show it was misdelivered.

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Without a signature, there is no proof of delivery. If there is not way to show it was misdelivered, then there also is no way to show it was delivered.

Lightmeup said:

Without a signature, there is no proof of delivery. If there is not way to show it was misdelivered, then there also is no way to show it was delivered.

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Not true... 'Delivery Confirmation' and 'Signature Confirmation' are two seperate options. With Delivery Confirmation, it's just updated via their electronic system and posted on USPS.com or with a post card for a bit more $$$.

Of all the things I've ever shipped out or had shipped to me, I've only had one damaged item... a crossover from a pair of AVI car audio speakers. The speakers and one crossover made it fine but there was a puncture through the box into one of the crossovers and it was completely demolished. I think it was hit by a fork lift. It's absurd that they delivered an obviously damaged package but I issued a refund to the buyer and I was reimbursed by USPS in less than two weeks (might have even been less than a week).

Either way, hope the deal gets squared out Nomad.

I wish you the best of luck in resolving this problem.

A couple of tips for the future.....

- Either party can file for insurance with USPS. I know this to be a fact since I've been through it. You can fill out your half of the form and mail it to the seller to file, or the seller can fill out their half and mail it to you to file. You'll also need the insurance number.

- Don't ever threaten anyone on ebay with negative feedback. It's considered FEEDBACK EXTORTION and they'll suspend you if it's reported.

nikon said:

- Either party can file for insurance with USPS. I know this to be a fact since I've been through it. You can fill out your half of the form and mail it to the seller to file, or the seller can fill out their half and mail it to you to file. You'll also need the insurance number.

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Come to think of it, that's absolutely true... or was true at the time of my claim. I had never been through such and the very nice helpful guy that worked nights at the 24 hour Post Office (yes, some of them are helpful) said the first thing the buyer and I needed to decide was who would file the claim... Just to make sure the person with the product was the person that filed the claim.

cratz2 said:

Not true... 'Delivery Confirmation' and 'Signature Confirmation' are two seperate options. With Delivery Confirmation, it's just updated via their electronic system and posted on USPS.com or with a post card for a bit more $$$.

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What I mean is that 'delivery confirmation' does not guarantee that the recipient actually received the item, only that the postman delivered it. Somewhere. It could have been left on the steps, and someone took it. It could have been delivered to the wrong address, etc. It's really useless. Only 'signature confirmation' proves that the recipient actually took possession of the item.

If this was a Paypal payment based on a credit card, file a chargeback with the credit card company.

why wait so long?

glockboy said:

why wait so long?

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Trusted the buyer to follow up, she's not that savvy apparently and thinks that the delivery date posted means it MUST have arrived in my hands. I was fooled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback too. Stupid me for waiting so long!

Also, it came out of my bank account...
AND eBay won't do anything, if she hadn't shipped at all it would be a different matter, trust me I tried those approaches, I should have stated so earlier.

-Michael

I am now beginning to think some fraud is going on. First off, she bought the insurance with stamps.com and you can only file for the claim if you're the seller, so I can't do anything there. Anyway, back to my suspicions of fraud...I suspect that the reason she refuses to file a claim MIGHT be that the package was returned to her and she has since resold it or kept it. Regardless, ALL I want is for this stupid woman to file for the stupid stamps.com claim and get me my money back. That she utterly refuses to FOR NO GOOD REASON infuriates me. It's become a matter of principle. So please, if someone can help me out here, even if it's only to mediate or talk some sense into this dense stupid woman so she'll just frikken file the frikken claim I'd really appreciate it.

-Michael

Nomad said:

I am now beginning to think some fraud is going on. First off, she bought the insurance with stamps.com and you can only file for the claim if you're the seller, so I can't do anything there. Anyway, back to my suspicions of fraud...I suspect that the reason she refuses to file a claim MIGHT be that the package was returned to her and she has since resold it or kept it. Regardless, ALL I want is for this stupid woman to file for the stupid stamps.com claim and get me my money back. That she utterly refuses to FOR NO GOOD REASON infuriates me. It's become a matter of principle. So please, if someone can help me out here, even if it's only to mediate or talk some sense into this dense stupid woman so she'll just frikken file the frikken claim I'd really appreciate it.

-Michael

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Well, you could always call up the Rockford Police Department. Worst they could say is that they won't/can't do anything. I had a trade set up for some car audio equipment (a risky business) where I was to send the guy some speakers and he was to send me an amplifier. He sent the amp the same day, and I sent the speakers two days later (which I told him was the earliest I could do it). Well, his package arrived a bit sooner than he expected, actually when I came back from the Post Office. I opened the amp box and there was a book on DOS 3.X in the box. I called the Post Office and got my package stopped, but I did manage to get ahold of the guy via phone (which he gave me via PM on another forum) and acted like I messed up the address or something and wanted to verify it. He gave me his phone number which didn't match the shipping address so I called the local police department. I think it was a relatively small college town in Georgia and they said they'd look into it... At least go by the address he gave to see what was there (in case it was just an abandoned house).

Silly thing is, he spent about $12 or $15 on shipping and I only had about $85 in the speakers.

Not sure what ever happened, but thought I'd mention it. You never know... might be a residence (or one of the residents) they suspect for something else and they could use this as an excuse to do whatever it is that they do.

Just a thought here, but before you get going on "Fraud", take a look at things from her position.

She sold you and item, received payment, shipped it and has record that it was delivered.

Could she not be thinking the same thing? "This guy is trying to pull a scam to get his money back and the item."

I know that thought would have crossed my mind, and it's certainly no less reasonable than you thinking she got it returned and sold it to someone else.

Further, from the insurance carrier's viewpoint, they have "proof" that it was delivered. I don't see any way you can put a case before them proving that it was misdelivered and you are entitled to the insurance claim.

I'm not saying it's "right", just what I think most of us would think if in their two positions.

It may be that fighting for "the principle" has lost on this one.

Let me repeat, clearly for y'all. According to the post office themselves DELIVERY CONFIRMATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE ITEM ARRIVED AT IT'S INTENDED DESTINATION. IT ONLY MEANS THAT IT WAS DELIVERED *SOMEWHERE*. (That's exactly what the lady managing the post office close to me told me, she told me that in this situation there SHOULD be a claim filed)