Ebay help please

im getting hassled by an ebay seller about an item my sister has bout from him. he keeps emailing me to see if this has been delivered but i can't say whether it has as i do not live with my sister, and she went to miami on monday and won't be back until mid october and doesn't have a phone number over there. the seller is saying that until i leave him positive feedback paypal won't release the money to him. is this right?

i told him that i certainly would not leave feedback til i was sure this had beed delivered and asked that he pass me the royal mail delivery reference thing so i could check on line that there was a signature to say this has been received. even then i would need to be sure the item arrived in working order before leaving feedback .

i had a problem a few months ago where my sis bought a dress, this was delivered to my house and i left positive feedback but then i was informed that this was a fake but the seller wouldn't do anything about it as i had left positive feedback.

the new seller guy has today told me that he sent the item first class, with only proof of postage prefix number and not a delivery reference (his email to me today ) 'There is no tracking number as it was sent by standard first class delivery which was stated in the listing of how it would be posted however there is a session prefix number on the proof of postage receipt the number is 2-xxxxxxxx why can you not tell if it got posted or not it came in a big parcel. thanks'

i mean ffs this is a £400 item and he sent it with a damn stamp!!! (which she paid £15 postage for!)

is there any way i can check this has been delivered with the session prefix number??? he's really doing my head in now with the emails but i can see why he is desperate to know if it was delivered if it is the case that paypal won't release the money.

can anyone help??

the seller is saying that until i leave him positive feedback paypal won't release the money to him. is this right?

No, it isn't.

As for the harassment, tell him that unless he ceases to harass you you'll be reporting him to Ebay, to PayPal, to his own ISP and to the police. This is none of your concern and he has no right to be mailing you about anything.

Why would she buy something from eBay and then go out of the country for nearly 2 months?

By the way yes it is correct, sellers only have access to the money once positive feedback is given. A ridiculous rule. Although I think if no feedback is left after 20 or so days then the money is released but he probably doesn't want to wait that long.

Can't you go round to her house and see if a note has been left, or if its been left with a neighbour? The seller isn't doing anything wrong, if anything he's providing good service as concerned about whether she has got it.

Can't you go round to her house and see if a note has been left, or if its been left with a neighbour?

That wouldn't help. The mere fact that it has arrived does not prove that his sister is happy with the service, so he still can't supply positive feedback.

I wasn't aware of this change, so thanks for correcting me; I agree with you it's a bloody silly rule. It is also, quite probably, an illegal one. Just because someone isn't entirely happy with my service does not give them the right to refuse to pay me, and it most certainly does not give Paypal the right to refuse to do so.

Why would your sister pay £400 for an item that she can’t take delivery of and which she will not see for another month and half?

Look at it from the sellers point of view, they have potentially lost £400 and you are wanting them to wait for a month and half for an answer.

I'm an ebayer seller and have never had a problem withdrawing funds from Paypal before feedback has been received.. in fact on Ebay's help section, it says you can remind buyers to leave feedback but if they don't want to there's nothing you can do - how can purchase costs be dependent on feedback if that's the case?

That wouldn't help. The mere fact that it has arrived does not prove that his sister is happy with the service, so he still can't supply positive feedback.

 

I wasn't aware of this change, so thanks for correcting me; I agree with you it's a bloody silly rule. It is also, quite probably, an illegal one. Just because someone isn't entirely happy with my service does not give them the right to refuse to pay me, and it most certainly does not give Paypal the right to refuse to do so.

Exactly, also if the buyer doesn't log in to eBay for a month you don't get paid!

There is a cut off point though, I think its 30 days but if you've sold lots of stock and don't get paid for 30 days it could well send you under.

As always, it's protect the buyer even if it means sodding the perfectly good seller (who pay the eBay fee's).

Back to the original question, I still cant see the sense in ordering something from eBay then going out of the country for 2 months. Its asking for trouble.

it was paid for 21/08 so i guess this would have been received before she went away. however i do not know for sure, and certainly don't know what condition it was in if it was received.

i believe it was a gift for her boyfriend as it is something she definitely wouldn't buy for herself.

given the value of the item common sense suggests sending it recorded delivery, not paid with stamps!

it was paid for 21/08 so i guess this would have been received before she went away. however i do not know for sure, and certainly don't know what condition it was in if it was received.

 

i believe it was a gift for her boyfriend as it is something she definitely wouldn't buy for herself.

 

given the value of the item common sense suggests sending it recorded delivery, not paid with stamps!

From the sellers point of view, its common sense that if you order something worth £400 you would arrange to be in at the time of delivery.

Although yes, you would have expected recorded delivery on that.

By the way yes it is correct, sellers only have access to the money once positive feedback is given.

I've auctioned bits and bobs over the past 3 months, and always got £ access straight away (incl. transfer to 'outside' acc) upon accepting any pending payment in my PP control panel, completely independently of eBay feedback.

Some of the buyers I've collected payments from (and transferred since) in late June'09 still haven't left me any feedback yet!

When was this introduced? Does it only apply to businesses/powersellers?

I've auctioned bits and bobs over the past 3 months, and always got £ access straight away (incl. transfer to 'outside' acc) upon accepting any pending payment in my PP control panel, completely independently of eBay feedback. Some of the buyers I've collected and transferred payments from in late Jun still haven't left me any feedback yet!

I'm not sure when, but I recently sold a website and couldn't get access until the buyer left positive feedback.

Maybe its just certain categories.

can i track delivery from a session prefix number ... has anyone successfully done this?

ive had another email from him saying he has a delivery reference somewhere, but in an earlier message (as copied into my original post) he states this wasn't recorded delivery because in his listing he said it was £15 for standard first class delivery not recorded ...