Don't Count on eBay Staff to Help You

So I was looking for a higher heatsink for my thin and Silent Core 2 Duo Project (or Core 2 Quad!!!) and I found some interesting products from a company I never knew about: Dynatron.

Of course, as always, the usual thing, their products are not distributed in Canada for now so how do I get my hands on the products I am interested in?

eBay! This marvelous place again...

Dynatron-P12G-LAG775-3-2GHz-1U-Server-CPU-Heatsink-NEW

If the link is no longer active, I have a PDF available here to prove my claims:

Free Shippping

So the right item at the right price! I paid the full amount right away with PayPal.

The next day, I got the following message from the seller in my inbox:

Hi , thank you for your purchased , your order place on hold now , because you didn't pay the shipping , please make the payment $48.00 for the US Post Office Express Mail shipping , thank you .

What? wasn't it supposed to be free shipping???

I sent a Email to the seller:

Well, I already paid the invoice since the auction clearly stated free shipping to Canada (Worldwide):
US $24.95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping cost: To Canada -- FREE
USPS Global Express MailTM
Service to Canada
Ships to: Worldwide
Item location: Walnut, California, United States

His answer:

Hi please check the invoice we sent thank you

Let's take a break here and review the facts:
1- I purchased an Item at 24,95$ US with FREE shipping to Canada
2- I paid the amount of 24,95$ US right away to the seller
3- The seller still ask me to pay 48$ of shipping charges!!!

Now I don't know for you but 48$ for shipping such a small item is rather abusive but anyway, I don't have to pay because it's FREE shipping damn it!

So I contacted eBay on this matter because I felt this seller was breaking two rules:
1- listing surcharges
2- listing shipping.html

After searching around, I found the proper form and filled the information.

I got a nice answer from ebay:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to eBay's Customer Support. I am Lamont and I am
happy to assist you further with your concern about the shipping cost
for the item properly won. 

I understand your concern in this situation. Sometimes problems do arise
in completing an eBay transaction with your seller. In these situations,
I encourage you to maintain an open, professional dialogue with the
seller and to do whatever you can to resolve the issues. I've found that
one of the best ways to come to a mutually beneficial agreement with
your Seller is to give the Seller a telephone call. You can obtain a
Seller's phone number by clicking the link below:

http://search.ebay.ca/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9

You can also find this page by following the steps below:

1. Click the "Advanced Search" link at the top of any eBay page.

2. Click the "Find Contact Information" link that will appear on the
side of the page.

3. On the "Find Contact Information" page, enter in the User ID of the
member you wish to find and the Item number of your transaction with the
member.

For more serious disagreements, please consider the dispute resolution
service that is available to you and the Seller. If you'd like more
information concerning this option, please see the following eBay Help
page:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/dispute-res.html

In order to avoid similar situations in the future, please report any
selling offenses made by the seller. The following page provides a list
of these offenses and a links to report any of these violations:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/seller-rules-overview.html

Also, in my experience, one of the best resources available to you is
the advice of other eBay Members. The easiest way to ask other members
for some advice is to go to our Q&A Board and ask for tips on how to
handle your situation. Chances are one or more of our users have
experienced what you're experiencing and can assist you. This Q&A board
can be accessed at this link:

http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jspa?forumID=9

You can also reach the Q&A board and many other services provided to
assist you by clicking on the "site map" link found at the top of any
page on the site.

I appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.

Kind regards,

Lamont
eBay Customer Support

In case you haven't noticed, all they did was encourage me to maintain an open, professional dialogue with the seller and to do whatever I can to resolve the issues.

WoW! That helped! thanks a lot eBay... Case Closed!

No not really, I am just being sarcastic. I am good at that.

So I replied to this fantastic email (I wasn't sure I'll get a reply):

Thanks for NOT helping me. Can't you see that I already contacted the seller and he keeps asking me to pay an outrageous 48$ just for shipping? Remember that the listing said FREE shipping to Canada.
 
I'm not going to give him a phone call and pay long distance fee...

Instead of sending me automated email about what I can do, YOU should warn the seller or contact him about that.
 
Once again, I get the feeling you won't do anything...

And they answered the following:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to eBay's Customer Support. My name is Cara, I
appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your shipping price
concern.

Your business is important to us. We wouldn't want you to be
inconvenienced in anyway. We apologize for this incident with your
trading partner and would want to assure you that we will be with you in
every step to resolve this.

The Seller is responsible for determining the shipping and handling
charges on his or her auctions. eBay encourages Sellers to clearly
describe the item and the shipping and delivery terms in the listing to
avoid possible confusion.

Before bidding on an auction, please be sure to contact the Seller with
any questions you might have that are not directly answered in the
auction's description. Understand that, once a bid is placed, the Bidder
is entering into an agreement with the Seller to purchase the item,
which most often means incurring shipping charges and may include
handling fees.

Once again, I can truly understand the frustration caused by this type
of incident.  However, I must inform you that eBay cannot be directly
involved in disputes between buyers and sellers.  We simply offer our
site as a venue where buyers and sellers can meet and transact in an
organized setting. 

Please let me remind you that refusing to purchase an item may result in
negative feedback, as well as an Unpaid Item Reminder against your
account if the Seller applies for a Final Value Fee credit.

For more information on our Unpaid Item program, please see the
following eBay page:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/unpaid-item.html

I also urge you to leave appropriate feedback for this user via our
Feedback Forum:

http://pages.ebay.ca/services/forum/feedback.html

You can also reach the Feedback Forum by clicking the "Community" tab at
the top of most eBay pages, and then "Feedback Forum" near the top of
the Community page.

As always, my goal is to help you with your questions as quickly and
accurately as possible. I appreciate your patience and understanding
regarding this matter and wish you continued success on eBay.

Regards,

Cara
eBay Trust and Safety

And here is my reply:

Like you said:
 
> The Seller is responsible for determining the shipping and handling
> charges on his or her auctions. eBay encourages Sellers to clearly
> describe the item and the shipping and delivery terms in the listing to
> avoid possible confusion.
>
> Before bidding on an auction, please be sure to contact the Seller with
> any questions you might have that are not directly answered in the
> auction's description.
 
 
I didn't need to contact him before my purchase, SHIPPING CHARGES WERE CLEARLY STATED IN THE AUCTION (and still are):
 

Shipping costs:	To Canada -- FREE USPS Global Express MailTM Service to Canada (more services)
Ships to:	Worldwide
Item location:	Walnut, California, United States
Quantity:	8 available

 
NOW THERE IS 2 ISSUES HERE:
1- Seller is asking me to pay more
2- Seller is asing for excessive shipping charges of 48$ (for such a small, low weight and inexpensive item)
 
Do you really think I would have purchased this item otherwise? I can get the same item from another seller at the same price and shipping around 15$
 
Now tell me what is my fault in this case and why does the seller has the right to break YOUR own eBay rules? Tell me.
 
 
Can't you at least cancel this transaction and warn the seller?

So that's it for now. I'll keep you posted when I'll get an answer.

I can already feel this is getting nowere. Where are the sanctions they told me about in THEIR policies?

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

• Listing cancellation

• Limits on account privileges

• Account suspension

• Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings

• Loss of PowerSeller status

Comments

[GHI!!!]

After 10 years of buying and selling online through eBay our experience has always been without fail that communication directly with eBay in any of their provided forms is like playing handball without a wall!! You hit the ball out and wait for it to come back and it never does!

eBay does provide a dispute form were you can report your grievances with this dealer and chances are very likely that you will have your money refunded. Good luck.

GHI!!!