Have you ever made a dispute? (WARNING: LONG)
By firecracker
@sacmom (14192)
United States
March 25, 2012 1:36pm CST
What kind of a dispute was it? Did you win?
I made a PayPal dispute recently. I didn't want to, but the seller left me no choice. I never received the item I ordered nor did I get refunded for it.
After placing the order I received the usual confirmation. In that confirmation it stated I should receive my package anywhere from 4-7 days. Great!
I waited for my package to arrive. After the 7th day passed I waited some more...
and some more...
and some more...
I called the seller about 2 weeks after I made my purchase. The seller sent me an email stating it would be sent out the next day. Awesome, I thought! I can't wait! But still, I waited even more...
After not receiving it I continued to contact the seller. I contacted them week after week, through phone or by email. And I did get in contact with the seller...at least whenever I called. I was always nice and the seller was very apologetic each time. The seller promised to look into it and get it taken care of. They even said they would call me back, which they failed to do. Eventually the seller promised me a refund. So then I waited for that...
But after waiting as long as I could, I couldn't wait anymore. Not because I was losing patience, but because I would have lost any opportunity to get my money back (I obviously wasn't getting anywhere with the seller). Apparently after placing an order through PayPal, PayPal only allows you so many days to file a dispute. As I was on my last day to file, I did just that.
PayPal recommended to continue contacting the seller, so I did. I never once heard anything back. So I ended up turning the dispute into a claim. The seller was asked to respond to PayPal. This time neither PayPal or I heard anything back.
Finally, after all this waiting PayPal said I won my claim. Yea! I do feel for the seller. They looked to be a good business from what I could tell. But shame on them for trying to keep money that wasn't theirs. To me that's the same thing as stealing. If only they would have refunded my money from the start, I never would have had to resort to filing a claim.
Sigh. At least it's over now...
So, what about you? Have you ever filed a dispute?
6 people like this
15 responses
@celticeagle (158606)
• Boise, Idaho
25 Mar 12
Years ago now I had bought a child's toy off Ebay. Had the same thing happen. After waiting for weeks and long past when I had needed it I put in a claim on Ebay. Ebay was very good and took care of it in short time. Got right back to me. I got my refund and they got a bad mark. That is what gets me. WHy do they do these things and end up getting a bad mark. If they knew there was a problem they could have sent another product and taken care of the original one later. Making the customer happy is what is important to a business.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (158606)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Mar 12
I hope that the company took care of it.
1 person likes this
@TeamCholent (2832)
• United States
25 Mar 12
I tend to be the same way, I shy away from confrontation but there comes a time when money is money and thieves should not have to prosper at our expense. How long did it take you to have everything resolved?
@TeamCholent (2832)
• United States
25 Mar 12
That is a long wait but the end result was good at least.
2 people like this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
25 Mar 12
That's never happened to me before, but if it ever did, then I have some good legal insurance that would also cover any help I needed, if the paypal claim didn't take things far enough.
In the past month I have ordered two things from Amazin, one from the site directly, and one from a private seller who chose to sell through Amazon. Both things arrived promptly, and I left fabulous feedback for everything. I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I also believe in doing what you did, and filing claims when someone tries to screw me.
GOOD FOR YOU!
2 people like this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
Insurance? I never knew there was insurance for something like this. But then again I shouldn't be surprised. There seems to be insurance for just about everything nowadays! LOL
Thank you Danish. This seller is on amazon as well, although I didn't know it at the time. I had ordered it directly from their website. It was only after I made my purchase that I found the seller there. It made me feel good that they had plenty of positive feedback. So it was not only disappointing to see that they didn't make much of an effort with me, but it was a bit of a shock as well. As a seller you'd think customer satisfaction would be a priority. Apparently it wasn't so in this case.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
26 Mar 12
I like paypal protection, it always worked
yes I've made dispute over some online transactions before, both ebay and non ebay
also filed complaints to BBB a few times over certain companies
all of them were successful other than one for insurance premium but that's only because the type of insurance I paid premium for, doesn't refund upon cancellation unless cancelled within 30 days of purchase
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
I wasn't familiar with PayPal's protection as I never used it before. So when I looked up reviews on filing a dispute through them and only found negative information about it, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't win my case. But I knew I had to give it a shot anyway. I'm so glad I did, otherwise I probably would have never gotten my money back...
@verolop29 (1096)
• United States
26 Mar 12
i had someone file for a dispute on me. it wasn't that i didnt want to or anything. it was a total misunderstanding from the very beggining. i gave her $1500 worth of diet pills and other little things from Herbalife. i learned my mistake and never again will i do that. i never knew i didnt send in everything she never contacted me or emailed me about it. i used paypal about a month ago but had dificulty because of the dispute and i fixed it. u see, i did this thing on craigslist about selling something(the herbalife products) and the box which has 6 or 5 boxes of the one month supply product and i was selling that for 200 each and if someone buys that then i throw something little in for free and there is no cost for shipping. she thought i was selling everything i listed for a flat $200. and i wasnt. so yea i think it was more my fault than hers so i see where i went wrong. u live and u learn, right?!
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
Well, at least you admit fault. Still, the buyer should have tried communicating with you before filing the dispute, instead of just opening it up. That way it would have given both you and her the opportunity to try and sort things out.
Sorry it wound up costing you so much!
@verolop29 (1096)
• United States
27 Mar 12
I learned my mistake and i hope that will not happen again! i just wish the buyer could have been more like u...but whats done is done! Now though..im a little less naieve than before so i am learning little by little and with everyone's help here on mylott-is just greatley appreciated!
1 person likes this
@timetravel (1425)
• United States
26 Mar 12
Not with paypal, but with a greendot prepaid mastercard debit card. I paid for something from an internet security company - and they weren't able to deliver it. Suddenly, I couldn't get in touch with them. So, I filed the paperwork with Mastercard/greendot, and three weeks later the 62.00 was refunded! I was shocked, as I thought I was kissing that money goodbye.
2 people like this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
I too thought that I was kissing that money good-bye. So no only was I shocked, but happy that PayPal got my money back for me. 
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
30 Mar 12
Never with Paypal.. I can remember having to deal with something on EBAY once a long time ago, but it was easily resolved. The last dispute I had was when I had to file a claim with the EEOC for discrimination at my job. Every time I turned around my boss was giving me a hard time about any Doctors orders I brang him, to where he even threatened my job. I filed the complaint, and then when it was supposed to finally go to court, he begged me to drop it, and gave me a raise, etc. Personally I hope I have always done the right thing.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
31 Mar 12
I remember seeing something about that, I just didn't get a chance to reply.
Don't worry, you did the right thing. Sometimes things like this are necessary and we have to take a stand. Just imagine if you hadn't filed the complaint? You could very well be out of a job right now. And that would not have been right at all. Hopefully your employer has learned from this and has made him a better boss to you and other employees as well.
Happy mylotting!
@pumpkinjam (8528)
• United Kingdom
27 Mar 12
I had a similar dispute with Paypal. Unfortunately, I was too late to do anything. I'd ordered something (which, as it happens, was meant as a Christmas present for my little boy. Luckily, I hadn't told him about it!)
The seller said it would be delivered within a few days. Like you, I waited. I think I gave it about a week longer than expected, then I contacted the seller. He was fine with me to start with and said he would make sure the item was sent out (so that, to me, is an admission that he hadn't sent it). There were a few friendly exchanges when I still did not receive the item. Again, he promised to send it. I asked that he reimbursed me if he wasn't going to send the item. He then insisted that he had sent it. As I had recently moved house, I politely asked him to check the address to which he had sent it. After that, he started getting nasty and making accusations about me, claiming that I was lying and just wanted the money. The truth is, I never did get the item nor did I get a refund. Ebay weren't particularly helpful. All they said was that I had left it too late to make a claim. I hadn't even had a chance to put feedback on the seller's page all because I'd given him the benefit of the doubt. So, he still has my money and I still don't have what I paid for. I don't know if he sent it to my old address but, I would have thought, a decent person would have checked. Perhaps he did and he realised that he'd sent it to the wrong place. I don't know because, for some reason, he wouldn't give me the address he sent it to!
I'm pleased to hear that your case was successful. Paypal were good with me when I had a problem with someone stealing from my Paypal account. Unfortunately, I had paid for my ebay item by cheque!
@pumpkinjam (8528)
• United Kingdom
27 Mar 12
I didn't mean "dispute with Paypal", I meant "dispute with ebay"!
2 people like this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
Thank you pumpkinjam.
I'm sorry to hear you missed out on being able to file a claim. I worried the same thing was going to happen with my case. After waiting as long as I did, I thought it may be too late to file a claim (I had just about given up). I'm so glad I looked into it and added up the days, otherwise I surely would have lost any chance of getting my money back.
That's terrible that the seller got nasty with you. All you did was ask him to check the address. What's wrong with that? There was no need for him to get rude at all. I don't know about you, but the way he behaved makes me believe he never had any intention of sending you anything. Hopefully that wasn't the case.
Happy mylotting!
2 people like this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
6 Apr 12
No, sacmom, I haven't yet but I've had to give some neutral feedback. I've also had items marked as paid but when I ask the seller days later to please post them, they tell me I haven't paid.
Then there were the 3 sellers, actually the same person, whose PP accounts would not accept my payment and they wanted me to email them my details and pay them that way. I refused and had to get them to cancel the sales.
It gets very confusing especially when you are making several purchases daily as I am. You really have to keep on your toes. Well done you. Congrats on the success.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
25 Mar 12
I never have. Now that isn't to say that there weren't opportunities for me to do so on various things, but I honestly can't remember of any. I do know that there were a few times I was told in the past I should have filed a claim. Okay well one was unemployment, that's not really filing a claim but i was told I should have gone for unemployment but didn't.
Anyway I am sorry that the seller did that, you were as nice as you could be, but it seemed they just wanted to scam. Atleast you won the claim, and now the seller's rating is down the drain.
2 people like this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
31 Mar 12
I did have a little dispute kind of like yours. It was only over about $20 but it was the principal of the matter. I got this clock and when I got it, it was in pieces! The packing was perfect so I pretty much new the seller had packed it already like that. I tried to contact the seller so that they could make good by the deal. I sent the clock back to them but they wouldn't return my emails or calls. I filed the dispute mainly because if they did that to me with such a simple purchase, if they grew, what would they do next time?
It is a big pain and there is a lot of waiting but the seller did get banned from ebay over it. I hated it but they didn't give a flip about making it right. I guess they had done similar stuff to other people too to get banned.
Anyway...I am glad you got it resolved.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
31 Mar 12
Thanks Jen. Me too!
That's terrible that the seller did that. But at least you didn't let them get away with it!
My husband had an item that arrived broken recently. However, I don't think the seller purposely put it in that way, although they certainly could have packed it better. The item was rather fragile, so chances are it happened during shipment (it had so many stops along the way 
). Anyway, the seller was more than willing to work with us. Best of all we didn't have to worry about sending back the broken item. They were satisfied enough just having us send a picture in.
Happy mylotting!
). Anyway, the seller was more than willing to work with us. Best of all we didn't have to worry about sending back the broken item. They were satisfied enough just having us send a picture in.
Happy mylotting!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
26 Mar 12
I have filed a dispute with paypal before, but my money was never refunded (and neither was the money of any of the other people that were victims of this person either). You see, I got a subscription to a website that had tutorials for digital scrapbooking and I was able to access the site once (it was a one year subscription) before the owner of the site took it off line. After it was offline for a week I filed my dispute and then the claim.
The decision was based on the fact that there was a website there, but it didn't have any of the tutorials that I had paid for on it, so I and at least 100 other people were out fifty dollars each.
1 person likes this
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
26 Mar 12
It might have been delivered to the wrong address, because if the business is a scam, (not saying they are..) they wouldn't have entertained you for your concern in the first place. I'm guessing it's the delivery company's fault, or at least the delivery boy's (not looking to blame anyone, just saying).
I've made a dispute before, too. It was for my airtime balance for my mobile phone SIM. I loaded a total of Php100.00 but I only recieved half. I contacted the merchant but she said she had loaded me a total of Php100.00. So then I contacted the network provider itself. I talked to a customer service rep for about half an hour to give me half of my load, and eventually they did. So I guess I won this dispute.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
I don't doubt that can happen when it comes to deliveries. However, I doubt that's what happened in this situation. If that would have been the case don't you think the seller would have mentioned it at some point?
By the way, the seller only "entertained" my concern whenever I called. They never contacted me to let me know what was going on, not even after they said they would or even after I made the dispute (surely they would have "spoken up" then). And believe me, they had every opportunity to try and straighten this whole thing out (whether it had been a problem with my order, refunding me my money, or saying that the item got lost in the mail). They never bothered to do any of that.
@FrugalMommy (1438)
• United States
26 Mar 12
I haven't filed any disputes through eBay, but in January I had to file a claim against an Amazon Marketplace seller. I ordered a biology textbook, and the book the seller sent me was a completely different edition than the one I ordered. I couldn't use it for my class, and I couldn't recoup any of the money I spent on it by selling it after the semester was over.
I asked the seller to authorize a return and refund my money. He refused outright, which is against Amazon's policies. I filed an A-to-z complaint against him after that, and he dragged it out for weeks after I returned the book. I finally ended up with a partial refund from the seller (he kept a portion of my money as a "restocking fee"). Amazon gave me a promotional credit for the amount he didn't refund me, though, so it ended up working out fairly well in the end.
I left very negative feedback for the transaction on Amazon, and the seller's response was to point out how good his feedback has been up until this point (the last thing he sold was in late 2011, and before that he hadn't sold anything since 2008). I know I shouldn't have expected anything different since he told me I should have "been more careful to make sure I was ordering the right item" but really? I think a response like that does to prove my case than his. 
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
Wow, how awesome of Amazon to do something like that.
By the way, no worries about the typo. I've made plenty of them myself! 
LOL
Happy mylotting!
By the way, no worries about the typo. I've made plenty of them myself! LOL
Happy mylotting!@FrugalMommy (1438)
• United States
26 Mar 12
Oops, that last sentence should have read "a response like that does more to prove my case than his." 
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Mar 12
hi yes I did as I deposited my christmas gift of a one hundred dollar bill into my Bank of America checking account and was looking forward to seeing it in mybalance. to my honor I was only credited with ten dollars.So I called up the headquarters in Phoenix Arizona
and a snippy woman answered. by snippy I mean when I told her I had depoisted onehundred dollars but was only credited with ten I wanted themn to make good. She snapped"we do not make errors like that. but do you wish to f ile a complaint? said with a sneer.I]responded"Yes of course, I am missing ninety dollars but cannot a man or another person take over this?" so she happily turned me over to Jim Harrison,I remembered the name as he was]
very courtous and said "Yes thats really a big blunder. I will ask
you some questions, then type in the answers and you should get
this resolved in two weeks. " So I gave him all the correct data and true to his word,two weeks and two days later I got my bank statement and my ninety missing dollars had been returned to my account with apologies from headquarters.Had I let the snippy woman take my data I wou ld proably still be waiting as she claimed they did not make errors.Jim told me yes we are human beings and they do make errors, unfortunately.Now my bank has automatic cou nting on the atms and those errors do not happen thank God.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
27 Mar 12
Oh, what an awful thing to have gone through!
I couldn't imagine trying to fight an error like that. Not because of the snippy woman (because someone like her would want me to fight it), but because I wouldn't even think I'd stand a chance when it comes to dealing with cash, especially with it stating the wrong amount on the receipt. I'm sure glad you fought it and won! It gives me incentive to try...that is if something like that were ever to happen to me or my family. 
Happy mylotting!
It gives me incentive to try...that is if something like that were ever to happen to me or my family.
Happy mylotting!