This is the story of how I ordered a display for my MacBook, the seller never provided any shipping information (and didn’t mark it as shipped), I tried to cancel the order and the seller never responded to any message I sent them since the purchase, I opened a case with Ebay, lost the case, appealed the case, was told I was stuck, open the package of the display and discovered it was not as described, tried to open another case and then was told by Ebay and PayPal that I was just out of luck and couldn’t open a second case.  So I had a piece of junk display that I’d paid $260 for that I couldn’t sell for anything but scrap and I was not happy about that and not going to give up easily.  Here’s how it all happened, what I learned, and how I turned the tables on a bum seller on Ebay.

How to Get a Refund on an Ebay Purchase Even When You Lose Your Case

Hardware

• Late-2011 17-Inch MacBook Pro

Step 1: I broke my MacBook.

I accidentally broke the screen on my beloved late-2011 17″ MacBook Pro.

My cracked screen

Step 2: I pondered my options for the repair.

You can buy replacement glass for these displays but removing the old glass involves heating up the adhesive but not overheating the LCD on one side and the rubber gasket on the other.  I decided to order a complete used OEM display off of Ebay to avoid the issues you can run into when replacing the glass on these displays (dust under glass, damaged rubber gasket around display edge).

Step 3: I ordered display off Ebay (11/10/14).

I actually ordered one display and got it and was half through the repair and discovered that my Late-2011 Macbook Pro has 3 coax cables coming out of it but older MacBook displays only had 2.  I had the wrong display.  So I went back and contacted the sellers making sure there were three cables and ordered another one.

Step 4: I sent the seller a message about shipping (11/12/14).

I contacted seller via Ebay to see if they were going to ship the display the next day and reminded them that I paid right away.  As I guy who also sells on Ebay I know how much you like people who pay right away and I try to return the favor.  I also like people who ship right away too!

The message I sent inquiring about when the item would ship

Step 4: No response from seller.

They didn’t respond to any of my messages and didn’t mark the item as shipped and didn’t provide any tracking information either.

Step 5: I requested a cancellation of the order (11/13/14).

I contacted the seller once more to tell them to cancel the order because I can’t do business like that.

My message requesting a cancellation of the order

Step 6: I ordered another replacement display from an entirely different Ebay seller (11/13/14).

This seller promptly marked the item as shipped and provided tracking information right away like any good Ebay seller would.

Step 7: The first seller finally ships the item (11/14/14).

I wasn’t informed that he had shipped it but I now know it was the day after I sent a message requesting to cancel the order that the seller actually mailed the display (I later found out via the tracking number he posted after I received the screen):

Acceptance
Nov-14-14, 17:07 PM, CITY, ST 06830

This day I sent the seller another message through Ebay requesting his response to my messages and to cancel my order:

My message to the seller asking him why he won’t respond and requesting him to cancel the order

Step 8: The display I ordered arrived (11/17/14).

Seven days after ordering the first display it magically arrived at my doorstep.  I pondered for a second just rejecting the shipment but felt the  right thing to do was to sign for it and return it through the right channels and I felt that Ebay would be helpful in doing that (wrong).  In retrospect, the shrewd thing would have been to refuse the shipment and have it sent back to the seller.  Hindsight is 20/20.

Step 9: I contacted Ebay for advice (11/17/14).

I gave Ebay a call this day to inquire about my options.  I told them I had sent messages to the seller via Ebay but had not heard anything back.  They offered to give me the seller’s personal contact information so I took them up on the offer.  Ebay said I would receive an email with their information.  Upon receiving the information I tried calling the seller and they answered their phone but never spoke to me and would not reply to me requesting to talk.  I texted them too, requesting they respond to my messages via Ebay but this did not get any response either.

Ebay’s email giving me the seller’s full name and phone number

Step 10: I contacted Ebay and opened a case (11/20/14).

The Ebay representative said to me that he thought I would win the case and I felt like I had a legitimate case.  He also commented that the seller had a return policy and I was within the time window for their policy.  I was surprised to hear the Ebay representative tell me that the seller had a return policy because I thought I’d read that the seller did not accept returns (which turns out to be accurate but Ebay gave me bad information on the phone call).  Ebay gave the seller 6 days to respond to the case.  It was this day that I received the second display I ordered.  I installed the other display on 11/21/14.

Step 11: I gave the seller a negative rating on Ebay.

I hate doing this and this is only the second time in 14 years that I can remember giving a negative rating.  I really try to work things out directly with the seller/buyer through the Ebay channels first but this guy was giving me no choice.  I gave them a negative rating and shared how they didn’t respond to any of my messages and NEVER marked my item as shipped.  I had received it and it still wasn’t even marked as shipped.

Step 12: The seller finally responded to the case (11/26/14).

On the 6th day and final day of the Ebay case being open the seller finally responded and gave all the details of when they shipped the display and how they had shipped it at a faster rate than I’d paid for and that they were not going to accept a return.  The guy failed to even mention why he’d been AWOL with all the messages I sent him asking about the shipping.

Seller offers another solution: to continue to do nothing

This was the point at which the seller finally marked the item as shipped and uploaded the tracking number to the Ebay item:

My package tracking information, finally

The first half of the shipping information would not fit in the window so I have copied and pasted it in its entirety below:

Delivered
Nov-17-14, 14:56 PM, CHICAGO, IL 60624
Sorting Complete
Nov-17-14, 07:53 AM, CHICAGO, IL 60624
Arrived at Post Office
Nov-17-14, 03:38 AM, CHICAGO, IL 60624
Departed USPS Facility
Nov-16-14, 05:59 AM, ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL 60007
Arrived at USPS Facility
Nov-16-14, 00:22 AM, ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL 60007
Departed USPS Facility
Nov-15-14, 01:55 AM, KEARNY, NJ 07032
Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
Nov-14-14, 21:51 PM, KEARNY, NJ 07032
Departed Post Office
Nov-14-14, 18:44 PM, GREENWICH, CT 06830
Acceptance
Nov-14-14, 17:07 PM, GREENWICH, CT 06830

Step 13: I lost the case (11/27/14).

Ebay sided with the seller and told me I lost.  Ebay said that they do not have a category for a seller who does what they did to me and that if I received it then there’s nothing I can do and they must judge in favor of the seller.  Ebay also informed me that they took my negative rating away from the seller because I lost the case.  That really burned me, especially given the terrible customer service the seller had given me.

Ebay takes away my negative feedback on the seller–buyers beware, there are some bad ones out there

Step 14: I appeal the case to Ebay (11/28/14).

I called Ebay back and noted that the Ebay representative had picked the category for my case “item not as described” but that really wasn’t what my case was about.  The person I talked to explained that they don’t have a category for the issue I had and they had to chose either “item not as described” or “did not receive item.”  After calling to appeal I received a notice that I had lost once again:

The seller just would not make things right

Step 15: I decided to cut my losses and sell the display (11/29/14).

Since I was out of options with Ebay I decided that I just needed to sell the display on Ebay again and get rid of it.  I considered just using the seller’s description and pictures but I now will be putting my own 14-year and 100% positive reputation on the line and I felt I needed to take my own pictures and write out my own description.

My 100% positive ebay rating

At this point I opened up the package and discovered that the display wasn’t even in the condition the seller had described.  The rubber gasket around the outside of the display was very damaged and there was a big speck of something under the glass–not acceptable.

Step 16: I called Ebay back to file a case for “item not as described” (11/29/14).

I was then informed that you can only open up one case and since I didn’t mention that it wasn’t as described the first time I couldn’t add anything to the closed case at this point.  At this point I was really not liking the situation I was being placed in–being sold a mis-represented display and ending up with damaged goods that I couldn’t even sell.  $260 is a lot of money for this family man and I don’t take to getting robbed like this.  These are the original pictures of the listing, which did mention the scratches on the aluminum case:

Item condition: Grade B+ Condition – minor scuffs and scratches near bottom corners (see pics 3 & 4)

Pic 3

Pic 4

I was willing to take the scuffs on the case (as shown in the seller’s pictures above) but as it turns out, there was quite a bit of damage that the seller did not disclose including damage to the rubber gasket around the display and debris under the display glass:

Rubber gasket damage

Rubber gasket damage

White speck under glass smack dab in the middle of the display

Step 17: I slept on it (11/29/14).

I had a hard time falling asleep that night.  I don’t take well to being burned by someone and having them get away scott free in broad daylight when I know the person’s name and phone number.  I thought of all kinds of bad ideas that you think of when you are mad (not a good time to make a decision).

Step 18: I had a Eureka Moment (11/30/14).

I remembered that I had paid on Paypal with my Chase-backed VISA card.  I called Chase, the bank issuer of the card and shared my story.  They said that I had already done all that they would normally need to ask me to do, until they learned that I paid via Paypal (not directly to Ebay).  They said they would open a case but I’d need to contact Paypal first and request a return.  Once I made that attempt they could go through with the case.

Step 19: I called PayPal directly to request a return (11/30/14).

PayPal told me what I figured they were going to say: PayPal cannot open up a case if I’ve already opened up one via Ebay and Paypal cannot go with any decision except for what Ebay decided.  I’d now done my due diligence with the person who processed my money and now I could tell Chase I’d done everything I could.

Step 20: I called Chase back and told them that PayPal told me no too (11/30/14).

Chase then said they would move forward with the claim and that I’d receive a form in the mail that I’d need to fill out and mail back in and once they received that form they could issue me a refund and then contact the seller.  I was surprised they were going to go straight to the seller but that is really who should be answering them about the item not being as described.

Step 21: I followed up with Chase.

I called Chase back to see what more information I could get out of them on how the process works.  They said that the amount in dispute would not show up as a credit at this point but it will be taken out of the balance I owe.  I thought that was nice.

Step 22:  I received the form from Chase (12/6/14).

Here’s a copy of the 2-page form they sent me:

Chase Dispute Form Page 1/2

Chase Dispute Form Page 2/2

Step 23: I filled out that form right away and faxed it into Chase (12/7/14).

They said to fax it to: 888-643-9624 Attn: Dispute Resolutions.

Step 24: I followed up with Chase.

They said that an advisor would be assigned to my case and would go over the information I faxed them.  Once that happens, I will have the credit issued to my credit card.  At that point, when they have all the information they need from me they will send a letter to the seller and then give them 60 days to respond.

Step 25: I have received the credit on my account! (12/11/14)

I got my money back even though I lost my case with ebay!  That is a good feeling, especially because I really had a honest case to file and ebay wasn’t going to do anything for me.  The credit was back-dated to the date of the purchase:

Chase to the rescue–they refunded my money even though I lost my case with Ebay

Step 26: I received a postcard from Chase (12/16/14).

It laid out how they are not holding me accountable for the charge at this point but will give the seller 2 billing cycles to respond to the charge.  I’ll keep this post updated with what I hear back.

Chase update letter

Step 27: I received an email from Paypal.com notifying me they have realized I’ve initiated a chargeback with my credit card issuer (12/16/14).

They ask me to let them know if I’ve worked it out.  I sure haven’t so far.

Paypal.com Chargeback Notification email

Moral of the Story:

When you make a payment via Ebay.com, MAKE SURE you switch the payment from the default checking account to your credit card because your credit card company will have your back when Ebay.com won’t.

Update February 15, 2015:

I just received a postcard from Chase reporting that the credit I was given will be permanent.  Essentially, it showed that they contacted the guy who sent me the bogus goods and gave him a chance to make his case and either he tried to make a case and it was decided that he didn’t provide sufficient evidence or he didn’t even respond.  Here’s the letter I received:

Chase letter stating that I won my dispute with the Paypal seller who mailed me damaged goods