Ebay resolution centre + Interlink sucks

[Eusebius]

I don't know if any of you have been on the wrong end of an ebay resolution , but if you've been unfortunate enough to use Interlink then read this cau tionary tale.

I purchased an item for which the seller used Interlink. The courier tried to deliver the item twice, but this is how it works with them. I'm on the 2 nd floor. If I'm out the courier is supposed to put a card through my apart ment door, not push it under the street door. In any case we have more than one street door. So I don't get any card. But here's what you might descri be as "a scam". The courier takes a picture of the card he puts under the s treet door as "proof that delivery has been attempted". Interlink sends an image of the card to the seller, the seller goes to the resolution centre a nd gives them "proof" that delivery has been attempted.

The resolution centre then automatically decides in favour of the seller. T here is no appeal possible, because I have no information of any kind to sh ow them. I'm supposed to have received an email, but I also don't get any e mail so no dice there either. The decision means I don't get the item, I do n't get a refund, I can't appeal, and I can't leave negative feedback becau se this is automatically deleted.

So in this case I lose £25. The seller doesn't even have a bad word again st his name.

This is a very convenient "scam" for Interlink because their sellers get th e information they need to resolve disputes. The customer gets nothing, but why do they care because they're paid by the sellers.

Comments?

[Peter Parry]

Was the seller a business or a private individual?

[Eusebius]

Business seller. More leverage obviously.

[ss]

Probably wont help but worth a try, go on to ebay live chat and see what they say, and before you leave ask what to do for any future situations like that.

One alternative with larger £ purchases is to request a signed for on delivery.

[Eusebius]

I tried getting on live chat but I can't get on it for anything like "resol ve a problem". They seem to have disabled the options. I talked on the phon e to an ebay representative who spoke non-native and really hard to follow English and just spouted the party line, telling me not to appeal because i t would be automatically denied. Wouldn't allow me to speak to her manager. She didn't listen to my side of it at all. Nul points.

I did actually get a £25 refund immediately from Paypal - spoke to a very intelligent young woman (English) who understood me perfectly and decided on the spot in my favour. This is a one-off payment from Paypal itself, not the seller. Good luck there......

So Paypal service was excellent.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm confused. How do you get post delivered if they had to push a card under the street door? How does any delivery service leave a card saying they'd tried, but you weren't in?

And didn't you get the chance of collecting it if out when they tried to deliver?

[ss]

Pleased you got resolved, save this link to fav for future. It should give a direct link to live chat, scroll to bottom of page.

[Eusebius]

I didn't get any emails from Interlink so didn't know they called. The sell er who was a complete xxxx didn't give me the courier or the Id. number des pite several emails and by the time I'd got him to respond the item had bee n returned to him.

Royal Mail delivers fine all the time. There's an office on another stairca se and they ring that bell to get in. Hermes rings other bells to get in an d puts a card through my own door or leaves a parcel with neighbours on the staircase. Interlink has a rule that you can only leave a parcel with a ne ighbour one number either side. In practice they don't bother - they take a photo of the card they leave, push it under the street door and bugger off .

[Martin Bonner]

In the general case, write a letter before action and sue via Moneyclaim Online if they don't cough up (not forgetting to include the court charge and the proportion of the fixed commencement costs you are allowed as a litigant in person). See uk.legal.moderated for more details.

For a private seller, you might have to get a Norwich Pharmacal Order to persuade eBay to hand over the seller's contact details.

On the other hand, as Paypal have covered your losses, you have nothing to claim for.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd be amazed if they don't get it back from the seller.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I don't get emails from RM either.

Ah - he didn't do the despatched bit in 'my Ebay' with a delivery date and tracking number if appropriate?

Not much in the way of security if you can get let in by ringing another door bell?

I've had that with one firm - and I live in a house. Seemed it was quicker for them to post a card than wait for the door to be answered and the good signed for. So I had to go and collect it.

I'm surprised you had problems with Ebay, though. If the seller hadn't told you it had been dispatched, didn't answer PMs, and obviously hadn't got proof of delivery.

[F]

I sold an item on Ebay. The buyer said it 'arrived damaged' and so he attempted to repair it. He said he failed and wanted his money back.

I said I wanted to see it first but he raised a case with Ebay and they refunded him.

I appealed and they turned me down so I rang them and explained all that had happened.

They upheld my appeal about the appeal and refunded me. But the buyer kept his refund and the item.

Crazy, and I told Ebay so. They thought it was OK.

[pamela]

If delivery has been attempted unsuccessfully then presumably Interlink returns the goods to the vendor.

The resolution centre decision in favour of the vendor seem faulty because he would have had his goods back.

[Albert Zweistein]

Yes, I used the call me option at the bottom of that page. Ebay phoned me within one minute from the request and a very helpful rep got my listing problem resolved pretty quickly. All in all I was impressed with their service.

[Fredxxx]

Did you use PayPal to pay for the goods?

[Fredxxx]

Just read a later post of yours.

I do find PayPal better to deal with, and I will generally make an issue with them before eBay if I get negative vibes from the seller.

[Bob Eager]

Happened with us. We were in. Saw van pull up, and waited for the bell. SWMBO sprinted downstairs (it was her parcel) and driver had dropped what must have been a pre-written card and was climbing back into his van.

She phoned the delivery firm and they responded that he had rung the bell (he hadn't) and had waited two minutes (he hadn't). She pointed out that (a) we have a bell logfile and (b) CCTV recording on the front door.

They made him come back. He wasn't happy.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup - that's pretty well what happened to me.

With these low cost 'deliveries' where the driver is on piece rates of pennies each, it's not surprising.

He writes all the cards out in one go, then just delivers them. Then takes all the parcels to the collection point.

[Chris J Dixon]

Royal Mail are generally good, but a few weeks ago I heard the letterbox, saw that I had been carded, and managed to catch the departing delivery driver, who wasn't the usual guy. He claimed that he had knocked, which I hadn't heard, but he certainly didn't use the easily audible doorbell. He told me that the parcel was behind the recycling bin, and that this was OK because it was marked "no signature required".

He then claimed that in any case it was fine for him to simply drop the parcel, and he had no need to knock.

I asked him specifically to confirm that his training was that there was no need for him first to attempt delivery, and he was quite clear that this was his understanding.

I complained to Royal Mail, and they apologised, and said that steps would be taken...

Chris

[Eusebius]

The whole reason I brought all this up - and we all use ebay - is that this is a scam perpetrated by Interlink and colluded with by ebay. It goes like this -

1. Interlink provides evidence a card has been written out
2. On this evidence the seller has "proof" of delivery even if the buyer hasn't actually been contacted
3. The buyer has no evidence he hasn't been contacted
4. The buyer raises a dispute
5. The dispute is automatically resolved in favour of the seller - the buyer has no proof to offer
6. There is no right of appeal
7. The shocking part - the seller gets the goods back AND the money paid.
8. Buyer loses both the goods and his money

If our legal system was run this way there would be outrage.