...m'kay. that was interesting at a couple of levels. Firstly, seems ebay has revamped the chat portal somewhat - there's more filtering AI involved with beginning a chat and getting it assigned to an agent...hint is click on 'more' options or whatever, and down at the very bottom of the list there's a 'talk to agent' clicky...the AI's fairly well done as well I might add...as far as those things go. Here's the core focus of the chat;
The link given, was just the request a refund link from the 'my purchases' item listing. Of course, I won't use that link (yet), because ebay guidelines&policies say (as does AU consumer law), I should contact the seller first. What I have been given here, is the details of what's required to substantiate the claim, to ebay's satisfaction ; all I have to do is present the same details to the seller, so they know if ebay does get involved, it's a no brainer, ebay will rule in my favour, and the seller gets a frowny-face sticker next to their name on the ebay database ouija board.EB: Can you tell me which item are you referring to so that I can further check on this?
Me: Yes, the DPS-5015 module I purchased recently
EB: This one DP50V15A DPS5015 Programmable Supply Power Module Integrated Voltmeter Ampmeter?
Me: Yes, that's the order
EB: I can see here that there was an Item Not Received request for this item but was closed. Did you receive this one already?
Me: That is my point -- *today* I received what I believe is the first item sent, but clearly it's come from China, and I've been inconvenienced by weeks because of this bad item description
EB: In this case, you can open a return request since the item was not as advertised with it being coming from China instead of within Australia. Do you still have the packaging where it's showing that the item came from overseas?
Me: Of course =)
EB: Please use this link to open the return request and add the photos of the packaging as further proof. The seller will then be given 3 business days to provide you with a resolution. In case the seller will not be able to do so, you can ask eBay to step in and help as early as on the 10th of June.
There is, however, a wrinkle...I've mentioned it above -- the drop-sellerhipper's backdoor ; the seller, no doubt living in Melbourne, can act as a returns agent for who-so-ever sent the item from China, and if I go after a full refund, which is a gimme here, on an item with a sale price of $99, weighing less than 500grams, they'd gladly cough up the full refund, pay for return postage to Melb, and been seen by ebay as doing the 'right thing' by the buyer. That's how it works.
So ultimately, what you're bargaining on, is a demonstrable cost of inconvenience .. and how much the seller wants to avoid getting that frowny-face sticker. Now...to do that, means I'll rope in Banggood on the same item -- in *that* case, I might be better to use the link the ebay agent told me to use, because playing one platform off against another, is often a good ploy. Plus you get the 3day fuse to resolution...yeah, let's go ebay's way on this one.
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